Welcome to the Friday edition of your open thread. I don’t know about you, but this week has seemed extra-long to me, despite only working 4 days this week. I’m ready for the weekend!
Next time a dog tries to sniff at your crotch, encourage him:
Man’s best friend may cement his position if early results from French researchers can be replicated. A team of researchers from Tenon Hospital in Paris reported Tuesday at a San Francisco meeting of the American Urological Assn. that dogs can be trained to detect the characteristic odor of unique chemicals released into urine by prostate tumors, setting the stage for a new way to identify men who are most at risk from the cancer. If developed, the test might be more effective than the PSA test now used because it would have fewer false positives.
As surprising as the idea might sound, other researchers have already been studying the use of dogs to detect cancers of the breast, lung and bladder. Many tumors release characteristic chemicals that can be identified by the exquisitely sensitive canine nose. Lung cancer cells, for example, can release such chemicals into the air of the lungs, and they can then be detected on the victim’s breath.
There are scientific instruments that can detect molecules at extremely low levels as well. I don’t think we’re going to have to submit to dog scans at the doctor’s office.
South Carolina politics continues its reputation for being the state with the dirtiest politics:
In supporting a rival to Nikki Haley (R) for South Carolina governor, state Sen. Jake Knotts (R) used a slur for Arabs to describe both her and President Obama, The State reports.
Said Knotts: “We already got one raghead in the White House. We don’t need another in the governor’s mansion.”
Knotts later defended his comments saying they were “intended in jest.”
Nikki Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Her maiden name is Nimrata Randhawa.