After about 2000 years in which the medical profession didn't really achieve very much, it has over the last 50 years got to the point where it has started to do remarkable things, thanks largely to the pharmaceuticals industry. Disregarding the remarkable drug Losec (which makes it possible for me to still enjoy fine red wine despite having recently had an ulcer) I today read two important medical discussions on the web. Firstly, Natalie Angier and Atul Gawande's discussion of Botox in their Breakfast Table discussion in Slate: I had no idea that we had reached the extraordinarily moment in the history of technology when it was possible for Hollywood stars (and presumably other people as well) to avoid ever getting wrinkles. Secondly, Plastic pointed me to an article about the drug Provigil, which apparently makes it unnecessary to sleep. I suspect one test to determine whether you are a geek is which of these things you find more impressive. I don't know about you, but being able to live without sleep strikes me as being really cool. Imagine all the extra blogging I could do. And perhaps this is Andrew Sullivan's secret.