Month: February 2013

Guest post by Peter Filkins The 50th anniversary of Sylvia Plath’s suicide on February 11, 1963, will no doubt cause many to pause and think what might have been if she had lived to write beyond the age of thirty. Many will reflect on the patriarchal forces she struggled against, or the role of her…

Guest post by Guenter B. Risse Maps and statistical charts are essential aids for demonstrating the location and frequency of epidemic disease around the world. Spotting the presence of diseases has a long tradition, stretching back at least to the seventeenth century. In fact, during a plague outbreak in Naples and Bari in the 1690s, mapmaking…

Guest post by DeeAnn M. Reeder White-nose syndrome (or WNS), an emerging infectious disease of hibernating bats, was first noted in New York during the winter of 2006/2007. Named for the visible white fungus that grows in the skin of the bats’ muzzles, ears, and wings, WNS causes a suite of symptoms, including flying during…

Guest post by John A. Rich, M.D., M.P.H. The horrible massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, has once again sparked the conversation about guns, but I wonder when the underlying issue and complexity of safety will rise to the surface. We need to ask ourselves, other than sportsmen and hunters, why would someone want to own a…

By Claire Tamberino It’s a good time to be in Baltimore. It’s an even better time to be in New Orleans, where the Baltimore Ravens will face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl whatever (sorry, I never did get the hang of Roman numerals). I can imagine that the French Quarter is teeming with…