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Cissampelos pareira Linn. var.hirsuta (Buch.-Ham. ex DC.) Forman a medicinal plant from India

Cissampelos pareira Linn. var.hirsuta (Buch.-Ham. ex DC.) Forman a medicinal plant from India

Jan 16 2011 | comment(s)

Cissampelos pareira Linn. var.hirsuta (Buch.-Ham. ex DC.) Forman syn. C.hirsuta Buch.-Ham. ex DC.; C. pareira Linn. var. ß; C. pareira Hook. f. & Thoms. Menispermaceae Leaves, twigs Distribution Area A very variable, lofty, slender, dioecious, perennial climber, commonly distributed throughout tropical and sub-tropical India, ascending up to an altitude of c 2,000 m.
Marijuana Laws And 14th Amendment

Marijuana Laws And 14th Amendment

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States constitution was passed after the civil war to provide equal protection to freed slaves under the law and to protect them from discriminatory behavior by the government. However, since then, the equal protection clause has been extended to prevent discriminatory action by the government against other races, as well as gender discrimination.
New Study On Chemicals In Pregnant Women (and General Kvetching)

New Study On Chemicals In Pregnant Women (and General Kvetching)

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

As a preface to this post, I have to offer a general complaint against media (both print and television) and their bias against providing citation information or links on studies when they report on them. You always have to go digging to find the actual study, and it seems to me to be lazy-ass reporting. We already know how often they misinterpret information, and then they make it even harder to find the originating information. For example, take this story Toxins found in pregnant U.S. women in UCSF study from SFGate yesterday. The UCSF link took me to another SFGate page. Oh, helpful. Not.
Entropy and Artificial Life

Entropy and Artificial Life

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

I used to work in chemical thermodynamics for quite a while. No doubt, I have heard of the informational entropy but I have always thought that it has nothing to do with the entropy in chemical thermodynamics.

Recently I have started reading papers on artificial life and it came to me as a complete surprise that so many people there consider that the thermodynamic entropy and the informational entropy are the same. Let me cite for example a few sentences from Christoph Adami "Introduction to Artificial Life":
Phragmites karka Trin. ex Steud. root has medicinal value

Phragmites karka Trin. ex Steud. root has medicinal value

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

Phragmites karka Trin. ex Steud. ( Syn P. karka Retz. , P. roxburghii(Kunth) Steud.; P. maxima Blatter & McCann in part. Family Gramineae Used Part Root Distribution Area A tall reed, with thick creeping rhizome, found in marshy places and along banks of lakes and streams throughout India, ascending up to 1,300 m. in the Himalayas. Common Uses .The plant is sweet, acrid; cooling, aphrodisiac; useful in biliousness, urinary troubles, vaginal and uterine complaints, erysipealas, heart diseases. The root of this reed is regarded as cooling and diuretic by the Chinese. It is considered diuretic and diaphoretic in Spain. P. karka is not discriminated from P. communis for
Entada phaseoloides (Linn.) Merr. syn. E. scandens Ayervedic Gila has medicinal properties

Entada phaseoloides (Linn.) Merr. syn. E. scandens Ayervedic Gila has medicinal properties

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

Entada phaseoloides (Linn.) Merr. syn. E. scandens Benth. Family Fabaceae Used Part Fruits. Distribution Area The plant occurs throughout the sub-Himalayan tract, from Nepal eastwards ascending to 4,000 ft. in Sikkim, in Assam, Bihar and Orissa, and in the monsoon forest of western and eastern ghats; it is abundant in Andaman Islands. Common Uses . The seeds are considered tonic, emetic, antiperiodic and anthelmintic. A paste prepared from the seeds is applied locally for inflammatory glandular swellings. The stem is used as emetic. The juice of the wood and bark is used as an external application for ulcers.
Biotic Games: Using Microorganisms To Stimulate Public Involvement In Science And Improve Biological Research

Biotic Games: Using Microorganisms To Stimulate Public Involvement In Science And Improve Biological Research

Jan 15 2011 | comment(s)

I admit it: when I sat down with Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, an Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at Stanford University, to discuss a possible rotation project, my first question for him was “why?” I wasn’t confused about why he was studying developmental patterning - that’s what had drawn me into his office in the first place. What confused me was the second path that his young lab was pursuing: biotic games.
Fishing for Future Generations

Fishing for Future Generations

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

I know, I know, I won't shut up about squid fishing. But the Salinas Californian has a neat human-interest article about the closure of the market squid fishery, bringing the message home to Homo sapiens:
Third-generation Monterey fishermen Frank Mineo and his older brother, Sal, hope that they will be able to make it to the end of their working lives in the family business. Whether there will be another generation of Mineo men fishing on Monterey Bay remains to be seen.
There you have it. That's fishing. And not just squid fishing, either.
Breast Is Best?

Breast Is Best?

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

I think I can safely assume that when it comes to feeding newborns, people have heard that if possible breastfeeding is best - immune system, bonding, etc etc. But when do you wean? Ten years ago, the World Health Organization recommended that mothers "exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of their infants' lives," and this recommendation was picked up by governments around the world.

Now, a study in the British Medical Journal says perhaps that can be adjusted down to four months, based on information including more recent research. Naturally, there are caveats and controversies.

