2
POPSGoogle can accurately estimate flu activity faster than CDC? "We've found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems. " Fascinating! I knew that data from Where's George? has been useful to epidemiologists. And now Google, too.
2
POPSGoogle Flu Trends ~ How does this work?
used by CDC. Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Our system is still very experimental, so anything is possible, but we're hoping to see similar correlations in the coming year. The doctors keep track of the percentage of their patients who have an influenza-like illness, also known as an "ILI percentage". CDC and state health departments collect and aggregate this data each week, providing a good indicator of overall flu activity across the United States. So why bother with estimates from aggregated search queries? It turns out that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1-2 weeks to collect and release surveillance data, but Google search queries can be automatically counted very quickly. By making our flu estimates available each day, Google Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza. This is an exciting development, because early detection of a disease outbreak can reduce the number of people affected.
11
POPSA satellite eye on the Earth last 2 pictures: a) Kasatochi volcano, Aleutian Islands, August 8: Dormant for 200 years this small volcano in the Pacific erupted without warning on August 7. The volcano’s plume is seen here as a brown streak in the cloud b) Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea, Norway, August 12 2008. Phytoplankton are tiny plant-like organisms that are the foundation of the ocean food web. Like plants, they contain chlorophyll that they use to harvest sunlight for photosynthesis. In northern waters, these organisms are starved for sunlight much of the year, but during the summer months, they explode in colourful blooms such as this one
13
POPSHate Us For WHAT? "Spying without warrants or probable cause, free speech zones, indefinite detentions, torture, a commission to investigate unapproved belief systems, a media that functions as state propaganda, and an empire stretching from Atlantic to Pacific the long way: is this what the rebels braved the holiday season at Valley Forge for?"
5
POPSHey Al Gore And hurricane activity is suppose to do what because of global warming?
0
POPSMTV To Shoot 20th Season Of The Real World OK, so it's not actually the 20th anniversary, considering that The Real World only began airing in 1992. Still, this forthcoming milestone provokes a number of reactions: 1) Does anyone really care about this franchise anymore? Fewer and fewer viewers seem to. But it's hardly surprising that Viacom green-lighted another season -- after all, it's still one of MTV's top-rated shows. Or to put it another way, much of the rest of the network's roster is really struggling. 2) Wow, reality programming is getting long in the tooth. But before you dismiss it completely, check out this defense of the genre from The Atlantic Monthly (www.theatlantic.com/doc/200705/reality-tv). 3) Congratulations thirtysomethings -- you're officially old! - Louis Hau
8
POPSIs climate change boosting hurricanes? What it tells us, says Mooney, is that the link between climate change and hurricanes is complicated. As he emphasizes again and again, “global warming did not cause Hurricane Katrina, or any other weather disaster.” On the other hand, statistical analysis of the past century’s hurricanes and computer modeling of a warmer climate, nudged along by greenhouse gases, does indicate that rising ocean temperatures could fuel hurricanes that are more intense.
2
POPSHurricane boost 'due to warm sea' "man-made climate change, which has increased the temperature of the sea surface, is the major factor behind the increase in numbers." :-( sad but some of this is our fault
2
POPSForecaster cuts 2007 hurricane outlook Poor Algore, who has been praying for more devastating weather and human misery, will be very disappointed that yet another year will be devoid of major hurricanes based upon his loony global warming nonsense.
6
POPSGore's great regret.... still no hurricanes! Yeah, I know, there are still a few months of hurricane season to go, but when are people going to realize the politically motivated global warming hype is just hot air. Once again, sucked in by liberals. No, the sky is not falling.
4
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update