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Scare Pic Of Earth Water Visual Framing Or Global Warming Wake Up Call

Scare Pic Of Earth Water Visual Framing Or Global Warming Wake Up Call

May 24 2012 | comment(s)

The following, scary pictures are making it around the net at present:



And here separating the fresh water:


Finding My Religion: The New Intersection Of Christianity And Environmentalism

Finding My Religion: The New Intersection Of Christianity And Environmentalism

May 24 2012 | comment(s)

CHERRY HILL, NJ -- Standing next to my Dad under the watchful eyes of the sculpted Jesus I remembered well from childhood church services, I resolutely censored a mental curse. I hadn't attended Catholic mass regularly in years, and while I was embarrassed by my stumbling responses to some recently-reworded portions of the service, I was still absolutely certain of profanity's sacrilege during this particular Sunday hour.

Whenever I'm home for a visit, I'm reminded of religion's formative importance during a childhood that included attending weekly mass and religion classes, singing in the children's choir, and, later, lectoring during services.
Organic Spinach Recalled Over Salmonella Concerns

Organic Spinach Recalled Over Salmonella Concerns

May 24 2012 | comment(s)

Taylor Farms Retail, Inc. of Salinas, California is initiating a voluntary recall of Organic Baby Spinach following a random test conducted on a finished package by the USDA that found salmonella.

Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause infection and symptoms, including diarrhea (sometimes bloody), stomach cramps and fever. Infection typically lasts a few days and most people recover without medical treatment but, because of that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe there may be as many as 30 times the 42,000 cases reported each year in the U.S. alone.
Political Bias In The National Academy of Sciences?

Political Bias In The National Academy of Sciences?

May 24 2012 | comment(s)

Physicist George "Jay" Keyworth was not invited to join a panel at the National Academy of Sciences despite having a set of qualifications very few others - among them, just John Holdren, Frank Press, John Gibbons and Neal Lane - have.
Tax Talk

Tax Talk

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

After reading this article "Sociologists' research study finds everyday tax talk is 'morally charged'", I was somewhat stunned that in 2012, it would still be a topic of research to consider what the American taxpayer is upset about.
"We propose that everyday tax talk among the middle class is not simply about economics or free markets," NIU sociologist Jeffrey Kidder said. "Tax talk is morally charged.
OK, perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical and critical, but DUH!!!!
Modern Squid Ink Unchanged From Jurassic Times

Modern Squid Ink Unchanged From Jurassic Times

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

Usually "No Change in X" doesn't make a very splashy headline, but when the lack of change occurs over 160,000,000 years and X is squid ink, people get excited.

And with good cause. This is the first time that ink from a fossil cephalopod has been analyzed chemically, and it turned out to be indistinguishable from modern cephalopod ink. One hundred and sixty million years. No change.
Introducing Life-Dialogues

Introducing Life-Dialogues

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

I have recently created a blog-site called Life-Dialogues that covers the latest topics in neuroscience, stem cell biology, cancer and molecular biology. 
So- if you were wondering where all my contents went- you can find my recent contents at life-dialogues.weebly.com. To hear about my recent articles, you can also join the lifedialogues group on Facebook or follow me at twitter@lifedialogues.

Science2.0 is after-all the place where I published my earlier blogs, so I would still like to share my contents with the community here. I have decided to post a few of my most-read contents here for your reading pleasure. Stay tuned!

Skin Into Heart Tissue Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Skin Into Heart Tissue Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

Skin cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), from heart failure patients have been reprogrammed to transform into healthy, new heart muscle cells that are capable of integrating with existing heart tissue, according to a new paper in the European Heart Journal.
In Defense Of Criticism (And Skepticism)

In Defense Of Criticism (And Skepticism)

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

My friend Benny (who produces the Rationally Speaking podcast) really hates the word “skepticism.” He understands and appreciates its meaning and long intellectual pedigree (heck, we even did a show on that!), but he also thinks — based on anecdotal evidence — that too many people apply a negative connotation to the term, often confusing it with cynicism.
T-Channel Single Top: The New Atlas Measurement

T-Channel Single Top: The New Atlas Measurement

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

Top quarks are most often produced in pairs at hadron colliders. The reason of this fact is that the strong interaction, which produces most of the reactions between the projectiles, is flavor-blind, and it cannot create a single new flavor of quarks out of nothing. In other words, physical processes mediated by strong interactions conserve the quantum numbers describing the difference between the number of quarks and antiquarks of any given kind: U, D, C, S, T, and B.
Sugary Synapse Sabotage

Sugary Synapse Sabotage

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

High-sugar diets are bad for your waistline but they may be bad for your brain too.

