Part one of marching music for Super Tuesday on Marching Music Day

Happy Marching Music Day! March Forth! As I promised twice, I'm celebrating with a marching music Super Tuesday featuring the corps and bands from Super Tuesday states east of the Mississippi River.

I begin with the same corps I opened the past two Super Tuesday posts with, the Boston Crusaders. Watch Boston Crusaders | #dci2022 | Paradise Lost from Drum Corps International (DCI).

Boston, MA | 2nd Place (tie) | 97.325

Boston, Massachusetts' Boston Crusaders perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2022 production, "Paradise Lost," during the 2022 DCI World Championships hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Don't bite that apple!

Vic Firth Marching uploaded the entire show as Boston Crusaders 2022 | DCI Finals Week Rehearsal | Full Production.

We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you a "pieced together' full production run of the 2022 Boston Crusaders show entitled "Paradise Lost.' Recorded over the course of a 3 hour rehearsal on Thursday, August 11th, this video APPROXIMATES a full production run-through (as best we could, given all the variables)! We hope you enjoy the video!

It's Vic Firth, which makes drum sticks, so of course the video focuses on the percussion.

FloMarching uploaded a clip from last year's show, Boston Crusaders 2023 'White Whale' Prelims Percussion Feature - 2023 DCI World Championships.


That was certainly the most nautical and fun part of the show. Once again, Vic Firth Marching has the complete program in Boston Crusaders 2023 | DCI Finals Week Rehearsal | Full Production.

We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you a full (edited together) production run of the 2023 Boston Crusaders show entitled "White Whale.' Recorded in rehearsal on Thursday, August 10th. We hope you enjoy the video!

I was so looking forward to typing "the whale lives" until I realized that the guard wasn't at this rehearsal. Darn. The show gained so much from their part of the performance.

Returning to DCI, I'm sharing Boston Crusaders | #DCI2021 | "Zoom" , the corps' pandemic program.

Boston Massachusetts' Boston Crusaders performs a segment from the corps' #DCI2021 production, "Zoom," during the DCI Celebration events hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

That was so much fun that, at the risk of overkill, I'm sharing Vic Firth Marching's Boston Crusaders 2021 Full Production | BEYOND THE LOT. Yes, I am a Boston Crusaders fan.

Vic Firth takes you BEYOND the lot with the BOSTON CRUSADERS as they perform their 2021 production "Zoom" during the DCI Celebration week in Indianapolis, IN!

That was a lot more entertaining than I expected from a show named after a video conferencing app!

Since I wrote that this is a marching music Super Tuesday and not a drum corps Super Tuesday, I'm embedding UMASS Minuteman Marching Band - 2018 Pasadena Rose Parade from Music213.

From Amherst, Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Minuteman Marching Band performing at the 129th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Monday, January 1, 2018

In case they look familiar, the University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Minuteman Marching Band were one of the bands featured in Two drum corps and some of my favorite bands marching in the New Year for 2018.

Time to move on from Massachusetts. Follow over the jump for drum corps and marching bands from the rest of the Super Tuesday states east of the Mississippi.

Identity theft warning for last-minute tax filers

Tax Day is tomorrow, which means it's time for me to pull the following articles out of my archives.  It may be too late for all of us who filed early, but the last-minute filers can still benefit from it.

The University of Georgia warned in February that Identity thieves may wait to use stolen data during tax season.

Athens, Ga. - Identity thieves may take advantage of tax season by filing false tax returns with their victims' stolen personal information, warns a data security proponent at the University of Georgia.

"During tax season, identity thieves are quick to file returns and get refunds from the government that will cause a legitimate taxpayer's refund to be denied as a duplicate return," said Laura Heilman, a security awareness training and education manager at UGA's Enterprise Information Technology Services office. "The legitimate taxpayer then takes on the burden of proving they are who they say they are and an identity thief was the fraudulent filer."

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, fraudulent tax refunds claims associated with identity theft reached $12.1 billion in 2012. Tax-related identity theft and fraud is expected to reach an all-time high as people begin to file their tax returns for 2013.

The same week, the University of Alabama explained how to defend against this threat in UA Matters: Protecting Yourself Against Identity Theft.

Identity theft is the most prevalent white collar crime in the United States today. The University of Alabama’s Caroline Fulmer helps consumers understand how it occurs, the steps that can be taken to minimize the chances of being a victim and where to get help if they are a victim.

The most common ways identity theft occurs are when your wallet or purse is stolen; records are stolen from inside your home or from your mailbox; you willingly share information with a person who turns out to be a scam artist; using unsecure websites; or your information is stolen from a business.

