Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
I consistently meet smart, well-intentioned, and otherwise ethical people who do not seem to realize how quickly and needlessly lying can destroy their relationships and reputations. This is why I wrote a short ebook on the subject. Since it contains more or less everything I want to say in response to the Lehrer debacle, I’m offering the full text of LYING as a free download for the rest of the week.
Note: I’ve disabled the link as the book will soon be available in hardcover.
So here’s your chance (and mine; I haven’t yet read it); you have until Friday, so just click on the link above.
Thanks, Sam, and also alert reader Heintje, who brought this to my attention.
These videos of a human birth, the first visualized by magnetic resonance imaging, apparently appeared as supplementary material to a paper by Bamberg et al. referenced at bottom.
The scan was obviously terminated when the baby’s head emerged so that the machine wouldn’t interfere with removing the infant (see picture below).
In November 2010, a 24 year old gravida 2, para 2 woman at 37 5/7 weeks of gestation was admitted with regular contractions to the Department of Obstetrics of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany. The patient received an epidural and was transferred to the open MRI suite. In addition, the cervix was fully dilated, and the presenting part was engaged. Eight MRI studies were performed over a period of 45 minutes: 7 antepartum studies and 1 postpartum study. First, the woman was examined in the supine position with legs outstretched. In the active second stage, when the mother began expulsive efforts with the valsalva manoeuver, her legs were slightly abducted and supported by padding. This period was evaluated by real-time cinematic MRI series.
A 2585 gram appropriate-for-gestational age boy with Apgar scores of 9, 9, and 10 at 1, 5, and 10 minutes. Umbilical and umbilical vein pH measurements are routinely assessed as part of our daily practice. However, because of technical difficulties with the umbilical artery blood sample in this case, only the umbilical vein pH was available, which was 7.32. A neonatologist assessed the condition of the baby. Immediately after childbirth, the maternal anatomy was imaged before and after expulsion of the placenta, using a BFFE sequence. The total individual study time in the magnet room was less than 1 hour. The woman tolerated the discomfort during labor well and her postpartum course was uneventful. She was discharged with her newborn 2 days after delivery. The pediatric screening examinations, including auditory tests, did not reveal any abnormalities.
