MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Not Totally Rad' source. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:52:08 +0100 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/samurai-radiologist-interviewed-by-rsna.html In a shameless bit of self-promotion, I now point you to the latest online edition of RSNA News.The News interviewed me and several other gadget hound/radiologists about our favorite techie tools. Mine, of course: the iPhone.Besides quoting radiology alpha geeks, the article also lists some morsels from the upcoming RSNA meeting in Chicago. Look for me and other discerning attendees at Wii, iPhone, and podcasting talks, while the great unwashed masses are off hearing about barium and billing. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964951 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:57:00 +0100 1964951 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/rsna-looms.html The giant, annual intergalactic conclave of radiologists known as the RSNA moves relentlessly towards us. This juggernaut transpires November 30 - December 5, and I have to go.Every year after Thanksgiving, hapless planetary radiologists fly off to Chicago to spend a week wandering around an overpacked convention center, sweating in overheated buses, and eating overpriced food. Then there's the weather -- even the Chicago tourist board can't say much good about this time of year there. Good times.Then, there are the technical exhibits. These last two words don't well convey the huge radiology bazaar that unfolds in McCormick Center. Imagine a double-sized warehouse store, packed with imaging gear and populated by the denizens of a Star Wars bar. These alien creatures will dress in three pi... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964952 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:21:00 +0100 1964952 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/osirix-app-now-available-for-iphone.html OsiriX , the wonderful open-source Mac image viewer, just announced the availability of an iPhone version.Like a lot of imaging software, OsiriX lets one look at X-rays, ultrasounds, CT and MR images. Besides merely viewing, it also lets one reconstruct 3D images and rotate them around.Unlike most imaging software, OsiriX is written by radiologists who also happen to be clever programmers. Also unlike most imaging software, OsiriX doesn't require a second mortgage. The full Mac-based version is free, and the iPhone app is $20.Why should a non-physician care about Osirix? Because this little app will let you carry around a library of your own personal medical images. Even in my prior life as an internist, I always urged patients to keep their own copy of their more important images. The Osi... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964953 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:34:00 +0100 1964953 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/maple-leaf-rag-played-by-scott-joplin.html The YouTube comment on this clip states simply:Maple leaft Rag, recorded on Pianola Roll actually played by Scott JoplinI first heard this Joplin classic at a college friend's home decades ago. After dinner, he sat down at the family pump organ and played the heck out of this tune.The tune's ability to blow me away remains undiminished. Hearing it from its author's own hands is an even greater treat. I'm going to smile a lot more today.(via kung fu grippe) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1948388 Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:02:00 +0100 1948388 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/weird-body-quiz.html In a desperate attempt to take my mind off the "E" word today, I stumbled across The Weird Body Quiz at the New York Times site. It's probably a good thing I went into radiology instead of specializing in weird body facts -- I scored a paltry 60%.This quiz is taken from a list of unusual medical questions compiled by a surgeon and her teenage daughters called "Why Don't Your Eyelashes Grow? Curious Questions Kids Ask About the Human Body". Sounds like just the place to get some just-in-time CME on boogers, hiccups, pee and farts. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1931264 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:04:00 +0100 1931264 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-ballot.html Two very topical black & white Dan Piraro cartoons really nail how many of us are feeling this evening.(via BizarroBlog) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1931265 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:49:00 +0100 1931265 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/lay-research.html The latest PartiallyClips strip suggests an intriguing second life for some of the high tech gear we've got lying around our radiology department. So many possibilities, so little time... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1931266 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:29:00 +0100 1931266 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/happy-halloween.html One of my c0-workers is a Jedi of balloon art. She graciously allowed me to post one of her latest works:I spend a lot of my work time looking at skeletons, and appreciate the extra details she put into the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints (seen from behind). (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1922043 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:48:00 +0100 1922043 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/grand-rounds-vol-5-no-5.html This week's edition of Grand Rounds is up, hosted this week by Pallimed, a hospice and palliative medicine blog.My contribution to this edition concerns the little-known Banjo Center of the Brain, and is listed in the comment section.  