Race misses his new friend...

Race misses his new friend...  A. J. is the six year old son of Michelle H., the (wonderful!) lady who comes to clean our house every two weeks, and takes care of our animals when we're away.  Recently A. J. has been coming with her to visit our animals, especially Race.  The two of them play until Race is panting.  Race misses his new buddy, as you can see at right :)

A cairn on Mars...

A cairn on Mars...  Spotted by Curiosity, of course...

Prosoeca ganglbaueri...

Prosoeca ganglbaueri...  My, what a long “tongue” you have!

Ceres, closer yet...

Ceres, closer yet...  The Dawn robotic explorer is circling closer to Ceres now, and sending back more amazing images and data.  The bright areas in the photo at right are the sides of a flat-topped mountain, some 4 miles tall.  How it formed with the visible characteristics is unknown.  Just below it is a large crater, a more expected feature...

The people who take advantage like this...

The people who take advantage like this ... don't deserve having air to breath.  I would support extreme punishments for such people, such as making them involuntary medical experiment subjects (without pain medication), using them for military target practice, or forcing them to listen to rap music.  Or we could use them to extinguish wildfires.  Or feed them to predators in the zoo.  Pain and suffering should be involved, don't you think?

Yet another Big Government fail...

Yet another Big Government fail...  Why on earth would anyone want Big Government involved in their health care, when you know things like this are going to happen?

Optical coherence tomography...

Optical coherence tomography...  Yesterday Debbie went in to our local optometrist for a routine eye exam.  One of the instruments the doctor used on her was an optical coherence tomography (OCT) “camera”.  This device looked through her eye to image her retina in three dimensions, viewable in “slices” very much like the one at right.

The OCT device uses computational tomography, a fancy way of saying that it makes heavy use of computing power to present the 3D images in a usable way.  I was amazed that the sophisticated laser and other optics, along with a powerful computer and fancy software, could all be purchased for under $50,000.  Even though I'm a technology guy myself, I still can't quite wrap my brain around the incredibly rapid advances.  I wouldn't have guessed you could buy this capability for under a half million dollars.  At the rate this seems to be going, you'll probably be able to do it on your iPhone 8, with a $10 laser/lens attachment, using voice control :)

Tea trees and toenails...

Tea trees and toenails... For 40 years – since I spent six months in the Philippines while in the U.S. Navy – I've been battling a persistent toenail fungus.  Twice over the past 20 years I've taken a course of Lamisil (generic: terbafine), which did a magnificent job of wiping out the fungus.  Unfortunately, within six months of finishing each course the fungus returned.  Lamisil accumulates in the liver, so it's not something you can just keep taking.  Medicine offers no better solution.

So for the past 10 years or so, every time I go in for a physical I ask the doctor if there are any post-Lamisil treatments for toenail fungus.  A little over a month ago, I asked my new GP that question, and got an answer I didn't expect.  She told me that a recent Mayo Clinic study had shown that Australian tea tree oil, applied directly to the toenails twice a day, was just as effective as Lamisil – without any of Lamisil's problems.  It was safe to use continuously.

I couldn't find a reference to the Mayo Clinic study that my doctor referred to in an online search, but I did find a little information.  It wasn't particularly optimistic.  Though I couldn't help being skeptical of it, I bought myself a little bottle of that tea tree oil the same day, and I've been applying it religiously ever since. 

I'm happy (and a little surprised) to report that it seems to be working.  It is certainly true that my toenails are in far better condition now than at any time other than during my two courses of Lamisil.  What appears to be the case is that my toenails are growing in totally free of any fungal infection, and the affected parts are no longer infected (though they are, of course, still damaged by previous infection).  It looks like within a few weeks my toenails will be completely clear.  The only side-effect I've noticed is that our Savannah cat steers well clear of my feet – he doesn't like the smell of the tea tree oil :)