Memory, Spanking, and H1N1: Buzz Week in Review

by Mike Krumboltz 13 hours ago







7 Votes
Health studies are released all the time, and the vast majority draw little to no attention. This week was a little different. Two articles inspired a lot of interest. The first focused on four individuals who either suffer from or are blessed with (depending on who you ask) something called "super memory." The other summarized a study that examined the effects spanking can have on a child's IQ. Put on your thinking cap — it's time for a special science edition of the Buzz Week in Review.
All hail those with "super memory"
Have you ever walked into a room to do something, and then forgot why you walked there in the first place? Odds are that hasn't happened to the four people profiled in this article from Mental Floss. The popular piece focuses on the only four people in the world confirmed to have "super memory." One guy can look at a single freeze frame from a Pittsburgh Steelers football game and recall the game's date and final score. There's also a woman who can remember "most details of nearly every day she’s been alive since she was 14." She describes it as like walking around with a camcorder that's always on. The article makes for some great reading. Who knows, maybe you'll never forget it.
The real damage of spanking
Spanking kids has been a controversial form of punishment for years. Some say it doesn't harm children in any lasting way. Others feel otherwise, and a recent study appears to back up their point of view. The study, summarized nicely in this article from NPR, explains that 2- to 4-year-old kids who are spanked had IQs that were about five points lower than kids who were never spanked. Web savvy parents took notice — lookups on "spanking study" quickly surged from nil into the thousands. You can read the full study at the University of New Hampshire's official site.
Dr. Gupta gets H1N1
The swine flu menace continues and it doesn't even care if you have a medical degree. The latest high-profile victim: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. He's free and clear now, but news of Dr. Gupta's illness made big waves after the good doctor talked about having H1N1 on his blog. Dr. Gupta and his cameraman fell ill while covering the war in Afghanistan. Not exactly the ideal place to become violently ill. Reports Gupta: "This was the sickest I have ever been." We'll take your word for it, doc.


Something they forgot to mention about Gupta is that he is a slum lord. He owns property here in OKC and they are being run to the ground cause all he is interested it pulling all the money out of it.


How do i know?


I used to live in one of them when i was living in Norman.

 

And now you have H1N1...

 

Awwwww

lol

 

what a nice fellow that sanjay must be... i think he needs a dose or ten more of swine flu.....

 

Now I'm hearing that anyone who got the flu shot last year is twice as likely to get H1N1 this year.

Everyone at work was given the flu shot last fall. So how thrilled was I to hear that info.

JJ, did you get the flu shot last year?

 

I can't get the flu shot cause I get an allergic reaction, so does that mean I have a better chance of not getting H1N1?

 

So far it is just the Canadians that are at the higher risk according to the US center for disease control. lol

 

I heard that the further up you are on planet earth, the worse its going to be.:p:p