Look for "We need a banjo to OR 3 stat!" (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1892561 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:22:00 +0100 1892561 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/hoedown-throwdown.html This short video was posted to YouTube about 10 days ago by mikehoye, who says:I got off the subway at Bloor and Yonge last night, and this is what I saw; some buskers with a fiddle and a banjo were playing, and these four other guys just started to pop it and lock it, apparently just for the hell of it. It cheered me right up.Cheered me up too. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1889272 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:02:00 +0100 1889272 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/always-doctor-even-in-dying-of-light.html Medical skill is not commonly associated with writing ability. For that reason, it's always great to find physicians who not only break that stereotype but smash it to pieces. I'd like to recommend Always a Doctor, Even in the Dying of the Light by Kenneth Weinberg, M.D., an emergency room physician who just wrote about the death of his radiologist father in the New York Times.I don’t know how he stayed alive so long with blood counts that I, as an emergency physician, associate only with patients at the edge of death; I don’t know why his blood felt cold; and most of all, I don’t know why his dying brought no tears to my eyes.Was it because after his memorial service, determined to celebrate his life, my brothers and I bought Champagne — and then, at my mother’s request, went in... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888629 Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:03:00 +0100 1888629 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/blind-men-and-elephant-and-donkey.html "Blind monks examining an elephant" by Itcho HanabusaAnyone doing medical research for more than 20 minutes soon learns that they can get wildly different results depending on just how they slice and dice their data. A wonderful example of this appeared a few days ago in the New York Times. Tommy McCall, former information graphics editor of Money Magazine, poses an intriguing question in his short op ed piece: Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants:Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888630 Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:03:00 +0100 1888630 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/grand-rounds-vol-5-no-4.html Cost-saving automated external defibrillator storage. (A) Vending machine. (B) Advertising box. (figure used with permission)This week's edition of Grand Rounds is up, hosted this week by the Anesthesioboist. She groups this week's posts into a movie theme. My contribution, AED Lessons from Japan, appears under the heading of Educational Materials (our section's personal movie theme: Elf). (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888631 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:00:00 +0100 1888631 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/banjo-center-of-brain.html I've used my banjo in a number of venues, but I've never brought it in to work. Looks like some Nashville neurosurgeons have beat me to it.Bluegrass legend Eddie Adcock recently underwent brain surgery to treat a hand tremor. During this procedure, his surgeons placed electrodes deep into his brain to stimulate the thalamus at just the right spot to inhibit his tremor.Alas, the banjo center of the brain is not an area well-known to neuroanatomists. To pick the optimal location for the electrodes, the surgery was performed under local anesthesia while Eddie played his banjo. He was thus able to update the surgeons in real-time as to whether the tremor was better or worse, letting them get the lead placement just right.The BBC has posted some remarkable video and audio clips recorded during ... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1873771 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:32:00 +0100 1873771 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/master-of-understatement.html Paul Krugman, economist, Princeton professor, and eloquent op-ed columnist for the New York Times, is also a master of understatement. In his first blog posting this morning, he wrote simply:A funny thing happened to me this morning …His initial reaction to the "funny thing":My immediate conclusion was that was an obviously fake Swedish accent. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1873772 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:09:00 +0100 1873772 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/bush-last-100-days.html As of today, George Bush is down to his final 100 days in office. What will he do with this time? Here are some ideas from his predecessor... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871440 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:54:00 +0100 1871440 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/gray-slate-in-08.html After careful consideration of the issues, I've decided which candidate I'm backing on November 4th. No red or blue party for me, I'm voting gray... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871441 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:04:00 +0100 1871441 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/subprime-primer.html If your economic training matches mine (single mandatory college economics course), you may find the following slideshow handy in understanding the current subprime mortgage fiasco.Caveats:you'll need to view this in "Full Screen" mode to read most of the textsome of the language is crude, though perhaps not crude enoughSubprime PrimerView SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: subprime mortgages)(via Presentation Zen) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871442 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:51:00 +0100 1871442 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/radiologist-steps-down-as-head-of-nih.html Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. retires as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the end of this month.Dr. Zerhouni stands out as being the first radiologist to lead this august organization, and has accomplished quite a bit during his tenure, despite lackluster presidential support. I'm especially proud of his standing up to Bush on stem-cell research.As reported by Nature News, in his testimony to the Senate in March 2007,...he said that US science would be better served with access to more stem cell lines. In a competitive world, he told senators, "it is important for us not to fight with one hand tied behind our back here."The timing of his retirement is interesting, as it takes place about 4 days before the upcoming presidential election. Again from Nature News:Zerhouni, 57, ... