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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

The Whovel

After three Newfoundland blizzards in 5 days, and more to come tonight, I could really use one of these.

Whovel

"today's most advanced snow removal machine - and human powered"

"The Whovel uses your body weight to lift and throw snow and slush. With leverage, the Whovel magnifies your effort. It can double the power you supply and avoid many of the risks associated with snow shoveling."

via GizModo.
posted at 1/25/2005 09:40:29 PM

Friday, January 07, 2005

2004-2005 Flu Season CDC Weekly Update
Here it comes. Italy is reporting 100,000 cases, with 40% of all the cases being children aged between 0 and 4 years. And 50% of current US cases are in the North East US. However, it does not look to be near as bad as last year. Also, the current vaccine appears to be a good match for most of the flu variants currently circulating.
CDC - Influenza (Flu) | Weekly Report: Influenza Summary Update 52, 2004-2005 Season
"CDC has antigenically characterized 107 influenza viruses collected by U.S. laboratories since October 1, 2004: eighty-five influenza A (H3N2) viruses and 22 influenza B viruses. All of the influenza A (H3N2) isolates were characterized as A/Fujian/411/2002-like (H3N2), which is the influenza A (H3N2) component recommended for the 2004-05 influenza vaccine."
"Nineteen of the influenza B viruses isolated this season belong to the B/Yamagata lineage and were characterized as B/Shanghai/361/2002-like, which is the influenza B component recommended for the 2004-05 influenza vaccine. Three influenza B viruses belong to the B/Victoria lineage and were characterized as B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like."
posted at 1/7/2005 06:38:45 PM