Ear Wax Candles? Mythbuster's Special Edition

During my latest Kalamazoo visit we happened to talk about ear wax candles, those long wax tubes you stick in your ear that magically 'suck' out excess ear wax while they burn. I've heard multiple people swear that they work and that using the candles helps to prevent ear wax buildup. A few quick searches on the world-wide interweb brings up tons of sites challenging the idea that ear wax candles do much of anything. 

We decided to test the idea that the candles remove wax and used ourselves as subjects.

Bec, subject #1

Brian, subject #2, who giggled through all of it. That's Aiden in the background (Bec and Brian's daughter)

Subject #3, in a lonely glass jar

After we burned each candle to the sticker (according to the instructions this is the proper amount of time), we cut each candle apart. They're just hollow tubes made of a gauze material that's impregnated with flammable waxes.

Aiden, amateur photographer, and subject #3. The smoke from the candle completely filled the little jar and it trickled up and out like a smoke-machine at a Poison concert.

And the results? How about I show you and you can guess which one is from the jar? 

A.

B.

C.

D.

Key:

A is Bec's left ear

B is the control, only half opened

C is Brian's right ear

D is the control, fully opened

Summary. The candles don't remove any earwax. All of the wax you see in the candle after you burn it is from the candle itself and there is a lot of variability between candles. Bec's candles looked squeaky clean while the control was one of the dirtiest. 

While it seems the ear wax candle is a myth, some of our other results made us think they might be bad for your ears. In the control jar that filled with smoke while we burned it, ostensibly this is also what would happen in your ear canal, we noticed a lot of white wax soot that built up on the bottom of the jar. Now if that stuff accumulates in your ear, it can't be good.

Subject #3 in the jar. You can see the white buildup at the base.

Post burn, lots of stuff down there.

Annapolis! The Whirlwind Finds its Mark

Sails, boats, marinas, and taverns - all of it spread throughout Annapolis' multiple peninsulas which jut out into the Chesapeake. These are the things that draw me to Annapolis and while I can't explain why I like them so much, I know I do. 

The Winona, all 25' of her sleekness.

I'd hoped for some time out on the Winona, a 25' Tanzer of my friend Chris Charbonneau (Charby to those who trust him enough to be dragged out onto the ocean with him). Winds at 25 knots with gusts to 30 are a good deal too much to be enjoyable on the craft and we spent the time instead drinking beer below decks and telling lies. The space below is actually enough to sleep 2 and there is at least one person who's spent a winter sleeping on her to save on rent. - My own plan...

Charby, Yuengling in hand, after I asked him to let me take her for a spin. He apparently remembers my amazing sailing skills.

A really nice 5o', do I look like I own it?

The brief couple of days I spent in Annapolis were filled with lots of looking at boats, Yuengling, and Dark & Stormy. While I didn't get to put time in out on the water, I really enjoyed myself. 

The Whirlwind Continues

Arrived in DC on Sunday evening for quick orientation as part of the NSF fellowship. One of the most painless orientations I've attended; we covered a full suite of logistical pains, program requirements, legal constrictions, and medical considerations in record time. I even got to hit the town and see some sights.

Yours truly, Washington Monument in the background.

The Washington Monument, viewed from the new (ish) WWII memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial, viewed from the WWII memorial.

I also went to see my buddy Travis and his girlfriend Bonnie, who are now living in DC. Trav and I lived together in Annapolis before I moved to Oregon.

Here he is with Lucia, a super-awesome and very chill aussie border mix. She loved me right away.

A Whirlwind Tour

Arrived in Chicago this past Tuesday to meet up with Kelly Gates-Derousseau, a great friend from my undergrad at WMU. We'd arranged to drive up to Kalamazoo to surprise Bec and Chad, with lots of extra help from their respective spouses. Kelly hasn't been back to the states in more than a year (she's off in the south pacific, drinking kava and playing expatriate games) and I'm always keen for travel. My suggestion to show up with JFK and Nixon masks was vetoed though, we brought beer instead.

The shock on Bec and Chad's faces was worth the secrecy. They were truly surprised and just sat there, jaws-dropping, with an obvious uncomprehending look. I think it probably took some time before they really accepted that we were actually there in the living room. 