The next month, Texas A&M chimed in with AgriLife Extension expert: Consumers can increase vigilance on identity theft.

FTC report shows U.S. consumers lost $1.6 billion-plus to fraud in 2013

COLLEGE STATION – Identity theft continues to top the list of consumer complaints, according to a recent report by the Federal Trade Commission.

The report noted that American consumers lost over $1.6 billion to fraud in 2013, based on more than  2 million complaints reported in the agency’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2013. Of these complaints, 14 percent were identity theft-related.

Complaints against debt collectors, banks and lenders, imposter scams, and telephone and mobile services rounded out the report’s top five consumer complaint categories.

Stay safe against this 21st Century crime.

Space news for the Vernal Equinox

Today is the Vernal or Spring Equinox.  To mark the occasion, I'm promoting a news item that doesn't move into the featured spot.

University of Massachusetts: UMass Amherst Sunwheel and Sky-Watching Events Mark the Spring Equinox on March 20
March 12, 2014

AMHERST, Mass. – The public is invited to witness sunrise and sunset associated with the spring equinox among the standing stones of the UMass Amherst Sunwheel on Thursday, March 20 at 6:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. These Sunwheel events mark the astronomical change of seasons when days and nights are nearly equal in length.

At the gatherings, which have attracted more than 10,000 visitors over the past 17 years, local Sunwheel enthusiasts Michelle and Andy Morris-Friedman will discuss the astronomical cause of the sun’s changing position during the hour-long gatherings. They will also explain the seasonal positions of Earth, the sun and moon, phases of the moon, building the Sunwheel, and answer questions about astronomy.

The exact time of the vernal equinox this year is 12:57 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. This ushers in the beginning of spring and is also the day the sun rises into the sky to be visible for six months as seen from the North Pole, and the day it sets for six months as seen from the South Pole.

Happy Equinox!

Follow over the jump for the rest of last week's space news.

Bad news and good news for International Women's Day

As today's Google Doodle is remining everyone who uses the search engine today, it's International Women's Day.  To mark the occasion, I'm presenting stories from my past six months of Overnight News Digests about discrimination against women and the efforts to rectify it in science education.

First, the bad news from SDSU: Gender Inertia in Television and Film.

The Annual Celluloid Ceiling report shows that women’s roles in television and film have not improved in the last 16 years.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The employment of women working in key behind-the-scenes roles in film continues to stagnate, according to the 16th annual Celluloid Ceiling report released today by Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. 

Women accounted for 16 percent of directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2013.  This figure is slightly smaller than the percentage of women working on top grossing films in 1998.

“The film industry is in a state of gender inertia.  There is no evidence to suggest that women’s employment has improved in key behind-the-scenes roles over the last 16 years,” Lauzen said.

Next, CBS reported Gaze-tracking Study Apparently Confirms Everyone Really IS Staring At Your Chest.

LINCOLN, NE (CBS) – A new study has confirmed something women have been complaining about for years.

The research, out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and published in the Springer-published journal Sex Roles, essentially corroborates the belief that people tend to focus more on the breasts and figure of a woman when analyzing her appearance than they do on her face.

That's enough bad news.  Any more, and I'd post Professor Farnsworth saying "I don't want to live on this planet any more."  As I'm still in an "I can't be all DOOM all the time" mood, I'll stop. 

It's time to post some good news about efforts to educate more women in science and health to cheer myself up.  Follow over the jump for it.

Cancer research news to mark a year of being cancer free

Today is the anniversary of the prostate surgery that removed both that organ and the cancer it contained that I first mentioned here in Surgery as a fresh start.  A year after the surgery and ten months after I wrote that entry, what I said then--“that thing was killing me, both literally and figuratively and I'm much better off without it”--still holds true.  My perspective on the my treatment and its outcome has, if anything, become firmer.

To mark the occasion, I present all the cancer research from KPBS and campuses on the campaign trail I’ve included in Overnight News Digests since the last two times I’ve mentioned the topic of cancer, Quitting smoking in the New Year and Health research and outreach from KPBS and campuses on the campaign trail.

Following my policy of “if it moves, it leads,” here is the one video, which comes from KPBS: Task Force Recommends New Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said lung cancer screening for many chain-smokers and former smokers should be done with a CT scan instead of an X-ray.

I’ll have more to say about smoking in another entry.  For now, follow over the jump for the rest of the stories about cancer research.

