Daily Dose of Common Sense

The answer, of course, is no.

Today is the third Friday the 13th in 2009, the most times that combination can possibly occur in one year. It’s rumored that millions of people postpone surgeries or travel on this day, and many are frightened that something bad will happen to them today. Is it true? Are many people paralyzed with fear over Friday the 13th?

It appears not.

…in Chicago, for example, neither O’Hare International Airport nor United Airlines has noticed any drop in the number of people flying on Friday the 13th.

“It’s an old wives’ tale,” said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski in an e-mail.

The same goes for two of the biggest hospitals in the city–Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center–where it appears people are just as likely go to go under the knife that day as any other, and aren’t rushing to the doctor, either.

And, investors don’t care, either. Friday the 13th is typically a good day for the stock market.

So, don’t let the superstition get to you. Travel, invest, and plan events for today as you would any other day. That’s what most of us are doing, anyway. As Stevie Wonder said,

When you believe in things
That you don’t understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition aint the way

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There’s no shortage of products that claim to alleviate arthritis. Copper bracelets are some of the more popular products sold. It is believed by some that wearing a copper bracelet or wrist strap will relieve the pain and discomfort of arthritis. Here is how one site claims it works:

It is no secret that copper is a most excellent conductor of electricity, and besides that, the skin is as much an entry point in the body as a barrier.

Micro doses of copper enter the body and bolster the immune system, and as it’s on the skin, it enters as and when needed (not as in dietary copper).

The copper bracelet seems also to emit elemental and molecular vibrations and other physical phenomena such as a corona effect of the ends of the bracelet.

These vibratory emissions appear to convey some medicinal benefit. In the case of body pains due to some rheumatoid arthritic condition, it appears to be very effective indeed.

Really? Just all from that one tiny bracelet?!

Sounds all very scientific, doesn’t it? Well, as with most products that hint at science but don’t back it up with real facts, it’s bunk. A study just released by a group of scientists in England has concluded that there is no scientific proof of medical benefit from wearing these bracelets. The test subjects experienced no difference in pain, discomfort, or stiffness while wearing copper jewelry. Any benefit felt someone wearing a copper bracelet or wrist band can likely be attributed to a placebo effect.

So, if you thought wearing a piece of copper to cure arthritic conditions sounded too good to be true, you were right.

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Sure, most of us techno-geeks and science nerds get worked up when some movie or TV show blatantly mungs some bit of science or technology (the “sound” from explosions in space, for instance), but do you know what gets our beanie-hat propellers really spinning? When our non-technically minded friends buy some pseudo-science claptrap that they heard from “them”, or read on the Internet.

Nothing fits that mold better than confusion about radiation. Just like with any other word or phrase, it’s always a good start to understand its origins. The word radiation is derived from the word radius, which is the distance from the center of a circle to its edge. So, any phenomenon that spreads out in all directions from where it originates can be said to radiate, and thus can be called radiation.

Sadly, few call sound “acoustic radiation”, or perhaps people might get the commonality. Either that, or they’d think that loud noises will give them cancer. Scratch that idea.

That bad, cancer-causing kind of radiation is “nuclear radiation” (that’s not a real term, just used for emphasis) and is the kind being talked about when something is called radioactive. Its real name is ionizing radiation (because it can strip an atom of electrons, turning it into an ion), and it consists of actual subatomic particles getting thrown around. While it is associated with things like nuclear reactors and bombs, it also just happens naturally. Almost all of the lead in the earth, for instance, once started out as another element, and was transformed into lead by the process of radioactive decay.

Ionizing radiation is bad, and can injure or kill us, because when atoms get ionized, they become very chemically reactive, and all kinds of unintended reactions start to happen in our cells. Cells can die, or worse, accumulate genetic mutations and turn cancerous. When cancer had another cause, however, ionizing radiation can help, as its targeted use can kill just the cancer cells and spare healthy cells.

