Welcome to Simcoe.
Here's what I'm reading these days...
Article - Is there other intelligent life in the Universe?
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
I love this Prospect series. In a series of letters, two experts quibble and debate the great unanswerables of the universe. This time around we find Arnold Wolfendale, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Durham and Astronomer Royal (1991-95) duking it out with Seth Shostak, author of Sharing the Universe (Berkeley Hills Books) and employee of the Seti Institute. We eavesdrop as Arnold and Seth set about defending their opinions, gingerly pinpricking one another's egos and casually scattering pearls of wisdom. Such intellectual exchange is a pleasure to read.
Article - Downstream Effects
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Our bottled water is killing us. Of 103 brands surveyed, 22 percent contained chemical contaminants that, if consumed over a long period of time, "could cause cancer or other health problems." One brand simply called "Spring Water" turned out to have actually been tapped from beneath an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site. And even if the sources are pure, the the degradation of the rivers and other water sources fed by these lucrative but increasingly diverted springs is causing worrisome damage to the surrounding territory.
Walford: The Laboratory
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Caloric restriction, which is the reduction of caloric intake without malnutrition, is a time proven method for extending the life span of mammals and postponing the manifestations of aging, including both functional decline and age-related diseases. And if there was ever a man who could help you live forever, it's Roy Walford. Seventy-six years old, Walford is a muscley stud who's slowly perfecting the art of living longer and stronger through a restricted calorie diet. The guy's a trip! World-reknowned and kicking ass all over the lab, Walford's longevity research on flies, mice and primates shows he's got the restricted-diet thing down pat - why shouldn't it work for humans, too? His website features recipes, software for meal planning, nutrition analyses, you name it. His theories are pretty sound; only last Wednesday researchers found the gene in yeast responsible for aging, and clearly demonstrated that manipulating the nutritional intake of yeast cells can increase their life spans.
Article - Me, My Brain, and I
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
"What happens when a virus attacks the fragile link between brain and mind?" A lovely, melancholy essay chronicling the author's ongoing struggle with the aftereffects of a virus that targeted his brain, scarring his grey matter and perforating the tissue that, once so delicately interconnected, now acts "as a scalded pudding." An excerpt: "For me, being brain-damaged also has a physical, conscious component. Alone with my ideas and dreams and feelings, turned inward by the isolation and timelessness of chronic illness, I face a kind of ongoing mental vertigo in which thoughts teeter and topple into those fissures of cognition I mentioned earlier. I lose my way, I spend a lot of time staring into space, probably with my jaw drooping, as my concentration fragments and my focus dissolves. Thought itself has become a gray area, a matter of blurred edges and lost distinctions, with little that is sharp about it. This is not the way I used to be."
Article - Selling the Cure for Shopaholism
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
"Imagine that Ms. X, who has never heard of compulsive shopping disorder as such, spends all kinds of money on things she doesn't need, feels bad about it, spends even more money, and quickly runs into crippling debt. Ms. X might join Debtors Anonymous or some other self-help group. She might link her behavior to depression or an anxiety disorder and seek the help of a mental-health professional who could employ any number of medical or non-medical treatments. But, if Ms. X and her health-care provider have instead heard a lot about compulsive shopping disorder, and there happens to be a newly-licensed drug specifically for it, then she is suddenly a prime customer. A market has been created, prescriptions will increase, and the drug's manufacturer will make money." A pill for every ill, with liberty and justice for all.
Article - Leading Children Beyond Good and Evil
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Is it worthwhile to teach children essential moral values like "respect for self, doing what is right, service, respecting others, accepting responsibility, building community, caring, nurturing family and friends, modeling democracy, forgiveness, practicing honesty, perseverance, gratitude, courage, and respecting work" without teaching them the Judeo-Christian why? The author of this essay would seem to argue that to learn moral values without an implied threat of divine judgement and reward is to cheapen the value of the morality. Such things, in my opinion, are not the domain of public education in a multicultural society. The examples of history teach the value of just actions; if a person needs further encouragement or incentive to act with honor and treat others with kindness, he or she may seek further enlightenment in religious instruction. That is the domain of one's family and religious leaders.
Article - Tune Out, Light Up
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Delightfully facetious essay that argues American teenagers — and adults too — would enjoy the fuller complement of life if they turned off the television and lit up a cigarette. After all, smoking results in a 3-6 year permanent loss of consciousness during the less-fulfilling golden years of life, while television results in an infinitely more disturbing 10-12 year partial loss of consciousness throughout the most productive years of one's life.
Free Money from Paypal
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Paypal will give you $5 and me $5. I hate to beg, here, but I really need some money right now and I'll take it where I can get it. Here's the scoop in a nutshell: If you haven't already heard, Paypal is the bomb when it comes to sending money over the internet. You authorize transfers securely via credit card to anyone you choose, and when receiving money you can either have Paypal cut you a check or direct deposit funds to your personal back account. Bid on eBay, send money to friends, relatives, whatever. And Paypal does this for free, folks. How? The idea is that enough people will leave money sitting in their online accounts that Paypal can make a profit from sifting interest percentages off the top. You lose nothing, they gain 1.25% per dollar. Even the Wall Street Journal is impressed. Anyhow, they'll give you $5 for opening an account, and me $5 for giving you the above link. Trust me, this is easy - I've already made $10 off it and they dropped it right into my bank account. For god's sake people, just sign up and never log in again - I need the cash! Show your love - I'm selling plasma!
