Mad cow disease has been making headlines once again (see “It Can Happen Here,” Features, July/August 2001). The brain-degrading disease that is contracted through consumption of contaminated flesh has been found in two isolated cases in American cattle, and the threat of mad cow continues to loom large. It is for this reason that U.S. […]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), influenza has been a common communicable disease in birds for centuries (see "Connecting the Dots," cover story, November/December 2004). Most strains are confined only to birds and are generally non-lethal, much like human influenza viruses. Recently though, there have been questions raised over the H5N1 strain of avian influenza that has been crossing over into human beings in Southeast Asia.
Peter Cordani’s plan is to fly planes into the eye of a hurricane, cutting a triangular swath to the center while dumping his absorbent “hurricane powder.” As the polymer powder absorbs the hurricane’s moisture, in theory it would slow down the rotation and cool the storm, thus taking much of the force out of it.