While in Michigan I also took time to visit the fam. Lucas posed for a special shot:

(No worries, it's innocent. He's teething and the cold can feels good on his gums)

While Sage and Lane conspired (these two will be hooligans together, give them time):

And Willow, another poor victim of the vicious beef stroganoff (I hated the stuff when I was little, it always made me gag):

China bound!

Great news! 

I've recently received official final acceptance for a fellowship in China. The East Asia Pacific Science Institute sponsors American scientists to work in multiple east Asian countries over the summer. I will be leaving to go to China in mid-June and plan to stay for a few months to do my proposed research - and to travel as much as possible in China of course!

I still have much left to do before I leave: visas, logistic arrangements, lodging and scientific equipment etc. I'm super-excited for this trip and can't wait to finish my thesis work here so I can finally push on to the next step. 

It's quite possible that my work in China this summer will contribute to my PhD work but for now, I'm thankful for the opportunity and plan to be as adventurous, as opposed to studious, as possible while in China.

Some images courtesy of google maps. It's hard to look places up and I don't think you can read the names very well but - I'll be staying in Chuzhou, which is an hour from Nanjing and a few hours from Shanghai. China is huge, while my arrival is in Beijing I am pretty sure I'll have to fly to Nanjing or Shanghai to take a train to my final workplace, Chuzhou.

The two little green dots are where I'll be living for the majority of the time.

A little closer. Shanghai is the big city on the far right, the peninsula. "A" is Nanjing and "B" is Chuzhou.

A close-up of Chuzhou (left, "B") and Nanjing (right, "A"). 

In addition to prepping the trip logistics I also purchased some language software, The Rosetta Stone - for those of you interested, and can now say "that man eats a sandwhich" and "that horse is running". I'm sure it will come in very handy when I'm there ;)

I plan to keep updating this blog while I'm there but who knows how much unfettered internet access I will have.

 

North Santiam, Mills City to Mehama and Packsaddle to Fisherman's Bend

Had the chance to run overlapping sections on the North Santiam River last week. The Mills City to Mehama run is a fun and splashy class II while the Packsaddle Park to Fisherman's Bend run is a class II/III. The Packsaddle run includes one class III rapid, "Spencer's Hole". It was pretty easy at the level we ran it (~1000 cfs).

As much as I'd like to have every pic in this blog revolve around me I know Kim loves to have her image broadcast across the web (Kim's Tribute Link).

My captain america boat plows through the waves.

Bogging down in some wave train.

Calapooia River, 4 miles above Holley to McKercher Park

Wow. This run wiped us out. Stormy weather raised the water levels everywhere and we hoped for a light run on the Calapooia, which is normally a class II. While there isn't a gauge on the Calapooia River I estimated it at just under 2000 cubic feet per second (I am a hydrologist and am allowed to make big estimates like this). Our trusty guidebook, Soggy Sneakers, told us after we made the run that it's only runnable up to 1200 cfs. Yes, indeed. 

It had rained solidly for more than 24 hours and rained the entire time we were on the river. As we floated downstream, you could see a change in the river as the water continued to rise and finally turned brown, a good indication of lots of runoff water. We pulled out early after multiple swims (out of kayak experiences), some slight injuries, and lots of frozen bodies. I did manage another combat roll and avoided any swimming.

We scouted these rapids before our run. When we first saw them, you could see every rock and actually pick a line to run along. This pic was taken right after we got off the river. The class IV rapids are completely washed out and all you see are walls of white-water.  

The same rapid, just a little further downstream. We didn't run this rapid it and pulled out a few miles upstream.

Lea ran the inflatable kayak through it all, the bomb-proof individual rafts are awesome if you can tolerate getting pretty wet.

The downfall of the IK is its inability to maneuver quickly; Lea had to swim like a champion through a strainer (tree in the river).

A waterfall at river right. That's Kim in the foreground (red helmet) and me in the background (yellow paddles).

Do I really need a caption?

Drysuits are awesome but when you have to pee, you have to take it all the way off...

Our fearless photographer, Lennie. Self-portrait.