For Science!

Scientists are growing ten different kinds of crops in Mars-like soil

“The Wageningen University team believes the first Mars colonists will likely grow food underground. They say it would be difficult to create a structure strong enough for the surface that would protect the plants from cosmic radiation. Mars settlers will probably grow food in engineered conditions in habitations below the surface, so in their experiments, the Netherlands team grew food in consistent, Earth-like conditions in a greenhouse.
While the research emphasizes paving the way for future Mars colonizers, the team also believes their findings could benefit those living in harsh environments here on Earth, such as the desert or a disaster area.”

Did these scientists just cure HIV/AIDS?

“Researchers at Philadelphia’s Temple University have made a thrilling breakthrough on the path to cure HIV/AIDS. In a recent experiment, they managed to remove HIV-1 DNA out of the human genome. And when they reintroduced HIV to the edited genomes, the cells were no longer infected with the virus.”

How 6 ant-inspired microrobots can pull a 3,900-pound car

“Don’t let their diminutive size fool you. The microrobots developed by the engineers at the Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab at Stanford University might look like toys, but thanks to the power of biomimicry, the imitation of nature, they can move objects weighing more than 2,000 times their own weight when they work together.”

Buyers beware!

Image links to Care2 article

This is despicable! And to think anyone  EVER thought to bail out banks!

“Some examples of BoA’s nefarious alleged tactics, from the affidavits and ThinkProgress:

• BoA instructed employees not to process customers’ financial documents for 30 days after they came in. After 30 days they were to mark them “stale” and require borrowers to refile their applications.
• Applications that escaped this treatment were denied 60 days after they were received, even if they were in perfect order. Employees made up lies to justify the denials.
• BoA instructed telephone representatives to tell all borrowers who called that their applications were “under review,” even when no one had looked at them.
• Bank staff would cancel loan modifications on the completely false pretext that borrowers had missed payments.
• BoA bribed employees to meet foreclosure quotas with gift cards and bonuses.”

There are a lot of allergic people out there…

Image links to Treehugger article

“The landscape of childhood has changed. In the last several years, we have seen jaw-dropping increases in the rates of allergies, autism, ADHD and asthma, earning these conditions the nickname “the 4 As” and our children the title, “Generation Rx.”

The Power of Boredom

Image links to BBC article

Pardon me while I derail for the morning. I’ve hardly ever considered myself to be bored. There was always something I could do and could even keep myself entertained for hours inside. I’ve known a good amount of people who were unable to do this.

“She happily entertained herself with making up stories, drawing pictures of her stories and going to the library.” Dr Belton, who is an expert in the impact of emotions on behaviour and learning, said boredom could be an “uncomfortable feeling” and that society had “developed an expectation of being constantly occupied and constantly stimulated”. But she warned that being creative “involves being able to develop internal stimulus”.”

“The academic, who has previously studied the impact of television and videos on children’s writing, said: “When children have nothing to do now, they immediately switch on the TV, the computer, the phone or some kind of screen. The time they spend on these things has increased. “But children need to have stand-and-stare time, time imagining and pursuing their own thinking processes or assimilating their experiences through play or just observing the world around them.” It is this sort of thing that stimulates the imagination, she said, while the screen “tends to short circuit that process and the development of creative capacity”.

 

 

Flu drug ‘shows promise’ in overcoming resistance

image links to BBC article

Here’s the break down:

A new type of flu drug that can stop resistant strains in their tracks shows promise, say US researchers. It permanently blocks a key enzyme on the surface of the flu virus, stopping it from spreading to other cells.

The World Health Organization estimates that influenza affects three to five million people every year.

Resistance to the existing flu drugs Relenza and Tamiflu is becoming an increasing problem, largely due to their overuse.

A team of researchers from Canada, the UK and Australia developed a compound that binds to an enzyme on the surface of the flu virus called neuraminidase. The new class of drugs – DFSAs – permanently bind to the enzyme, blocking its action and stopping it from spreading further, the journal Science reported.

Prof John Oxford, a virology expert at Queen Mary, University of London, said the work seemed to be a significant step forward. “It is always nice to have an extra drug in the medicine cupboard and it would be reassuring if in the near future we had a second line drug.”

Thoughts:

Now we wait in a crouch position. It’s always easier for a disease to spread in times of over population. Perhaps the earth has had enough of our crap.

To Live in a City Without Cars

Image links to Treehugger article.

I’ve been thinking about this article in a roundabout way lately and thought to search for it again. The city up for discussion is the ever so lovely Venice. There’s no auto of any kind here. You walk. Can you imagine how much healthier you’d be? And all the details you’d get to notice? It seems like a much calmer way for your brain. You could walk into the street without worrying about being hit with tons of steel and neither would animals. Deliveries and pick-ups are all done by hand cart. “Garbage in particular is fascinating; there is pickup every morning of something, plastics one day, paper the other and then garbage, all done by handcart. They have to do it quickly because of the rats. It is labor intensive but it is efficiently done.” Now what if we had a city like that here in the states? Have some spread out buildings. What if we had cobble stone walk ways to get to nearby shopping. You could ride your bike if you needed to go out a little further. Maybe a stretch of road connecting city to city that buses and semis use. Could you imagine the drop of pollution? There’d be no access of food buying at the grocery store because you could only buy what you could carry. All food could be fresh that day! Maybe it’s just me, but that sounds like an awesome way to go! Will SimCity allow me to create this?

 

Image links to New York Times article

VERY interesting read. I warn you, though, it’s a bit lengthy. So here’s what I took away from it: A good amount of mental illnesses are not universal. And if it’s not universal can it really be a real illness or is it all subconscious (or conscious I suppose depending on the person) They are formed by social interpretations, characterizations, and treatments. Which have a tendency to be more of a hindrance than a help. I.E. How others treat that individual and how long the symptoms last. When they started to be defined is when they become more uniformed. And of course drug companies are all over this cash cow ready to jump to prescribe people…. But seriously, read it.