News: "Olds" That Shock The World This Week!

Child infected with smallpox. Bangladesh, 1973
Image from Wikipedia

As the title goes, here are some "olds" that shock the world in the past few days!

Employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) discovered 6 forgotten vials of the horrific, catastrophic smallpox virus in an unused storage room in early July, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

Smallpox virus under microscope
Image from nbcnews

Smallpox structure
Image from scq.ubc.ca

A disease believed to have originated over 3,000 years ago in India or Egypt, smallpox killed an estimated 300–500 million people during the last century. Typically characterised by dense dimpled pustules rash filled with thick, opaque fluid, smallpox has a very high case-fatality rate ranging from 20% to 60% in adults and near 80% in London and 98% in Berlin during the late 1800s  in infants.

Image from Wikipedia

One of the minor differences between smallpox and chickenpox is the distribution of the rash, as chicken pox rash appears mainly on the face and the torso, whereas smallpox focuses attack on the face and limbs.

Since the introduction of vaccination in the 1800, smallpox was officially eradicated worldwide in 1979, except for samples stored in 2 highly secure laboratories, consisting of CDC and Russia. The vials concerned in this "olds" which should have been destroyed have been left unsecured for decades. The fact that the virus did not end in a massive outbreak and "rebirth" of smallpox, we are all very lucky.

This image of Steven Spielberg following what appears to be a triceratops poaching has gone viral.
Photo: Jay Branscomb, Facebook. Caption by KSDK.com

Sarcasm and humour at work. A Facebook jokester posted an image of Steven Spielberg sitting in front of a Jurassic Park Triceratop prop with the caption:

"Disgraceful photo of recreational hunter happily posing next to a Triceratops he just slaughtered. Please share so the world can name and shame this despicable man."

The comments are the best part.

"Steven Spielberg, I'm disappointed in you. I'm not watching any of your movies again ANIMAL KILLER," one commenter wrote.

"Disgraceful. No wonder dinosaurs became extinct. Sickos like this kill every last one of them as soon as they are discovered. He should be in prison," another said.

"He should be killed instead. Beautiful creature innocently living millions of years ago then this monster comes along," the commenter said.

"That's Steven Spielberg, director of Jurassic Park!" one person wrote.

"I don't care who he is, he should not have shot that animal!" a defender all of animals (even extinct ones) wrote back.

Do you think they really do not know what is happening, or are they just being funny and play along?

Google Glass crossover Brainwave detection?
Image from ddmcdn

Loved or hated, Google Glass can now be controlled using brainwave!!! How? The video below will tell.

In the future, the patients with locked-in syndrome (LIS) may be able to communicate! Awesome technology!


Finally, scientists have come up with another theory on how massive pyramid rocks were moved, and they say -- water.

What do you think?



Vocabulary:
pustule -- (n)[C] 
jokester -- (n)[C] 


Resources:
'Holy Toledo': Smallpox Discovery Opens Painful Scabs @ NBC News.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/holy-toledo-smallpox-discovery-opens-painful-scabs-n153141

David A. Koplow (2004) Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge
http://books.google.com.hk/books/ucpress?vid=ISBN9780520242203&redir_esc=y

Smallpox at @ WHO
http://web.archive.org/web/20070921235036/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/smallpox/en/

Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination @ NCBI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/

Steven Spielberg: Triceratops murderer? @ KSDK.com
http://www.ksdk.com/story/life/2014/07/11/steven-spielberg-triceratops-murder/12551901/

Good Thinking! Brain-Control Google Glass @ Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/good-thinking-brain-control-google-glass-140710.htm?utm_source=googleplus.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=DNewsSocial

MindRDR @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJQZtxlLaG0

Locked-in syndrome @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome

We Finally Know How The Pyramids Were Made! @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRvtVrXcC3Y