Article - Asprin-like drugs may be useful for cancer treatment, study suggests
Friday, May 26, 2000
And now a little cancer news. A link is beginning to be established between COX-2, the new wonder drugs that are similar to aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, and angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels that, among other things, feed rapidly-growing cancerous tumors. Researchers report that lung tumors in animal models grew at a slower pace when the gene for the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (or COX-2) was deliberately eliminated. In addition, tumor growth was significantly reduced by treatment with a drug to block COX-2 in animals that had the active COX-2 gene. They found that, in the absence of COX-2, the tumors developed about 30 percent fewer blood vessels than those in the animals whose COX-2 gene was present and active. They also found that COX-2 levels were directly associated with levels of a growth factor that promotes angiogenesis. This sort of technique for fighting tumors has real possibility: starve the tumor, kill the tumor. In a related item,
Anti-Angiogenesis Therapy Shows Promise Against Metastatic Colon Cancer
An antibody called recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial cell growth factor (rhuMAb-VEGF or anti-VEGF) has been developed to prohibit the protein VEGF from activating endothelial cell growth. (Endothelial cells initiate angiogenesis.) The Phase II trial enrolled 104 patients who were previously untreated for metastatic colon cancer. Patients with this type of cancer have a median survival rate of one year and their treatment options are fairly limited. The patients were randomly assigned to one of 3 treatments: standard chemotherapy alone, chemotherapy in combination with a low dose of anti-VEGF at 5 mg/kg; or chemotherapy in combination with a high dose of anti-VEGF at 10 mg/kg. In 40% of patients receiving the low-dose antibody in combination with chemotherapy, tumors shrunk by 50% or more. In comparison, 24% of those receiving the high-dose antibody combination treatment had a 50% or more reduction in tumors, while 17% of the patients on chemotherapy alone had similar shrinkage in tumors. Also of interest is that the time it took for the disease to worsen was 9 months in the low-dose, combination treatment group as compared to 7.2 months in the high-dose combination group and 5.2 months in the chemo-only group. But back in the world of radioactive treatment,
Bexxar highly effective as first-line treatment for patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a form of cancer that affects the blood and lymphatic tissues. The sixth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., NHL also has the second fastest-growing incidence rate of all cancers. Now, a radioactive antibody compound known as Bexxar produced tumor shrinkage in 97 percent of 76 previously untreated patients with advanced-stage, low-grade non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) in a new study at the University of Michigan. Most notably, 76 percent of patients achieved a complete remission, with no sign of cancer. In addition, 84 percent of patients with evidence of lymphoma at the molecular level at the start of the trial achieved molecular remission for as long as three years with the treatment. A researcher stated he was "extremely excited by these findings, which showed remarkable response rates and molecular remissions lasting up to and beyond three years. Molecular remissions are seldom seen with chemotherapy in low-grade lymphoma, and appear to coincide with prolonged, durable responses." The treatment is considered to be "well-tolerated." Which pretty much kicks ass.
Article - AVAX Technologies' cancer vaccines
Friday, May 26, 2000
AVAX Technologies, Inc. recently reported the results of studies evaluating the effectiveness of the company's M-Vax and O-Vax cancer vaccines for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and ovarian cancer, respectively. The metastatic melanoma study began 11 years ago with 214 patients. All had melanoma with large (at least 3 cm diameter) regional lymph node metastases. Following removal of the lymph node masses, patients were treated with M-Vax by one of four dosage-schedules. The overall 5-year survival rate from all the trials for patients with spread of melanoma to one nodal area was 50%, versus historical 5-year survival rates of approximately 20-25% for patients treated with surgery alone. For patients with spread of melanoma to two nodal areas, the 5-year survival was 35%, versus a 10% 5-year survival rate when treated with lymph node surgery alone. M-Vax caused no major side effects. In the metastatic ovarian carcinoma study, 10 patients whose advanced tumors had progressed after failing to respond to both first and second-line chemo were treated with 7 weekly intradermal injections of O-Vax. Eight out of 10 patients responded favorably, one demonstrating complete regression of an abdominal mass. Three other patients showed heightened immune system response without tumor regression. Since the study began, 7 of the study patients have died with a median survival of 11.5 months and 3 are surviving for 6-16 months.
Article - Lutein Supplements May Improve Vision
Friday, May 26, 2000
Yet another reason to eat your vegetables. A substance found in dark green leafy vegetables and egg yolks may improve vision in people with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and other degenerative eye conditions. Twelve of the 16 study participants with retinal degenerative conditions reported that taking daily supplements of the substance, called lutein, over a six-month period significantly improved their vision, increasing visual acuity and visual field size among most patients. Lutein is an antioxidant needed by the retina to neutralize the damaging effects of short wavelength light and free radicals. An odd aspect of this study is that blue-eyed participants had substantially higher gains in vision than dark-eyed participants. In addition, those who took vitamin A and/or beta carotene supplements prior to the study seemed to benefit more than those who did not.
Article - Overactive bladder episodes completely controlled in 40 percent of elderly patients
Friday, May 26, 2000
Here's a little information you might want to write down and keep in a safe place, because we'll probably all have to ask our doctors about it someday. Overactive bladder is a common and chronic condition that affects an estimated 17 million Americans. The condition is characterized by urge urinary incontinence (sudden and involuntary loss of bladder control resulting in wetting), urgency (the urgent need to empty the bladder) and frequency (frequent urination). Luckily, a new study shows elderly patients suffering from overactive bladder can significantly and safely reduce the symptoms of their condition by taking a once-a-day, extended-release formulation of oxybutynin chloride (Ditropan XL®). In the study, 40 percent of patients age 65 and older taking extended-release oxybutynin reported no incontinence episodes, while the average reduction in the weekly number of incontinence episodes for the elderly patients in the study was 82 percent. Ditropan XL is the first and only once-a-day treatment for overactive bladder approved by the FDA.
Article - Stickers warn of UV radiation
Friday, May 26, 2000
Overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which causes tanning and burns, has become more of a problem in recent years as the protective ozone layer high in the atmosphere has thinned due to air pollution. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, excessive exposure to UV not only causes sunburn, but hastens skin aging and increases the risk of skin cancer. Avoiding sunburn will be easier with the Sticker, a dime-sized patch worn on the skin or clothing, that changes color when the wearer has had too much sun. The Sticker was developed by Israel-based Skyrad, a start-up venture in the business incubator company at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A nifty idea, too bad their webpage sucks. Sucks big time.
