Saturday, January 21, 2006

Sneezing Fits

I've been reading far too much Wikipedia today. I went in to look up Droste Effect and ended up browsing for..well, a long time. I've always liked reading encylopedias and dictionaries. I love discovering weird factoids:

Apparently, up to 25% of people have a condition called Photic Sneeze Reflex, where they will sneeze (often repeatedly) when exposed to bright light. It's a genetic condition (and, surprisingly, a dominant one). The best part of the article, though, was:
"The photic sneeze reflex is considered a risk factor to combat pilots: people suffering from photic sneeze reflex may not fly combat aircraft."
You think? That might be a bit of a disadvantage.

I love the whole Wiki- concept -- an open source of information that is updateable and linkable by anyone. You can comment on, or correct, any information you find, and the self-policing community that contributes to a Wiki- are amazingly vigilant about biased or incorrect information. Better than any 'regular' encyclopedia, and completely hyperlinked to boot. There are dozens of smaller Wikis, for specific topics, and we've even used the model for some of our technical knowledge base at work.

2 comments:

laurafingerson said...

Hey, I have this! Who knew it had such an official name and was a medical condition. Huoh. Dominant, eh? Huoh.

Anonymous said...

Laura, you got it from your dad, and I have experienced it as well. Your children are at risk!

OK, Auntie Robin - It's up to you to make sure those girls know that they have options other than fighter pilots. I'm sure that you can think of some good occupations for them.

Ruth