Comments on: Stupid stuff we used to do…

By: TheBrummell

TheBrummell — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:49:31 +0000

I’m going to guess the future will involve rather different home-cleaning products and practices. If the “hygene hypothesis” turns out to be basically correct, then perhaps there will be less household cleaning in general, and the future will regard current practices as OCD. Also, while I love the effects bleach (sodium hypochlorite) has on really nasty dirt, especially mold, doubly especially on glass, it’s probably quite bad for me to be smelling it (and enjoying the smell). Plus, you know, the hazards associated with the potential chemical reactions of things like ammonium with bleach, or really anything with bleach (it’s one of those strong oxidizers that every chemical MSDS warns about, and I keep a couple of litres in my bathroom…).

Caffeine might be more restricted, too, particularly when consumed in combination with other, more recently popularized things like taurine in energy drinks. We’ve been drinking alcohol, a well-characterized toxic material, for millenia, and caffeine for centuries, and high-sugar drinks for many decades in an era with more rigorous attention paid to potential health effects, so I don’t think the classic rum-and-coke is going to go away, but the combinations with other things, or particular doses and dose ratios (e.g. how much ethanol at the same time as how much caffeine), or subtly different chemistries (glucose vs. sucrose vs. fructose vs. dextrose vs. maltose vs. etc.). Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part, as I lack a sweettooth and find the majority of commercially available beverages excessively sweet.

By: Structured procrastination (#2) | Code for Life

Structured procrastination (#2) | Code for Life — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:22:48 +0000

[...] Nerdy has an article showing some of the silly medical things we used to do and invites readers to suggest what might be [...]

By: Samantha

Samantha — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:16:12 +0000

Yeah, it would be impressive. But I’m skeptical too, considering arsenic is unstable in water and these bacteria were found in a lake…

By: NerdyOne

NerdyOne — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:00:26 +0000

The goal of this post definitely wasn’t to say that anyone is stupid for trying to help themselves, but just to emphasize how differently society can perceive a practice based on what biological research has taught us. And certainly, the people of the past were only operating on the knowledge they had at the time, so it’s no fault of theirs.

By: NerdyOne

NerdyOne — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:57:58 +0000

Oh yes, we tore this study apart in our journal club class and it’s been the butt of endless jokes ever since. Although it might just be impressive that the bacteria can live around arsenic at all. Not to say that humans can’t tolerate some arsenic, like that new drug I mentioned, but it almost certainly shouldn’t be in our soap!

By: Samantha

Samantha — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:51:25 +0000

Actually, they recently discovered bacteria at Mono Lake that incorporate arsenic into their DNA because the lake lacks phosphorous, although there is some serious skepticism.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6034/1163.full

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 02:34:08 +0000

My great grandmother used to treat her asthma with tobacco smoke. She would put a bag on her head and someone would blow cigarette into the bag. And, she was not a smoker. Desperate people will try anything. If you’re suffering, it isn’t stupid to try different things for relief.

By: Mistakes and Improvements | Free Everything

Mistakes and Improvements | Free Everything — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 23:29:45 +0000

[...] Stupid stuff we used to do… is a collection of some misconceptions we as society held not long ago, but have since abandoned. Like cigarettes as treatment for asthma. It should serve as a cautioning reminder that even a few decades can bring about so much change in the collective “wisdom” that we today laugh about what our parents considered true. [...]

By: NerdyOne

NerdyOne — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:35:55 +0000

Ahhh superbugs…you may be right on — NDM-1 Bacteria: The rise of a new superbug
It’s already a little laughable…why do we need to kill 99.9% of bacteria EVERY time we wash our hands?!?

Thanks for the thought!

By: BoneGirlPhD

BoneGirlPhD — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:28:59 +0000

Laughable stuff in the future? My money’s on antibacterial hand soaps and sanitizers. That is, if the microbes that are evolving resistance to them don’t wipe out humanity first. ;-P