Article - Scientists Obtain Cells that Repair the Spinal Cord
Friday, May 26, 2000
Whoopie, more spinal news! Using simple and inexpensive techniques, scientists have turned embryonic stem cells into nervous system cells called oligodendrocytes. When the oligodendrocytes were injected into the spinal cord of injured or mutant rats, they reinsulated naked nerve axons, the long arms of nerve cells that carry messages up and down the spinal cord. "This is the first demonstration that oligodendrocytes derived from embryonic stem cells can remyelinate in the injured adult nervous system," says John McDonald, M.D., Ph.D. "That is relevant because conditions that result in myelin loss, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis and transverse myelinitis, occur mainly in adults." He goes on to note that "Transplants of myelin-producing cells may offer a pragmatic approach to restoring meaningful neurological function. And the methods we have developed can produce unlimited supplies of such cells."
Article - $1.1 Million Grant to Study How Statin Drugs Reduce Stroke Risk
Friday, May 26, 2000
Most strokes occur because an artery in the brain becomes temporarily or permanently blocked. A major cause of strokes and of heart attacks is atherosclerosis, a disease of the blood vessels leading to a cholesterol coating inside arteries that can prevent the vessels from adjusting to blood flow. Cholesterol also can build up to form thicker deposits, which can produce blocked arteries and lead to stroke, in which brain cells die after being deprived of oxygen and nutrients in the blood for a few minutes or more. Speech impairment, paralysis or other complications may result. Drugs called statins lower the risk of atherosclerosis by hindering the liver's ability to make cholesterol. The liver responds by removing more cholesterol from the blood so that less of it is available to damage the inside of blood vessels. This study will investigate whether statins designed to reduce the risk of heart attack in some patients with atherosclerosis also lower their stroke risk. Seems like a logical deduction to me.
Article - Silicone Induces Immune Disorder in Mice
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
Dang, there's a ton of press releases to cover today, I think I'll split them between today and tomorrow - it may even spill over into Friday, who knows. I'll start with a light one, that mice who are exposed to silicone oils or gels develop immune-system abnormalities. It's light news for me because I don't currently have two sacks of silicone crap floating around beneath my dermis, but I imagine some gals are going to take this news pretty hard. I'm not knocking reconstructive surgery, you know me better than that. Those folks have earned a little vanity, as far as I'm concerned. No, it's the crass exploitation of a restorative surgery that drives me up a wall, the way American-style capitalism can take a fairly innocuous discovery and whore it out until it becomes a trashy parody of science. (I'll add as disclaimer that most published epidemiological studies have found little evidence of systemic autoimmune disease associated with silicone breast implants, but the matter is unresolved.)
Article - Experimental Drug Blocks Cold Virus Replication
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
And now a little good news. A new experimental compound not only inhibits replication of the common cold virus in experimental cell lines, but also reduces the production of cytokines that are responsible for cold symptoms. These findings have implications for the development of an antirhinovirus agent that may not only block virus replication but also diminish symptoms. Wow, first we get a spray for the flu, and now we're making strides against the cold. A conspiracy theorist might wonder how long it will take companies with over-the-counter medicine strongholds to quash news like this.
Article - Estrogen Therapy May Protect Certain Older Women Against Cognitive Decline
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
Women who carry a certain variety of a gene called ApoE (which has three possible variants or alleles: e2, e3 and e4) were half as likely to suffer cognitive deterioration after age 65 if they were using estrogen hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This relates to earlier, less detailed studies that posited a possible link between HRT and decreased instance of Alzheimer's. Estrogen-using women who carry the e2 and e3 variants of the ApoE gene (inherited as a pair from their parents) experienced less cognitive loss during the seven-year study, indicating that estrogen may help prevent cognitive decline in women who carry e2 and e3 alleles. Also studied were women who carry at least one e4 allele and have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's. In these women, estrogen use did not protect against cognitive decline. Estrogen use was associated with less carotid wall thickening or atherosclerosis. The carotid arteries, located on either side of the neck, carry blood to the brain. Less atherosclerosis may prevent small vessel strokes that result in mental deterioration as we age.
Article - New Virus Isolated from Human Brain Cells
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
For the first time, Borna disease virus (BDV) has been isolated from brain tissue of a schizophrenic patient. BDV causes central nervous system disease in a number of animals, and manifests itself in behavioral abnormalities. It's been suggested that an external pathogen might play a role in a number of human neurological disorders including schizophrenia and some types of clinical depression, but this is the first time that an actual virus has been recovered from the brain tissue of a patient at autopsy. If this case is not an isolated one, the medical community's perception of neurological disorders and their treatment would change dramatically.
Article - Foodborne Pathogens Increasingly Antibiotic Resistant
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
Researchers are finding an increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans that can be traced through the food supply to the use of such drugs on livestock and poultry. This trend is really very dangerous, as bacteria rapidly become resistant to our last remaining antibiotics. About half the antibiotics used in the United States are for treating human infections, while the other half are used in agriculture, both for treating infections and for promoting growth in beef cattle, swine, and poultry. In many cases, both humans and livestock are being dosed with the same antibiotics. In the USA, 17 antibiotics are commonly used in agriculture, including 6 that are also used for treating infections in people. Of particular concern is the use of chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, and penicillin. All developed countries except the United States and Canada long ago terminated animal use of these key antimicrobials used in human illness. (Might be a good time to consider vegetarianism...)
Article - Bone produced from skin and gum tissue could simplify grafting
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
Using engineered skin and gingiva (gum tissue) cells, researchers at the U. of Michigan School of Dentistry have produced complete bones with the same hard outer coating, spongy interior and marrow core as naturally produced bone. The researchers used the method to replace large areas of missing bone in living rats, raising the prospect of simpler, less painful bone grafts in human patients. The system was tested on rats that had large sections of bone missing from their skulls. New bone was produced from the rats' own skin cells, and the skulls were almost fully healed within just four weeks - a remarkably short recovery time.
