Blood pH and How It Is Controlled

Important things to know about acid/base balance in the human body FOR THE MCAT:

The buffer system you need to know: HCO3-/CO2 (think HCO3- = base and CO2 = acid)

Chemical equation: H+ + HCO3- = H2CO3 = CO2 + H2O (imagine the equilibria arrows)

The lungs independently control CO2 (fast response – minutes to hours) while the kidneys independently control HCO3- (slow response – hours to days).

Physiologic pH: 7.4

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Trusted Sources and Suprglu

So today is a sad day as I’ve decided to drop Alan Levine and Tim Lauer from my Bloglines blogroll. (Sorry guys.) Their blog feeds have just become, I dunno, so one-dimensional. Sure, they’re both writing about great stuff and linking to cool tools. But I just feels like I’m missing something…

The fix? Now I’m subscribed to Tim and Alan’s SuprGlu sites. In one feed, I get their blog posts, any links they post to del.icio.us, their Flickr photos and more. And actually, while the feed uptake is a little slower, I’m liking this a lot more. These are people whose ideas and links I trust, and I love being able to follow their practice and beyond the blog more deeply and easily. In fact, I’d love it if more of my nucleus of trusted teachers would do the same.

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Skype in the Classroom

Wesley Fryer has written an article on Skype in the Classroom. It was published in TechEdge, the quarterly magazine of the Texas Computer Education. On his blog he notes his beginning and concluding thoughts:

Beginning thoughts:

Internet connectivity in educational settings provides opportunities

for interactive exchange and collaboration between students living on

other sides of town or the other side of the planet. These synchronous,

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