PACHSmörgåsbord: Black Death

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tycho Brahe, Mercury, and Retro-diagnosing Illnesses

A team of scientists has be given permission to exhume Tycho Brahe’s body so that they can take samples of hair to test for the presence of mercury. They hope to determine Brahe’s cause of death, and clearly expect that cause to be mercury poisoning. This is the latest attempt by scientists to retro-diagnose historical diseases.

Posted by Darin Hayton on 11/17 at 10:30 PM

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Plague in Oregon

The latest case of plague in Oregon is, well, rather typical: man plays with rodent, gets bit by infected flea, contracts the plague. An aggressive round of antibiotics should make him healthy again. The moral of the story: don’t play with rodents.

Posted by Darin Hayton on 06/26 at 01:20 PM

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The views and opinions expressed on this blog are strictly those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science.