Words about science and hiking
On the east flank of Mt Elbert Our saddle camp above Rock Creek was almost too warm, and the temperature dropped nearly 20F as we descended to Kearny Park. A few ups and downs brought us to Halfmoon Creek and the trailheads for Elbert and Massive. It being Saturday the parking lots were overflowing with Read More …
A frosty morning but the sun blazing Homestake Peak made a good backdrop for our breakfast and we started out under clear skies with temperatures a bit more normal and a bit more suited for hiking. A steep climb up from Long Gulch brought us to Porcupine Lake where we stopped to fish for a Read More …
Three fairly steep miles down the Cataract Creek gulch brought us to Eagle Park. And to the vanguard of some 400 hikers participating in something called the Fjallraven Classic. We’d seen signs for it up on Elk Ridge. Apparently Fjallraven is guiding the hikers from Tennessee Pass to Copper Mountain and teaching them LNT principles Read More …
@ 39.4318, –106.2573 Near mi 132.4 Up early this morning, down to Arvada to pick up Dan and then off to Copper Mountain. The day promised heat, and the air became noticeably warmer as we ascended up from the resort. Unlike my last trip through here, there was no Crazy Grandma at Guller Creek to Read More …
I’ve ragged on various phage groups for what I perceive as their shortcomings in moving phage therapy from proof of principle to an actual product that can be used to treat patients reliably. There are plenty of anecdotal reports and case studies of patients helped by PT, and I’m sure that many of them are Read More …
If you’ve read very much of this blog, you know that my opinion of phage science in general is not very high. I haven’t been especially nice about expressing this opinion either, tossing out epithets like “weak”, “porcine” and “innumerate”. The latter, I suspect, riled up Stephanie Strathdee, one of the co-authors of the paper Read More …
I recently wrote that the Right-to-Try legislation would inevitably become Right-to-Rob. Although Merck and other pharma incumbents (weakly) opposed the law, it wouldn’t be long until small cash-strapped companies began exploiting it to improve their finances. That day has arrived. Bloomberg reports that BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics will begin selling its investigational ALS treatment to patients. Read More …
The first and most fundamental change is to give up the idea that free market economics are always and everywhere optimal. This faith – and it is a faith, with its own Holy Ghost (the Invisible Hand) – has cleaned out the wallets of Americans with an efficiency that would excite the envy of a TV preacher. Those Read More …
I’m not much of a believer in “Great Man” theories, especially in science. There are a lot of smart, hardworking scientists out there. Someone has to be first to make a discovery, but they rarely finish the race more than a step or two ahead of their competitors. If not Newton, then Liebniz. If not Read More …
We’ve been using plants as medicines for a long time. Longer than history — hollyhock has been found in the graves of Neanderthals, and yarrow and chamomile have been found on their teeth [1]. Longer indeed than humanity itself — many animals self-medicate, including chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons and lemurs [2]. A long time. Plants are full Read More …