h1n1
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New flu vaccine protects test animals from multiple strains
Every now and then, it happens. You take the time to get a flu shot, but you wind up sick anyway. Bummer. That's the problem with the flu, it's not just one virus -- it's multiple variant strains. Every year, researchers have to choose one common strain on which to base the season's new vaccine. One day, that kind of guesswork could be a thing of the past: according to a new studies in Nature Medicine and Science, researchers are making significant progress on vaccines that fight multiple flu strains simultaneously.
Japanese company to sell Swine Flu-resistant suit -- because nobody wants their clothes to get sick
Japan's been particularly hard hit with this H1N1 influenza marching around the globe, so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that one of its companies has come up with an "anti-flu" suit... but it still is. Japanese clothier Haruyama Trading Company has developed and is now selling a men's suit which will supposedly ward off the H1N1 virus -- not the first time we've seen this idea. The suit, which looks exactly like any other, is coated in titanium dioxide (a popular ingredient found in sunscreen and toothpaste) which reacts when exposed to sunlight and kills the virus. Nobody's really checked into whether or not these things actually work, of course, but hey -- that's part of the fun, right? If you live in Japan, you can grab one for somewhere in the neighborhood of $580. [Via Cnet]
Samwise does guest strip for Penny Arcade
The webcomics community seems like a pretty cool bunch, specially when they all pitch in and help each other out. One of my favorite webcomics, PvP Online, often features guest artists to fill in for creator Scott Kurtz when he's away at some convention or just down with some bad bug. Just recently, he coralled the immensely talented Ramón Pérez, the genius behind Kukuburi, to do a guest strip while he was down with the flu.That's nice, you say, but what's this got to do with World of Warcraft? Well, see, Gabe from Penny Arcade (aka creator Mike Krahulik's alter ego) apparently picked up some kind of bad bug during their PAX or Penny Arcade Expo, and some well-known comic folks such as Bill Amend and Kris Straub stepped in to help. The highlight is that World of Warcraft's art director, Samwise Didier, the man largely responsible for the look and feel of many of Blizzard's games also pitched in his contribution.It has nothing to do with our favorite game, but it's freaking Samwise doing a freaking Penny Arcade strip! I mean, I don't really have to explain why I'm posting this, right? One of our favorite WoW icons doing a guest strip on one of our favorite webcomics (that occasionally tackles WoW) is so full of win it almost makes Saurfang cry. These sort of crossovers are so cool, you almost wish these webcomic creators would get sick more often. Ok, not really, but you know what I mean.
MMO gaming under quarantine
If you're unlucky enough to be quarantined because of Influenza A(H1N1), commonly referred to in the media as "Swine flu", trying to find ways to pass the time without wrecking yourself might seem a bit elusive. Since some of us, here at Massively, are stuck in quarantine right now ourselves, it seems only fitting that we try to pass on a few useful tips. Obviously, you're already reading Massively, so we don't need to recommend that. Since you can't infect others online, gaming seems like a great option, but there are some things you'll want to watch out for, because the last thing you want is to make things worse for yourself.
