from: popsci.com
Holy crap. These guys in Germany just cured AIDS!
Of course, the procedure is so expensive, complicated, and risky that it's not replicable as a large-scale public health strategy, but we'll ignore that for a minute. Here's how they did it. Drs. Gero Hutter and Eckhard Thiel are blood cancer experts at the Charite Medical University in Berlin. Their patient, an American ex-pat, was suffering from leukemia as well as a full-blown case of AIDS. His case was so desperate that his doctors decided to get craaazy and give him a bone-marrow transplant--(this isn't the crazy part)--using blood stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV (this is). About 10 years ago, doctors discovered that a few of their gay male patients never developed AIDS, despite engaging in risky sex with hundreds of partners. It turned out that they had a rare mutation called Delta 32 that blocks a molecule in HIV from adhering to the cell surface. Delta 32 must be inherited from both parents; it occurs at a rate of roughly 1 percent in European populations (it's more common in Northern Europe and much much, rarer--basically unheard of--in Africa and Asia), so it was difficult but not impossible for the doctors to find a donor in Germany who fit the bill. The patient was asked to stop taking his antiretroviral AIDS medication for the duration of the procedure with the understanding that he'd have to restart the meds fairly soon after the transplant was complete and the level of the virus in his bloodstream started to rise. But to everyone's surprise, it never rose, not at all. It has now been close to two years since the transplant, and there are still no traces of HIV in the patient's blood or brain tissues. So: success! A cure! For this guy, at least.
[...]
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Scientists are high on idea that marijuana reduces memory impairment from PhysOrg.com
The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.
[...]
Cramming: Not A Long-Term Study Strategy
I challenge you: Name one fact you still remember from the last test for which you crammed.
Anyone? Any fact?
If the ubiquity of immersion-style language programs, emergency test prep classes, bleary-eyed college kids and caffeine-fueled energy potions is any indication, cramming is a wildly popular study strategy. Professors frown upon it yet collude by squashing vast topics like "Evolution" or "World history 1914 to present" into the last week of a course. So is cramming effective or not? A new study by UC–San Diego psychologists confirms what you may suspect deep down: The answer is no. Hurried memorization is a hopeless approach for retaining information. But it's not all bad news. The team offers a precise formula for better study habits, and it doesn't necessarily entail dogged discipline and routine.
[...]
Anyone? Any fact?
If the ubiquity of immersion-style language programs, emergency test prep classes, bleary-eyed college kids and caffeine-fueled energy potions is any indication, cramming is a wildly popular study strategy. Professors frown upon it yet collude by squashing vast topics like "Evolution" or "World history 1914 to present" into the last week of a course. So is cramming effective or not? A new study by UC–San Diego psychologists confirms what you may suspect deep down: The answer is no. Hurried memorization is a hopeless approach for retaining information. But it's not all bad news. The team offers a precise formula for better study habits, and it doesn't necessarily entail dogged discipline and routine.
[...]
Everlasting Love: Science Proves Initial Passion Is Far From Fleeting
With all the talk of cougars, starter wives, and sugar daddies floating around these days—not to mention sky-high divorce rates—conventional wisdom is that the initial passion that brings two people together simply cannot last. Monogamous, till-death-do-us-part love is out of fashion. However, a recent study is doing its part to reverse that common outlook and bring a little bit of hope to those still wishing to grow old with someone.
[...]
[...]
Scientists get closer to creating artificial life: study from PhysOrg.com
Scientists have discovered a more efficient way of building a synthetic genome that could one day enable them to create artificial life, according to a study.
[...]
Why Life Originated (And Why it Continues) from PhysOrg.com
(PhysOrg.com) -- Today, scientists understand pretty well how life evolves, by mechanisms based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection for survival of the fittest. However, Darwin’s 1859 classic, On the Origin of Species, somewhat ironically doesn’t answer that very question – how species actually originated. And to this day, how that first tiny pool of chemicals twitched to life remains a puzzle.
[...]
Smart Guys Have Better Sperm
From: popsci.com
Brainiacs now have something besides their intelligence to celebrate; their sperm. The intellectually endowed produce better quality and more mobile sperm, according to a study published in Intelligence and led by Rosalind Arden of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in England.
(...)
Brainiacs now have something besides their intelligence to celebrate; their sperm. The intellectually endowed produce better quality and more mobile sperm, according to a study published in Intelligence and led by Rosalind Arden of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in England.
(...)
Myth about 'dirty old men' supported by science from PhysOrg.com
Middle-aged men want younger women, often touting their intelligence and their high income. This is shown in research at Gothenburg University and Oxford University that studied 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose partners.
[...]
Body clock linked to diabetes and high blood sugar from PhysOrg.com
Diabetes and high levels of blood sugar may be linked to abnormalities in a person's body clock and sleep patterns, according to a genome-wide association study published today in the journal Nature Genetics.
[...]
Blue streetlights may prevent crime, suicide from PhysOrg.com
Blue streetlights are believed to be useful in preventing suicides and street crime, a finding that is encouraging an increasing number of railway companies to install blue light-emitting apparatus at stations to prevent people from committing suicide by jumping in front of trains.
[...]
Sex, Thighs and Video Games
From: popsci.com (http://www.popsci.com/node/30145)
Sex, Thighs and Video Games
By Christina Hurtado
The first gamers were not the trendy young teens of today. Bad skin and thick rimmed glasses were practically mandatory for anyone intent on owning an Atari 2600. Perhaps it was the lack of real women in their lives, or maybe the rise of porn videos and lad mags in an increasingly hypersexualized media landscape, that led early programmers to quickly create female video game characters as roughly pixelated, highly sensualized sex objects. Whatever it was, that was only the beginning...
In his book, Porn and Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture , writer Damon Brown (Playboy, New York Post, PlanetOut) explores the ever-evolving relationship between video games and sex. From Custer’s Revenge in 1982 to the most recent incarnation of Grand Theft Auto, Brown takes us on a journey through America’s sexual awakening and growing technological savvy. In Brown’s eyes, it is no small coincidence that the increasing availability and acceptability of hard and soft core porn is mirroring the rise of sexualized imagery in video games. It’s not just hot girls in small clothing, either; there’s the “jiggle factor” (self explanatory), virtual relationships (Second Life, anyone?), and the Hot Coffee GTA mini game.
Porn and Pong lists the causes and events behind the video game sexual revolution in a humorous and intelligent way, although it skirts a key factor: real women. The book is clearly written by a man and for men; there is virtually no discussion of how women gamers feel about their sexy cyber counterparts. The culture referred to in the subtitle seems to be a young male culture, not a broader American one, and so the title is somewhat misleading. That doesn’t mean that a woman wouldn’t like it (I thoroughly enjoyed it), but it’s important to read it with the understanding that it was clearly written for a guy. So have a read, ogle the pictures, and then grab your, er, controller and get your game on.
Sex, Thighs and Video Games
By Christina Hurtado
The first gamers were not the trendy young teens of today. Bad skin and thick rimmed glasses were practically mandatory for anyone intent on owning an Atari 2600. Perhaps it was the lack of real women in their lives, or maybe the rise of porn videos and lad mags in an increasingly hypersexualized media landscape, that led early programmers to quickly create female video game characters as roughly pixelated, highly sensualized sex objects. Whatever it was, that was only the beginning...
In his book, Porn and Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture , writer Damon Brown (Playboy, New York Post, PlanetOut) explores the ever-evolving relationship between video games and sex. From Custer’s Revenge in 1982 to the most recent incarnation of Grand Theft Auto, Brown takes us on a journey through America’s sexual awakening and growing technological savvy. In Brown’s eyes, it is no small coincidence that the increasing availability and acceptability of hard and soft core porn is mirroring the rise of sexualized imagery in video games. It’s not just hot girls in small clothing, either; there’s the “jiggle factor” (self explanatory), virtual relationships (Second Life, anyone?), and the Hot Coffee GTA mini game.
Porn and Pong lists the causes and events behind the video game sexual revolution in a humorous and intelligent way, although it skirts a key factor: real women. The book is clearly written by a man and for men; there is virtually no discussion of how women gamers feel about their sexy cyber counterparts. The culture referred to in the subtitle seems to be a young male culture, not a broader American one, and so the title is somewhat misleading. That doesn’t mean that a woman wouldn’t like it (I thoroughly enjoyed it), but it’s important to read it with the understanding that it was clearly written for a guy. So have a read, ogle the pictures, and then grab your, er, controller and get your game on.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Forwarded Email: A Message from George Carlin
Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.
A Message by George Carlin:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
A Message by George Carlin:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
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