Deepwater Horizon spill still being studied

The Deepwater Horizon spill happened four years ago, but researchers are still studying the disaster for effects and remedies.  Here are two stories from last night's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (2013 fourth warmest year) on Daily Kos detailing those efforts.

First, the University of Alabama, Birmingham reports Gulf fish studied for safety following Deepwater Horizon oil spill by Nicole Wyatt on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 examines the ongoing effects.

The worst oil spill in U.S. history occurred when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and damaging a wellhead that led to 4.9 million barrels of oil leaking into the ocean. In the aftermath of this event, one potential hazard was the safety of eating seafood caught from the affected area.

An environmental health science expert in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health worked with colleagues to analyze concentrations of contaminants in fish that were harvested by reef fishermen in the Gulf a year after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. The results are published online in the Environmental Science & Technology journal.

A total of 92 fish samples were obtained from areas open to fishing — primarily near Florida and Texas, as well as some near Louisiana — by members of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance during the period of March 2011 to April 2012. The samples were tested for benzo[a]pyrene-equivalents (BaPEs) — a combined measure of carcinogenic potency across seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which occur in significant amounts in oil deposits.

Next, the University of Rhode Island explains how new strategies for cleanup are being devised in URI researchers developing tiny weapons to combat big oil spills.

Engineers, chemists finding success using nanoparticles to clean spills

KINGSTON, R.I. – January 17, 2014 -- More than 47,000 people, 9,700 ships and 127 planes spent months mopping up oil released during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Yet four years later, the tools to fight offshore oil spills remain remarkably rudimentary. Now a team of University of Rhode Island engineering and chemistry professors is demonstrating novel approaches that could change the way oil spills are battled.

The approach the scientists are using relies on nanoparticles, each about 100 times thinner than a human hair. To study how these tiny particles can clean up oil, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative has awarded grants totaling nearly $1.4 million to engineering professors Arijit Bose, Geoffrey Bothun and Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, along with chemistry professor Mindy Levine and Metcalf Institute Executive Director Sunshine Menezes.

“On the downside, the Deepwater Horizon spill happened,” Bothun said. “On the upside, it motivated a lot of engineers and scientists to come up with new ways to fight oil spills.”

Let this be an example of how persistent pollution can be.

PBS viewers on poverty plus poverty and recessions damage health for decades

It turns out that PBS had more on poverty in the U.S. than I included in Suburban poverty north and south of the border, as the segments garnered a lot of viewer responses, which were collected in Viewers sound off on NewsHour Weekend stories.

On a new segment called "Viewers like You," NewsHour Weekend fans have the opportunity to sound off on stories and share their opinions with anchor Hari Sreenivasan.

Not only is poverty increasing in the suburbs, it's bad for one's physical and mental health.  It's true even if it's other people's poverty, as the stress of recessions gets to people.  Follow over the jump for  stories from the past three months of Overnight News Digests on Daily Kos that illustrate this point.

More ACA news from KPBS and UAB

It's time to follow up on More ACA implementation from KPBS and UAB.  Under this blog's "if it moves, it leads" policy, I begin with What You Need To Know About The Upcoming ACA Deadline from KPBS.

We speak with Covered California Spokeswoman Lizelda Lopez and Gary Rotto, director of health policy at the Council for Community Clinics San Diego about what you need to know as the Dec. 23 Affordable Care Act deadline approaches.

Follow over the jump for more on the ACA from KPBS and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Losing weight after the holidays

Along with quitting smoking, losing weight is one of two popular New Year’s resolutions.  Two campuses of the University of Alabama have advice on this topic that I originally included in Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos.

University of Alabama at Birmingham: Skip the fat talk and go directly to model behavior to avoid fights
By Nicole Wyatt
Friday, December 06, 2013

Politics and religion are considered unsafe topics of conversation at holiday dinners and parties, and experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say avoiding another topic — weight — can help everyone be more merry and bright.

“People might gain weight during the five-to-six weeks of the holiday season, but the reality is most will not put on a substantial amount in that time period,” said Josh Klapow, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB School of Public Health.

A clinical psychologist, Klapow says discussing weight should be avoided during the holidays, even if opinions are rooted in concerns for a loved one’s health. Bringing it up will likely only cause hurt feelings.

University of Alabama: UA Matters: How to Lose Weight in a Healthy Way
Dec 16, 2013

Losing weight tends to be a popular New Year’s resolution or goal. But there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about achieving that goal. The University of Alabama’s Sheena Quizon Gregg shares a few tips on how shake loose those extra pounds in a healthy way.

