The Claim: Playing a Wind Instrument Causes Respiratory Infection

For years people have  thought that playing an instrument could lead to a higher risk of sore throat or airway inflammation. Research suggested that saliva and micro organisms could build and get blown deeper in the instrument.  Until now scientists didn't know  if the germs could survive long enough to make someone sick. The International Journal of Environmental Health Research, Tufts University scientists tested 20 instruments — flutes, clarinets, trumpets and saxophones. All were found to harbor living bacteria, mold and yeast, some of which survived for several days. Wooden reeds and mouthpieces had the most contamination. Researchers have not been looking at infection rates in musicians there have been numerous reports of lung problems linked to instruments. Such as a 35-year-old trombone player who had suffered a bad cough for 15 years; it went away after he started disinfecting the instrument with rubbing alcohol, and a 67-year-old saxophonist with shortness of breath saw the problem disappear after he made a habit of washing his mouthpiece. a 67-year-old saxophonist with shortness of breath saw the problem disappear after he made a habit of washing his mouthpiece. In the end Certain instruments can raise the risk of infections if not routinely cleaned.


I think that this article shows the need for hygiene. For example if nobody cleans an instrument that they share it can end up getting many people sick. It also suprises me that no one thought to clean their instrument by them selves. This is a problem that can be easily prevented and should be.
nytimes.com

Endeavour Lifts Off on Its Final Flight

At 8:56 a.m. on May 16th at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Endeavor space ship took off to reveal the secrets of the universe. The ship contained a 6 man crew commanded by Captin Mark E. Kelly. This was the second attempt because of an electrical short circuit on April 29th. The crew is going to install a $2 billion giant doughnut shaped magnet, on the International Space Station, that will sift through cosmic particles to find evidence of dark matter. It weighs almost 8 tons and is made to last as long as the space sation, untill around 2025. It will create a strong magnetic field that will push away cosmic particles and an array of detectors will analyze the deflection and will hopefully discover new particles.


I think this is a good idea, because if we discover dark matter does exist we would be able to someday use it to discover new galaxies. We might even be able to find planets that are similar to earth. It would also not waste years of research.
nytimes.com