Daily Online News

The number of anthrax infections continues to rise in Bangladesh, with nine new cases reported by officials with the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. The latest cases, in the Pabna and Meherpur districts, bring the total number of anthrax infections since August 18 to 517 cases. No news of fresh infection of animals has been reported, however, an official with the livestock department told TheDailyStar.net.Of the nine new cases, seven were found in Gangni and one in Mujibnagar upazila in Meherpur and one in Shathia upazila in Pabna. The districts where the cases of infected people were found are Narayanganj, Pabna, Sirajganj, Meherpur, Kushtia, Tangail, Manikganj, Shatkhira, Lalmonirhat and Rajshahi. Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research director Mahmudur Rahman told TheDailyStar.net that vaccination of livestock is the main way to control anthrax.Bidhan Chandra Das, the assistant director of health and administration at the Department ...

The total number of confirmed human anthrax infections in Bangladesh has reached 586 with three new cases detected in the last 48 hours. The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told TheFinancialExpress-BD.com that one of the new caseswas detected by government health officers in Chuadanga. The remaining two cases were found at Bheramara upazila of Kushtia and Gangni upazila of Meherpur. Cases of anthrax infection have been found in 12 districts since the disease first broke out in Sirajganj, IEDCR officials told TheFinancialExpress-BD.com.

September 21st is Donald Glaser's birthday. Glaser is an American physicist and neurobiologist who was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the bubble chamber. The bubble chamber is a detection device for particle physics that works on the same basic principle as the cloud chamber. A vessel is filled with a transparent liquid (usually liquid hydrogen) heated to just below its boiling point and aligned with a magnetic field. When the scientist is ready to take a reading, a piston is used to expand the chamber. This causes the liquid to become superheated. Any charged particles passing through the vessel will ionize the liquid and cause bubbles to appear along the particle's path. The bubble density and path shape can give information on the type, charge and lifetime of the particles. Bubble chambers have been replaced by newer methods of detection in modern particle research laboratories, but they still have a place in demonstrations and educatio...

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bangladesh's government says anthrax has spread in the country, with some 585 people contracting the disease since late August. The government's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research released the figures Monday, reporting cases of anthrax in 12 of the country's 64 districts. So far, none of the victims have died and none are seriously ill. While anthrax is not new to Bangladesh, there's no record of it spreading so widely. The institute said that initially, 38 villagers were sickened by the bacterial disease in northern Sirajganj district after infected cows were slaughtered. Humans typically get anthrax from touching infected animals or animal products. Human infections are potentially fatal.

Back when I took nuclear physics, we had access to lead bricks used for shielding. We used the bricks for other than their intended purpose, such as building blocks, paper weights, and writing utensils. Lead makes a pretty respectable pencil, providing you don't mind the toxicity of the... well, lead. If you liked the look of lead with the inconvenience of the brick, Geekosystem reports on the release of an inkless pen that works on the same principle. The pen uses a metal alloy tip, which writes by leaving metal on the writing surface. The pen works upside-down and underwater and leaves an indelible mark. The pen (really more like a pencil) does contain lead and other metals kids shouldn't be eating, so it is recommended for adult use only. If you're interested, you can get your very own inkless metal pen from Vat19 .

Depending on how old you are, you might read 38°C as 38 degrees Celsius or 38 degrees centigrade. Why are there two names for °C and what's the difference? Here's the answer: Celsius and centrigrade are two names for essentially the same temperature scale (with slight differences). The centrigrade scale is divided into degrees based on dividing the temperature between which water freezes and boils into 100 equal gradients or degrees. The word centigrade comes from "centi-" for 100 and "grade" for gradients. The centigrade scale was introduced in 1744 and remained the primary scale of temperature until 1948. In 1948 the CGPM (Conference General des Poids et Measures) decided to standardize several units of measurement, including the temperature scale. Since the centigrade was in use in France and Spain as a unit of angular momentum and could refer to any scale divided into 100 parts, a new name was chosen for the temperature scale: Celsius. The Celsius...

Fluoride is the fluorine ion added to toothpastes and dental rinses to help protect your teeth from cavities. While increasing the concentration of systemic fluoride (e.g., through fluoridating drinking water) has not been proven to reduce the incidence of tooth decay, direct contact between fluoride and teeth strengthens and helps remineralize damaged enamel. Here's how it works : •The calcium and phosphate compound which makes up tooth enamel is a modified form of hydroxyapatite, which is susceptible to attack by acids. Bacteria that thrive on the sugars found in the mouth multiply on dental surfaces and produce acids. •Mechanical brushing of teeth dislodges these bacteria and rinses them away, but doesn't do anything to address the ongoing damage to enamel from acid exposure. Fortunately saliva neutralizes these acids and teeth use compounds found in saliva to remineralize the enamel. So, as long as the rate of demineralization and the rate of remineralization remai...