Pros and Cons
Genetically Modified 'Superchicken' Doesn't Spread Bird Flu

Genetically Modified 'Superchicken' Doesn't Spread Bird Flu

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Avian influenza, bird flu, causes the unnecessary deaths of millions of chickens each year, preventing them from instead being killed for my dinner.

Luckily, science is on the case, though irrational left-wing anti-science types won't like the solution; breeding chickens resistant to it.

Obviously the meat and eggs from these chickens cannot in any conceivable way be different from any other egg but the same mentality that leads people to believe the world will end because of a Mayan calendar can allow people to believe these eggs can be different, so look for the usual protests.

The super chicken was created by researchers from Cambridge and Edinburgh.
Eodromaeus - Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

Eodromaeus - Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

In the Valley of the Moon, high in the Andes, a team of paleontologists and geologists have announced the discovery of a dinosaur ' at the root of the dinosaur family tree'  which roamed South America as the age of dinosaurs began approximately 230 million years ago.

It had a long neck and tail and weighed only 10 to 15 pounds.  They have aptly named the new dinosaur Eodromaeus - the "dawn runner."
'Proustian effect' - why irrelevant details get attached to key memories

'Proustian effect' - why irrelevant details get attached to key memories

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Neuroscientists at MIT say they have uncovered why relatively minor details of an episode are sometimes inexplicably linked to long-term memories.     Even irrelevant information that follows the relevant event (rather than precedes it) is more likely to be integrated into long-term memory.
In a Twist of Irony, Reds see More Hues of Blue

In a Twist of Irony, Reds see More Hues of Blue

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Here's an interesting one, short and sweet - apparently Russians are able to perceive between slightly-different hues of the colour blue because their language contains more words for it.

Researchers are still trying to figure out how it works - is it that language influences perception, or does physiology influence language? No definitive proof either way as far as I can tell, but it's an interesting effect nonetheless.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070430/full/news070430-2.html

Yep, This Should Get You Fired

Yep, This Should Get You Fired

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

An Ohio 8th-grade creationist science teacher with a habit of branding crosses on his students' arms has been fired, after a long and tedious process and a lawsuit that cost the school district some big bucks.

The referee who evaluated the case for termination nicely summed up in one sentence (PDF) exactly what you can't do when you're a public school science teacher:

...He persisted in his attempts to make eighth grade science what he thought it should be - an examination of accepted scientific curriculum with the discerning eye of Christian Doctrine.

The Rise Of Empires As Seen By Trees

The Rise Of Empires As Seen By Trees

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

In ancient times, when things went wrong in battle or the economy, people blamed leaders (if they didn't like them) or the Gods (if they liked the leaders) but maybe they should have blamed global warming.   Errr, and cooling.

A new study in Science uses the same techniques as dendrochronology to map the rise and fall of empires and cultures as it was recorded in tree rings - and then to weather conditions.
Decoding the Unusual Wordpress

Decoding the Unusual Wordpress "Pharma Hack"

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Every now and again, something happens that makes you want to shake someone's hand and then take a hatchet to their throat - and there's a good chance that a number of these occurrences will be in computer science. Recently, I ran into one of these situations and I'd like to take a few moments to write about it here, since I think it will be of at least cursory interest to some of the readers here.

Crazy Is What Crazy Does

Crazy Is What Crazy Does

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

It is well known among those who study schizophrenia that speech which does not reflect the true underlying reality produces the kinds of violent and crazy reactions displayed by the assassin of Tucsan. When we can no longer trust that the words our elected representatives, that our public servants, say are true and reflective of their beliefs, a deliberative and representative democracy can no longer function, and it will necessarily devolve into a system where might equals right and violence becomes a preferred means of political expression.
Working In Science

Working In Science

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Last week I told you how to get your degree.  Now it's time to look at the life of a working scientist.  It's time for me to answer oft-asked questions like:
  • What is a scientist's regular day at work like?
  • What do you do?
  • Where do you do it-- office, home, et cetera?
  • Do you work alone or with others in the same enviornment?
  • What got you interested in science?
  • Was it easy to get a job?
  • Around how much can i expect to earn?
  • How many hours do you work a day?
  • Do you feel you have enough time to spend with your family?
Deep Genomics And Our Chromatin Landscape

Deep Genomics And Our Chromatin Landscape

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

Why are we forked creatures instead of tumbling beach balls of undifferentiated cells?

An embryo begins by dividing into identical cells, but within hours these cells begin to make genetic decisions, turning off some genes and turning on others. So the ball of cells acquires a front end and a back end, a top and a bottom, nerve cells and muscles cells, all still carrying the same DNA, but DNA now packaged in such a way that some genes are shrink wrapped and silent but others are spread-eagled for easy access and active.
Discrimination Against Men In Science

Discrimination Against Men In Science

Jan 14 2011 | comment(s)

I am acutely aware of my advantages as a tall, white, semi-able-bodied Westerner with middle class background in a northern European culture. I had and still have it much easier than most people especially here in China. Believe me, I am 100% fully aware of how unfair life is, of how much I should not take for granted, and especially of how easy I could have had it, if I had played the usual game with the cards I was dealt. Without my unfair edge, I would not even have been able to dare play my own game.