The Corpus Callosum
Archives for July, 2006
First Veto
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 20, 2006 A lot of people are writing about this, and I do not really have anything new to contribute. But I will say it anyway. Researchers whom I trust, people of fine moral character, think the restriction on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is bad. Despite opinions from a majority of scientists, President Bush…
New Skin
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 19, 2006 Ok, the ScienceBlogs new skin is up. It looks nice. I was afraid that would happen. Now my banner looks out of place. I will need to design a new one that uses #f5ffe6 and/or #ebffcd. Maybe something with #ebffcd, #ccffe0, #e0ccff, and #ffcceb. Life is nutty sometimes.
“Transgenic Drug” Controversy, Part 2
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 19, 2006 This is a follow-up to the post from a couple of days ago. It might not make a lot of sense unless you have read that post, or are otherwise familiar with the issues regarding genetically-modified crops. In general, there are valid concerns about genetically-modified crops. However, it is important to think clearly about the…
Noctilucent Clouds
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 18, 2006 Some unexpected demands have impeded my progress on the “transgenic drug” series. I’ve written part of what I planned to post today. But I want to work on it some more. In the meantime, here is a picture of noctilucent clouds, from NASA’s APOD site. We are all relieved that the space shuttle Discovery…
“Transgenic Drug” Controversy
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 16, 2006 There is controversy in Peru, of all places, about the experimental use of a treatment for diarrhea in children. Diarrhea is a major cause of mortality in underdeveloped nations, especially in children. From the Wikipedia page on infant mortality: Major causes of infant mortality in more developed countries include congenital malformation, infection, and SIDS. The…
University of Michigan Center for Organogenesis
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 16, 2006 The UM Center for Organogenesis will have a booth at the Art Fairs in Ann Arbor, featuring their Bio-Artography. They’ll be at booth 155, on East University St. There will be a few extra people in town for the Fairs. About 500,000 extra, give or take.
Biomedical Image Awards, etc.
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 15, 2006 The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Image Awards for 2006 have been announced. The winners can be seen here. This photograph shows nerve cells growing along synthetic silk fibers. The tiny blue dots are Schwann cells. Schwann cells are a type of glial cell that form myelin sheaths. The hope is that these fibers might enable us…
Perspectives on Biofuels
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 14, 2006 A friend and colleague of mine drives around in a cute little VW bug powered by biodiesel. There’s a peace sign on the front of it, which helps it get better mileage. But peace sign or not, there has been an ongoing controversy about whether biofuels are worth anything. In this post, I provide a…
Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Depression
Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on July 14, 2006 This subject is not really news anymore, but I am writing about it to call attention to a review article, VNS Therapy in Treatment-Resistant Depression: Clinical Evidence and Putative Neurobiological Mechanisms. In this post, I provide a little overview of VNS therapy, comment on some other sources of information, and say a little bit about…
Cool or Drool?
This is cool. This is not. Reading the Undercover Activist Blog, published by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), I learned of the development of a new type of solitude assault vehicle: the Quadski, by Gibbs Technologies.