Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Making it for Ourselves
"Energy independence" is a big buzzword these days, what with calls left and right for alternatives to extracted fossil carbon to fuel our ever-expanding consumptions. Investments into 'biofuels' - basically, corn or sugar cane ethanol - have been disastrous for the environment and economy, respectively exploding food prices and clear-cutting rain forests.
Some California researchers have teamed up with a bacteria and a yeast to perhaps address some of this problem - the bacteria, Actinotalea fermentans, digests cellulose into acetate, which the genetically-engineered yeast then converts into methyl halides. Methyl halides can, in turn, be converted into fuel for humans' machines. This could potentially help turn our masses of plant-based waste (from corn husks to old newspapers) into something useful.
Calling it carbon-neutral, however, is a bit of a stretch: burning the fuels will still move CO2 from solid states into the atmosphere. Even still, it's a clear example of human cleverness - which comes, of course, from our brains.
Endogenous cannabinoids have long been known to exist for some time, and researchers have now identified another one, raising hopes for effective medications without the bothersome side-effects of deep thoughts and incarceration.
It turns out our brains are better at doing fractions than we'd thought. Except, well, they don't actually "do fractions" - they interpret them directly as magnitudes, as opposed to as one number relative to another, an important distinction for understanding how we understand fractions. And how they ought to be taught in school...
Some California researchers have teamed up with a bacteria and a yeast to perhaps address some of this problem - the bacteria, Actinotalea fermentans, digests cellulose into acetate, which the genetically-engineered yeast then converts into methyl halides. Methyl halides can, in turn, be converted into fuel for humans' machines. This could potentially help turn our masses of plant-based waste (from corn husks to old newspapers) into something useful.
Calling it carbon-neutral, however, is a bit of a stretch: burning the fuels will still move CO2 from solid states into the atmosphere. Even still, it's a clear example of human cleverness - which comes, of course, from our brains.
Endogenous cannabinoids have long been known to exist for some time, and researchers have now identified another one, raising hopes for effective medications without the bothersome side-effects of deep thoughts and incarceration.
It turns out our brains are better at doing fractions than we'd thought. Except, well, they don't actually "do fractions" - they interpret them directly as magnitudes, as opposed to as one number relative to another, an important distinction for understanding how we understand fractions. And how they ought to be taught in school...
Labels: biofuels, brain, cannabinoids, cognition, fractions, green, marijuana, neuroscience, numercay, science, technology
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Little Green Men Get Stoned, Stupid, and Sick
OK, this is America, so they're probably a little more like, uhm, larger green men. And women. And children.
Hopkins researchers have found that a topical application of broccoli extract 'activates' protective enzyme systems which reduce the harmful effects of UV rays, while still allowing stimulation of vitamin D production (which is deficient in people using sunscreen all the time). The problem? Thus far, there is no way to make the stuff so it doesn't turn you green. I suppose some people would be in to that.
Speaking of good greens, in what may be a first, UCSD researchers have published an actual clinical trial which indicates that moderate doses of THC, via smoked marijuana, reduce induced neuropathic pain. The more trials like this that get done, the closer we can (hopefully) get to a sensible pot policy. I just wish the trial had been done in actual neuropathy patients, as opposed to induced healthy ones...it's not like it's a rare condition!
The ban on marijuana leads to depriving many people of needed treatments and improved lifestyle, but possibly even more serious is the poor quality of care received by elderly Americans. A UCLA study of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries found that they are only getting about 65% of the care they ought to be getting. This includes really basic stuff, like diabetic sugar control and eye exams - things that cost nothing to provide, relative to their enormous costs after failure. YET ANOTHER reason we need a serious national health coverage adjustment. Hillary's isn't the best ever, but it's the best anybody's got now.
Finally, some good/bad news. There's a line of evidence that more education delays Alzheimer's onset, and a study in the current issue of Neurology confirms this, but also finds that it's associated with a more rapid decline once incidence occurs. This could seem like a wash, but I'd much rather be healthy for longer and die quicker, than linger on longer, unable to think or remember or do anything, really.
