This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. 20-27 February to be exact, is DonateLife Week [1a] (nee Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week). I’m still mulling over whether to be a donor [1b].

2. Michael Danby, Federal MP for Melbourne Ports (which includes Albert Park) spoke in parliament against the Grand Prix [2]. Good on you, Michael.

3. I read in treehugger that in the US solar-powered homes sell twice as quickly at a higher price than equivalent grid-powered homes [3]. Here’s hoping it’s so here too.

4. JAMA reported that mobile phone use changes the metabolism in the part of the brain closest to the phone’s antenna [4]. The clinical significance of this remains unclear.

5. further to my 24 January post [5a] the government said the axing of limited practice rights for retired doctors was ‘to protect public health and safety’ [5b]. Let’s see the evidence, then, policy czars.

6. 31 of the 33 Chilean miners rescued from a collapsed mine last October landed in Israel on Wednesday for a week-long visit [6]. I wish them an enjoyable time.

7. the Internal Medicine Journal published Tasmanian research showing knee arthritis severity’s closely correlated with the severity of x-ray changes, and independently with pain severity [7]. Odd that this had never been shown before.

8. darling Kate, in her wondrous Foxs Lane blog [8a], introduced me to the ‘sweater curse’ It’s charming how the curse’s Wikipedia entry analyses it in scientific terms [8b].

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.