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Monthly Archives: February 2015
Leper Colonies, Mercy, Forgiveness, and Spellcheckers
Lepers, that politically incorrect term, have long served as a metaphor for showing mercy to society’s outcasts. Jesus commanded 10 lepers to show themselves to the priests and the Luke 17 narrative says they were healed. Healing a bunch of lepers was an … Continue reading
Autism and Sketchy Science
It’s no secret that autism concerns are part of the genesis of vaccine skepticism. The story of Dr. Andrew Wakefield is well-known and well-documented. His reports, combined with a general ignorance of scientific method and clinical trials, created a perfect storm that set … Continue reading
A Nifty Cartoon About Vaccines
A couple of loyal readers today sent me this cartoon they found informative and amusing. While I strive to be more detailed and immersed in hard science, like my prior post today, I admire the creators’ excellent storytelling. It’s effective. … Continue reading
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Connections to Social Media
Dear Readers: Thank you for your interest in my blog at patlowder.com. I have noticed the linked “headlines” in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter occasionally reflect titles I did not choose. I cannot preview what goes to these social media sites, … Continue reading
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Pertussis – 2: The Slaughter of The Innocents
In the last post, I discussed the importance of mucus and cilia. In short, cilia in the trachea and other airways combine with a river of mucus to clean the air we breathe and move it up (yes, against gravity) … Continue reading
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Pertussis – 1: The Creepy Beauty of Mucus
As a chemist, mucus is fascinating stuff. It turns out that mucus is quite difficult to chemically characterize. Mucus is a “non-Newtonian” fluid. It does not act like a “predictable” fluid, water, for example. When you pour a bucket of … Continue reading
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Apologetics
Before I jump into some planned topics, I thought it was important to tell you about me to the extent it helps you understand my thinking and conclusions: After being raised in a small North Carolina town by two damned … Continue reading
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