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871443 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:05:00 +0100 1871443 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/easy-as-pi.html XKCD presents a sextet of intriguing sex positions.In this context, at least, a natural log is not as natural as one might think... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1866323 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:16:00 +0100 1866323 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/we-see-right-through-your-crap.html As a big fan of the Bizarro cartoon and blog, I was pleased to see radiology featured in a recent panel.This Bizarro cartoon is brought to you by Painful Truth Imaging Company. "We see right through your crap." (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1866324 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:21:00 +0100 1866324 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/will-we-get-bailout-too.html Great news! A solution has been found to the U.S. healthcare crisis. At least it has according to John McCain:Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.Crikey. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that that will work just as well for healthcare as it has for banking lately. And "subprime" healthcare is an innovation I'm not eager to see...(via Bad Astronomy) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1863691 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:32:00 +0100 1863691 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/temper-fugit.html "The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said without even looking around."-- "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"There are certainly interesting political waters roiling around the U.S. these days. Since we're talking about politics, it can be hard to swim clear of the usual boatloads of punditry, rhetoric and demagoguery. However, amongst this noise and turbulence, it's nice to find occasional conservative and liberal islands of calm and rationality. It's especially interesting when some of them seem to be in agreement for a change.In McCain Loses His Head, George Will recently likened John McCain and his temper to that of the Queen of Hearts, and opines:Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behav... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1863692 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:37:00 +0100 1863692 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/volvosaurus-rex.html Hot car stories usually leave me cold. My own auto needs are fairly utilitarian and pretty well covered by a Subaru Forester, which carries us ably through all kinds of weather and terrain. However, a hot car story involving Paul Newman, David Letterman and Jon Stewart piqued my curiosity enough to make an exception.If you are likewise intrigued by this cast of characters:Read the following transcript of David Letterman telling the story to Jon Stewart in 1995 (via alt.fan.letterman).Then watch the YouTube video at the end of the post, in which Letterman adds further juicy details, during a recent Late Show final tribute to Paul Newman.Finally, check out pictures of the cars themselves on DaddyTypesTranscript:STEWART: -- what has been the coolest thing that's happened to you while you've d... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1863693 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:47:00 +0100 1863693 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/aed-lessons-from-japan.html For some years now, automated external defibrillators (AED) have greatly increased the likelihood of surviving a cardiac arrest in the U.S. In Japan, however, lay usage of AEDs was not authorized until July 2004.Hideo Mitamura (2008). Public access defibrillation: advances from Japan. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine DOI:10.1038/ncpcardio1330This recent article by Hideo Mitamura details some of the societal, legal and attitudinal changes in Japanese society since 2000 that led to this change. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration seems to have gotten the ball rolling there in 2001, by making AEDs mandatory on all US domestic and international flights (including those of Japan Airlines). The well-publicized 2002 squash court death of Prince Takamodo of the Imperial family... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1854106 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:29:00 +0100 1854106 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/200-years-of-electoral-maps.html I'm probably as tired as anyone of the flood of red-state / blue-state maps that are currently rising in the pre-election news crescendo. Even so, the fascinating set of interactive maps at 270t0Win.com grabbed my brain for about an hour today.The site designers have linked a considerable amount of historical information to interactive U.S. maps, which allow one to follow the political fortunes of different parties for the entire presidential history of the U.S. No matter what one's political bent, it's both troubling and comforting to see how quickly this map can change. For example, view this chart, which shows currently blue state of Washington cycling between blue and red every 3 - 5 elections.Some of these maps are very soothing to eyes weary of red and blue only. It's nice to see a p... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1854107 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:26:00 +0100 1854107 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/10/hoist-on-their-own-petard.html I've always found racial stereotyping rather repugnant. Growing up in the U.S. South, I got plenty of chances to see it in action. Since then, I've learned that the South has no monopoly on this -- I've seen it in every other part of the U.S., and in every other country I've visited.It's therefore rather delicious to watch a Jedi master of satire like Bill Maher point this type of demagoguery right back the other way at some very deserving targets...(via BizarroBlog) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1845809 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:55:00 +0100 1845809 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/presidential-candidates-and-science.html Nature magazine is one of the preeminent science journals in the known galaxy. With U.S. elections looming this November, Nature was naturally (what else) interested in what the two major presidential candidates think about science.They pursued this question the old-fashioned way -- they asked the candidates:Barack Obama accepted Nature's invitation to answer 18 science-related questions in writing; John McCain's campaign declined. Obama's answers to many of the questions are printed here... Wherever possible, Nature has noted what McCain has said at other times on these topics.Sounds like a clear win for Obama in the lip service war, at least.Why would a lowly radiologist care about this? I mean, we're not considered Real Doctors™. To make it worse, physicians are not even Real Scientis... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841936 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:45:00 +0100 1841936 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/grand-rounds-vol-5-no-2.html This week's edition of Grand Rounds just went online, hosted this week by Jeffrey at his Monash Medical Student blog.  His theme, "medicine and war" seems to be curiously apropos for my contribution: And Then He Sewed the Guy's Head Back On...Jeffrey also scores extra props for the appropriately lurid photo he located on Flickr to accompany the link to my blog. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838495 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:49:00 +0100 1838495 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/surviving-cardiac-arrest-location.html This study estimated 3 different survival rates: all cardiac arrests, all arrests in which resuscitation was attempted, and all arrests with shockable rhythms. I've summarized these 3 rates for 9 of the 10 centers in the bar chart below.The top of the red bar is the survival rate for all cardiac arrests.Many of the 20,520 arrests were not resuscitated, for various reasons (do-not-attempt-resuscitation directives, terminal illness, etc.). The top of the green bar represents survival for those who did receive resuscitation.  As one can see, it's a lot better to be resuscitated than not resuscitated.Not all cardiac arrests are equal. Patients with arrest due to ventricular fibrillation and other shockable rhythms have a much better chance of survival than arrests from other causes. The top o... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838496 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:17:00 +0100 1838496 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/e-mailing-your-doctor.html Doctor, should I have the surgery?Even mere radiologists get asked this question -- usually while they are performing face-to-face procedures on their patients (or face-to-butt, in the case of a barium enema). I usually give the stock reply that I'm a diagnostician, and treatment concerns are way out of my area of expertise.When patients started e-mailing questions like this to me in the '90's, they were enough of a novelty that I answered them all. Currently, when each day brings me 50 - 100 nonspam e-mails, that's out of the question, and I cope by ignoring most of them. My reasons include:not enough timeout of my area of expertiseI've never met the patientrarely any way to verify they are who they say they are or have what they say they havepotential legal exposureyadda yadda...I do mak... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838497 Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:11:00 +0100 1838497 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/forensic-cake-pathology.html A friend just tipped me off to the Cake Wrecks blog, whose byline says it all:  When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.The latest posting has a medical theme:  a cake baked in the ironic shape of an insulin pen.  It would be swell if the right shape could cancel out things like calories.  Alas, a pile of insulin-shaped sugar is still just a pile of sugar.Jen's cake post mortems are a hoot to read. For more interesting cake pathology, check out other faves from this site, including Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys, Sexual Harassment Cake, The First Censored Cake Wreck, and the Creepy Baby Cake. Follow the construction of the latter cake in the video below:(hat tip to Anita Anderson) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1830595 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:49:00 +0100 1830595 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/listen-to-yourself.html Alas, this probably also applies to bloggers and med school professors.  Eep.  Another home run from the excellent XKCD site. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1830596 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:35:00 +0100 1830596 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/tone-for-our-sins.html One of my fellows is the only person in the whole section with an actual ring on his phone. Plain vanilla rings are now so rare that every time he gets a call, we all ask, "What's that sound?".