Then there’s electromagnetic radiation, otherwise known as radio waves or light waves. Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, and I won’t attempt to explain it here. But, in the frequencies/energies in which we use it to run our modern world of technological marvels, it is not, I repeat, not, ionizing radiation. The electromagnetic radiation from your radio, Wi-Fi, cell phone or even microwave oven (which is by far the most powerful electromagnetic device most of us encounter) can not injure you the same way ionizing radiation can. Electromagnetic radiation is a wave, just like a ripple of water in a pond. What radiates out in such a ripple is not particles, like an explosion, but the motion of the water.

(Note: A damaged microwave oven CAN injure you, in the same way that it affects the leftovers you heat up: by heating the water molecules inside your body. NEVER use a microwave oven with a broken door, hinge, latch, etc.)

Now here’s the tricky bit. Although nearly all of the confusion between ionizing radiation and the benign electromagnetic kind comes from the common word being used in the sense of “radiate”, there is another connection.

One of the great mysteries of our universe is that in certain situations, matter and electromagnetic radiation behave like both a wave AND a particle. Light is the most famous example, and is how science first came across the phenomenon. Some ionizing radiation, like x-rays and gamma rays, which are high-energy particles like other ionizing radiation, are ALSO very high frequency electromagnetic waves. Ain’t the universe just the coolest?!

So, while that connection is true, it does not mean that your cell phone, which emits electromagnetic “radiation” of very much less energy/frequency, where the difference in quantity becomes a difference in kind, is radioactive in the sense of a nuclear bomb. Ditto with the cell phone towers, radio station antennas, etc.

In short, Stevie Wonder said it best: “When you believe in things you don’t understand, then you suffer; superstition ain’t the way.”

Photos: SC Fiasco, Comic Book

If you’ve watched TV with commercials lately, chances are you’ve had to suffer through a Jamie Lee Curtis yogurt ad. After hearing the claims made in this ad, you might think yogurt is the next super food. Yogurt will help my digestive problems! Yogurt will keep me healthy! Yogurt will paint my house!

Okay, we made up the last one. But, seriously…has yogurt ever gotten so much healthy street cred? The secret ingredients in Activia, and other similar products, are probiotics. According to the New York Times:

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that work by restoring the balance of intestinal bacteria and raising resistance to harmful germs. Taken in sufficient amounts, they can promote digestive health and help shorten the duration of colds. But while there are thousands of different probiotics, only a handful have been proved effective in clinical trials.

The bottom line is this: there are a lot of different strains of probiotics. Not all of them have been proven to work. The claims of most of these products are unsubstantiated, as recent lawsuits and rulings have declared. In fact, a $35-million decision in a class-action lawsuit against Dannon (makers of Activia) is forcing them to list the specific probiotics used in the yogurt, as well as remove the word “immunity” from the package.

Science-based Medicine has a great article that busts the “immune-boosting” myth. The author does a great job of explaining exactly what is your immune system, and why any product claiming it can “boost” it is ludicrous.

What does that mean: boost the immune system? Most people apparently think that the immune system is like a muscle, and by working it, giving it supplements and vitamins, the immune system will become stronger. Bigger. More impressive, bulging like Mr. Universe’s bicep. That’s the body part I am thinking about. What they are boosting is vague, on par with chi/qi or innate intelligence. They never really say what is being boosted.

The other popular phrase is “support”. A product supports prostate health, or breast health or supports the immune system. It sounds like the immune system is sagging against gravity due to age and needs a lift.

The immune system, if you are otherwise healthy, cannot be boosted, and doing those things you learned in Kindergarten health (reasonable diet, exercise and sleep), will provide the immune system all the boosting or support it needs.

Most experts agree that more research is needed into these claims to see what helpful effect probiotics have on the body.

“The evidence for the general immune strengthening is just not there,” said Barry R. Goldin, a Tufts professor who helped discover LGG but no longer receives royalties from the patent.

So, eat yogurt and other probiotic products because you want to. Don’t eat them and think you’ll be protected against all of society’s ills. Instead, go for a walk, eat some broccoli, and watch this Activia parody from Saturday Night Live.

