It Didn’t Take Very Long For Anesthesia to Change Childbirth

Scottish physician James Y. Simpson is credited with developing the use of anesthesia in childbirth. It's true that Simpson popularized the use of chloroform for childbirth, which he first used in 1847. Earlier that year, he'd used ether in a difficult delivery. But even before that, Dr. Crawford W. Long was using ether as an anesthetic. In fact, it was on this date in history, December 27, 1845, that Long gave his wife ether to help her through the birth of their second child.

When Long did this, he had already used ether on a friend, writes anesthesiologist Almiro dos Reis Júnior, to remove infected cysts from his neck. Long had experience with the substance from so-called “ether parties” where young people would knock each other out for fun. However, the public was skeptical of knocking people unconscious during surgery, so Long stopped using ether in his clinic. “But Long still believed in the importance of anesthesia and administered ether to his wife during the birth of his second child in 1845 and other subsequent deliveries, thus undoubtedly becoming the pioneer of obstetric analgesia,” writes dos Reis Júnior.

Both ether and chloroform had been used recreationally, and both are dangerous if the amount isn't just right. But the relief from the pain of childbirth caught on rapidly, especially after Queen Victoria gave birth using anesthesia. Read about the early days of anesthesia at Smithsonian.

When Whimsical Anti-Theft Tea Caddies Protected the World's Most Precious Leaf

When American Colonists threw boxes of tea into Boston Harbor in 1773, they were protesting taxation without representation. But you might be surprised to learn that the tea they dumped would have been worth about $2 million in 2017 dollars! It's hard to believe how expensive tea once was, considering a teabag now costs about a penny, if you aren't too picky about the flavor. But because tea was so expensive in the 18th and 19th centuries, people kept special boxes to store it, many of them with locks. These tea caddies, made of porcelain, silver, or wood, were ornately designed to signify the value of the tea they held. Marnie Bramble collected more than 400 tea caddies, and her son Mark Bramble inherited the collection and wrote a book called A Tea Caddy Collection. He talked with Ben Marks about tea caddies.

Now, in addition porcelain from China, glazed in blue and iron-red floral and figurative designs, tea caddies were made out of German porcelain, stoneware, Jasperware, creamware, and cauliflower ware, which was a type of creamware that was molded and glazed to resemble the vegetable. Tea caddies were made of Japanned papier-mâché and also wood, from chests to fanciful fruit forms—pears, apples, pineapples, and pumpkins were popular shapes. “They are my favorites,” Mark says. “I think the fruit forms are just the best. They’re totally charming, and when you hold them, they have a warmth that porcelain does not.”
The fruit forms also lack the provenance that most ceramic tea caddies enjoy. “There’s a real mystery to those pieces,” he says. “There’s no evidence of a manufacturer’s mark on them, which gives credence to the notion that they were homemade.” Less charming is the lead-lining inside the fruit form. “Using lead seems astonishing to us, but lead protected the tea from moisture.”

Read more about tea caddies and the global tea trade that made them necessary at Collectors Weekly.

Amazon ordered not to pull in customers who can't spell 'Birkenstock'

Did you mean Birkenstock?
A German court has ordered Amazon not to lure internet shoppers to its online marketplace when they mistakenly search for “Brikenstock”, “Birkenstok”, “Bierkenstock” and other variations in Google.
The ruling is a victory for the German sandal maker, whose relationship with Amazon has grown increasingly antagonistic. It convinced a district court in Duesseldorf that Amazon booked variations of “Birkenstock” as keywords through Google AdWords.
Any of those variations would produce search results for Birkenstock shoes sold on Amazon.com, the court said in a ruling dated Dec. 20. Birkenstock sought the injunction because it feared unsuspecting shoppers might buy low-quality counterfeits through Amazon that would erode its reputation.

Amazon ordered not to pull in customers who can't spell 'Birkenstock'

Frozen Niagara

Photos of frozen Niagara Falls emerge as tourists brave sub-zero temperatures

People doing incredibly stupid things in the freezing cold weather

With dangerously cold weather blanketing much of the United States for the New Year’s weekend, Americans have been injuring themselves trying to throw boiling water into the frigid air.
Injuries caused by attempts at instantly crystalizing water into ice are not the only examples of winter tomfoolery.

