Experimental

Little Girl now knows a little bit of what it is like to be a guinea pig.

There is a research center associated with the nearby university, and they are always looking for people willing to participate in studies. Now, they have begun doing studies on children 5-18. She heard me talking about it, and decided she wanted to do it, as they do get compensated.

So we showed up at 7am, and she was measured, weighed, got a body fat analysis, blood drawn, and she even had to take a pregnancy test, as she had a DEXA scan and an MRI.

The whole point is that they are trying to pinpoint early markers for chronic diseases, to see if they can find heart disease, pre-diabetes, etc., decades before it actually occurs and take steps to prevent these things.

We filled out what seemed like as much paperwork as when we got the mortgage on the house, and the questionnaire about lifestyle was over 7 pages alone.

It really only took just over 2 hours, though, and she got $50, which is pretty cool for two hours at her age.

They have her number on file, and will be calling if she qualifies for any studies in the future.


Today is

Cannes Film Festival -- through the 22nd

Cormorant Fishing Festival -- Nagara River, Gifu, Japan (traditional fishing with trained cormorants is celebrated)

Donate a Days Wages to Charity Day

Eat What You Want Day

Holiday of the City of Miskolc -- Miskolc, Hungary

Lokadagur -- Iceland (Final Day, festival to mark the end of the fishing season in the south-west of the country)

National Mocha Torte Day

National Night Shift/Third Shift Workers Day

National School Nurse Day

National Receptionists Day

National Technology Day -- India

Nisga'a Day -- Nisga'a (one of the First Nations of Canada)

Royal Windsor Horse Show -- Home Park, Private Windsor, Berkshire, England (through the 15th)

St. Gengulf's Day (patron against unhappy marriages)

St. Mamertus' Day (first of the Ice Saints)

St. Philip's Day

Twilight Zone Day -- no, it didn't premier on this day, nor was Rod Serling born nor did he die on this day; it's today for no particular reason, which seems fitting


Anniversaries Today:

Minnesota becomes the 32nd US state, 1858


Birthdays Today:

Corey Monteith, 1982
Natasha Richardson, 1963
Mort Sahl, 1927
Foster Brooks, 1912
Phil Silvers, 1911
Salvador Dali, 1904
Martha Graham, 1894
Irving Berlin, 1888


Today in History:

Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman Empire and is also called Nova Roma and Byzantium, 330
Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam, 1647
Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented European to sail into the Columbia River, 1792
The waltz is introduced into English ballrooms, and becomes popular in spite of being called "riotous and indecent," 1812
William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth lead an expedition westwards from Sydney, opening the interior of Australia for settlement, 1813
Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British, 1857
Luxembourg gains its independence, 1867
U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana, 1910
Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies, 1924
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded, 1927
Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time, 1949
Israel joins the United Nations, 1949
In Baltimore, Maryland, the first heart-lung transplant takes place, 1987
In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions, 1995
IBM Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format, 1997