Friday, December 12, 2008
Fuel for the Fire
I'm a bad blogger, this I know. But without coffee, I'd be probably even worse. Unless of course said lack also led to unemployment (it might), in which case I'd have time to blog again.
So, coffee fuels my brain - why not also my car? Researchers at the University of Nevada have found that they can extract 100 percent of the oil from spent coffee grounds and turn it into biodiesel. The resulting fuel even smells like coffee, they say, and the remainders are compost. With a home extractor, I would never have to see a gas station again!
A more intensive way to ween ourselves off the grid may be to follow JR East's example: the Tokyo metro company has installed piezoelectric floors to capture the energy of passengers walking by to power ticket consoles and gates. I could install some of these in my upstairs neighbor's bedroom and never pay Georgia Power again!
Speaking of sluts...French researchers have found that women in their peak fertility periods are more likely to give their phone numbers to guys spouting cheesy lines. Yet another reason I'm glad I don't have to deal with this aspect of women!
So, coffee fuels my brain - why not also my car? Researchers at the University of Nevada have found that they can extract 100 percent of the oil from spent coffee grounds and turn it into biodiesel. The resulting fuel even smells like coffee, they say, and the remainders are compost. With a home extractor, I would never have to see a gas station again!
A more intensive way to ween ourselves off the grid may be to follow JR East's example: the Tokyo metro company has installed piezoelectric floors to capture the energy of passengers walking by to power ticket consoles and gates. I could install some of these in my upstairs neighbor's bedroom and never pay Georgia Power again!
Speaking of sluts...French researchers have found that women in their peak fertility periods are more likely to give their phone numbers to guys spouting cheesy lines. Yet another reason I'm glad I don't have to deal with this aspect of women!
Labels: biodiesel, coffee, compost, electricity, fertility, metro, pick-up lines, power, science, sex, silly, technology, Tokyo
Friday, August 01, 2008
Eat and Drink and Grow (Plus: Mom was Wrong!)
My mom always insisted that we drink fruit juice instead of soda. Research suggests that, except for 100% orange and grapefruit juice, drinking fruit drinks or juices are at least as big a diabetes risk as soda. The grapefruit exception may have to do with this, but the orange juice, well, who knows. Still, the message is clear: drink water or unsweetened coffee/tea. Mostly tea.
Speaking of things we thought were good for us: soy. A correlational (read: probably unreliable) study linked even low levels of soy consumption to lowered sperm count in men. This is hilarious, but given the population of Asian nations where soy is a staple food, unlikely to be meaningful or real.
And speaking of dubious, we have much-hyped claims that researchers have developed "exercise pills." I'm not entirely clear on how these are even supposed to work, but apparently it's possible that in the (near) future, I may not have to bother with the treadmill at all. Which would make me very happy! It also seems that taking garlic in a pill may help lower your blood pressure, but I really fail to see the point: garlic is delicious. why not just eat the stuff? Anyone who thinks garlic breath is bad clearly shouldn't ever come to my house!
Speaking of things we thought were good for us: soy. A correlational (read: probably unreliable) study linked even low levels of soy consumption to lowered sperm count in men. This is hilarious, but given the population of Asian nations where soy is a staple food, unlikely to be meaningful or real.
And speaking of dubious, we have much-hyped claims that researchers have developed "exercise pills." I'm not entirely clear on how these are even supposed to work, but apparently it's possible that in the (near) future, I may not have to bother with the treadmill at all. Which would make me very happy! It also seems that taking garlic in a pill may help lower your blood pressure, but I really fail to see the point: garlic is delicious. why not just eat the stuff? Anyone who thinks garlic breath is bad clearly shouldn't ever come to my house!
Labels: blood pressure, diabetes, dubious, exercise, fertility, fitness, fruit juice, garlic, health, pharmacology, soda, soy, sperm
Friday, April 13, 2007
Watch Out for Coughing Cowboys!
This ain't your grandfather's gonorrhea. Due to careless antibiotic use and of course to careless sexual practices, the US is seeing a ginormous rise in proportion of drug-resistant strains of this STD. Currently only one class of antibiotic seems to remain effective, and how long that will last no one can guess.
Speaking of making babies, a UK group claims to have grown immature sperm from bone marrow stem cells, potentially hinting at future fertility treatment advances. Gives new meaning to the concept of "boning" somebody...
But what genes get passed on? Hopefully not a faulty copy of FTO, which greatly increases risk of obesity. We may also soon know a good bit more about how genes evolve and change over time from the newly sequenced macaque genome.
Finally, if you thought bird flu and monkey pox were bad, wait till you hear about cow tuberculosis! It appears that this potentially lethal infection is, contrary to previous thought, transmissable from human to human. D'oh!
Speaking of making babies, a UK group claims to have grown immature sperm from bone marrow stem cells, potentially hinting at future fertility treatment advances. Gives new meaning to the concept of "boning" somebody...
But what genes get passed on? Hopefully not a faulty copy of FTO, which greatly increases risk of obesity. We may also soon know a good bit more about how genes evolve and change over time from the newly sequenced macaque genome.
Finally, if you thought bird flu and monkey pox were bad, wait till you hear about cow tuberculosis! It appears that this potentially lethal infection is, contrary to previous thought, transmissable from human to human. D'oh!
Labels: antibiotic resistance, bacteria, bird flu, bone marrow, bovine, cowboys, cows, evolution, fertility, genes, genome, gonorrhea, macaque, obesity, sex, sperm, STDs, stem cells, TB, tuberculosis
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Cyborgs and Fat Ladies
A US study of women has found that those who eat more non-fat dairy products have more trouble conceiving than those who ate full-fat dairy. The results are a bit confusing - no one is sure why the effect is seen...it could be an effect of the processing involved in making nonfat products, or it could be something that's simply missing from the nonfat varieties that helps conception. The latter seems really unlikely, as I'm pretty sure that vegan women are generally able to have kids without trouble. Also, the study doesn't appear to have controlled for obesity - another risk for infertility, which could also motivate women to switch to nonfat foods.
Still, any excuse for ice cream will do.
Not really related, we have Chinese scientists' announcement that they have produced cyborg pigeons. Chips implanted in the flying rats' brains allows humans to 'remote control' their movements, possibly presaging a real reason to off that old lady next door who feeds the damn things: she's helping the gub'men spy on us! Seriously though, as scary as armies of robo-spies may be, this advance not only represents, but could dramatically further, our understanding of how the brain works.
Still, any excuse for ice cream will do.
Not really related, we have Chinese scientists' announcement that they have produced cyborg pigeons. Chips implanted in the flying rats' brains allows humans to 'remote control' their movements, possibly presaging a real reason to off that old lady next door who feeds the damn things: she's helping the gub'men spy on us! Seriously though, as scary as armies of robo-spies may be, this advance not only represents, but could dramatically further, our understanding of how the brain works.
Labels: China, conception, cyborg, fat, fertility, gubmen, ice cream, pigeons, spies, women