Researchers trained rats to successfully navigate a maze and then for six weeks the rats' water was replaced with syrups that were 15 percent fructose. But half the rodents were also given flaxseed oil and fish oil—both rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which may protect against damage to synapses in the brain.

After six weeks of the fructose syrup, all the rats were slower at running the maze. However, those that had received omega-3s were slightly faster than their counterparts. 

Lesson: Don't replace your water with syrup.
Biochar Blanket Turns Plant Waste Into A Kiln

Biochar Blanket Turns Plant Waste Into A Kiln

May 23 2012 | comment(s)

When forests are logged, managed or selectively trimmed so they’ll be less susceptible to raging fires, there are usually huge piles of stumps, branches and other wood debris left laying on the ground. Now a group of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle is developing a portable technology to turn these waste piles into treasure troves by converting them into biochar; charcoal made from plant material that can be burned for energy or applied to soils, where it helps plants grow.

Mansagar Lake controversy:Jal Mahal of Jaipur .

Mansagar Lake controversy:Jal Mahal of Jaipur .

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

I have seen Mansagar Lake drying for several years. I have seen it stinking for several years. It was also used as place for immersion of idols after the festival season.  I have seen encroachments taking place on its banks.

Academic Inbreeding Alert

Academic Inbreeding Alert

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

“The practice of having Ph.D. graduates employed by the university that trained them, commonly called ‘academic inbreeding’ has long been suspected to be damaging to scholarly practices and achievement ” says a 2010 report in the journal Management Science.
Prozac In Your Chicken? Thanks, China

Prozac In Your Chicken? Thanks, China

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

Sometimes you set out to test for antibiotics but get a bonus; in this case, diphenhydramine, arsenic, and fluoxetine.

Yikes.
SETI's Jill Tarter Stepping Down

SETI's Jill Tarter Stepping Down

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

"Contact", Carl Sagan's 1985 novel about man's contact with extraterrestrial life and where it takes us, was, like all good stories, modeled around real characters.

The book was okay but the movie "Contact" had Jodie Foster, who I would contend had the most convincing portrayal of a scientist in film ever, and that made it special.  Where did she get her inspiration?  The same place Carl Sagan did; from Jill Tarter, the director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute.
Health Halo: Why Organic Food Believers Act Holier Than Thou?

Health Halo: Why Organic Food Believers Act Holier Than Thou?

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

Psychologists contend there is a 'health halo' adopted toward foods thought to be 'healthy', whether or not they actually are (granola, low fat yogurt, etc). There is also a health halo around foods that are organic. Some people even think organic foods are nutritionally superior and are even lower in fat and lower in calorie than foods without that organic label - which only required paying a fee and filling out a form.

As with young hipsters who like a band until they become popular, organic food eaters also seem to have adopted a 'moral halo' about their belief system - they think they are better than other people for buying organic pineapples. 
A Primer On

A Primer On "Tribal Science": An Easy Read On Why We Believe As We Do

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

Mike McRae's Tribal Science: Brains, Beliefs, and Bad Ideas is short, sweet, often humorous and to the point. It's also pithy and full of quote-worthy sentences:
"Since most of the face-like patterns Mary sees every day are indeed faces, her brain's gamble usually pays off. In addition, making the mistake of thinking there is the face of Jesus on her iron isn't costing her much (except a new iron. Nobody likes to do housework with the face of God)."
VoiceSee: Hands-Free And Even Eyes-Free Web Navigation

VoiceSee: Hands-Free And Even Eyes-Free Web Navigation

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

YiZRi LLC has unveiled VoiceSee, the world's first hands-free, eyes-free web navigation platform that uses mobile apps to read aloud recipes, digital newspapers and Wikipedia entries for the Android smartphone.

VoiceSee's flagship beta application, Culinary Pal, is a cooking web navigation mobile app that will follow your voice commands to search for recipes and choose the one you want. Sadie, the voice of VoiceSee, will then read aloud the ingredients list followed by preparation and cooking or baking instructions. She will pause at your command so you can finish each task before listening to the next one.

Entanglement and Gravity

Entanglement and Gravity

May 22 2012 | comment(s)

All as about "quantum gravity" as about "the interpretations of quantum mechanics" shows only our misunderstanding of what quantum mechanics means and wants to tell us.
Its "complementarity" is especially misleading without being wrong: It hides that wave-particle duality is also wave-particle invariance in the same degree. Our ordinary everyday intuition distinctly separating waves from particles is what misleads us. In fact they are the same in principle and this is what means the formalism of quantum mechanics based on complex Hilbert space.