Article - What a Difference a Gene Makes
Tuesday, May 23, 2000
If you were 98.4% certain that a person was your brother, would you call him brother? Would you accept him as one of your own? In the 1920's science became aware of the genetic similarities between humans and apes, and since the 1960's genetic testing has advanced enough to prove beyond doubt that human DNA and chimp DNA are 98.4 percent identical. In fact, all four species of 'great apes' - chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans - have an identity of at least 96.4 percent with human DNA. What was once termed the "Proxmity Thesis," that humans' closest living relatives were the chimps, has gradually given way in some circles to the "Identity Thesis," that humans are not like chimpanzees, humans are chimpanzees. This has become paramount in the arguments of philosophers like Peter Singer, who advocate legal rights for all Great Apes. But just how wrong are these radical new animal rights advocates?
Article - Progress in Religion, a Talk by Freeman Dyson
Tuesday, May 23, 2000
I've been out of town this past weekend, roughing it in the rainy, humid wilderness with a bunch of crazy camping fools. Heck, I feel great - raring to get back to blogging. And here's the perfect reintroduction, Freeman Dyson's Templeton Prize acceptance lecture. I've been wanting to link to this for months, Dyson's a remarkable thinker. The Templeton Prize is awarded annually "to a living individual for outstanding originality in advancing the world's understanding of God or spirituality." Previous recipients include the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Mother Teresa, so I'm proud that a physicist like Dyson can be likewise honored.
"I am content to be one of the multitude of Christians who do not care much about the doctrine of the Trinity or the historical truth of the gospels. Both as a scientist and as a religious person, I am accustomed to living with uncertainty. Science is exciting because it is full of unsolved mysteries, and religion is exciting for the same reason. The greatest unsolved mysteries are the mysteries of our existence as conscious beings in a small corner of a vast universe." --Freeman Dyson
Article - Tobacco compound that may protect against Parkinson's disease
Friday, May 19, 2000
Alright already, this is getting worse than the egg debate and I'm ready for the medical community to make up its damn mind. First tobacco prevented Parkinson's. Then it was the addictive brain chemistry, not the tobacco, that prevented Parkinson's. Now this Dr. Castagnoli says it is the tobacco, and it turns out that 2,3,6-trimethyl-1,4-napthoquinone, or TMN, is present in tobacco smoke and has proved to be an inhibitor of MAO, which normally breaks down neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in the brain (the breakdown of these compounds is thought to be the cause of Parkinson's.) Please be advised, the tests were conducted on mice, first of all, and under conditions that replicated the effects of Parkinson's. There's no real proof, as of yet, that smoking will prevent you from developing the disease. It will most certainly, however, contribute to your cancer and emphysema.
Article - Restaurant Noise can Exceed Federal Workplace Standards
Friday, May 19, 2000
When averaged over eight hours, the average noise exposure in a sampling of 5 San Francisco restaurants ranged from 50.5 dBA to 90 dBA. Continued exposure to noise at 85 dBA or higher eventually can cause hearing loss, according to standards set by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In a grassroots effort to curb the noise, mothers are being dispatched to advise diners to shut the hell up, can't we get a single night of peace without you kids constantly yapping and hollering? Huh? Is that so much to ask for? Now eat your peas and I don't want to hear another word about Disneyland or no dessert. You hear me?
Book Reviews - The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
Thursday, May 18, 2000
Two seemingly unrelated books, each from a charming author.
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman was a brilliant scientist and compassionate gentleman who had some most unfortunate honors: sequestered at Los Alamos, he helped create the atomic bomb. He was also the lone scientist on a panel ordered to investigate the Challenger space shuttle explosion. His interests were varied and at times whimsical, his respect for science ran deep without ever becoming worshipful. An engaging speaker, Feynman once remarked, "I don't know anything, but I do know that everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough," and it was precisely the public's lack of deep investigation - either through genuine inability or blind faith - that gave Feynman his pessimism over the deep penetration of society by science. "He believed the ability of people to fool themselves was immense, a quotidian example being their belief in astrology, and an exceptional one, NASA's belief that the space shuttle was safe." (Gilbert Taylor) To combat today's cultural ignorance of the nature of science (and the tendency of science to be elitist and abstruse,) Feynman was committed to absolute honesty in science, and did his best to share his relentless enthusiasm for "finding things out." Which brings us to another man who, in his muddling, seems to have things pretty well figured out...
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
Kurt Vonnegut's newest book, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, began as a series of 90-second radio interludes for WNYC, New York City's public radio station. Each chapter is an interview with someone of Vonnegut's choosing, and each character is, well, dead. The premise is that, with the help of the skilled Dr. Kevorkian, Vonnegut is repeatedly killed and revived, able to travel down the blue tunnel of death and spend time mingling with the deceased in heaven (luckily, everyone goes in heaven in KV's humanist universe.) The book's garnered mixed reviews; most critics tend to agree that KV's lost his shine these last few years, his work becoming unfocused and, much like Woody Allen's schtick, a self-referencing parody. Still, even the curmudgeonly critics grant that the idea is novel and some of the "interviews" are insightful and clever, and that Vonnegut at his worst is better than many authors' best. I've managed to find two chapters online, and I was pleasantly intrigued. Nothing as life-altering as Cat's Cradle, but what ever could be? Such a masterpiece comes but once a lifetime.