The advice:

• Avoid Skipping Meals.
• Make Your Meals Complete.
• Take Time with Your Meals.
• Make Friends with Veggies.
• Don’t Underestimate the Power of Water.
• Get Moving.

Here’s to those of you who wish to lose weight doing so safely and successfully.

Discovery News on the Holidays for Christmas Eve

For the day before Christmas, I present a sequel to Discovery News on the holidays with more of Discovery News’s videos on the season.

I begin with 5 Holiday Lies You Believe.

There are a bunch of facts surrounding the holiday season you probably believe to be true, but totally aren't! Anthony rights a few holiday wrongs.

Follow over the jump for more.

A Solstice spacewalk and other space and astronomy news

Good morning!  To start the work week,* I’m moving up my weekly space news report to Monday.  I begin with NASA Begins Series of Spacewalks to Fix Coolant Pump on ISS.

Expedition 38 astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins ventured outside the space station on Dec. 21, for the first in a series of spacewalks to remove and replace a faulty coolant pump module. The pump is associated with one of the station's two external cooling loops, which circulate ammonia outside the station to keep both internal and external equipment cool.

The previously planned mission of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft has been moved to no earlier than mid-January. The postponement will allow ample time for the station crew to focus on repairing the pump module, which stopped working properly on Dec. 11.

Follow over the jump for more from NASA, including a retrospective of this year’s events, plus bonus reports from campuses on the campaign trail about IceCube.

Health research and outreach from KPBS and campuses on the campaign trail

It's time to post the rest of the health news from Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Die, Selfish Gene!).  Under the "if it moves, it leads" preference, KPBS starts off with San Diego Professor Discusses Warning Signs For Communication Difficulties In Children.

After a poll finds many caregivers are missing the warnings signs, a new campaign underway aims to educate them about identifying the signs of a communication disorder in children.

Also read the related story San Diego Professor Discusses Warning Signs For Communication Difficulties In Children.

Follow over the jump for more health research and outreach from UCSD, University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Georgia, and University of Kentucky.  Yes, it's an SEC night here at Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

A wake for Comet ISON and other space news

While I'm giving my students a final, I've programmed this week's space news to autopost.  Enjoy the stories from NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope and campuses on the campaign trail I first used in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Die, Selfish Gene!) on Daily Kos.

NASA Television comes first with ISON update on This Week @NASA.

With a more than ninety percent probability that Comet ISON broke apart from a major heating event on its approach to the sun Thanksgiving Day, the search is on for what's left of it. NASA will use a variety of space and Earth based telescopes to monitor the comet over the next several weeks, before the fate of ISON can be confirmed. Also, Orion's heat shield, Blue Origin milestone, Rover Challenge, Stone awarded medal and Celebrating Centaur.

Follow over the jump for more.

More ACA implementation from KPBS and UAB

I began KPBS and others on the ACA for the week of Thanksgiving by justifying why I'm using KPBS's coverage of how California is putting the Affordable Care Act AKA Obamacare into effect.

Here is another entry in that vein, as I pass along KPBS's reporting on the implimentation of the Affordable Care Act AKA Obamacare in California.  It makes for a good mirror in which to see the process as it was intended.  That means any issues will be the result of intrinsic factors, not outside interference.

It's time for the next installment in my examination of the issue.

Under my "if it moves, it leads" policy, I begin with KPBS asking Second Opinion: Will Obamacare Streamline Care for Disabled People?

Christina Mitchell is a graduate student at the University of San Diego. She's working with families who care for disabled dependents to document the challenges of coordinating care for their loved ones through a tangled web of doctors, insurance providers and community resources.

That's a good question.  I hope the answer is yes.

Follow over the jump for more from KPBS and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Health and diet tips for the holidays

Here are two health tips for the holidays from campuses on the campaign trail I first included in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Die, Selfish Gene!).

The University of Alabama at Birmingham goes first under the policy of "if it moves, it leads" with Diabetes study helping save Santa and you.

The GRADE study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham had a special visitor in November. Red suit. Black boots. White beard. Belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly. A V.I.E. (Very Important Elf) visited this national clinical trial for Type 2 diabetes.

For more, here's the press release: UAB GRADE study for diabetes: Saving Santa and you By Bob Shepard, Wednesday, December 04, 2013.

The GRADE study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham had a special visitor in November. Red suit. Black boots. White beard. Belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly. A V.I.E. (Very Important Elf) visited this national clinical trial for Type 2 diabetes.