6 people doing incredibly stupid things in the freezing cold weather

Citizens Begin Reclaiming Coal Country After Decades of Corporate Land Grabs

Citizens Begin Reclaiming Coal Country After Decades of Corporate Land Grabs

Legal Pot Begins in California

Legal Pot Begins in California, Already the World's Largest Marijuana Marketplace

Judge Won't Tolerate 'Game-Playing' By Neo-Nazi Site Founder

Judge Won't Tolerate 'Game-Playing' By Neo-Nazi Site Founder Facing Lawsuits

Alaska Airlines faces suit after passenger dies

A family from Spokane, Washington, sued Alaska Airlines and a contractor of the airline Wednesday for neglecting their duties in taking proper care of a disabled 75-year-old woman, who fell down from an escalator in Portland International Airport in June. The woman later died of her injuries.

Alaska Airlines faces suit after passenger tumbles down escalator in scooter, later dies

NYC crime rates at record lows, mirroring national trends

NYC crime rates at record lows, mirroring national trends

Can the Community Rights Movement Fix Capitalism?

Can the Community Rights Movement Fix Capitalism?

The Wingnut 'Tax Cut' Will Also Shrink Your Paycheck

How the Wingnut 'Tax Cut' Will Also Shrink Your Paycheck

Slow federal response in Puerto Rico is causing urgent shortage of IV bags

Slow federal response in Puerto Rico is causing urgent shortage of IV bags

"My wife's nurse had to stand for 30 mins & administer a drug slowly through a syringe because there are almost no IV bags in the continental U.S. anymore. See, they were all manufactured in a Puerto Rican factory which still isn't fixed," wrote Ben Boyer. "Meanwhile that stupid swollen prick golfs."

Soccer coach arrested for pimping minors

A California high school soccer coach was arrested Monday on charges of trafficking and pimping of a minor, the Sacramento Bee reported. Elan Seagraves, 34, was accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl into sex trafficking and was booked on Xmas day in Sacramento, California.

Soccer coach arrested for pimping minors

Old white guy is the latest ‘Nigerian Prince’

This old white guy is the latest ‘Nigerian Prince’ caught trying to scam hundreds of people

Police in Slidell, Louisiana say an elderly white man posed as African royalty online in attempts to scam hundreds of people out of thousands of dollars.

Woman busted calling Dollar Tree employee a ‘black whore’ in viral video insists she’s ‘too educated’ to be racist

A dollar store customer caught on video in a racist tirade now claims that she is the real victim.

Woman busted calling Dollar Tree employee a ‘black whore’ in viral video insists she’s ‘too educated’ to be racist

Unemployed man forced to pay Muslim security guard

A court ruled that a man who hurled racist abuse at a Muslim security guard shortly after losing his job must compensate the man he accused of “taking our jobs.”

Unemployed man forced to pay Muslim security guard after shouting that he was 'taking our jobs'

DOJ trying to add citizenship question to census

The Justice Department is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. That, in turn, could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the once-a-decade census determines — from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent.

DOJ trying to add citizenship question to census

Gamer behind Kansas ‘swatting’ call resulting in innocent man’s death taken into custody

Gamer behind Kansas ‘swatting’ call resulting in innocent man’s death taken into custody

Tyler Raj Barriss, 25, was booked in Glendale, California the day after a police killing that started with an argument over video games became national news.

Suspects charged in throat-slashing murders of lesbian couple and two children

Suspects charged in throat-slashing murders of lesbian couple and two children

Two men have been charged in the gruesome murder of a lesbian couple and two children, ages 5 and 11, in Troy, NY, said the New York Daily News on Saturday.

Florida 'hot cop' resigns as Internal Affairs probes his anti-Semitic Facebook posts

A Florida law enforcement officer, whose fame derived from a “hot cop” selfie during Hurricane Irma, has quit his job after the attention resulted in an Internal Affairs board investigation into racist social media posts he made, USA Today reports.

Gainesville Police Department Officer Michael Hamill was suspended for the social media posts and then resigned the day he was to be interviewed by investigators.

Florida 'hot cop' resigns as Internal Affairs probes his anti-Semitic Facebook posts

Nervous Reporter Reluctantly Picks Up Brain-Shaped Blob From A Vancouver Lagoon

Watching The Blob made me wary of picking up anything that reminds me of a blob, but the reporter in this video obviously doesn't have these horror movie-related phobias imprinted on her brain.And although she is a bit nervous as she scoops a massive, slimy brown brain blob thing out of the Lost Lagoon of Stanley Park she's not as nervous as I would be about the slimy encounter.
Her name is Martha Perkins of the Vancouver Courier, and although Celina Stames of the Stanley Park Ecological Society watched over Martha as she scooped up the blobby mass (which was a colony of single-celled animals called bryozoans) there may still be blobby repercussions.

(YouTube Link)

If you should hear about Martha's "disappearance", and the authorities discover a puddle of slime in her empty apartment, remember Martha for her bravery and her curiosity in the face of blech-inducing blobbery.

The Animals That Went Extinct in 2017

Wildlife ecologist David Steen publishes an annual list of animals that probably went extinct in the past year. Some of them are only locally extinct, and some are extinct in the wild but have examples in zoos or laboratories. The list for 2017 includes bats, skinks, geckos, and the fishing cat.

The Fishing Cat is in big trouble in Southeast Asia. After extensive camera trap surveys in Java failed to turn any up there is a fear that they have gone extinct in all of Indonesia (they persist in low numbers elsewhere).

The fishing cat pictured above lives in a zoo. Read this year's list, and the methodology and philosophy behind the list at Living Alongside Wildlife.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1775		George Washington orders recruiting officers to accept free blacks into the army.
1852		The richest year of the gold rush ends with $81.3 million in gold produced.
1862		Union General William Rosecrans‘ army repels two Confederate attacks at the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone’s River).
1910		John B. Moisant and Arch Hoxsey, two of America’s foremost aviators, die in separate plane crashes.
1911		Helene Dutrieu wins the Femina aviation cup in Etampes. She sets a distance record for women at 158 miles.
1915		The Germans torpedo the British liner Persia without any warning killing 335 passengers.
1923		The Sahara is crossed by an automobile for the first time.
1930		Brewery heir Adolphus Busch is kidnapped.
1941		General MacArthur reports that U.S. lines in Manila have been pushed back by the Japanese.
1942		After five months of battle, Emperor Hirohito allows the Japanese commanders at Guadalcanal to retreat.
1944		Hungary declares war on Germany.
1965		California becomes the largest state by population.
1977		Cambodia breaks relations with Vietnam.

How We Can Reimagine and Reinvent Our Society in the Coming Year

How We Can Reimagine and Reinvent Our Society in the Coming Year

People are throwing boiling hot water in the air to make snow

Like an ice-bucket challenge gone awry, people are using the overwhelming freeze to test a theory about making snow using boiling water.
A McClatchy report describe the miracle of science creating a “sparkling cloud of vapor and crystalized water” that occurs when someone is crazy enough to try to experiment with boiling water.

People are throwing boiling hot water in the air to make snow — what could possibly go wrong

The 'Zoo Theory' adds a twist to alien conspiracies

December was a crazy month for extraterrestrial life, from a New York Times article exposing secret alien research programs to Elon Musk’s SpaceX missile launch over Los Angeles that sent the city into alien-hysteria for a few hours. From a scientific perspective, it seems unreasonable to think that we’re alone in this universe, or even this galaxy. But if there are aliens, why haven’t we met them yet? The answer may be complicated.
One popular theory to explain why aliens have not made open contact with humans is the “Zoo Theory.” John A. Ball, a MIT radio astronomer proposed the theory in 1973, suggesting that aliens may purposely be avoiding contact with humans as to not interfere with our activity, similar to zookeepers at a zoo or nature preserve, Science Alert  reported.
“ETI (extraterrestrial intelligence) may be discreetly and inconspicuously watching us but not dabbling, “ Ball wrote in his paper on the subject.

The 'Zoo Theory' adds a twist to alien conspiracies

Ancient China: Rare 1,900-year-old mirror found intact

Archaeologists in Japan have unearthed a 1,900-year-old Chinese mirror that’s not only still intact, but well-preserved enough to still show a faint reflection. City officials in Fukuoka, the capital of the Japanese island where the mirror was found, said such a discovery is extremely rare, according to Japanese national newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.

Ancient China: Rare 1,900-year-old mirror found intact

Why Is the State of Israel So Afraid of 16-Year-Old Ahed Tamimi?

Why Is the State of Israel So Afraid of 16-Year-Old Ahed Tamimi?

Student Debt Slavery

Student Debt Slavery: Bankrolling Financiers on the Backs of the Young

Facebook’s uneven enforcement of hate speech rules is allowing vile posts to stay up

Facebook’s community standards prohibit violent threats against people based on their religious practices. So when ProPublica reader Holly West saw this graphic Facebook post declaring that “the only good Muslim is a fucking dead one,” she flagged it as hate speech using the social network’s reporting system.
Facebook declared the photo to be acceptable. The company sent West an automated message stating: “We looked over the photo, and though it doesn’t go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that it may still be offensive to you and others.”
But Facebook took down a terser anti-Muslim comment — a single line declaring “Death to the Muslims,” without an accompanying image — after users repeatedly reported it.
Both posts were violations of Facebook’s policies against hate speech. But only one of them was caught by Facebook’s army of 7,500 censors — known as content reviewers — who decide whether to allow or remove posts flagged by its 2 billion users. After being contacted by ProPublica, Facebook also took down the one West complained about.

Facebook’s uneven enforcement of hate speech rules is allowing vile posts to stay up

YouTube's 'inadequate' guidelines lead to promotion of disturbing children's videos

Public outrage at revelations of inappropriate and disturbing children’s content on YouTube led the company to hire thousands more human moderators. But some former and current “raters” say the company’s moderation guidelines might make it worse.

YouTube contractors explain how the company's 'inadequate' guidelines lead to promotion of disturbing children's videos

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Top 10 U.S. Drug Policy Stories of 2017

Chinese people paying strangers to drink alcohol. Why?

A Beijing tech company has created an app that allows users to pay for ‘surrogate drinkers’ and 100,000 people signed up within 24 hours of it’s launch.
The service was introduced on Thursday by eDaijia, China’s largest mobile-based designated driving service provider, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The app, called eDaihe, links 'surrogate drinkers' with users looking to hire. The user pays the drinker to follow them around for an evening, consuming their alcoholic beverages along the way.
Like Uber, eDaihe is location-based so users can choose their surrogates based on proximity, as well as how much liquor they can drink and their profile descriptions.
Residents wanting to make money as a surrogate can create a profile. That profile must include their name, gender, location, a photo and how much they can drink, along with a short introduction.

Chinese people paying strangers to drink alcohol. Why?

Foods That Could Lower Your Risk of Cancer

13 Foods That Could Lower Your Risk of Cancer

Doctor accused of reusing anal catheters on dozens of patients

Middlesex County surgeon has had his medical license temporarily suspended for allegedly reusing disposable one-use anal catheters on multiple patients, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced in a statement.

Dr. Sanjiv K. Patankar, an East Brunswick-based colon and rectal surgeon, allegedly washed and reused the small, flexible catheters that are "inserted into patients' rectums during medical procedures," the statement said.
During a Dec. 19 hearing, the state says documented evidence allegedly showed that although 82 procedures were performed in Patankar's office between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, only five catheters were ordered in that period.

Doctor accused of reusing anal catheters on dozens of patients

Cities Are Giving Thousands of Homeless People One-Way Bus Tickets to Leave Town

How Cities Are Giving Thousands of Homeless People One-Way Bus Tickets to Leave Town

Children in conflict suffer from shocking levels of violence

A new report by the U.N. children’s fund finds 2017 has been a particularly brutal year for children caught in conflict, as children around the world have been subject to shocking levels of attacks by the warring parties.

The U.N. Children’s Fund says there is no safe place for children caught in conflict. The report finds children are being targeted and exposed to attacks and brutal violence in their homes, schools and playgrounds. This, in blatant disregard of international laws established to protect the most vulnerable.

Children in conflict suffer from shocking levels of violence

Woman passenger saves bus after driver passes out

A potentially dangerous situation on a Canadian bus trip was salvaged by a passenger Thursday, CBC News reported. The driver of an Ontario Northland bus going from Toronto to Sudbury passed out at the wheel, which prompted a woman to grab the wheel and steer the bus to safety until the situation could be resolved.

Woman passenger saves bus after driver passes out

Women violating 'Islamic' dress code won't be arrested in Tehran

Women will no longer be arrested for violating the Islamic dress code in effect since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, said Tehran Police on Thursday.
According to a report by Associated Press, this move signaled a relaxation in punishments given for violating the conservative dress code. It may be noted the young and reformed Iranians who voted President Hassan Rouhani to power earlier this year, have been making this demand for a very long time.

Women violating 'Islamic' dress code won't be arrested in Tehran

Will Uterus Transplants Change the Way We Perceive Gender?

Will Uterus Transplants Change the Way We Perceive Gender?

Mormon cult leaders charged over child sex rituals

A group of Mormon cult leaders is being charged with organizing sexual religious rituals with underage girls and threatening them with damnation if they did not participate, according to court documents filed in Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday.

Mormon cult leaders charged over child sex rituals

Unlicensed ‘christian counselor’ arrested for sexually assaulting clients

Unlicensed ‘christian counselor’ arrested for sexually assaulting clients

An unlicensed “christian counselor” in Dalton, Georgia has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and attempting to coerce or solicit sex from clients.

Wingnut men are more likely to say they sexually harass women at work

A study conducted by The New York Times and polling company Morning Consult found that wingnut men are more likely to say they harass women, while men who oppose Dumbass Trump reported lower rates of harassment.

Study finds white wingnut men are more likely to say they sexually harass women at work

'Who’s the snowflake?’

Anti-Choice students at Baylor University are accusing Tomi Lahren and Turning Point USA of censorship after the wingnut shrieking head refused to answer questions about her pro-choice stance during the cabal’s annual Student Action Summit.

'Who’s the snowflake?’: Anti-Choice students lash out at Tomi Lahren for refusing to answer questions about abortion

Car thief was picked up while wearing a deeply ironic t-shirt

A Virginia man wearing a “Trust Me” t-shirt showed he was just the opposite after being arrested along with an accomplice for stealing an unlocked car, police claim.
Wilmer Lara Garcia, 23, and Orlen Nunez, 24, of Falls Church both face charges of auto theft.
According to authorities, at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, a resident of Falls Church left a Honda Civic warming up on the street with the doors unlocked. It was missing by time she returned to the scene. The men were pulled over in the stolen care blocks away during a traffic stop, according to the Washington Post.
Police say they also discovered altered and forged checks in the car. Garcia, who was wearing the “Trust Me” shirt, is facing an additional two counts of forgery.

Man tries to electrocute pregnant wife

A man from Florida was accused of attempting to kill his wife after he wired the front door of their home to a car battery charger in an attempt to electrocute his wife. Flagler County Sheriff’s investigators said Michael Wilson, 32, is being accused of trying to kill his wife after he attached electrical devices inside of the deadbolt lock and to the door handle of their home, according to an affidavit.

Man tries to electrocute pregnant wife

New Steven Avery test show he's innocent

The Wisconsin man whose conviction was portrayed in the popular Netflix documentary Making a Murderer was framed for the 2005 crime, his defense attorney told Newsweek, citing new experiments she conducted with a bloodstain expert.

New Steven Avery test show he's innocent, lawyer says