God Bless You... Excerpt One
God Bless You... Excerpt Two
Article - Public Wants Evolution, Not Creationism, in Science Class, New National Poll Shows
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
Eighty-three percent of Americans say Darwin's theory of evolution belongs in the nation's science classes. Okay, so the People for the American Way come across a little over-zealous and I would have preferred someone far less biased commission this study. Still, the numbers are solid, in my opinion, and just as it's good to be reminded that not all evangelical Christians are Pat Robertson clones, so is it also good to be reminded that not all science advocates are pagans. "To put it simply, this poll shows that most Americans believe that God created evolution," said Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way Foundation. That's what Stephen Jay Gould's been trying to suggest for years, folks. Don't run him out of town for it, he's just trying to bring us all together. Listen to folks like Freeman Dyson, science is not the enemy.
Article - Right To Bear Arms Is Not As Clear As Legal Scholars Claim
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
I don't know if I really want to get into this with anyone, but it bears repeating that the 2nd Amendment was written a long long time ago, and at this point in the evolution of the United States it would be a grave error to assume there is only one correct interpretation of this hotly-contested piece of protective policy. This article, though too brief and without the necessary footnoting/references, provides an effective springboard to those who really seek to go beyond the standard party line (left or right) on gun control.
Article - Images of evolution
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
Stephen Jay, eat your heart out. Researchers from the Institut Curie (Paris) are using new methods of species comparison to track the history of human chromosomes over a 130 million-year period of mammalian evolution. The findings show that one human chromosome, Chromosome 7, is shared in its modern form only with chimpanzees, while human Chromosomes 16 and 19 have a more ancient evolutionary origin. Information from this study advances efforts to reconstruct evolutionary relationships between primates and between other mammalian species. Cool! My great x 1013 uncle Blurg was an Eosimian.
Article - Research Shows Nature, Not Nurture, Determines Gender
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
This argument gets great press every few years, but it's nice to see the debate may finally be over. Two Johns Hopkins Children's Center studies confirm that prenatal exposure to normal male hormones alone dictates male gender identity in normal XY male babies, even if they are born without a penis. The results seriously question the current practice of sex-reassigning some of these infants as females, performing castrations or other surgery to align them cosmetically and hormonally with a female role. Basically, if you were meant to be a male your body won't be fooled by Barbie and frilly dresses. The very idea that a parent could embrace "reassigning" a child's sexuality as a solution to congenital defect is mind-boggling, don't you think?
Article - Movies of Intact Brain Reveal How Sensory Experience Shapes Neural Connections
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
As long as we're discussing memory and consciousness this week, here's a neat study that allowed researchers to observe an intact brain as it learned. Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY) have captured time-lapse images that show how neurons in a young rat's brain change as the animal experiences its world through its whiskers for the first time. The test demonstrates that sensory experience during a "critical period" soon after birth influences brain architecture by changing the connections among neurons. A similar kind of experience-dependent "synaptic plasticity" undoubtedly shapes the formation of neural networks that underlie not only touch perception in rodents but also vision, audition, olfaction, learning, and memory in many animals, including humans. Now if only the link had a clip of the video, that would really be something.
Article - Smokers blow away antioxidants that protect against heart disease
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
Smokers' risk of heart attack is more than twice that of nonsmokers. In a study of 596 people with heart disease, researchers found that smokers had much lower concentrations of an antioxidant, paraoxonase, than nonsmokers or ex-smokers. Antioxidants counteract oxygen free-radicals, which are unstable molecules produced during oxidation. Free-radicals can do amazing damage to one's cells, and when fats in the body, such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol) are oxidized, they are more likely to form fatty plaques that block blood vessels. Because smokers' blood contains smaller amounts of paraoxonase, they have more oxidation, and the excess cholesterol in the blood vessels can lead to blockages that can trigger a heart attack or stroke.
Article - Hindsight bias -- not just a convenient memory enhancer
Monday, May 15, 2000
Okay, I've got a lot to get to today so let's get started... First off, it's been a weekend of intense contemplation for a few folks I know, perhaps one for the reconsideration of choices? They say hindsight is 20/20, and apparently with good reason. Everyone's experienced it, your impression of how you acted (or would have acted) changes when you learn the outcome of an event. It's called hindsight bias, and the doleful sensation is actually a by-product of a cognitive mechanism that allows us to unclutter our minds by discarding inaccurate information and embracing that which is correct. Hindsight bias can occur when people make a judgment or choice and are later asked to recall their judgment. Out with the old, in with the new, my friends. Everyone makes mistakes, lucky people recognize them while there's still time to amend.
Article - Study shows evangelical Christians not lock-step supporters of conservative politics
Monday, May 15, 2000
That this shows up today in my stack of press releases is just weird. Is God spamming me, or something?
(paraphrased from the original)
Generally, stereotyping lands loose-lipped people in the soup of political incorrectness. But groups such as evangelical Christians are still fair game for the narrow-minded. People assume evangelicals as a whole are right-wing zealots intent on using political power to impose a "re-Christianized" America. The most extensive study ever done on U.S. evangelicals (2,891 interviews) shows many are significantly different from that stereotype, varying tremendously on beliefs about gender equality, prayer in schools, "Christian America", the death penalty, even disagreeing among themselves on abortion and gay rights issues. "A common error that observers of evangelicals make is presuming that evangelical leaders speak as representatives of ordinary evangelicals," Smith said. "In fact, evangelical leaders do not simply give voice to the thoughts and feelings of the millions of ordinary evangelicals. Nor do ordinary evangelicals simply follow whatever their leader says - assuming that they even listen to them much."
I stand corrected.
Article - Higher dose of electroconvulsive therapy works better to relieve depression
Monday, May 15, 2000
More powerful shocks of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) speed relief of depression, but
at the same time, the larger shocks increase temporary loss of memory -- even for autobiographical facts. Well ain't that just grand? As my biology professor used to say, "No brain, no pain."
Article - Cockroaches, Slugs And Snails Feel Pain
Monday, May 15, 2000
I was officially chided this Sunday for not at least commenting on this story. Ok I'll be honest, I hadn't even heard of it, you caught me. Turns out that bugs may feel pain. Personally I don't believe it, second I don't really care. Ooh, I'm so cruel! I kill bugs! Well not indiscriminately or anything, mainly if they invade my home. Hey, they'd sure as heck do it to me.
