Science Ain't So Bad

THE MAN!

This story is about science and technology.

And pets.

PET TECH

Your dog would die for you.

No “Um die for THAT one? He just yelled at me for shredding the toilet paper!”

Not at all.

Your dog would just throw his Golden Retrieverness at the robber, get iced, and float right up to the heavenly fenced in area.

Loyal and loving.

Are you as loyal as Biscuit is?

What if he got hurt? What if he couldn’t use his legs? Too much of Biscuit to tuck under your arm for a “walk”, right? How would you two manage? Would you ask the vet to put him down?

Biscuit loves you. How could you do that? Would he ever let YOU be put down?

You know he wouldn’t.

HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY, LITERALLY, FOR PETS

Let me ask you something science-y.  Is  cosmology intriguing? Is physics elegant?

Sure. Absolutely.

But that stuff doesn’t make you cry, does it? The great things? They’re  when we USE what we know to make things better, right? To repair the heart of a nine year old girl.

To help a family with a very sick dog.

MARK ROBINSON

I was trying to keep up with Mark Robinson  at his new headquarters (handicappedpets.com). Mark was explaining about his decision to make wheelchairs for dogs and cats.

“I was already selling the darn things for a company that made custom stuff. I could see there was a need . But they were SO expensive. People couldn’t afford them. Pets were being put down just because their owners couldn’t afford one”

Mark explained how, in 1992, he had no choice but to arrange a peaceful end for his family’s much loved but sick keeshond, Mercedes. The experience changed him. He couldn’t stop thinking about other pets. And other families. How many pets had seizure disorders like Mercedes? What about pets that can’t walk? Pets that can’t stand? Paralysis, nerve damage, or blindness? What are their options?

A KID

A graduate of Lewis Wadhams School (inspired by A. S. Neil’s Summerhill School movement) , Mark had learned to think for himself. By seventh grade, he was gobbling up advanced courses, It was pretty obvious that he was going to be a thinker and doer.

And a little hyperactive.

When he finished his MBA, Mark “hit the deck” just as desktop computers were exploding. (Not literally!!!)

This was his wave. Mark was to be  swept up in the “innovation revolution”. He divided his interests between computing and energy systems. Still does (Nextek Power Systems, Advanced Energy, The Energy Grid). He had an affinity for the klunky computers that were starting to appear in hobby magazines. He coauthored books about the, then new, IBM PC and MAC as well as  Radio Shack’s popular TRS-80 (“Trash 80″) computer.

“Those were the DOS prompt days. Green screens, portable lunch boxes, and no Internet. I knew I was part of something. I wasn’t real sure what it was.”

WHAT THIS LED TO

That’s the background, okay? Smart guy, green screens,and DOS prompts.

As Microsoft Windows began to dominate, and the thrill of early adoption disappeared, Mark branched out. One thing and another and, motivated by his loss of Mercedes, Mark found himself selling customized wheelchairs and, eventually, creating and selling his own which was out-of-the box adjustable.

Today, Mark’s fast growing firm ships the majority of pet wheel chairs world wide.

Tech-O-Dog Lives Good Life

His handicappedpets.com sells “chairs” that readily adjust for dogs and cats of all sizes with lots of different mobility problems. It has “drag bags” for keeping the little guy comfortable around the house, “Walkin’ Boots” to let his.her feet get into the action while rolling along,  ”No cone” collars which seem INSANELY more comfortable than the Queen Elizabeth lampshades the vet sends you home with after a minor procedure, and a raft of other stuff – all innovative and all aimed at alleviating the awfulness of dealing with a disabled or sick pet.

Mark Robinson gets the ScienceAintSoBad innovation award for using technology to do the right stuff – the stuff other’s just wouldn’t have thought about.
It makes a difference.

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A little while ago, Google’s Aardvark passed away. I wrote an obit.

Some were glad, some were sad and most were busy collecting signatures for Rick Santorum.  I even had a few people all pissed off at me. Where’s a-a-r-d-v-a-r-k??

I hope this helps.

BLOOD TYPES

If you know your blood type it’s probably because you “gave at the office”.

Mister ScienceAintSoBad is proud of you.

If you ever need a transfusion, knowing your blood type may come in handy. A common complication of mis-typed blood is death. If you have trouble remembering whether you’re A, B, AB, or O (or Rh positive or negative), this isn’t exactly going to thrill your pants off but you now also have to know if you are “Langeries” or “Junior” too.

Actually? Hang on to those pants okay? There were already 30 recognized blood types before the new ones came along.

Didn’t know that, did you? Two more blood types brings it to 32.