(via xkcd.com) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1813108 Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:54:00 +0100 1813108 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-then-he-sewed-guy-head-back-on.html This is a story about my med school roommate. Not for him the cool, dark caverns of radiology -- he went into ear, nose and throat (ENT). While I learned about CT and ultrasound, he studied tympanoplasties and facial reconstruction. While I battled barium enema blow-outs, he struggled with snot, or as he called it: DIMPS and IMPS (dessicated inspissated mucopurulent secretions and inspissated mucopurulent secretions).After a stint in the Air Force, I headed for the hushed groves of academic radiology. My roomie got out of the Navy about the same time, and headed for a solo practice in the foothills of the California Gold Country. He shared call with the only other ENT in town, and his practice started out fairly slowly and routinely.This all suddenly changed during dinner one night, with a... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1810450 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:28:00 +0100 1810450 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/watching-football-on-wayback-machine.html The closest I come to watching football these days is reading the knee MR's of local players. However, I was fascinated by this Mark Bowden article in the Atlantic Monthly: Distant Replay.As part of his research for a book, The Best Game Ever, Bowden watches game footage of the 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants with Andy Reid, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Dead tree & Kindle versions of the bookA great review of the evolution of professional football over the past 50 years, as seen through the eyes of a Jedi master:“Okay,” he’d say, when he had examined a play from snap to tackle, “here’s what happened.” Then out would pour a detailed explication: what the offense was trying to do, how the defense was trying to stop it,... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1810451 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:12:00 +0100 1810451 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/world-first-fungus-opera.html The world's first fungus opera: coprophilous (they live on cow poop) fungi discharging their spores, accompanied by the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore.Don't try this at home -- unless you have a 250,000 frame/second video camera. The spores are blasted away from the parental unit at 180,000 g's of acceleration, reaching speeds of up to 55 mph. Fortunately, my human patients are much slower off the mark, making their imaging a lot easier.For more details on these fascinating organisms, see Money et al. in the journal PLOS One.(via The Loom) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1799247 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:03:00 +0100 1799247 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/giant-animal-smasher-may-discover.html As I reported here recently, scientists at CERN are now using the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva to probe atomic structure. Their quarry includes the elusive Higgs boson.Physicians and other members of the soft sciences will be delighted to learn of progress on the Giant Animal Smasher, now under construction near Dallas, TX. As one CERN scientist stated:Biologists are just jealous of all the attention the LHC has been getting. Since they aren't real scientists, they had to come up with this atrocity.Much of the early work in animal smashing is anecdotal, and has largely been carried out informally by pickup and semi-trailer trucks on the roadways of the world. However, this important work has been greatly limited by local highway speed limits.The GAS, however, can theoretically collide a... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1799248 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:06:00 +0100 1799248 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/interview-with-vampire-suit.html Last month, I blogged about the need for a randomized clinical trial of parachutes. Looks like the experiment has already begun in Norway...I'm just thankful that that vampire suiting hasn't hit, so to speak, our area trauma centers yet.(via Geekologie) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1791966 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:48:00 +0100 1791966 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/x-ray-whisperer.html I got laryngitis last week, and spent most of my work days whispering my findings to the residents and fellows. My voice came back online yesterday just enough so that I could give two hours of lectures at a CME course. Whew!After spending the past week talking funny, I found the following performance by Adam Savage to be especially hilarious... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1783800 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:47:00 +0100 1783800 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/is-it-end-of-world-yet.html Some hysteria has occurred over the idea that the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva will create a mini black hole today that will eat the earth.For those spending way too much time worrying about this possibility, a helpful website has been created to help you answer the following question:Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?Click here to learn the answer.Not convinced? The Bad Astronomer offers further reassurance here.(via Daring Fireball) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1783801 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:27:00 +0100 1783801 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/top-ten-viagra-ad-straplines-recycled.html I just found the following list on the PharmaGossip site. Like the old fortune cookie game, where you add "in bed" to every fortune, you can also add "Viagra" to classic ad straplines for other items. Here's some of the results...10. Viagra, Whaazzzz up!9. Viagra, The quicker pecker picker upper.8. Viagra, like a rock!7. Viagra, When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.6. Viagra, Be all that you can be.5. Viagra, Reach out and touch someone.4. Viagra, Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.3. Viagra, Home of the whopper!2. Viagra, We bring good things to Life!1. This is your penis. This is your penis on drugs.