Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Lonely on a Jet Plane
Loneliness in people over 50 years old seems to be linked to as much as a 30 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure, pushing many over the 150 mmHg mark that defines hypertension. How this happens is unclear, but figuring it out could lead to major improvements in our understanding of social/psychological effects on the body. Without even knowing how it works, knowing that it happens is a great place to start some public health interventions: get seniors out of the house, into social situations. (great idea, but doing it will be a challenge)
Researchers have successfully powered a helicopter jet engine with a largely coal-based fuel. While this in and of itself is cool, the claim is that this will help us be independent of foreign oil is preposterous. Coal is at least as limited a resource as oil, and the US certainly has no monopoly on its production. Still, an interesting concept.
Researchers have successfully powered a helicopter jet engine with a largely coal-based fuel. While this in and of itself is cool, the claim is that this will help us be independent of foreign oil is preposterous. Coal is at least as limited a resource as oil, and the US certainly has no monopoly on its production. Still, an interesting concept.
