Monday, February 28, 2011

Military deploys acupuncture to treat soldiers' concussions

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — The U.S. military is applying an ancient Chinese healing technique to the top modern battlefield injury for American soldiers, with results that doctors here say are "off the charts."

Cdr Stuessi, a military doctor who treats soldiers at the Concussion Restoration Care Center at Camp Leatherneck, describes the results as "phenomenal." "It's like rewiring a computer; you're hitting certain nerves in the body. So instead of sending up a pain signal to the brain, they send up a signal saying everything's OK. It's almost like faking out the brain," Stuessi said.

Read the entire article at military-deploys-acupuncture
PERSONAL NOTE: I have severe tendonitis in my hands and arthritis in my thumbs caused by 48 years of using computer mice and keyboards. Orthopedic surgeons in VA and TX have told me that an operation MIGHT help so I have resorted to using pain medication when the pain gets severe. A couple of months ago I decided to try acupuncture. Acupuncture hasn't cured the problem but has helped to the extent that I no longer use medication.

Friday, February 11, 2011

World’s Total CPU Power: One Human Brain

"To put our findings in perspective, the 6.4*1018 instructions per second that human kind can carry out on its general-purpose computers in 2007 are in the same ballpark area as the maximum number of nerve impulses executed by one human brain per second,"

It turns out our computers aren't as powerful as we thought…

Read the article at world-computer-data

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder

The City Paper, a small alternative Washington newspaper, published an article detailing dozens of Snyder's inept and unpopular actions as team owner and businessman. It included the 2005 controversy surrounding the removal of more than 130 trees on National Park Service land adjacent to Snyder's home to improve his view of the Potomac River. Afterward Snyder paid a $37,000 fine and planted seedlings to replace the trees. Needless to say it will takes decades for the seedlings to reach the height of the previous trees and meanwhile Mr. Snyder will have an unobstructed view of the river. I remember this well because I lived in Fairfax County Virginia at the time. The episode marked one of the rare times Snyder got crisis PR help. He retained Mike Sitrick, who helped with damage control for the Michael Jackson family after the pop star's death and Paris Hilton after one of her arrests. Mr. Snyder is threatening a lawsuit against the paper and demanding that they fire the author of the article.

Mr. Robert Danno, the Shenandoah Junction resident and National Park Service employee who reported the tree removal to authorities, hasn't been as lucky as Mr. Snyder. Soon after he made his disclosures, he experienced a variety of administrative actions, including temporary reassignment, investigation, frivolous administrative charges, Board of Inquiry, suspension, isolation, permanent reassignment and criminal charges. He was removed from his position as chief ranger and reassigned for more than two years to the George Washington Memorial Parkway, where he was required to commute to Mt. Vernon from West Virginia, to issue picnic permits.

Read the entire article at the-cranky-redskins-fans-guide-to-dan-snyder