03/30/2017
On this date in science history, In 1842, physician Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Georgia, first used ether as an anesthetic during a minor operation. He placed an ether-soaked towel over the face of James Venable and removed a tumor from his neck. This event predated Morton's public demonstration of ether by four years, but was not disclosed until 1849 in the Southern Medical Journal, which was after Morton's widely publicized feat. However, Dr. Long's accomplishment in 1842 is now widely considered to represent the discovery of surgical anesthesia. He was the subject on a U.S. stamp issued 8 Apr 1940.
05/11/2016
Richard Feynman holding an O-ring of the type that failed, causing the Challenger space shuttle disaster. He was the member of the Rogers Commission who figured out that the O-rings were not properly sealing at cold temperatures.
05/11/2016
On this date in science history, Richard Feynman was born (1918). Feynman was an American theoretical physicist who was probably the most brilliant, influential, and iconoclastic figure in his field in the post-WW II era. By age 15, he had mastered calculus. He took every physics course at MIT. His lifelong interest was in subatomic physics. In 1942, he went to Los Alamos where Hans Bethe made the 24 year old Feynman a group leader in the theoretical division, to work on estimating how much uranium would be needed to achieve critical mass for the Manhattan (atomic bomb) Project. After the war, he developed Feynman Diagrams, a simple notation to describe the complex behavior of subatomic particles. In 1965, he shared (with Julian Schwinger and Shin-ichiro Tomonaga) the Nobel Prize in Physics for work in quantum electrodynamics.
08/31/2015
Organ transplant humor, courtesy of Gary Larson...
08/31/2015
Keeping a donor heart perfused and beating en route to the recipient. The electrode under the apex maintains a steady heartbeat.
08/31/2015
On this date in science history (in 1968), Dr. Michael E. DeBakey of Houston led the first simultaneous multi-organ transplant from one donor to four recipients. Two kidneys, one lobe of a lung and the heart were removed from a 20-yr-old women who died from a gunshot. The organs were transplanted into four men at Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas. The surgery, which began within eight hours of the woman's death, was performed by five teams totalling more than 60 physicians, nurses and support persons. The heart, lobe of a lung, and two kidneys were transplanted into men aged 50, 39, 41 and 22 respectively. DeBakey was a pioneer in cardiovascular surgery, who had invented or perfected many medical devices, techniques and procedures.
08/11/2015
Opening Night of the Perseid Meteor Shower Annual Show
This week take a little drive to the beach, a field, or anywhere dark with a clear view. Bring a blanket and a pocket full of wishes, because the annual Perseid meteor shower will fill the sky with sho...
05/11/2016
05/11/2016
08/31/2015
08/31/2015
08/31/2015
08/31/2015
08/11/2015