As Halloween approaches, it’s time for some old urban legends to be dusted off and circulated. First stop: Bobtown, Pennsylvania where the kids won’t be allowed to go door-to-door looking for treats. The scrooges in the small community have cancelled trick or treating. Community leaders say the radical step is being taken to keep kids “safe.” Safe from what, exactly? We’re not sure.

With a party at the fire hall, he says both the kids and the candy they receive would be safe.

Huh?

As Lenore Skenazy pointed out in her book “Free-Range Kids”:

Was there ever really a rash of candy killings? Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, took it upon himself to find out. He studied crime reports from Halloween dating back as far as 1958, and guess exactly how many kids he found poisoned by a stranger’s candy?

A hundred and five? A dozen? Well, one, at least?

“The bottom line is that I cannot find any evidence that any child has ever been killed or seriously hurt by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick-or-treating,” says the professor. The fear is completely unfounded.

Give kids their costumes and candy. They are in more danger of being hit by a car than poisoned treats. So, keep them safe by following some simple common sense rules, like:

• Always accompany young children and, if they’re too old to have an uncool parent tag along, be certain they travel in groups that are as large as practical. Be certain they know not to accept rides from, or go inside the homes of, strangers.
• Get your kids to agree to a move along a pre-planned route and stay in the neighborhood. It’s best to know generally where they are and to set a time at which they must return home to prevent unnecessary risk or worry.
• Be sure the costumes have reflective surfaces and have your kids carry flashlights and glo-sticks. Caution the trick-or-treaters to stick to the sidewalks and be very aware of moving vehicles and only cross at designated crossing areas and traffic lights. Spirits may be running high (in more ways than one), and nighttime driving can also affect the vision of the soberest driver.

The most you have to worry about from Halloween candy is a high dentist bill.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: YAXZONE

The New York Times does a good job of calling Bill Maher to task for his ignorance and misinformation on the flu vaccine. Maher hosts a chat show on HBO and is usually known for his political commentary. But, lately he’s been spending a lot of time leading people astray about vaccines and the H1N1 virus.

He [Maher] said he did not believe that healthy people were vulnerable to dying from the new H1N1 virus. This contradicts statements from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that young, healthy people from ages 5 to 24 appear particularly vulnerable to this flu. About a third of the 76 children who have died of H1N1 since April have had no underlying health problems.

Here is Maher getting schooled by Dr. Bill Frist, a heart surgeon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB5DLf1Qt78&feature=player_embedded

Do not listen to talk show hosts when considering your safety and health. Please talk to doctors and other health professionals. He may have a big mouth, but Maher may not be right. Get the facts for yourself.

Actor Kirk Cameron is taking on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and preparing to spread woo as far as possible. He and some other religious activists will soon distribute their creationist book, which “picks apart” aspects of Darwin’s work, to colleges around the country. You may remember Cameron from such parts as Mike Seaver on Growing Pains, or perhaps as Dexter Riley in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.

Their book attempts to link Darwin’s ideas to the Nazi holocaust, and discusses the scientist’s alleged “disdain for women.” Oh, really? Because Christianity has such a long and documented history of being PRO woman. Like blaming the sins of the world on Eve. Or, prohibiting contraception because women exist just to bear children. Or, considering women as just property throughout much of history.

Cameron said:

“We have a situation in our country where young people are entering college with a belief in God and exiting with that faith being stripped and shredded. What we want to do is have student make an informed, educated decision before they chuck their faith.”

Only, the information he’s distributing is nothing more than scare tactics and misinformation.

