Day: April 30, 2025

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NPR

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VA research brought CT scans and pacemakers into the world. Now it’s at risk of cuts : NPR

Then VA research revealed that medication was just as effective as surgery. "So instead of sending a patient to a urologist for a surgeon, I could prescribe a pill," said Fihn, who worked at the VA for 36 years as both a physician and a medical researcher.

Dr. Fihn lists similar examples: The nicotine patch, the first liver transplant, CT scans and pretty much all the little rapid test strips used to detect everything from pregnancy to COVID are the result of VA-funded research. Congress authorized nearly $1 billion in VA research last year, but Fihn and several colleagues warn that it's all under threat. Sponsor Message

"Sudden, arbitrary personnel decisions are placing thousands of researchers and tens of millions of dollars of ongoing research at risk and threatening the future of a $2 billion research enterprise that extends back more than 80 years," Fihn wrote in a recent piece he co-authored in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Why I unplug my microwave when it’s not in use

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It might seem silly but I always unplug my microwave when it’s not in use.

A while back, I plugged my microwave into my Kill-a-Watt meter and found it was using 2 1/2 watts per hour, when the microwave was off to power the clock and controls 24-7. 60 watt hours a day, doesn’t sound like a lot but there are 365 days a year, and that works out to be nearly 22 kW/h a year.

At 15 cents a kilowatt hour, that’s $3.30 a year. Not a real big expense, but every little thing adds up. Not to mention the carbon emissions, the pollution from the extraction of coal, uranium and natural gas to spin the turbines.

Not a lot, but electricity isn’t free and unplugging the microwave isn’t a lot of work.

Griswold Heights 1952

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According to state tax records, Griswold Heights was constructed around 1950. By 1952, most of the projects were done and as you can see from the 1952 aerial, few things have change in Griswold Heights in the past 70 years.