OH YES THEY DID: Scientists Name A Parasitic Worm After President Obama
Posted: September 8, 2016 Filed under: Science & Technology, White House | Tags: Archbishop, Associated Press, Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, Hospital, Johannesburg, Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize, PBS NewsHour, South Africa 1 CommentNobel Peace Prize, Move Over: Meet baracktrema obamai, the two-inch-long, hair-thin flatworm. it’s a type of blood fluke that infects the lungs of black marsh turtle and southeast Asian box turtles in Malaysia.
President Obama, Commander in Chief and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, can add another honor to his resume: namesake of a new species.
Granted, the species is a parasitic flatworm. But in the scientific community, the act is considered *coughcough* an honor all the same.
“I have named a number of species after people I admire,” Thomas Platt, the parasitologist who discovered and collected the new species, said, with a straight face.
[Baracktrema obamai, a new genus and species of parasitic flatworm, was named in honor of President Obama. Image by Roberts et al., 2016, The Journal of Parasitology.]
The move is meant to be a permanent tribute, he said. “Baracktrema obamai will endure as long as there are systematists studying these remarkable organisms.”
Platt and three other American researchers proposed Baracktrema obamai as both a new genus and species in The Journal of Parasitology. The two-inch-long, hair-thin flatworm — a type of blood fluke — infects the lungs of black marsh turtle and southeast Asian box turtles in Malaysia. The team used genetic testing and morphological analysis of the worm’s body and genitalia to determine the new species. Their proposal marks the first new genus of turtle blood fluke in 21 years.
The find was the last that Platt — a turtle parasite expert — named before retiring from Saint Mary’s College. Platt named 32 species during his tenure and was inspired to name Baracktrema obamaiafter discovering that he and the president share a common ancestor, he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Japanese Hospital Intern Challenge: The Teeny Tiny Sushi Surgical Dexterity Test
Posted: July 20, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Education, Japan | Tags: Dexterity, Hospital, Intern, Surgery, Sushi 1 CommentWant to intern at a leading hospital in Japan? 20 students have taken a speical test, in which they are expected to prove their dexteiry by making teeny tiny sushi with a surgical knife and a pair of tweezers.
[cctvnews]
[VIDEO] 2 Injured in Shooting at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas
Posted: June 16, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption | Tags: Arkansas, Base commander, Chief of police, Hospital, Jacksonville, Little Rock Air Force Base, Military airbase, Police, Shooting Leave a commentTwo people were hospitalized after shots were fired when a civilian tried to gain unauthorized access to the Little Rock Air Force Base Monday morning.
[VIDEO] THIS WEEK: Taliban Butchers 130 Schoolchildren; Sets Teacher on Fire In Front of Class | LAST WEEK: Hillary Clinton Claims We Need to ‘Empathize With’ Our Enemies
Posted: December 16, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital, Military academy, Pakistan, Pakistan Armed Forces, Pakistan Army, Peshawar, Security guard, Student, Taliban 4 Comments
A plainclothes security officer escorts students rescued from nearby school during a Taliban attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistani city, killing and wounding scores, officials said, in the worst attack to hit the country in over a year.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)