(via AdPharm Blog) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1765572 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:21:00 +0100 1765572 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/two-minute-presentation-workshop.html The UBC Terry Project has a swell idea: bring 8 of UBC's most fascinating and engaging students together for a day, where they can give the talk of their lives to 350 of their peers.If this sounds familiar, it's because the conference is intentionally modeled on the wonderful TED conferences. Unlike TED, you don't have to be a Nobel laureate, write a best-seller or cure cancer -- you just have to be a UBC student willing to go for it.Even for us non-UBCers, the following short (1:49) promo video from the Terry Project provides a great presentation workshop all by itself on Things to Avoid When Speaking Publicly.(via Pharyngula) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1761292 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:01:00 +0100 1761292 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/this-weeks-edition-of-grand-rounds-just.html This week's edition of Grand Rounds just went online, hosted this week by Laurie at her blog: A Chronic Dose.My addition to this carnival bridges two of my favorite worlds: medicine and music.  As an ivory tower radiologist, I give and receive a lot of presentations. Over the years, I've really learned to really, really hate presentations that suck.  My post on Jazz and the Art of Medical Presentations shares some of the things I've learned from the jazz world on how to avoid presentation suckage in my own talks. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1752017 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:59:00 +0100 1752017 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/bakery-hannibal-lecter-would-love.html My spouse and I just finished watching the excellent second season of Dexter. Only minutes later, by interesting coincidence, I ran into this gruesome but fascinating post on the "Body Bakery" in Ratchaburi, Thailand. This bakery is the studio of Thai artist Kittiwat Unarrom. Therein he sculpts amazingly realistic (and highly edible) replicas of dismembered human body parts out of bread. These are then packaged as food items and sold in the showroom of his gallery. It's been pretty hard to gross me out since cadaver lab back in med school, but civilians may find Unarrom's work a bit disturbing. The Shape and Colour blog conveys this unease quite articulately. (via Movin' Meat) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1747702 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:26:00 +0100 1747702 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/jazz-and-art-of-medical-presentations.html As an ivory tower radiologist, I give and receive a lot of presentations. Over the years, I've really learned to really, really hate presentations that suck. For inspiration and tips on how to avoid presentation suckage myself, I frequently visit Garr Reynolds' excellent Presentation Zen site. Being a musician myself, I found his posting on Jazz and the Art of Connecting particularly interesting. In this post, Reynolds (who paid his way through college playing jazz) shares quotes from jazz greats that are relevant to non-musical presentations. Here's one:Dizzy Gillespie: It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.Amen. I'm frequently asked to cram way too much information into way too little time, e.g. 4 years of radiology residency into a 75 minute talk. Instead, I spend the ti... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1744315 Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:42:00 +0100 1744315 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/anatomic-product-names.html One wonders how long it can be before we see lap belt editions from the same maker. A company this creative is bound to come up with similar single entendres like PussyCat™ or FreeWilly™ (or worse) any day now...(via Real Dan Lyons) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1744316 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:43:00 +0100 1744316 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/grand-rounds-vol-4-no-48.html I'm in back in town from one final week of summer vacation and am belatedly posting a link to this week's edition of Grand Rounds, hosted this week by Kerri at the Six Until Me blog.My contribution is yet another round of medical dictation errors: Normal Sphincter and Nose Coordination. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1729817 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:00:00 +0100 1729817 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/in-vivo-paleontology.html Some of the medical images sent to me for interpretation come with so little patient history that I feel a paleontologist.At times like these it's nice to be reminded of how much tougher my job would be if my patients actually had been dead for 9000 years, with no medical record left other than their bones.The National Geographic video below shows skeletons from a wonderful find in Northern Niger.Figure 5. Mid-Holocene burials and skull.(doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002995.g005)See the original paper in PLoSOne by Sereno et al. for many more details on this find.(via Pharyngula) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1724395 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:00:00 +0100 1724395 http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2008/08/shadow-pictures-of-pilobolus.html I'm a long-time fan of Pilobolus, the wonderful dance group.As someone who works all day long in the land of shadows, I am especially fond of these three routines: (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1714910 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:00 +0100 1714910