RaMbLeS
Welcome to RaMbLeS, a collection of weekly musings on life and Scripture. It all began in 2005 on Google’s blogspot as the aBeLOG (a name now recycled), a semi-autobiographical devotional that attempted to keep well-wishers abreast of my activities as I relocated to Scotland for a few years. Since my return, I’ve continued my RaMbLeS, and here’s its most recent incarnation on Homiletix, as random reflections usually based on current news articles and travel experiences and whatever else takes my fancy!
Boiling!
Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northeastern California, about 175 miles north of Sacramento. Hot water is a major feature of the Park, that has hydrothermal areas featuring steam and volcanic gas vents, mud pots and boiling pools. One would have thought nothing could live in the insalubrious conditions of those vents, pots, and pools. But then, one would be wrong.
Living within the hot water, scientists (from Syracuse University, University of California at
Empathy!
Never, we said. Nope. AI is well and good, but doctors will always be necessary, we said. Not particularly for their diagnostic acumen—surely given the right inputs, machines can come up with even more accurate diagnoses. But never would AI be able to substitute for the human touch, we said. Healthcare personnel would always be needed, we said. For empathy.
“We”—whoever that is—may be wrong.
Someone actually did a study on this: researchers from the Universities
Grip!
How strong is your hand grip? Is that important, you ask? Yup. Or so declare scientists from Shanghai in “Handgrip Strength and Trajectories of Preclinical Obesity Progression,” published last month in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
They followed a whopping 93,275 folks who met criteria for preclinical obesity at baseline over 13 years, (but excluding those who already had diagnoses like heart failure, diabetes, liver disease, or mobility issues),
Teeth!
Your “eye teeth” are the canines, one on each side of your upper and lower jaw. “Eye teeth” because they are pretty much directly under your eyes.
But a tooth in your eye?
Brent Chapman, 34, of North Vancouver, lost his vision at the age of 13. He was playing in a high school basketball tournament; he felt a little ill afterwards, and so took some ibuprofen. Chapman tragically developed a rare, life-threatening skin reaction to the medication: Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Hairy!
National Public Radio (NPR) reported on an interesting phenomenon the other day: Istanbul, Turkey, is the mecca for hair! It is now a growing hub in the hair-replacement industry, attracting then bald and hair-challenged from all over the world.
With a marker in his hand, and Dr. Mehmet Erdogan (not related to Turkey’s president) is carefully drawing thin lines across Justin’s cranium. It looks almost like an art class. Except the canvas here is Justin’s head.
Erdogan
Weights!
Mice are now weightlifting! Yup, rodents. And apparently it’s been good for those critters, too.
So saith scientists from the University of Virginia in “Weightlifting Outperforms Voluntary Wheel Running for Improving Adiposity and Insulin Sensitivity in Obese Mice” published in Journal of Sport and Health Science recently.
Mice were fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks. Different groups either lifted weights, ran on wheels, or remained sedentary.
You are probably wondering
House?
Someone once said that the Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. And the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Also the Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Then there are those Italians who drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching. 