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What Is Sickle Cell Anemia?

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disease. That means you are born with it and it lasts a lifetime. Sickle cell anemia affects the red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are smooth and round like doughnuts. They move easily through blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become ...

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WhatIsSickleCellAnemia
Medicine

What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Both numbers are important. About one in every four American adults has high blood pressure. Once high blood pressure ... Continue reading

WhatIsHighBloodPressure
Geology

Pangea

From about 280-230 million years ago, (Late Paleozoic Era until the Late Triassic) the continent we now know as North America was continuous with Africa, South America, and Europe. Pangea first began ... Continue reading

Pangea
Geology

Under The Crust

Three centuries ago, the English scientist Isaac Newton calculated, from his studies of planets and the force of gravity, that the average density of the Earth is twice that of surface rocks and ... Continue reading

UnderTheCrust
Engineering

Solid Smoke

Ever wondered what is the least dense solid in the world? Well, it is the so called Solid Smoke aerogel developed decades ago by aerospace engineers and recently perfected to its newest, lightest ... Continue reading

SolidSmoke

Dress Sizes The Scientific Way

DressSizesTheScientificWayIn pre-industrial America, most clothing was crafted at home or by professional tailors or dressmakers from individual measurements taken of each customer. In the early Twentieth Century, the growing urban middle class began to purchase the affordable and fashionable ready-to-wear merchandise which new technology and industrialized production methods had created the means to manufacture.

At the request of the Mail Order Association of America (MOAA), between 1949-1952 the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now NIST) conducted a comprehensive study of women's body measurements to develop a sizing standard for women's ready-to-wear clothing. Mansfield Lonie of the NBS Commodity Standards Division was appointed Acting-Secretary of the Sub-Committee on Body Measurements for Wearing Apparel Sizes and Measurements of the MOAA Committee on Standards and Terminology. Churchill Eisenhart and Lola Deming, mathematicians in the NBS Statistical Engineering Laboratory, lent their expertise to the project.

The project was an unusual one for Bureau staff who were accustomed to analyzing measurements in the hard physical sciences and engineering. Suddenly NBS statistical engineers found themselves thinking in terms of 'abdominal extension' and 'bust point to bust point' measurements. NBS personnel attended meetings with representatives of organizations such as the Underwear Institute and the Corset and Brassiere Association of America. At these meetings, delicate matters were breached such as, to quote from minutes of an October 21, 1949 meeting, 'the subject of 'chubby' sizes…' Other concerns were wrestled with, such as whether to use a one-hip, three-bust or a one-bust, three-hip system. The resulting standard is still used by manufacturers to make clothing that fits a majority of today's diverse female population. Additionally, more studies are being done to update information and to modernize the standard.