gregladen | July 24, 2008A recently published study seems to indicate that adult brain volume is reduced in individuals with significant lead exposure during childhood. While this study may lead to important findings linking lead to reduced cognitive function, it is important to note that observed effect is very small, very hard to link to specific outcomes, and may not exist. But it is worth a further look.
The study in question is summarized below and, as an Open Access publication, is totally accessible for you to read. The upshot is that individuals who were part of a long term study (also discussed here)…
gregladen | July 24, 2008Claims, "It was a lot like teaching summer school, but with fewer ups and downs."
A Minnesota high school teacher has lasted 20 hours on a carnival ride to win the Ride the Tide Challenge at the Mall of America.
Forty-year-old Jim Salava, of Oakdale, was declared the winner at the Nickelodeon Universe theme park when his final opponent stepped down at 2:35 a.m. Tuesday.
Salava was among 10 riders who boarded the Avatar Airbender at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The pool dwindled to three riders just three hours into the competition.
I don't get this. You really are not 12 hours on a carnival ride if…
gregladen | July 24, 2008Ronald Herberman is the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Despite the fact that no published study indicates a clear link between cell phone use and cancer, Herberman has warned his staff at the cancer institute a memo warning them of possible risks from cell phones, based on unpublished data.
Isn't that interesting.
From the BBC:
He said children should use mobiles in emergencies only and adults should try to keep the phone away from the head.
...
Dr Herberman said his warning was based on early findings from unpublished data.
"We shouldn't wait for a definitive…
gregladen | July 24, 2008Notice how I put "complete skeleton" in quotes. A paleontologist's idea of complete is not exactly the same as everyone else's.. But this Gobi Desert Tyrannosauris-like Tarbosaurus has a lot of its bone. It was recently extracted from sandstone blocks dug up a couple of years ago.
Another nice thing about this fossil is that it is a youngster, roughly the size of Barny the Dinosaur. The five year old dinosaur dates to about 70 million years ago. (more info)
What is even more intereting is that the research was conducted by a natural history museum owned by a private high tech company,…
gregladen | July 23, 2008The phrase "genomic imprinting" has come to refer the turning off of a gene (a particular instance of a gene on a particular chromosome duplicated across the cells in a body) so that the gene is not expressed at all, with the turning off of the gene not caused in the body in question, but rather, during the previous generation by a process happening in the soma of one of the parents. A maternally imprinted gene is passed on to junior, but will not be expressed in junior. a paternally imprinted gene is passed on to junior, but will not be expressed in junior. Typically (as far as we know) a…
gregladen | July 23, 200890% Geek
Created by OnePlusYou
I lost four percent because I do not read comic books and have not since the magic age of 14.
The other six percent, I'm not so sure about. But I did answer all the questions honestly. I guess 90% isn't bad.
[hat tip Grrrrl]
gregladen | July 22, 2008NASA's fire and smoke web site, with photos such as the one shown below, keeps track of, well, fire and the attending smoke.
gregladen | July 22, 2008Plants and their herbivores have an interesting and complex relationship. It has been true for quite some time (many tens of millions of years) that terrestrial plants do not move around while animal herbivores do (though I've got friends from Texas who claim that there is a Texan tree that will move from one side of your yard to the other if it is pleased to do so). Generally speaking, a plant can not avoid being consumed by the herbivores by running away. So, it must have a defensive strategy or two that work in situ, and most likely these strategies evolved in relation to the also-…
gregladen | July 22, 2008Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
Source
[Hat tip: Bunny]
gregladen | July 22, 2008This just in:
After a ragingly great world premiere of "Sizzle: A global warming comedy," at the Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival last Saturday night, Randy Olson will appear on NPR for the second time in less than a week. This time on the Boston-based show, "Here and Now," as he talks further about the film in preparation for this Saturday night's East Coast Premiere at the Woods Hole Film Festival.
[Above is] photo from Saturday night of the cast and crew after the screening. From left: Randy Olson, Ifeanyi Njoku, Brian Clark, Alex Thomas, Muffy Moose Olson, Paul Andreson (cameraman…
gregladen | July 22, 2008McCain to American Citizens: If you oppose me, you will be ticketed, removed, charged, and treated like a common criminal. If you simply shut up and listen, you can stay.
[hat tip: Dogon Village]
But wait, there's more:
Hat tip Umlud
gregladen | July 21, 2008By now you've surely heard about this, the shooting with a rubber bullet of a Palestinian in custody apparently without provocation. Here's the video:
And from the BBC:
Israel's defence minister has condemned an incident caught on film in which a soldier seems to shoot a rubber bullet at a bound and blindfolded Palestinian.
Ehud Barak said the case was "grave and wrong" and that the military would exact the full extent of the law.
Footage released by human rights group B'Tselem on Sunday shows the detainee being held by one soldier as another fires at his legs at close range.
The…
gregladen | July 21, 2008
The Pinwheel galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 101, sports bright reddish edges in this new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Research from Spitzer has revealed that this outer red zone lacks organic molecules present in the rest of the galaxy. The red and blue spots outside of the spiral galaxy are either foreground stars or more distant galaxies.
The organics, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are dusty, carbon-containing molecules that help in the formation of stars. On Earth, they are found anywhere combustion reactions take place, such as barbeque pits and…
gregladen | July 21, 2008From Andy Barr, Al Franken's Campaign:
When we saw Norm Coleman's ad bragging about how he "brought hockey back" to Minnesota, our first thought was, "Hey, we like hockey, but wasn't that a long time ago?"
And our second thought was, "Wait a minute...they left out the part where Norm spent six years selling out to George W. Bush and the special interests!"
"A Few More Things"
Highlighting Norm Coleman's terrible record on issues important to Minnesotans, the Al Franken for Senate campaign today released this web ad. Titled "A Few More Things," the ad features a man in a bowling alley…
gregladen | July 20, 2008... On this day in 1969, two aliens from a nearby planet landed on The Moon, while a third alien circled the planetoid.
An..
.... astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.
...
As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
gregladen | July 20, 2008It turns out that when you get up close and have a look around, there is a pile of evidence on Mars suggesting that the Angry Red Planet used to be the Disgruntled Wet Planet. Have a look at this photo of an unambiguous delta sitting in a crater.
A color-enhanced image of the delta in Jezero Crater, which once held a lake. Researchers led by CRISM team member and Brown graduate student Bethany Ehlmann report that ancient rivers ferried clay-like minerals (shown in green) into the lake, forming the delta. Clays tend to trap and preserve organic matter, making the delta a good place to look…
gregladen | July 20, 2008Carnival of Cinema: Episode 83 - The Man with the Golden Blog is HERE at Good News Film Reviews.
The Carnival of the Godless #96 is HERE at Sean the Blogonaut.
Carnival of the Liberals LXIX is HERE at Stump Lane,
Practice, Practice, Practice at the The First Ever Music Education Blog Carnival.
Medicine 2.0 Carnival: Summertime Edition at ScienceRoll, HERE..
All Things Eco Volume Eight at Focus Organic Dot Com -> click here.
Vegetarian Blog Carnival # 18 is HERE at Go Eggless.
The home of Working at Home Blog Carnival-Ninety-fourth Edition is HERE.
Just Write Blog Carnival July 18,…
gregladen | July 19, 2008Today is the day in history, in 1948, that Gus Hall was convicted of "conspiracy to teach and advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government by force and violence." Gus was a homebody (Minnesotan) and ran for President with the Communist Party for times.
I couldn't find a good picture of Gus up here at the Cabin so here's a picture of his running mate, Angela: