HHMI’s Holiday Lecture Series: 2012

Credit HHMI

# 6810

 

A couple of years ago I highlighted an online (and free)  holiday lecture series  offered by HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) that focused on Infectious Diseases. These four (roughly 1 hour lectures) were geared for and delivered to an audience of high school science students.

 

Which means that . . . while informative . . .  you didn’t have to be a full fledged microbiologist or virologist in order to follow along.

 

These lecture series are a yearly event, and over the past 18 years they have focused on a variety of topics, including: Cancer, Genomics, Biodiversity, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Infectious Diseases.

 

This year, the focus is on our changing planet, with four lectures available.

 

2012 Holiday Lectures

Changing Planet: Past, Present, Future

The 2012 Holiday Lectures are viewable via Flash streaming (720p HD or 360p SD) or in an iOS MP4 download (360p SD) compatible with iPhone, iPod, and iPad.

Lecture 1: The Deep History of a Living Planet, by Andrew Knoll, Ph.D.

 Lecture 2: Building Scientific Knowledge: The Story of Plate Tectonics, by Naomi Oreskes, Ph.D.

 Lecture 3: Earth's Climate: Back to the Future, by Daniel Schrag, Ph.D.

 Lecture 4: Climate Change: How Do We Know We're Not Wrong?, by Naomi Oreskes, Ph.D.
 

You’ll find a variety of lecture series in the archives, along with a number of `informal talks’.

 

These videos are a wonderful resource, with dozens of hours available on subjects ranging from genetics to anthropology, and everything in between.

 

The rest of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute  website is well worth exploring as well, for it contains numerous short science films, virtual laboratories, and interactive mini-lessons, all designed to feed your `inner science geek’.

 

Many of these videos, lectures, and podcasts are also accessible via iTunes.

 

Highly recommended, whether you are a young student just starting out, or an old science geek like myself.

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APHA Get Ready Podcasts

 

 

# 6231

 

 

Last month in APHA: Some Clever Valentines Day Preparedness Messages I highlighted some preparedness e-cards available from the American Public Health Association’s Get Ready Campaign.

 

Today I’ve a couple of dozen preparedness podcasts available through APHA, on a wide variety of topics.

The latest one is on what you ought to have in your first aid kit (you do have a kit at home, at work, and another in your car, don’t you?).  

 

Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 25: “Tips for creating a useful first-aid kit”

Released: March 7, 2012. Running time: 21:14

Description: What should you put in your first-aid kit? Richard Bradley, MD, a member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council and an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, provides tips on what you need to have on hand for an emergency.

• Play podcast
• Read transcript
• Download a Healthy You tipsheet from The Nation's Health (PDF)

 

You’ll find 24 podcasts available (and growing), along with transcripts, and other toolkits, on this page. A few of the topics covered include:

 

• Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 24: “Preparing for disasters: Information for people with disabilities."
   
• Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 22: “Workplace preparedness: Protecting your employees — and your bottom line — during emergencies"
   
• Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 19: “It takes more than duct tape to prepare for emergencies: Preparedness tips from the Maine Public Health Association"
   
• Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 15: “Sheltering in place during an emergency"

 

• Get Ready Report Podcast, episode 6: “Healthy stockpiling tips"

 

 

Despite the popular depiction on cable TV shows like Doomsday Preppers, most preppers are not road-kill eating, tomahawk wielding, hardcore survivalists with plans to bug out to a homemade bunker in the foothills of Idaho, expecting to survive some feared future asteroid impact, global thermonuclear war, or a zombie apocalypse. 

 

 

The average prepper is simply someone who recognizes that just about every year hundreds of thousands of Americans are thrust into a difficult emergency situation due to a natural or man-made disaster.

 

And millions more are faced with dealing with smaller emergencies, like household accidents, heart attacks, car wrecks, and house fires.

 

Being prepared – having a good first aid kit (and knowing how to use it), a family emergency plan, some emergency supplies, and a bug-out bag -  can make a huge difference in how well you, and your family, will come through an emergency.

 

 

While cable shows focusing on folks preparing for a massive solar flares or a the eruption of the Yellowstone super caldera have a certain degree of entertainment value, real preparedness comes from being ready to deal with a wide variety of likely emergencies.

 

• Floods
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes
• Wildfires
• Blizzards & Ice storms
• Earthquakes
• Household accidents
• and yes . . . even Pandemics

 

A mainstream enough concern that the folks at APHA, READY.GOV , FEMA, the American Red Cross, and many other agencies continue to urge you to become better prepared today.

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TWiV Referral: Does A Virus Shift In The Woods?

 

 

 

# 4814

 

 

One of my weekly pleasures is listening to Professor Vincent Racaniello’s (and company) TWiV This Week In Virology podcast.  

 

Vincent also pens the terrific Virology Blog, which ought to be part of your daily rounds.

 

This week’s broadcast features Professor Racaniello brainstorming along with Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit.  

 

Together they discuss the end of the H1N1 pandemic, Dengue in Key West, yellow fever, mosquito vectors, vaccinia virus infection in monkeys, and viruses in the faecal microbiota.

 

Fascinating stuff, and presented as an informal and entertaining chat between knowledgeable individuals. 

 

I’d have mentioned this terrific podcast, even without the clever title.  So set aside 95 minutes of your time this week to listen to:

 

TWiV 95: Does a virus shift in the woods?

TWiV #95 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes)

You can also subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with Stitcher Radio.

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TWiV & TWiP Podcasts

 

 

# 4015

 

 

While I’ve mentioned it a couple of times in the past (here and here), Professor Vincent Racaniello who writes the excellent Virology Blog - which you’ll find in my sidebar -  also co-hosts the fascinating TWiV (This Week In Virology) podcast.

 

Along with Dick Despommier, Racaniello and 1 or 2 guests each week discuss some of the most interesting virology stories of the week.  If you aren’t listening, you should be.

There are 58 episodes available.   This week’s episode covers:

• Post-exposure passive antibody therapy for Nipah virus in ferret
• Is yearly influenza vaccination of children a bad idea?
• Debate on N95 masks vs surgical masks to prevent influenza
• Weather patterns help predict dengue outbreaks
• Diverse viral community in Antarctica’s icy lakes (thanks Russ!)

Along with several other issues. 

 

I’m slowly going back through the archives, trying to catch up.  This is a terrific resource for anyone interested virology, or science.  

 

Recent Episodes

• TWiV 58: Nipah virus in ferrets
• TWiV 57: Virology in high school
• TWiV 56: Perspicuously perspicacious
• TWiV 55: Mice lie, monkeys exaggerate
• TWiV 54: Professor Lynn Enquist, virology luminary
• TWiV 53: The ends justify the means
• TWiV 52: Scott Hammer, MD on AIDS vaccines
• TWiV 51: ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E
• TWiV 50: XMRV
• TWiV 49: Viral genomes

 

 

If your interests run to parasites (and whose doesn’t?), then you’ll be excited to learn that Racaniello and Despommier have launched TWiP (This week is Parasitism). 

Episode 1 is now online 

TWiP 1: Introduction to Parasitism

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CDC Podcast: Antiviral Drug Use

 

 

# 3862

 

Although geared for clinicians, this podcast from the CDC on the use of antiviral drugs would probably be of interest to a more general audience as well. 

 

Audio, or video is available.  Runs about 7 minutes.

 

A hat tip to Indigo Girl on the Allnurses Pandemic Forum for posting this link.

 

 

 

Antiviral Drugs for the 2009-2010 Influenza Season

This podcast discusses the use of antiviral drugs for the treatment and prevention of influenza, including 2009 H1N1, during the 2009-2010 influenza season. Created: 10/19/2009 by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Date Released: 10/19/2009. Series Name: CDC Featured

Podcasts.

 

 

 

Running time = 7:04

 

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