Mar 21 2009
The Earth is still being formed. That is why we experience earthquakes and volcanoes. If you have yet to view images of the recent underwater eruption in Tonga, click here for good video footage or on the pic above to go to the source gallery.
Mar 21 2009
I have a dream like this all the time -
Except in mine I have to teach a class I completely forgot about. It begins in 5 minutes and I am a 20-minute drive away. Damn! Or something.
Mar 21 2009
Faith has no place in science. The sentiment that it is okay to accept a proposition simply because we want to and/or because one or a number of people said it is true is the antithesis of what science is all about.
The crucial element that separates science from non-science is data. If a scientist or science writer presents a conclusion without sharing what they have based their thinking upon — the data — the automatic response should be, Hey, wait a minute . . . how did you arrive at that conclusion . . . what are you basing it upon?
Science demands, “Show me the evidence.”
A recent news release reporting that jury duty can cause a traumatizing of jurors not unlike PTSD, has provoked me into bringing my own gavel down. Guilty of making claims without providing evidence!
The news release, Report Warns Of Jury Service ‘Trauma’, makes a number of claims, including these:
The research confirms that jury service, particularly for crimes against people, can cause significant anxiety, and for a vulnerable minority it can lead to severe clinical levels of stress or the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.
Mar 20 2009
I spied a green anole the other day. It was inching along a bird feeder pole. I hadn’t seen one of those kind of lizards in months. Made me wonder why.
A quick Google later and it seems they hibernate for the winter. I found this from an .edu (so it must be accurate!):
Yes, green anoles hibernate in colder regions of their geographic range, which includes the Carolinas, southern Tennessee to Arkansas and east Texas , and throughout the other Gulf states . They often hibernate in large groups and were probably congregating in late fall before it turned cold. Anoles spend winter under bark, inside rotten logs, or under boards of houses and barns.
Cool. But wait, Central Florida wasn’t mentioned. Maybe the anoles around here hop a train and spend the few cooler months in Miami.
Mar 20 2009
Biological life is not the only thing that has and does evolve. Culture, via different mechanisms no doubt, has and does as well. And religion is part of that.
Did religions spring fully formed from the mouth of god(s), or did they evolve along with cultures? I say, teach the controversy!
Mar 20 2009
I absolutely loved encountering this science news headline:
Writing After Terrorist Attack Has Positive Medium Term Effects
“Medium Term Effects” — well done! Too often the effects a treatment brings are assumed to be permanent or long lasting. Frequently that isn’t the case. How frequently? We don’t know because the data isn’t there. Unfortunately, to keep monitoring subjects through the medium and into the long term takes more time, energy, and money.
Speaking of data, the study in question based its finding on this -
the comments recorded by 325 people living in the United States and 333 in Spain, the researcher and her team looked into how both groups put their feelings and thoughts into words.
Not the strongest data, in terms of quantity and quality. But it is something. I would, however, be sure to express my conclusions tentatively.
For example, because the researcher looked at the “expressive writing” of terrorism victims from both New York and Madrid the author felt justified in concluding that -
the results show that the feelings and thoughts experienced following this type of traumatic event are universal.
“Universal”? From a sampling of one large city each in two cultures? Perhaps a could be or even a probably should have been inserted before the universal.
The author’s overall conclusion, however, does include a crucial, three-letter word, in it. Can you spot it?
The study concludes that writing about a traumatic event can have positive effects over the medium term (from two months afterwards). Although the participants’ symptoms worsened over the short term (relating an event makes people relive it, and worsens their negative emotions), they felt better and paid less visits to the doctor over the medium and long term.
Mar 20 2009
When a treatment doesn’t work, it is good to know. Null results are important. According to a ScienceDaily post:
A new testosterone patch, designed to pep up a woman’s flagging sex drive after womb and ovary removal, may not work, and its long term safety is not proven, says Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).
Actually the patch did work. But no better than the placebo treatment, which produced a large response. This suggested to the researchers that “low hormone levels might not have been the problem.”
Hmm.
Side effects were a significant problem as well.
The two key trials reported side effect rates of around 75%, mostly attributable to skin reactions at the sites where the patches had been applied. Other common unwanted side effects, occurring in up to one in 10 women, were acne, excess hair (hirsutism), hair loss (alopecia), breast pain, weight gain, insomnia, voice deepening, and migraine. Some of these may persist.
Those potential side effects would definitely go on the “cost” side of the cost-benefit ledger.
While the news from this study is not positive, it is indeed good to know the results. Information is power.
Mar 19 2009
What is this? Two clues: 1) the title, 2) the pic is x200 magnification.
Answer, and an additional pic at 60x, below the fold.
Mar 19 2009
Many people believe that the cost of vitamins — in my case, a couple bucks a month — justifies taking the chance that ingesting them will reap a reward. Maybe better health in the short term, maybe even longer life.
But the cost to taking vitamins may be more than monetary. And that is why they should be tested. Not only to determine if they work, but also to assure that they do no harm.
And thanks to this test, it seems that one — folic acid supplements taken by males — can do harm.
A study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) found that men who took a daily folic acid supplement of 1 mg daily had more than twice the risk of prostate cancer compared with men who took a placebo.
Okay, this is just one test and the subject pool was limited, only 643 men. After ten years, 62 of the men taking the folic acid supplement were diagnosed with prostate cancer, while for the placebo group the number was 21. A statistically significant difference.
One of the researchers commented:
Adequate levels of folate may be beneficial, but too much folate is unlikely to be beneficial.
Too much of a good thing, even an essential thing, can actually be bad. And that is a true cost very infrequently considered by people taking vitamin supplements. Including me.
Mar 19 2009
The source of consciousness is an important and vexing topic. Some find it so vexing, in fact, they steer clear of it. Were you to ask philosophers a few hundred years ago about the it, many would speculate that a gland in the center of the brain — the pineal gland — is the seat of it: where body meets soul.
If you conduct an Internet search of “pineal gland” and consciousness today, you will find that many new-age thinkers still identify it as a sort of inner “third eye.”
It would be nice if there were a single gland or region in the brain responsible for consciousness. Damage to that region or stimulation of it would cause changes in consciousness and perhaps even outright loss.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Consciousness does not appear to be something akin to the count down mechanism of a world-destroying bomb, and all we have to do is disconnect the blue wire to disable it.
Consciousness may instead be caused by a number of brain areas working in concert. Recent research has identified four areas that may play key roles. And not via armchair speculation. The methods were much more scientific, and hence worthy of greater confidence.
This new work addresses the neural correlates of consciousness at an unprecedented resolution, using intra-cerebral electrophysiological recordings of neural activity.
While this certainly doesn’t settle the matter, it is a step in that direction. And when steps of progress are made, we can justifiable anticipate that one day this vexing puzzle will be solved.
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