Technology: June 2009 Archives

Recalling the Apgar Score's Namesake - WSJ.com

A simple way to quantify a newborn's condition motivated vast improvements in neo-natal care:

"As simple as it was, the score transformed deliveries by requiring staffers to carefully observe and assess each baby, assigning a score of 0, 1 or 2 to each of the five categories. Then, as now, few babies get a perfect 10 one minute after birth, since most have bluish toes and fingers until oxygenated blood starts circulating fully. Some doctors became competitive about the scores, and many hospitals began repeating the test at five or 10 minutes to measure whether newborns had improved."

"Most importantly, babies who needed care started to get it, gradually spurring the development of newborn-size resuscitation tools, infant heart-rate monitors and neonatal intensive-care units. Thanks to all those efforts, and the philosophy that came with them, U.S. infant mortality dropped from 58 per 1,000 in the 1930s to 7 per 1,000 today. By the 1970s, it was said, 'every baby born in a hospital around the world is looked at first through the eyes of Virginia Apgar.'"

FORA.tv - MythBuster Adam Savage's Colossal Failures

An hour-long program (speech plus Q&A) at Maker Faire: Adam Savage from MythBusters explains what he learned from a couple of disastrous projects early in his career. Great viewing for the gifted kid (or gifted former kid) who's afraid to try and fail. Some interesting background on how he got into the special effects business and why it's great for polymaths. (Via manasclerk.)

Umbilical cord blood banking and donations bill passed in Ohio

An ethical source of stem cells for effective therapies: "Stem cells that are obtained from umbilical cords have been successfully used in treatment for leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and lymphoma as well as 100 other diseases...."