The GRADE study is evaluating four new medications for Type 2 diabetes. Patient confidentiality issues prohibit UAB from confirming anything about the health status of any patient, including our V.I.E. Suffice it to say that the Big Guy has some risk factors for diabetes.

“He has several risk factors associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes,” said Andrea Cherrington, M.D., associate professor of Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine. “He’s overweight, he has a pretty sedentary lifestyle, and he doesn’t maintain the healthiest diet. These risk factors are also related to the development of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke.”

The University of Georgia concludes with advice to avoid overeating with UGA research shows that food portion size and shape can deceive the brain.
Incomplete-looking portions can lead to over-eating
December 4, 2013

Athens, Ga. - As the holiday season gears up, beware of the popular tip that advises dieters to eat only half the food on their plate. According to a new study from the University of Georgia, that advice can play tricks on the brain-and the waistline.

Julio Sevilla, a marketing professor at UGA, recently had research published in the Journal of Marketing Research. That research shows that the shape of objects can fool the brain. An "incomplete" portion of food, like half a sandwich or a snack-sized candy bar, tends to lead viewers to believe that it's less caloric despite its actual nutritional value.

This can lead people to over-consume when their portions look incomplete.

Here's to maintaining a healthy weight over the holidays.

Cybersecurity and Bitcoins for the holidays

I concluded KPBS and others on the ACA for the week of Thanksgivingwith "Speaking of technology and security, I have some items about both for holiday shopping.  Stay tuned."  It's time for this timely advice.

University of Georgia advises that Holiday shopping should include online security steps.
November 26, 2013

Athens, Ga. - Many holiday shopping lists include online purchases, but is that website safe for credit cards? A security proponent at the University of Georgia has some tips for secure online shopping for shoppers making their lists and checking them twice.

"Use your head when doing your online shopping this holiday season," said Laura Heilman, a security awareness and education manager in the university's Enterprise Information Technology Services office. "Do not shop on public Wi-Fi networks or on public computers. And, avoid making purchases directly through links in emails."

Heilman suggests shopping online with a credit card, instead of a debit card.

Next, KPBS takes a technological angle on shopping with Why Some Holiday Shoppers Are Spending Bitcoin This Black Friday By David Wagner.
Friday, November 29, 2013

Bitcoin—the currency of choice for buying illegal goods online—has cultivated quite the bad-boy image. But some entrepreneurs believe a wholesome makeover could take this unregulated digital currency mainstream, and what could be more wholesome than holiday shopping?

On Black Friday, Bitcoin boosters are urging shoppers to ditch their credit cards and open up their Bitcoin wallets. And shoppers like David Allison are doing just that. He's been giving a lot of thought to what he'll buy for his wife this Christmas.

"My wife and I are expecting a baby in March," he says. "And I know she loves the concept of nesting."

Follow over the jump for more about technology and security.

Climate news while I'm showing 'An Inconvenient Truth'

This week, I'm showing "An Inconvenient Truth" to my students again.  To mark the occasion, I present the climate news from campuses on the campaign trail that I've included in the most recent Overnight News Digests on Daily Kos.

I begin with an entry that relates to the first question I ask my students, "What evidence first convinced Al Gore about the connection between carbon dioxide and global warming?"  The answer was the carbon dioxide data collected by Roger Revelle.*  It turns out that the University of California, San Diego presents a medal in honor of Revelle, as can be seen in 2013 Roger Revelle Medalist, Walter Munk.

Referred to as the "greatest living oceanographer," Walter Munk is widely recognized for his groundbreaking investigations of wave propagation, tides, currents, circulation and other aspects of the ocean and Earth. The 95-year-old scientist and alumnus is still active at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His accomplishments have been recognized by prestigious organizations around the world, from the Kyoto Prize to the Crafoord Prize.

If that's too long for you, here's the musical version: Founders' Dinner 2013 - Tribute song to Walter Munk.


Follow over the jump for more climate research and outreach.

MAVEN to Mars and other space and astronomy news

I took last night off from blogging to watch movies and play Rift with my wife.   I even programmed Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Comet ISON at perihelion) to post eight hours in advance to clear the evening out.  It was well worth it and I plan on doing that more in the future.  What that meant was that I posted Nablopomo for December: MORE/LESS in the middle of the day instead of programming it to post at Midnight and I didn't post the week's space news at 7:00 PM, both of which I normally would have done.  Time to make up for the latter omission with the space and astronomy news from last week's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (MAVEN to Mars) on Daily Kos.

