Paths To Knowledge (dot Science)

What is actually real in Objective Reality? How do you know? Now, prove it's real!

Archive for May 19th, 2009

It’s weather AND climate: 20cm of Snow in Edmonton area May 19th, 2009

Posted by pwl on May 19, 2009

You’ve got to be kidding. This has everything to do with climate! WOW! The area is being drenched with snow!

Update 1: It turns out that May 2009 (is) was quite cold up here in Canada. See a Canada has Cold May Report. Personally I vote for an increase in global temperatures to say what it was 8,000 to 4,000 years ago during the Roman Age or even a little higher. Brrr… in Vancouver. – pwl

Edmonton is set to welcome a 20 cm dump of snow today – just weeks before the official start of summer.

Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for the region yesterday, still in effect today, stating the city will likely be blanketed with the white stuff by this afternoon.

The forecasted high is 5 C.

“The worst has yet to come,” said Environment Canada weatherman Greg Pearce. “You’re not out of the woods yet.”

About 4.5 cm of the snow landed in the Edmonton area yesterday, forcing unhappy campers to storm from a RV park in droves and keeping sun worshippers indoors.

The mercury remained in the low single digits.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Climate Science, Humbled by Nature, Ignorance to Knowledge, It's weather AND climate!, Rational Thinking, Science Education, Science over Propaganada, Science Smackdown, The End is Nigh, The Sky Is Falling, Yeah Right | 1 Comment »

How do you know if you or someone else has Swine Flu? Plus, how to stop spreading Swine Flu and reduce your risk in getting it

Posted by pwl on May 19, 2009

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of the 2009 “swine flu” H1N1 virus are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The 2009 outbreak has shown an increased percentage of patients reporting diarrhea and vomiting. The 2009 H1N1 virus is not zoonotic swine flu, as it is not transmitted from pigs to humans, but from person to person.

Symptoms of Swine Fu

Because these symptoms are not specific to swine flu, a differential diagnosis of probable swine flu requires not only symptoms but also a high likelihood of swine flu due to the person’s recent history. For example, during the 2009 swine flu outbreak in the United States, CDC advised physicians to “consider swine influenza infection in the differential diagnosis of patients with acute febrile respiratory illness who have either been in contact with persons with confirmed swine flu, or who were in one of the five U.S. states that have reported swine flu cases or in Mexico during the 7 days preceding their illness onset.” A diagnosis of confirmed swine flu requires laboratory testing of a respiratory sample (a simple nose and throat swab).

The term differential derives from the word difference: careful differential diagnosis involves first making a list of possible diagnoses, then attempting to remove diagnoses from the list until at most one diagnosis remains. In some cases, there will remain no diagnosis; this suggests the physician has made an error, or that the true diagnosis is unknown to medicine. Removing diagnoses from the list is done by making observations and using tests that should have different results, depending on which diagnosis is correct.

Posted in Biology, Complex Systems, Eeek!, Health, Invaders from Earth, Medicine, Rational Thinking, Science Education, Terrorfying, The End is Nigh, The Sky Is Falling, Video, Yikes! | 1 Comment »

 
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