If your kids love grilled cheese as much as mine does, you may be interested in the Toastabags from CHEF’s Catalog. Pop a cold cheese sandwich into these woven fiberglass bags, and slip the whole thing into a wide-slot toaster. Voilà! Melted cheese in minutes, and a clean toaster. At least that’s the claim–haven’t tried […]
Spanish scientists last week reported research findings that indicate a risk of bacterial contamination during the common in-vitro fertilization procedure of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where the doctor injects sperm directly into the egg. The research was conducted on mice, not humans, however, and other scientists are saying they don’t believe there is any health
It’s World AIDS Day, and this year’s theme is “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise.” Yes, the odds of living with AIDS are improving, but the war hasn’t been won yet. According to UNAIDS/WHO: More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981. Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans. By December 2005 women accounted
The American Heart Association has just updated its guidelines for CPR, making the process easier to learn and do, even for those with minimal training. It’s my opinion that anyone with kids, or anyone with childcare responsibilities, should be certified in CPR. If you took a course in preparation for your child’s birth, and your
One of the advantages of hosting Thanksgiving this year was that my parents stayed for a few days to help babysit. My partner and I were able to run some errands, including a trip to IKEA, our favorite home-furnishing store. IKEA is fun with kids, too—in fact, it’s one of the most kid-friendly stores that’s
A bit of quick fun for the holiday: Take a moment to participate in the poll on the right and help me solve the age-old question: Is it “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” or “Eensy-Weensy Spider”? Posts here will be sporadic the rest of the week until my extended family has departed. Have a great Thanksgiving, if you’re
Those of you cooking turkeys this holiday season may want to read these tips from Catherine Cutter of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, on how to avoid Salmonella, Campylobacter, and other bacteria-borne illnesses while preparing and serving the big bird and associated trimmings. If you’re of the vegetarian persuasion, or are hosting vegetarians or
World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) yesterday issued its annual 10 Worst Toys list for 2005. The list contains expected items, like paintball shooters, but also stuffed ponies and baby dolls of certain brands. Take a look, just in case.
Ever wonder why there are no colored bubbles? If you have kids, chances are you’ve played with bubble solutions that shimmer and shine, but which are basically clear. Bubbles in a solid hue, however, are a non-trivial problem in chemistry. Until recently, no one had created one. This didn’t deter inventor Tim Kehoe, however, and
After the last post, I thought you might want something uplifting: Research presented last week at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting indicates that sweets relieve stress. This may not be news to many of us, but now we know why it works: sweets cause the body to produce lower levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones.
