Clipmarks | tabsey's clips

Origin of the Novel Species Noodleous doubleous: Evidence for Intelligent Design

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:17:41 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Hard to clip but worth a look. Great humour

Abstract

Penne Rigate will spontaneously insert itself into Rigatoni (order pasta) under liquid to gas transition conditions of H₂O to create the previously unobserved species Noodleous doubleous. The estimated probability of this spontaneous generation event is too low to be explained by thermodynamics and therefore apparently represents intelligent design.

Introduction

It has been claimed by Intelligent Design advocates^* that patterns observed in nature with a sufficiently low probability provide direct evidence for intelligent design, i.e., God. Here I report evidence for the spontaneous formation of a new life form in a prebiotic pasta soup.

Materials and Methods

Tags: humour

U.S. issues "insulting" Berlusconi biography

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:13:01 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Hypocrisy is alive and well in the White House and on the planes, in fact, anywhere that Bush goes, he takes his justifier, Hypocrisy.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - The United States formally apologized to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday for distributing to reporters an "insulting" biography of him that said he was "hated by many".

The description was included in a thick press kit distributed to reporters traveling with U.S. President George W. Bush from Washington to the Group of Eight summit in Japan that Berlusconi was also attending.

The four-page biography, pulled from the Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, refers to Berlusconi as "hated by many but respected by all at least for his bella figura (personal style) and the sheer force of his will".

Berlusconi was said to be "regarded by many as a political dilettante who gained his high office only through use of his considerable influence on the national media..."

It also said Berlusconi was "one of the most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for governmental corruption and vice".

Tags: hypocrits, drown, in, their, own, crap, eventually

Schizophrenia Linked To Dysfunction In Molecular Brain Pathway Activated By Marijuana

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:09:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Which of you will decide to read this?

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008) — Alterations in a molecular brain pathway activated by marijuana may contribute to the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Expression of the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R), the site of action of the main chemical ingredient of marijuana, is significantly reduced in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia. Activation of CB1R impairs signaling by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an important neurotransmitter essential for core cognitive processes such as working memory. The use of marijuana in individuals with schizophrenia appears to worsen this deficit in GABA synthesis.

Since reduced GABA is known to be present in schizophrenia, these findings suggest possible new drug targets that could help to improve function in people with the mental illness, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers report.

Tags: kindly, address, me as, sirs

What is St. Elmo's Fire?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:44:53 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: As with all electrical phenomena, St. Elmo's Fire is about electrons. So, what is St. Elmo's Fire if it's not a form of lightning? Find out in the next section.
I had no idea either and the film was a distraction from what it is.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

If you were to look outside your home during a thunderstorm and see a tall streetlamp glowing with blue flames, you might be tempted to call the fire department. Then you might notice that the streetlamp is on fire but isn't actually burning -- and the water from the fire hose isn't putting out the flames. At this point, you might be about ready to call a priest, but that, like the call to the fire department, would be unnecessary. The phenomenon you're witnessing is actually St. Elmo's Fire. (Which has nothing to do with a 1980s coming-of-age film starring a young Emilio Estevez.)

St. Elmo's Fire is a weather phenomenon involving a gap in electrical charge. It's like lightning, but not quite. And while it has been mistaken for ball lightning, it's not that, either -- and it's definitely not fire.

St. Elmo's torchlike flames shoot off the mast of a
ship at sea.

India left ends coalition support

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:24:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: This could caste doubt over who is the tall poppy.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Communist parties in India say they are withdrawing support for the governing coalition over a controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States.

The move came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government would press ahead with the deal.

Left-wing parties say the accord would give the US undue influence over India's foreign and nuclear policy.

The Indian government says it needs the deal to meet the country's soaring demands for energy.

India is under pressure from Washington to sign the accord before the US presidential elections in November.

'No collapse'

The communists have 59 members in India's lower house of parliament.

Analysts say their pulling out of the governing coalition will leave it with 226 members in the 543-seat parliament, a good 46 seats behind the majority mark.

But they say the communists' decision may not lead to a collapse of the government and early elections.

Tags: politics

Why some conservatives are backing Obama

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:15:39 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: How you vote should be governed by your interpretation of what the candidates have to offer. You may be able to think of the good of the country or you may be pressed by the need for food, shelter and clothing (not to mention medical insurance).

