Feb. 3 is National Wear Red Day®
Each year, the first Friday of February is a day when we call attention to the #1 killer of women: heart disease. It is also a day when we celebrate
the women who are taking action to protect their hearts.
National Wear Red Day reminds women and those who love them to take action against heart disease. It urges women to eat healthier, be more physically active,
and talk to their doctors about their personal risk for heart disease.
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LifeScience Moment: Dogsled relay in Alaska delivered antitoxin serum to Nome to combat deadly diphtheria outbreak
On Feb. 2, 1925, a life-or-death race to save the children of Nome from a diphtheria epidemic
made an international hero of one sled dog, and led to the creation of Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race.
A diphtheria epidemic threatened remotely located Nome, and air transportation was not available to
transport the nearest serum located in Anchorage nearly 700 miles away. The solution was a relay of
dog teams that transported the serum on the Iditarod Trail from Nenana to Nome. Each village
along the route provided its best team and driver for the next leg of the relay.
The critical 91 mile leg across the Norton Sound ice from Shaktoolik to Golovin was competed by
Leonhard Seppala, and his lead dog Togo. Gunnar Kaasen drove the final two legs into Nome behind his
lead dog Balto through a blizzard with 80 mph winds.
The antitoxin serum arrived in time, prevented the epidemic and save hundreds of lives.
The 20 mushers had covered the nearly 700 mile distance in just over 5 days and 7 hours in temperatures
of 50°(F) below zero.
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It's a Small World
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Deinococcus Radiodurans
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Science Quote
"Sit down before a fact like a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion. Follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing."
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Thomas H. Huxley, English biologist
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(1825-95)
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