Study shows language loss may improve ability to spot lying
Friday, May 12, 2000
People with aphasia -- a loss in language ability resulting from a stroke or other type of brain damage -- appear to have a significant advantage in spotting liars, particular when the untruths are given away by changes in facial expression. Though I had to re-read the details of the test to figure out exactly what the subjects were observing, the trial sounds like an intersting one. The results demonstrated that people in general have only a 50/50 chance of detecting when someone is lying by their expression or tone of voice, while aphasia patients were able to detect lies cued by facial expression alone 73 percent of the time.
Article - Fall From Gracie
Friday, May 12, 2000
Bill got a little somethin' somethin' from Monica. Newt has been married so many times he's considering putting "Philanderer" on his business card. Livingston resigned in extra-marital humiliation. Rudy's been doing the hoochie-coo with his communications director. Blah blah blah. Can we stop making these peccadillos into world news? The national press corps is making me even more cynical than I used to be! It's not like love affairs are a new invention, folks. I don't think we can blame the increasing divorce rate and emotional cynicism on a society whose morality is crumbling, rather I think our increasing disillusionment and hopelessness is resulting from having marital misery and infidelity exposed in such excruciating detail. Stop talking about it already! The heart wants what the heart wants (thank you, Woody Allen,) and in the words of Stephin Merritt, "No one will ever love you honestly, no one will ever love you for your honesty." Don't believe me? Think long and hard about the last time you dumped somebody. Hmph. I think I need a drink...
Article - Canada Declares War on Dr. Laura
Friday, May 12, 2000
Man, our northern neighbors are, like, so out of it... didn't we blast Dr. Laura for this "homosexuals are a biological error" thing like, 6 months ago? Gawd, get with the program, guys! Seriously folks, don't rankle Canada. "In Canada, we respect freedom of speech but do not worship it."
Article - Learning from Isaiah
Friday, May 12, 2000
The book of Isaiah is said to be one of the most difficult books of the Bible. Self-contradictory, dense with allegory and poetic language; so flexible are its texts that it has been used as a cornerstone of three seemingly disparate "doctrines": Reform Judaism, political liberalism, and Christianity. In this wonderful analysis, Hebrew scholar Norman Podhoretz examines what he feels to be, literally, the "three Isaiahs," their edicts for living God's plan, and the elements that make Isaiah so integral to the denominations who rely on it. Podhoretz has a very engaging and expressive writing voice, and this essay is both comforting and motivational, save for one brief section that nearly becomes a menacing rant against the Arab nations. His hostility, though understandable for one who considers himself a strict Jew and champion of Israel, is somewhat out of place in this otherwise calm and non-judgemental essay.
God's Comic.
Thursday, May 11, 2000
Let's say that, with all good intentions in one's heart, one prays to God for something. Diligently, with humility and patience. And let's say that, by some remarkable occurence, one receives precisely what one has prayed for - to the very letter. And let's go on to suppose that this gift, so seemingly innocent, causes one to become more miserable than they could ever have been, had they not received such a blessing. What can we conclude?
a. God is a veritable Monkey's Paw, and this is why bad things happen to good people.
b. The early Greeks were right, the divine is a capricious, inscrutable force for good or evil; therefore, fortune and misfortune are arbitrary, and existence is an enigma.
c. Socrates was right, because the gods cannot be "bribed," time spent on prayer and sacrifice is simply time wasted, stolen from the more demanding, truly pious task of elenctic self-examination.
d. You can't have nice things.
Article - Genes and violent suicide
Wednesday, May 10, 2000
Simcoe in da' house! Since my March 15th speculation on suicidal tendencies and genetic programming, the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) has been receiving increasing interest in psychiatric genetic research. Since disturbances in serotonergic transmission are widely associated with impulsive, violent behaviour, researchers examined whether the L- or S-allele of the 5-HTTLPR might be associated with suicidal tendencies in DNA from 58 suicide victims (most of whom committed violent suicide) and 110 healthy controls. They found a highly significant excess of L/S and S/S in suicide victims as compared to normal controls. Although still preliminary, these results suggest that the 5-HTTLPR may contribute to autoaggressive behavior and violent suicide, irrespective of clinical diagnosis.
Article - Zolmitriptan proven effective in combating episodic cluster headaches
Wednesday, May 10, 2000
I had a minor freak-out a few months back when someone near and dear was rushed to the hospital with a headache that seemed to be a precursor to an all-out Scanners-esque head explosion. An intraveinous drip of Demerol and a spinal tap later, the diagnosis was migraine headache. In other words, take 2 aspirin and don't call us in the morning. Severe headaches, like a bad cold, are one of those ailments you have to wonder about. Why is it so hard to treat these things? Narcotics aside, there's really no good treatment for severe headache pain. Even this new drug, Zolmitriptan, provided relief in only 47% of the patients who tried it. Less than half.
Article - First National Survey Shows Americans' Bedding Can Make Them Sick
Wednesday, May 10, 2000
If you sack out in a warm, sweaty, sleepy-smelling bedcave... it's time to wash the sheets. Survey results suggest that over 45 percent of U.S. homes (44 million,) have bedding with dust mite allergen concentrations that exceed 2 micrograms per gram of dust, a level that has been associated with the development of allergies. Of these, over 23 percent of U.S. homes (about 22 million dwellings,) are estimated to have bedding with dust mite allergen concentrations that exceed 10 micrograms per gram dust, a level associated with the trigger of asthma symptoms in asthmatics who are allergic to these allergens. ...And I won't even go into the cockroach allergen data...
Yes, in fact I am a badass.
Tuesday, May 9, 2000
My new bike, scooped up in a frantic last-minute smackdown on eBay. Even with shipping charges still a good $75 cheaper than local retail. Here's hoping the deal doesn't go south in the afterglow. I'm tickled absolutely pink, but I'm not sure how Mr. Simcoe's going to feel about my new ride being "a fantastic way to meet members of the opposite sex." Prolly going to put him into alpha male overdrive...