“This has been refuted many, many times. The anti-evolutionist fearmongers have to link Darwin to every perceived evil from mankind,” says Kevin Padian, professor of paleontology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Do you really think that, if Darwin could be discredited, it would come from Kirk Cameron? Wouldn’t this news make the rounds in the big science journals? We can only hope the students act rationally and listen to scientists and educators instead.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: kevindooley

I’m a big fan of TV. We recently got Verizon’s FiOS, which has a crazy amount of channels to choose from. So far, I love it. But, as I’m flipping through the guide, some completely ridiculous shows just jump out at me and beg to be commented on. So, here is our first installation of “shows lacking in any common sense whatsoever.”

Boooo!
It’s a ghost! No, wait–it’s just Medium and Ghost Whisperer. These two shows, which are shown back-to-back in what must the network must have dreamt up as “the crazy-chick block,” are based on the premise that ghosts are real. But, they’re not. No evidence of the paranormal has ever been proven. Sooooooooo…..??

That’s why shows like Psych and The Mentalist are so great. They present paranormal abilities as shams, and stress the use of careful observations to solve crimes.

TLC: W.T.F.?
TLC, originally started as THE LEARNING CHANNEL, has totally gone off the rails. Forget that they give Jon & Kate as well as the circus sideshow with 18 kids a platform. That’s bad. But, it’s shows like I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, Your Kid Ate What? and Toddlers and Tiaras that really depress me. Is this really the best TLC can do?

While I haven’t watched these three shows, I’m pretty sure the titles tell me all I need to know. I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. I find that hard to believe and feel very sorry for you and your kid. Your Kid Ate What? Let me guess. Was it really horrible, potentially dangerous, and embarrassing for you, the kid’s parent? So, you’re sharing that memory with the world because….?

Toddlers and Tiaras is just plain wrong. I don’t want to know about a fringe group that dresses up little girls in pageant gowns and Tammy Faye Baker makeup. Please, please, let me live in that ignorance bubble a little while longer. Oh, I can’t? Thanks a LOT, TLC.

Who watches this crap? I’m no TV snob, and will watch (according to my husband) just about anything. But I do draw the line at shows like these.

Tell me what you think. What shows do you think show a lack of sense?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: angelrravelor

A man in Florida claims he opened a can of Diet Pepsi, took a sip, and got a mouth full of rotting frog. Hmmmmm…. The FDA confirms the can contained amphibian parts, but I’m sure skeptical of how the frog got into the can in the first place. Chances are, based on the packaging process, the couple put it in there themselves. If not, the frog’s presence would have to be the result of a worker placing it in the can deliberately. Seems unlikely.

Most claims of this sort turn out to be hoaxes. Remember the woman who found a severed finger in her Wendy’s chili? Turned out the finger came from the husband’s friend, who lost it in an industrial accident. The big tip off? The finger hadn’t been cooked, so investigators smelled a scam.

The FDA has launched an investigation into how the frog got into the can. They have already checked the Pepsi bottling plant from where the can originated. No “adverse conditions or association to this problem” were found. Next, I assume they will be looking at the couple involved with a more discerning eye.

Speaking of the couple, they are seeking legal advice. Even if it were a legit case–which I doubt–is suing the company appropriate? To me, it just smacks of a desperate play to extort money from a big corporation.

So, drink up! The chemical additives and acid in the soda will do far more harm than anything else you might find in there.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: sailorbill

My daughter had a birthday yesterday, and I had several well-wishers ask if she was bouncing off the walls because of sugar. Well, no, actually she was no more hyper yesterday than any other day. Yes, she ate a cupcake, Cracker Jack, Nerds, and a bunch of other junk, but she’s a healthy kid. That, and there’s no such thing as a “sugar high.”

I know, it takes a second for it to sink in. We have been led to believe that sugar makes people (especially kids) hyper. But, it’s just not true. Our bodies do a really good job of regulating the sugar we intake. Many studies have been done on this topic and the conclusions are the same: the amount of sugar that a kid eats does not affect his or her level of activity.

Jessie from Rational Moms did a great in-depth debunking of the sugar high myth. I highly recommend giving it a read.

So, don’t worry about your kids being up all night after eating a bunch of sugar. They’re up late because they want to be up late. Duh.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: terren in Virginia.