2635: 'Medicine' in Ojibwe Mar 5, 2022

There are a number of phrases from Native American sources such as Ojibwe and Cree, that use 'medicine' in a way it isn't seen much otherwise to mean 'magic'. Phrases like

Medicine lodge (also known as 'sweat lodge')

Medicine dance

Medicine bag

Medicine wheel

all use this to name a few examples, and there are even a number of place-names that take from these. This is not only because of more old-fashioned views of medicine, but that the Ojibwe word in all of these examples is 'mashkiki' can mean 'medicine' but also 'grass; herbs' and 'drug' not only here but in many Algonquian languages.

2588: Cyclopamine and Sonic Hedgehog Jan 14, 2022

In 1957 farmers in Idaho reported their lambs were born cycloptic. After over a decade, the chemical found corn lily when ingested by the pregnant ewes was shown to cause this, then named 'cyclopamine'. This chemical compound has many more medical effects than cyclopia, and is indeed significant for many cancer treatments. As humorous as the naming of a chemical compound after a Greek mythical monster, it's function in the body is to stop the sonic hedgehog signal during development. This name, as is perhaps more obvious, was named for the videogame character.