Clip Source: www.michaelmoore.com

The "Obamacans" that Sen. Barack Obama used to joke about - Republican apostates who whispered their support for his candidacy - have morphed into a new phenomenon, or syndrome, as detractors like to call it: the Obamacons.

These are conservatives who have publicly endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, dissidents from the brain trust of think tanks, ex-officials and policy magazines that have fueled the Republican Party since the 1960s. Scratch the surface of this elite, and one finds a profound dismay that is far more damaging to the GOP than the usual 10 percent of registered Republicans expected to switch sides during a presidential election.

"The untold story of the Bush administration is the deliberate annihilation of the Reaganite, small-government wing of the Republican Party," said Michael Greve, director of the Federalism Project at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "A lot of people are very bitter about it."

Tags: coulda beens, never was's, shoulda beens, vote

Wal-Mart Opposes Workers Comp Disability For Shot And Beaten Police Officer

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:56:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Surprise, surrprise

Clip Source: www.laborradio.org

Wal-Mart is opposing a former Arkansas police officer Jimmy Singleton’s efforts to win permanent disability workers comp payments after he was beaten and shot on duty. Ken Harper is Singleton’s attorney.

[Harper]: “I think it’s a terrible case for them to try to get involved in. Here we have an officer who was just doing his duty, actually putting his life on the line. He’s beaten, shot and left for dead on the side of the road. And the treatment that officer Singleton has received from the Arkansas Worker’s Compensation Commission I don’t think has been a whole lot better than the treatment he got that night, to be honest with you.”

The case is being heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Tags: serves, him, right, for, not, being, able, to, dodge, bullets

Chrysler, UAW Face Slew of Complaints

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:52:09 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: The winners in these actions are those who watch and learn. Learn to act correctly ( would you be happy for your wife's boss to be...) and learn that these pricks can be said no to or taken to court. Where are worker representative unions? Not that they stop this harassment in Australia

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

Toledo - Melody Williams, after working an overtime shift, was called to her boss' office, where she found him lying on a desk.

"You want to get paid?" she testified that supervisor Torrence Frazier asked her. He pawed at her; pressed his body against hers. "We can just go next door, get this over with," he told her.

And that's how it went - giving in to his demands, against her will - for several months, she testified.

Chrysler's Toledo North Assembly Plant was a "living hell" that drove Williams, one of several workers to file complaints about the plant, to a psychiatric unit and near bankruptcy, her lawyer alleges.

Chrysler denied wrongdoing in court records, but the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission believed Williams' claims of sexual harassment. Chrysler "has failed in its obligations under federal law to maintain a work environment free of unlawful harassment," says an EEOC report obtained by the Free Press.

Tags: slaves, have, rights

Suicide rate much higher for medical students: AMSA

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:31:14 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Bullying and nowhere to hide.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

The Australian Medical Students Association's (AMSA) convention has heard that suicide rates for medical students are dramatically higher than the average rate for students.

The Association says there needs to be a big change in the way cases of bullying are handled within the medical profession to ensure students are protected.

The organisation's president, Michael Bonning, says bullying by teachers has been accepted for too long.

"It's absolutely amazing that for a well-informed and well-educated part of the community that people feel they're so trapped and they have no one they can turn to," he said.

"We think part of this stems from the culture that's set up inside medical education."

Tags: old, ideas, aren't, necessarily, correct

Aborigine skulls to be taken home

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:47:29 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Strange, this lack of respect for human remains. Guess it shows the attitudes of the time. Also shows us that we have improved in some ways. (Though tell that to kid who has just found a half rotten sheeps skull!)

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A delegation of Aboriginal people from Australia has arrived in Edinburgh to take home human remains.

The six skulls and a human ear bone are in collections belonging to the National Museums of Scotland and Edinburgh University.

Four members of the Ngarrindjeri people made the trip to take home their ancestor's remains.

Aboriginal people and the Australian Government have fought to repatriate remains from museum collections.

On Monday morning, the Ngarrindjeri people burned eucalyptus leaves in front of the university's McEwan Hall in a "smoking ceremony".

The ritual marked the completion of a decade-long process during which remains held in the university's collection have been returned.

'Times change'

The delegation is in Edinburgh for the handover of the last piece of human remains still held at the university - a fragment of bone from a woman's ear.

The remains were acquired by the university more than 100 years ago, when Australia was a British colony.

