Adkins Family Blog » health

Wear Your Seatbelt

Brian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:44:02 +0000

I felt this video was very well done.

Swine Flu Precaution

Brian — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:23:59 +0000

My friend Bud Phillips passed along this health tip. To help avoid swine flu, don’t do this!

Something tells me this is going viral…

Best seats to survive a plane crash.

Brian — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:29:36 +0000

MYTH: It Doesn’t Matter Where You Sit

“It’s like a lottery to pick your seat.”
-Nora Marshall, passenger survival expert, National Transportation Safety Board

“One seat is as safe as the other.”
-Boeing Web site

“It’s an age-old question. There’s just no way to say.”
-Federal Aviation Administration spokesman

“There is no safest seat.”
-airsafe.com

REALITY: It’s Safer In the Back.

The funny thing about all those expert opinions: They’re not really based on hard data about actual airline accidents. A look at real-world crash stats, however, suggests that the farther back you sit, the better your odds of survival. Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front.

Jason McElwain

Brian — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:49:25 +0000

Thanks to Chris Crompton for passing this on to me. Excellent, inspiring story – about 2 minutes long.

Here’s a Longer version from NBA halftime that also shows him meeting President Bush and the effect Jason has had on others.

National Sex Offender Registry

Brian — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:20:59 +0000

Ignorance is not bliss…

National Sex Offender Registry

UPDATE: Here’s one specifically for North Carolina.

The Real Rain Man

Brian — Fri, 04 May 2007 12:47:18 +0000

Who was the game winning pitcher in game three of the 1926 world series? Who were the four people in George Washington’s cabinet? When was Sir Walter Raleigh executed? What day of the week was that? Kim Peek has no trouble answering questions like these and thousands more from memory. He is the person the “Rain Man” character was based on. He reads eight books a day. A page that would normally take three minutes to read takes him eight to ten seconds. He reads the left page with his left eye and the right page with his right eye and retains 98% of it. The neurologist who originally diagnosed him only gave them five minutes of his time because he was late for a golf game; he said they should put Kim in an institution and forget about him.

Other parts of the series:

CFL Mercury Nightmare

Brian — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:46:15 +0000

I came across a story on slashdot.org regarding one man’s “nightmare” from using a compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL). I had no idea that CFL’s contained mercury! I did a little more research and found the following links:

CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury
“But the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government haven’t come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them.”

“Experts agree that it’s not easy for most people to recycle these bulbs. Even cities that have curbside recycling won’t take the bulbs. So people have to take them to a hazardous-waste collection day or a special facility.”

Exposure to Mercury From Fluorescent Light Bulbs
“The diagnosis was mercury poisoning, and an investigation of his environment disclosed that he had been exposed to mercury from broken fluorescent light bulbs.”

I also found some articles that attempted to minimize the risks of CFL’s, but they seemed to be primarily from companies that sell CFL’s. I would advise educating yourself on the pros/cons of CFL’s prior to using them.

While reading some of the articles, I came across Dimethylmercury (not in CFL’s). This nasty neurotoxin was responsible for killing a researcher who accidentally spilled a drop or two on her latex gloved hand! Absorbing a thousandth of a milliliter is fatal.