NASA Television goes first with MAVEN is on the way on This Week @NASA.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a 10-month journey to Mars. MAVEN will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to investigate how loss of the atmosphere to space impacted the history of water on the planet's surface. Also, Happy anniversary, ISS!, Asteroid Ideas, LADEE in science orbit, Orion progress, Rocket autopilot test, Commercial crew, and more!

Space.com has a slideshow of the liftoff in United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket Successfully Launches MAVEN Mission on Journey to the Red Planet.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 1:28 p.m. EST, Nov. 18, 2013. MAVEN will examine specific processes on Mars that led to the loss of much of its atmosphere.

Follow over the jump for more space and astronomy news.

Condoms and Florence Nightingale plus other health news

I bet those are two topics most readers didn't expect to see together.  Just the same, they are the two top news items this month based on my preference of "if it moves, it leads."  Also, since sex sells, the news about condoms goes first.

Discovery News: Birth Cowtrol: Human Condoms Made From Cows?

Bill Gates challenged inventors to revolutionize the condom, and they delivered! Laci Green reports on their creations, including the condom made from cow parts. And no, we're not joking.

One of the stories I included in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (MAVEN to Mars) was about one of the grant winners.

University of Tennessee: Professor Receives Gates Foundation Award to Reinvent Condom, Improve Global Health
November 20, 2013

Condoms have the power to make the world healthier by preventing disease and unplanned pregnancies, yet they are vastly underutilized.

This year, Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation issued a challenge to develop the next generation of condoms. Called Grand Challenges in Global Health, the initiative aims to foster scientific and technological innovation to solve key health problems in the developing world.

Jimmy Mays, a chemistry professor at UT, responded to the challenge with a design that will encourage condom use in developing countries. He has received $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for research and development of a prototype.

Next, the University of Alabama, Birmingham shows its YouTube followers Florence Nightingale exhibit honors founder of modern day nursing.

Florence Nightingale left countless gifts to her profession, including a collection of 50 letters and more preserved in the UAB Historical Collections. Copies of these are on permanent exhibit in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.

Here's the press release: UAB dean’s paper highlights Nightingale’s leadership for global health and nursing.
By Tyler Greer
Friday, November 22, 2013

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing is home to a one-of-its-kind, interactive exhibit of 50 famous Florence Nightingale letters. School of Nursing Dean Doreen C. Harper, Ph.D., analyzed the components of these letters, which highlight Nightingale’s visionary leadership for global health and nursing within the historical context of Great Britain’s colonization of India.

The result of this analysis was the paper “Leadership Lessons in Global Nursing and Health from the Nightingale Letter Collection at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” recently published in the Journal of Holistic Medicine. The descriptive study used a narrative analysis to examine selected letters that Nightingale wrote to or about Dr. Thomas Gillham Hewlett, a physician and health officer in Bombay, India.

“Florence Nightingale is indisputably the founder of modern nursing,” Harper said. “Nightingale also was a prominent force in the creation of global health care and global nursing. To this day, these letters offer countless leadership lessons relevant to the future of nursing and health care. It was a joy to study these letters and try to increase understanding of her visionary leadership for global nursing and health.”

Follow over the jump for more of last week's health news from campuses on the campaign trail.

Brain and nerve research in today's health news

It's time to follow through where I left off in Staying safe and healthy during the holidays.

As I wrote at the end of Questions answered about the Affordable Care Act, "Stay tuned for dealing with holiday stress, the brain, and other health topics."

This morning's topic is the brain and sensory systems.  I'll start off with this video from the University of Alabama, Birmingham: A ticket to ride: UAB program opens doors to drivers who are sight-impaired.

To Dustin Jones, the bioptic driving program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides one very important benefit: freedom.

A ticket to ride: UAB program opens doors to drivers who are sight-impaired
By Bob Shepard
Friday, November 22, 2013

To Dustin Jones, the bioptic driving program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides one very important benefit: freedom. Jones, a 24-year-old recent UAB graduate who works in information technology, is a typical young professional.

But he has a congenital eye disease called optic atrophy, which had prevented him from getting a driver’s license at age 16.

“My job is in Hoover,” Jones said. “Without a driver’s license, I would have to live within walking distance or use public transportation. I would be limited in my economic and social opportunities and not really part of the community as I am today.”

Here at Crazy Eddie's Motie News, it may not lead if it bleeds, but if it moves, it usually does.

Follow over the jump for more on the brain from UAB, UCSD, University of Iowa, and the University of Wisconsin.