I’m in the process of making something. I’m not really sure where it is going, but I like the direction.

With many names, Apple’s newest creation is set to hit the road tomorrow after an unprecedented years worth of “rumors” calling for its unveiling. Someone has quoted Steve Jobs as saying, “This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done.”

Is the pent-up hype too much? I doubt it. Will it be expensive? Maybe, but people will pay for it. Will it solve problems we thought we never had? Probably. Will it feel like the future? Definitely.

This is going to be fun.

I want to live here. I do.

This is freaking amazing: the sounds of ice sheets warming in the morning. Nature is pretty awesome, and destructive.

NBC really sucks.

The Earth is far more nuanced than the naked eye can appreciate.

Discover Magazine points out another beautiful image from the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The images produced by this camera are evocative, stunning, and truly out-of-this world. I love the statement that the HiRISE instrument is his favorite camera in the solar system right now.

Another medicine-related post, this time dealing a little less with the abstract numbers that go into medical decisions. Did you know that Norway represents the most MRSA-free country in the world? Neither did I. When you read the article, though, it becomes immediately clear why: less wide-spread, reflexive, knee-jerk use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Add to that the antibacterial crazy nature of household cleaning products, foams, sprays, soaps, anti-germ surfaces and you get what western society has now: ever-rising numbers of MRSA, VRE, and multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. I find this very interesting how the use of sane government-implemented policies and laws created an atmosphere in Norway that allowed physicians to treat appropriately rather than as a reflex or because a patient asked for antibiotics. What are the chances American politicians might move in a similar direction. Hmm. Zero.

Yes. I’m a pessimist.

Here is some *light* reading for some of the number juggling (or not) that physicians deal with every day with regard to ordering screening exams/tests for their patients. Being a physician, grasping these numbers is difficult. Realizing the difference between sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value was paramount in many of my medical school lectures. Even then, though, the concepts, as shown in the link, are abstract, obtuse, and not easily accounted for in daily decision making.

Human beings taking care of human beings. There is bound to be some imperfection. Now, if only we could invent mammography@ (i.e., a highly sensitive screening test) and mammography* (i.e., a highly specific confirmation test), we’d be better off. Think for a moment why two tests would be needed.