As we celebrate the end of 2015, here's a look back at the top 10 stories we've covered throughout the year as decided by our readership.
10) Vaccine Temperature Monitoring Explained: A Dickson Dictionary
Published in April, we took a look at key terms and defined them with regards to Vaccine Temperature Monitoring. Important terms included calibration, diluent, freezer and more.
9) Ukrainian Polio and the Hindsight Solution
Until this year, Europe had been polio free since 2010. Now, thanks to a massively under vaccinated Ukraine, the first cases of the disease have appeared in the region and has left many requesting a state of emergency. The UN donated nearly 4 million vaccines to try and help solve the problem, but a combination of fear and politics has kept the problem from being solved.
8) Why Clean Room Humidity Standards Matter
Controlling the humidity of a clean room is important to companies not because of a single problem that extreme high or low humidity causes, but rather because of its influence on many factors that could degrade a clean room’s environment, and thus its certification on the ISO class scale. We took a look at five of those factors.
7) Hawaii and the Four Degree Shift
A 2015 regulation change that reduced cold food storage requirements from 45° to 41° left many Hawaiian restaurateurs feeling the chill. In fact, the new change forced several restaurants to permanently close their doors when they couldn’t meet the necessary new requirements. In the story we looked at what it takes to keep food at such a temperature, and why the regulations are important.
6) Dickson Live from Minnesota Medtech Week
In November, we traveled to Minneapolis for the MD&M Medtech conference where we were able to sit down and talk with each of the five finalists for the event’s Innovation Prize. Each of the companies were innovating in their own way and each gave themselves reason to believe they were the year’s most innovative.
5) FDA Temperature Mapping and Monitoring Explained: A Dickson Translation
Regulatory bodies tend to be vague in their recommendations for how a product’s temperature should be monitored. The FDA is no different. In May, we looked at two FDA regulations and worked to explain what they tell us about temperature monitoring in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
4) El Niño and the Potential for Catastrophic Weather
Before we knew just how severe it was going to be, Dickson took a look at the oncoming El Niño season to understand where it comes from and how it may affect us as the calendar reads 2016. So far we’ve been pretty spot on.
3) Why the Promise of Wearable Technology Lies in the Data
With Apple's debut of the Watch, wearables were a hot topic in 2015 as we continue to ready ourselves for the Internet of Tomorrow. As trendy as the devices may be, the real value in them lies in their data. We looked at just how much information collected by smart devices could affect the future of healthcare.
2) The Riddles of King Tut’s Tomb
Just a few months ago, an archaeologist believed he'd unlocked new secrets to King Tut's tomb, and temperature data was how he was going to prove it. We explored a few of the mysteries of his royal family and explained just how temperature monitoring was going to prove or disprove the theory. Spoiler Alert: Since posted, researches believe that the temperature data confirmed the theory.
1) The Technologies Making Vertical Farming a Reality
Readers and Redditers made it abundantly clear that this story was most important to them in 2015. We looked at the strengths and weaknesses of Vertical Farming, how it can help society and where in the world it is currently being explored. If you’re interested in seeing what your peers are interested in then stop here, because, in 2015, this was it.