This is the work of University of Vermont biologist Bryan Ballif (Nature Genetics). And he didn’t exactly “discover” Junior and Langeries. What he did was  get rid of the mystery surrounding them and their genetic structure. Now we know how and why they do what they do.

Your chances of being anything other than A, B, AB, or O are about the same as meeting a Martian on match.com.

(No KIDDING? Well sorry to rub salt into a wound then.)

Ballif’s work is a good thing. First of all, for the small number of people who are in these new groupings this reduces the risk of nasty transfusion reactions. And the proteins associated with these new blood types have some interesting anti-cancer properties which may lead to new therapies. Mostly, this is how science works. One step at a time. Little drama.. Put the pieces together, though, and suddenly things come into focus.

ScienceAintSoBadRating =9. Not bad!

Listen. I don’t want to leave you all worried about this. “Instant blood typing” is common now. So you don’t have to tape your blood type to your nose if you don’t want to. In fact, a team of chemical engineers  at Monash University headed by professor Gil Garnier (Analytical Chemistry) are working on a paper test strip for blood typing. 

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Image credits: Maybe I should have said discredits. This one isn’t exactly inspired. But, anyway, it’s all mine

Facebook? What you need is a dog.

Dear Mr SASB: My so-called friends think I’m a loser. Maybe they have a point. I’m  an uncoordinated klutz. I have braces and zits. Still. I’m like “screw them. I’ll just hang out on Facebook where it’s cool”. My old friends? They totally sucked anyway. My dad says this is unhealthy. He says I should check with Mister SASB who considers himself a frugging expert in almost everything. So? Are you cool with this or what? – EmilyKickMe4

Listen,you little pipsqueak, I AM an expert on everything. Everything that matters.

Teenagers aren’t on the list.

So your real friends think you’re a ditz and treat you like a putz. But on Facebook you ARE someone. A new person with a wall of your own. It’s not real life, but who cares? Whatever works.

Let’s look at the science.

Amanda Forest and Joanne Wood wondered about this exact thing. Can you really slip out of your old skin, slip a social network over your bones, and be better off?

The article in Psychological Sciences says no.

If you have an ” I am pathetic” sticker on your personality it will follow you to Facebook and Google+. Low self esteemers can’t stop putting themselves down. Not even in the digital world . Pretty soon their new online pals start to think of them as dweebs just like the flesh-and-blooders did that they thought they had left behind. Bad as real life is, at least, when people find you annoying you can see it on their faces. Not on Facebook. I know what the name says but those “faces” aren’t real. Just pixelated images which don’t give the kind of feedback that is needed.

The article by Forest and Wood implies you shouldn’t run away from your troubles. You should face them. If you are your own worst enemy, don’t try to make it better on Facebook. Get a dog.

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Image credits go to MISTER SASB (our Luna on the left,  her boyfriend, Bailey, on the right).

FINEDELLAGIORNATIUM

Mister ScienceAintSoBad. What’s happening? My brothers and my sisters, my parents, the people on television? They keep repeating this THING. Over and over and over again. It’s annoying. They keep saying “At The End Of The Day”. I don’t know WHY they’re doing that or what it means. Can you help me out here? You’re a pretty smart guy (when you aren’t r-e-a-l-l-y clueless). RachelFromIdaho

Dear Rachel,

Thanks. Nice compliment.

The End-of-the-day thing? I hadn’t noticed. But I watched some TV and, like you say, they’re all doing it. Here’s an example of what I found: Mr Obama’s been able to combat some of the charges of his worst critics, but at the end of the day…

End of WHAT day? What are they talking about?

When I did my little TV experiment, I tuned to CNBC. The CEO of a company you probably know was on Closing Bell.  He was explaining why his company had such a bad quarter. Suddenly, he stopped and stared at Maria Batiromo and said “at the end of the day”. Then he ripped off the lapel mike, and left. Just like that!

An article in Neurobiological Sciences (Dr. Jaimes Dinwitter, Harvard Medical school) explains that this is a bug. It likes light and warm temps. TV studios are perfect (the lights). Broadcasters, in particular, seem to be infected. Public personalities, too.

It goes right to the brain.  Broca’s Area which has a lot of the functions of speech. And, here’s the thing. It plays you like a piano. At-the end-of-the-day, At-the end-of-the-day, At-the end-of-the-day . Nobody understands why that phrase. Nobody understands the mechanism behind the repeated vocalizations. Worse, nobody understands how this new bacterial strain can be defeated. Right now, according to the National Centers for Disease Control And Prevention, 24% of the adult population and almost all public figures have this supposedly harmless mental hiccup.

Mister SASB congratulates Dr. Dinwitter on figuring out what this is. At the end of the day, this may be an important first step to dealing effectively with an annoying and potentially serious pathogen.