Article - Enzyme Region Could Lead to Target for Cancer, HIV Therapy
Tuesday, May 9, 2000
More on the Telomerase front. Well, it's nothing new really, but I'm comforted to know that a few labs are still hammering away at this. UCSF researchers have discovered a region in the telomerase enzyme that could prove to be a target for killing cancer cells and regenerating damaged cells and could also lead to a possible target for attacking HIV. By disrupting a small region of RNA in a molecule of yeast telomerase, researchers coaxed the enzyme to spin out telomeres uncontrollably, until they stalled out like a car run into a ditch. This result occurred in cell-free extract and in the yeast cells themselves. Cell death soon ensued. As the human version of telomerase appears to have a structural region that is similar to that examined in the yeast enzyme, the region could prove to be a target for killing cancer cells.
Article - Addictive Behavior Cause Linked to Lower Parkinson’s Risk
Tuesday, May 9, 2000
A few Parkinson's stories for you today. A while back it was found that smokers had consistently lower rates of Parkinson's disease, and it was assumed that the cigarettes themselves had something to do with it. Luckily, this would appear now not to be the case. Researchers in the Netherlands have found evidence that higher consumption of coffee and alcohol is also associated with a lower incidence of Parkinson's. This, say the authors, suggests that smoking and other addictive behaviors may be a result of the same brain chemistry that helps prevent Parkinson's. It is suggested that smokers smoke because their brains have high levels of dopamine, a brain chemical implicated in so-called "novelty-seeking" behavior and addiction. People with lower levels of brain dopamine are not as likely to become addicted, but they may be more likely to develop Parkinson's disease, which results from drastic reductions in dopamine in the brain.
Article - In-Home Pesticide Exposure Increases Parkinson’s Risk
Tuesday, May 9, 2000
Pesticide use and exposure in the home and garden increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Researchers questioned 496 people who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease about past use of pesticides. Each patient was asked if they had used or been exposed to insecticides in the home or garden, herbicides or weed killers in the garden, or fungicides to control mold or mildew in the home or garden. The Parkinson’s patients’ lifetime histories were then compared to 541 people without the disease. Researchers found that people who had been exposed to pesticides were approximately two times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than people not exposed to pesticides. Although I can't be sure, these numbers sound a little massaged. Who hasn't, at one time or another, come into contact with some form of home or garden pesticide?
The Daily Howler
Friday, May 5, 2000
A longtime friend recommended this site to me last night, and I told him I'd link to it if I thought it was funny. Well, it isn't funny per sé, but it's good nonetheless. It seems like anyone in the press corps capable of rubbing two brain cells together (and believe me, sometimes that's all they have) will write reams of opinionated smack about Bush and Gore, often with little more to go on than which one smiled more broadly at them before hopping into his motorcade. Until now, this has masqueraded as news. Enter the Daily Howler, a site that publishes "a daily broadside reviewing the work of the Washington press corps" through generous application of the Socratic method. Opining that "the unexamined press corps is not worth reading," the Daily Howler attends to every reporter's oversights and errors with sharp Socratic critique.
Article - Primates may have triggered the hepatitis pandemic
Friday, May 5, 2000
Get your filthy hands off me, you damn dirty ape.
Article - Design for a Life
Friday, May 5, 2000
An interview with clever, compassionate, and thoughtful Patrick Bateson, Professor of Ethology (the biological study of behaviour) at Cambridge University. "Some people see the process of growth and development as very simple. They seem to think it is something that is read out of the genes, and that when the human genome project is completed we shall have the book of life, including an understanding of all human behavior. Others take the view that the developmental process is so immensely complicated that we shall never understand it properly. I take the view that ...the underlying rules are analogous to those that underlie a game like chess. The rules of chess are simple, but the games that can be generated by those rules are enormously complex. What we have to do as scientists is try to understand rules that produce a design for a life." Through the study of developmental regularities, Bateson forms opinions on the (poorly-named) "nature vs. nurture" debate and the successful designs for a life. Bateman's homepage contains chapter summaries for the new book this interview promotes, Design for a Life: How Behaviour Develops.
Article - Often missed facial displays give clues to true emotion, deceit
Thursday, May 4, 2000
Hmm, not too much to say about this one that you couldn't figure out on your own. When listening to or looking at others, most people don't focus on the area of the face that will display true emotions. Most people focus on the lower part of the face when dealing with others. However, if the person's true feelings are "leaked" to the observer, they are more likely to appear on the upper face and could easily be missed. The way in which the researchers deduced this information is interesting, and perhaps it will de-mystify our interpersonal relationships a bit. But I doubt it.
Article - Give it a Thought - and Make it So
Thursday, May 4, 2000
Extraordinary! In a virtual world at the U. of Rochester, people are glancing at a stereo and turning it on with a thought. Outfitted with a virtual reality helmet and a computer program adept at recognizing key brain signals, volunteers use their thoughts to perform actions. The simple explanation is very visually appealing: The brain-computer interface (BCI) listens for a brain signal called P300 evoked potential. "It's as if each neuron is a single person who's talking. If there's just one person, then it's easy to hear what he's saying, but the brain has billions of neurons, so imagine a room full of a billion people all talking at once. You can't pick out one person's voice, but if everyone suddenly cheers or oohs or aahs, you can hear it. That's what we listen for, when several neurons suddenly say 'that's it!'" The BCI waits for the signal to occur in sync with a light flashing on the television or stereo. If the rhythm matches the blinks of the stereo light, the computer knows the person is concentrating on the stereo and turns it on. Simple, elegant, wickedly clever.
