Dialysis is a compound word of dia and lysis– which means ‘through’ ‘splitting or loosening’. In chemistry, the term defines the process of separating particles within a liquid, based upon their ability to pass through a membrane. In medicine, we use the term when we remove impurities in the blood based upon their ability to pass through a membrance. Until now.
Continue reading New Use for Old Word?
Despite what Tim Montgomerie claimed in his Wall Street Journal piece (discussed last week), the facts are that there real problems exist in America- and the world over. We are not deluded with our thinking that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer or that corporations are evading their financial responsibility to their employees and to our communities.
Continue reading Teach your children well…
Water. It’s crucial for life. Yet, we are finding more and more that we are without a secure supply. And, when we do find water, we need to spend lots of money- and lots of energy- to get the water to be of drinkable purity.
Continue reading Solar powered water purification
What do you feel when someone you knew once- and haven’t seen for decades- dies?
I was confronted with these thoughts this past weekend. Dr. John Nash died. No, he didn’t die- he was killed by the errors of a taxi driver- who survived the crash, while John and his wife were killed in the wreck.
Continue reading Is it a game?
I was reading that IKEA was going to change it’s wage policy based upon the Living Wage Calculator. First I heard of that. And, I was pleased to see that it’s an MIT project.
Continue reading Living Wages – IKEA style
College tuition. OK. Breathe… Yes, it’s high- very high. It amazes me that the highest tuition in the land is to be found at a STATE university. When I was going to college – back before we were a free nation- you could bank on two things. State schools were cheap. State schools were easier to get into.
Continue reading How much is that?
So, it’s time to see if this experiment is working. Which experiment? MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). I explained how these work (or at least the Harvard/MIT/UC Berkeley version, called edX) and explained that MIT also has had open courseware for more than a decade.
Continue reading MOOC mucking…
I have mixed emotions about these massive open online classes. The homonym MOOK (yes, they are really called MOOC’s) comes to mind. But, then I recall the first biology and microbiology courses I took. At one school, where the total enrollment (including night school) was under 4000 in all degree programs, there were 300 kids in this class. In another institution, where the enrollment was about the same (but more prestigious, and no part time students), and there were 250 in the other.
Continue reading MOOC or mook?
I’ve stayed out of the fray for a while now. (Don’t cluck-cluck me; I really have!) Because I wanted to see what each side would really use for their arguments; you see, there is nothing that is intrinsically safe, unsafe, right, or wrong with either side’s position. No, it’s the execution that will make the difference. About what am I talking? Harvesting tar sands for oil refining and piping them thousands of miles.
Continue reading Is XL the excellent choice?