Cairaguas

“ The idea of using chemical isotopes to combat ageing may be new, but nature may already be onto that strategy as a way of protecting us against free-radical attack, thought to be a key cause of ageing. Babies and mice are born with much more of the isotope carbon-13 in their bodies than their mothers, and women appear to become unusually depleted in carbon-13 around the time they give birth. ”

“Would eating heavy atoms lengthen our lives?” NewScientist Health. 11/27/2008.

That is weird.

Mon Nov 10

“ Barack Obama, our sexy, hot-lady-marrying, jump-shot-making president-to-be is also a pathetic nerd. Time’s Joel Stein warned against what he termed the “Urkel Effect” in the magazine’s pre-election blitz, the power of those undecided voters who would “walk into the voting booth and suddenly think, I cannot take four years of listening to that giant-eared nerd.” Now that Obama has secured victory, his utter geekdom can safely be revealed. ”

Washington City Paper. “Obama: First Trekkie President.” 11/7/2008.

This article amuses me. :)

Thu Oct 2

Make-Believe Maverick: A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty.

This is the story of the real John McCain, the one who has been hiding in plain sight. It is the story of a man who has consistently put his own advancement above all else, a man willing to say and do anything to achieve his ultimate ambition: to become commander in chief, ascending to the one position that would finally enable him to outrank his four-star father and grandfather.

In its broad strokes, McCain’s life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers’ powerful friends, both failed upward. …

What I wouldn’t give to have half the opportunities they were born with!

Wed Oct 1

Tissue sample suggests HIV has been infecting humans for a century

Nature. 10/1/2008.

“In 1998, researchers reported the isolation of HIV-1 sequences from a blood sample taken in 1959 from a Bantu male living in Léopoldville — now Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Analysis of that sample and others suggested that HIV-1 originates from sometime between 1915 and 1941.”

Thu Sep 25

The methane time bomb | The Independent

‘The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.’

‘The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.’

(via BoingBoing.)

“Imagining the Tenth Dimension.” Flash video explaining multiple dimensions.

Sat Sep 20

metaquotes: On blotched HTML

Is it still a link if it is both invisible and unclickable?
It has linkish qualities.
Could god create a link so invisible, he himself could not click it?
The silicon bosses killed you, Gutenberg. I never died, said he.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our code, but in ourselves.
A proxy server, a proxy server! My kingdom for a proxy server!
Links expire, the archives cannot hold; mere 404 is loosed upon the world.
More: http://community.livejournal.com/metaquotes/6837988.html

Thu Sep 18

The story behind the Palin e-mail hacking

Sarah Palin’s e-mail was hacked by a 4channer who researched the answers to all her security questions online.

Tue Sep 16

Stem cells block stroke damage, but not just by replacing damaged cells

Scientific American. 9/15/2008.

“The immature cells [the stem cells] trigger adult brain cells to switch gears and block a stroke-induced immune response that causes nerve damage.” They prevent further damage.

Tue Sep 9

“ Alright, so how does cancer avoid the internal clock? It stops time. The internal clock is essentially represented by the ends of chromosomes. All chromosomes are capped by a protective end of non-coding repetitive DNA, termed the telomere. […] Without the shortening of telomeres (without the clock running) cancer cells can grow and divide without any limitations. Cancer is immortal. ” “Targeting Telomeres and Cancer for Dummies.” A concise explanation of cancer for the interested layperson by The Science Creative Quarterly.

Sun Sep 7

How to Extract DNA from Anything Living

University of Utah. You need a source of DNA, water, table salt, a blender, enzyme powder (such as meat tenderizer), and rubbing alcohol.

“Obama To Palin: What’s Wrong With Being A Community Organizer?”

They’re talking about the three years of work that I did right out of college, as if I’m making the leap from two or three years out of college into the presidency.

I would argue that doing work in the community, to try to create jobs, to bring people together, to rejuvenate communities that have fallen on hard times, to set up job training programs in areas that have been hard hit when the steel plants closed — that that’s relevant only in understanding where I’m coming from. Who I believe in. Who I’m fighting for. And why I’m in this race.

And the question I have for them is, why would that kind of work be ridiculous? Who are they fighting for? What are they advocating for? They think the lives of those folks who are struggling each and every day, that working with them to try to improve their lives, is somehow not relevant to the presidency? Maybe that’s the problem.