Influenza in Holland

The following animation starts at February 10, 2007 and ends at March 2, 2007. It presents the spread of the Influenza virus in Holland. Every frame is one day. I've seen a better animation of whole Europe in which it was more clear how the virus spread, but I can't find it.

Influenza % over time in Holland:

The influenza virus is more serious than the common cold. 30% have the common cold at the moment. You can find the common cold graph here. This probably explains mr wiggles pain in his body: "they(influenza infected) have aches and pains throughout the body, most pronounced in the back and legs."

Hands on

Afghan opium 'hits record output'

Opium production in Afghanistan reached record levels last year, the United States has said. w00t! The US State Department's annual report on narcotics also said the flourishing drugs trade was undermining the fight against the Taleban. It warned of a possible increase in heroin overdoses in Europe and the Middle East as a result. I'm not sure if that will happen, but anyway, blame the Taleban!!! Say NO to individual responsibility!!! Poppy production rose 25% in 2006, a figure US Assistant Secretary of State Ann Patterson described as alarming. Ring the bells! Call 911! Time for Panic! Four years after the US and its British allies began combating poppy production, Afghanistan still accounts for 90% of the world's opium trade. The War on Drugs fails again! Hiephoi ! The US has recently given the Afghan government more than $10bn in assistance, but most of that money will be spent in security rather than encouraging alternative sources of income. $10,000,000,000 to fight poppies and they hit a new record this year? Money well spent! With that money you could have prevented 10,000,000 HIV/AIDS infections according to the Copenhagen Consensus. The report also criticised South America's left-wing leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, for failing to do enough to fight the drugs trade. Blablablabla... drugs are bad mmmmkkkay!

Cassini snaps Saturn from a dizzying height

Saturn and its golden rings appear in dizzying new images taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it flew high above the planet's poles.

Saturn itself has been removed, but its shadow on the rings remains in this top-down natural-colour composite image, comprised of 27 different pictures. Cassini shot this from 1.6 million kilometres away (Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) There is also a movie(click here) made up of 34 images taken by Cassini over 12 hours as it passed through the plane of the rings. Six moons make cameo appearances in the clip. Other frames were later inserted to make the film appear less jerky. The full set of rings, as photographed by the Cassini spacecraft on September 15, 2006.

Godzilla!!

Well, not quite but almost. She weighs an incredible 180kg and she's only seven years old. How could her parents let this happen? Child abuse! Also, what a horribly sensationalist 'news' report.

Dolphins are so cute!

The Carrot and Dutch Nationalism

The carrot has a long an interesting history. It was first used some 5000 years ago. It used to exist in many different shapes and colors ranging from purple to white, pale yellow, red, green and black, but not orange.
The first orange carrots did not appear until the 17th century. The orange carrots were bred by patriotic Dutchmen as a tribute to Willem van Oranje.
The orange carrot, not only had a better taste but also had beta carotene making it healthier. Before long the Dutch were the leading carrot growers and only orange carrots remained.
Today people are starting to breed different colored carrots again as novelty vegetables.