Tags: kids, collect, boogies; adults, skulls

Japan waits on US for CO2 targets

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:42:49 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: And George is stalling them beautifully for his masters, the corporations.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Japan says that it will not negotiate new targets on CO2 emissions until it sees what the new US President has to offer on climate change.

A senior Japanese official also told the BBC his country would continue to try to re-negotiate the baseline date against which CO2 targets are measured.

Japan’s emissions are more than 6% above the 1990 Kyoto Protocol baseline.

World leaders are starting the three-day G8 summit in Toyako, on Japan's northern Hokkaido island.

Mr Jun Arima, chief negotiator for the powerful industry ministry METI, promised that Japan would meet its promised 6% CO2 cut by purchasing pollution credits from developing countries.

He also said Japan was hopeful of gathering support at the G8 for its plan for sectoral efficiency targets for industry.

He said the UK had been supportive of the idea, which would oblige the major industrial sectors which account for 40% of global emissions to adopt the best possible technologies.

Tags: fiddle, while, the, world, dies

The men's sperm were examined for quantity, their ability to move and swim and their size and shape.

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:40:00 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: It blows me out the way over 40's risk major problems for a newborns so that "we can have a family, now we have paid off the house". Of course there are the people going into their first real relationship at that age who deserve help too.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists say they have found more evidence that men as well as women have biological clocks and that they start to tick in their mid-30s.

A French study of over 12,200 couples having fertility treatment suggests the chance of a successful pregnancy falls when the man is aged over 35.

It adds that the chance is significantly lower if he is over 40.

Previous studies have shown that both natural and assisted conception is more difficult if the man is over 40.

The researchers told a European reproductive health conference that it was likely the problems were caused by DNA damage in sperm.

Miscarriage risk

The researchers studied couples who had sought treatment for infertility at the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Paris between January 2002 and December 2006.

All were given intrauterine inseminations (IUI), also known as artificial insemination, where sperm is inserted into the womb when the woman is ovulating.

Tags: memememememe

Slow exercise (not fast) is better for menopausal women

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:13:58 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Sensible. Also takes away that little bit of stress caused by forcing oneself to do more and go faster.

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

It's an inevitable truth: as we get older, our muscles deteriorate and we become weaker. Not only can this be an immensely frustrating change, but it can also have many other, more serious implications. We become clumsier and begin to have more falls, often resulting in broken bones or even more severe injuries. There is wide interest in this phenomenon, but to date, the majority of research has focussed on therapies for older patients with advanced symptoms. Now one study, led by Dr Alexandra Sänger from the University of Salzburg, is taking a new approach: scientists are examining the effects of different exercise regimes in menopausal women, with the aim of developing new strategies for delaying and reducing the initial onset of age related muscle deterioration. Results will be presented on Monday 7th July at the Society for Experimental Biology's Annual Meeting in Marseille [Poster Session A5].

Tags: health, is, good

Researchers identify cancer preventive properties in common vitamin supplement

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:00:07 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: RESVERATROL I think that I would be incorporating this into my diet straight away, if I was from a family with a history of breast cancer. If it is not what they hope, you won't be much worse off financially.

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

PHILADELPHIA – Early laboratory research has shown that resveratrol, a common dietary supplement, suppresses the abnormal cell formation that leads to most types of breast cancer, suggesting a potential role for the agent in breast cancer prevention. Resveratrol is a natural substance found in red wine and red grapes. It is sold in extract form as a dietary supplement at most major drug stores.

"Resveratrol has the ability to prevent the first step that occurs when estrogen starts the process that leads to cancer by blocking the formation of the estrogen DNA adducts. We believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road," said Eleanor G. Rogan, Ph.D., a professor in the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Rogan was the lead author of the report that was published in the July 2008 issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Tags: medical

When Using Gestures, Rules Of Grammar Remain The Same

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:52:50 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Hard to clip, more at the source

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 7, 2008) — The mind apparently has a consistent way of ordering an event that defies the order in which subjects, verbs, and objects typically appear in languages, according to research at the University of Chicago.

"Not surprisingly, speakers of different languages describe events using the word orders prescribed by their language. The surprise is that when the same speakers are asked to 'speak' with their hands and not their mouths, they ignore these orders -- they all use exactly the same order when they gesture," said Susan Goldin-Meadow, lead author of a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tags: we, all, use, two, fingers, the, same, way