How-to: Building a Deck, Installing Railings
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
For those dear friends who've been keeping up with my trials as a new homeowner, you'll be pleased to know "the dump" has been officially upgraded to "the cave." A swanky, sumptuous cave, be certain, but a cave nonetheless. I finished the green bedroom last night, which leaves me with only two rooms left to paint (though one of them needs a lot of plaster prep work,) and a bathroom with only half its walls standing. That, of course, must be rectified. MY LR furniture arrived this morning, and the force of its funkitude is terrifying. My sofa begs you to get yo' lounge on. But the biggest news is that the contractors (the cheap ones, not the hot one) finished my front porch railings! I can now sit outside without fear of falling 4 feet off the edge of my concrete slab. Don't get me wrong, they did the worst job ever done by a human with a hammer; two-inch thick rails secured with 5" long nails, tips poking through all over the place, lean back and you'll be impaled, you get the idea. But hey, they tried. It's the thought that counts...
Article - The Virtual Mummy: Unwrapping a Mummy by Mouse Click
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
Unwrapping a mummy by computer is no longer the mysterious and thrilling experience a real opening-up of a mummy used to be, but it allows for better preservation of the body and greater analysis of the structures within. This site takes you on a tour of a virtual unwrap, and when you're all finished what do you get? This. Wow, it sure does preserve the body, and how!
Article - Ginkgo may protect brain against stroke damage
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
So far it seems that Ginkgo and St. John's Wort are the ass-kickin'est herbs out there. But as these are medicinal herbs, be aware that they may have interaction precautions with other pharmaceuticals. Especially the Wort.
Article - Anti-cancer compound could cause serious liver damage
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
Aw hell, there goes that miracle cure. Last month I mentioned a potential apoptotic cancer treatment called Aptosyn that selectively triggers apoptosis (programmed cell death) in a variety of cancerous cells without causing the damage of traditional chemotherapy treatments. As far as I know that one is still on track for trials, but this similar compound, called TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) has turned out to be a flop - mere months from clinical trials. While harmless to the liver cells of mice and non-human primates, the drug causes catastrophic damage to human liver cells which could result in "significant toxicity."
Article - OSU study finds elderly women can halt bone loss
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
The study has found that postmenopausal women who participate in a long-term fitness regimen that includes jumping and "resistance" exercises using weighted vests can prevent significant bone loss in the hip. Even better, the exercise was as good or better than hormone-replacement drugs for preventing bone loss. The funny part is that one of the significant exercises consists of jumping in place, flatfooted, as many as 50 times a day. Can you imagine what it must look like to see so many pogoing grannies in one room?
Article - Constantly Connected
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
The Georgia Institute of Technology has opened a residential laboratory to study how technology interacts with and affects domestic lifestyle. The Broadband Institute Residential Laboratory will be capable of knowing the whereabouts, activities and vital medical profiles of its inhabitants, and will host a broad range of computing and telecommunications research funded by federal money and corporate support. Among the 3-story home's tricks are a "smart floor" that can identify residents by their walks, a "lost object location system," and a "gesture pendant" that will allow wearers to use simple gestures to control appliances and electronics. Some folks have all the luck - where was I when they were recruiting for this experiment?
Essay - Saving our Children from the Bible
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
I saw an ABC commercial the other night for the V-Chip, and today there was this great satire link on memepool. I read with amusement, and it was like seeing all my miasmic V-Chip and school-textbook censorship hostilities crystalized to a fine point. I read a slew of this author's other essays, and I've concluded that he's a very decent person. Don't judge him till you read his bio, though, I guarantee it won't be what you expect.
Article - Study finds inhibiting fat synthesis results in obesity resistance in mice
Monday, May 1, 2000
"When normal mice were fed a high-fat diet, they became obese. The DGAT-deficient mice, however, were lean and resistant to diet-induced obesity." *sigh* Here's a little study I'm working on in my own spare time. It's tentatively titled, "Quit eating so goddamned much: Self-induced obesity reduction."
Article - One or Two Things I'd Rather You Didn't Know About Me
Monday, May 1, 2000
This brief article on decreasing internet privacy reveals one startling thing: The author is indeed a hostile little perv with something to hide. He's got crush porn on his hard drive? Ewww, no wonder he's worried.
Article - They Blinded Me...With Science
Monday, May 1, 2000
I'll be the first person to state that the CDC is bloated and less than effective. The data collected is out of date by the time it's published, and studies are often an exercise in overkill. I was wondering if this one would get by unnoticed... The Centers for Disease Control have determined, after more than a decade of study, that drunk people have sex. Therefore, decreased access to alcohol (best achieved through higher prices) would reduce STD transmission. The author notes a follow-up study currently in development, "Does Excessive Fluid Consumption Increase Peeing?"
In a related story, Jacob Sullum wonders when we, as a nation, lost our sense of moderation. He notes that while an increased excise tax on beer would likely decrease teenager's ability to buy, it would also affect the other beer drinkers, 90% of whom are adults who drink responsibly.
Article - Feeling Tired? Blue? Cranky? Just Sue!
Monday, May 1, 2000
This really isn't the best essay, but it's the first I've seen to state in no uncertain terms "You don’t get over your grief because you’ve gotten some money out of the state or the insurance companies. You don’t compensate for a lost child by getting an investment portfolio." Hear hear! I'm sick to death of all the "healing process" crapola used to justify million-dollar settlements. The healing should come from the basic judgement of guilt; you're right, the big guys are wrong. Now if you've genuinely gone through hell and have lost money and time in your fight I can understand some compensation, but let's be realistic about it.
Article - Out for a Buck
Monday, May 1, 2000
Here's one of the more interesting arguments against same-sex marriage... at least I think it's a condemnatory argument, though in this magazine you'd think it would be a pro-capitalism argument. Anyway, the author seems dismayed at the eagerness with which the "marriage industry" has greeted the Vermont civil union ruling. Bed and breakfasts, cake toppers and caterers, you name it, all of them "out for a buck." What, with $300 billion buying power in the balance, you'd do any different?