----------------
Now playing: Fancy Fruit - Kvarnen Vs Carmen
via FoxyTunes
Hopkins researchers have found that a topical application of broccoli extract 'activates' protective enzyme systems which reduce the harmful effects of UV rays, while still allowing stimulation of vitamin D production (which is deficient in people using sunscreen all the time). The problem? Thus far, there is no way to make the stuff so it doesn't turn you green. I suppose some people would be in to that.
Speaking of good greens, in what may be a first, UCSD researchers have published an actual clinical trial which indicates that moderate doses of THC, via smoked marijuana, reduce induced neuropathic pain. The more trials like this that get done, the closer we can (hopefully) get to a sensible pot policy. I just wish the trial had been done in actual neuropathy patients, as opposed to induced healthy ones...it's not like it's a rare condition!
The ban on marijuana leads to depriving many people of needed treatments and improved lifestyle, but possibly even more serious is the poor quality of care received by elderly Americans. A UCLA study of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries found that they are only getting about 65% of the care they ought to be getting. This includes really basic stuff, like diabetic sugar control and eye exams - things that cost nothing to provide, relative to their enormous costs after failure. YET ANOTHER reason we need a serious national health coverage adjustment. Hillary's isn't the best ever, but it's the best anybody's got now.
Finally, some good/bad news. There's a line of evidence that more education delays Alzheimer's onset, and a study in the current issue of Neurology confirms this, but also finds that it's associated with a more rapid decline once incidence occurs. This could seem like a wash, but I'd much rather be healthy for longer and die quicker, than linger on longer, unable to think or remember or do anything, really.
----------------
Now playing: Fancy Fruit - Kvarnen Vs Carmen
via FoxyTunes
Labels: aging, Alzheimers, broccoli, green, health care, Hillary, marijuana, medicare, neuropathy, neuroscience, quality, skin cancer, sunscreen, vitamin D
Friday, July 27, 2007
No, and No.
Puritans and busybodies everywhere are crowing about a meta-study suggesting that pot smokers are more likely to develop psychotic disorders later in life. The claim, boasted by newspapers, PR mouthpieces, and even study authors, is that pot causes these disorders. While that conclusion is possible, the data don't actually do anything o support it. You see, people predisposed to psychosis could be drawn to pot for the same (or different) reasons that they are predisposed to psychosis.
Take cigarettes: no one has ever alleged that they cause psychosis, but schizophrenics tend to be HEAVY smokers. Before and certainly after developing the disease. Analysis similar to the current pot study would similarly link tobacco to psychosis, an association known to be inverted (smoking is a form of self-medication for many schizophrenics).
/rant.
Take cigarettes: no one has ever alleged that they cause psychosis, but schizophrenics tend to be HEAVY smokers. Before and certainly after developing the disease. Analysis similar to the current pot study would similarly link tobacco to psychosis, an association known to be inverted (smoking is a form of self-medication for many schizophrenics).
/rant.
Labels: causality, drugs, marijuana, pot, research methods, science, stupidity
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Artificial Bodies
Japanese researchers claim that they've found a way to make breast implants from a woman's own tissue and stem cells. A surgeon at Tokyo University's medical school claims to have given 40 women as much as a 2-cup-size increase by injecting a slurry of stem-cell enriched fat cells into their breasts. Other researchers are, understandably, dubious. I really wonder about the safety of this kind of procedure in terms of breast cancer, if nothing else.
The FDA has approved its first recombinant DNA sutures for use in the US. The sutures absorb into the patients body, eliminating the need to have them removed (which can interfere with healing), and hopefully you're not allergic to them. Which the FDA's ruling suggests you may be.
But you know what's good for you? Naps. A large study of Greek men and women found that those who took frequent midday naps were less likely to die of heart disease than non-nappers. The study was big, and with a decent follow-up (n=23000 over six years), and looks convincing. Now, if only I could convince my employers to go for it!
And more from Captain We-Already-Knew-That-Really, a well-executed clinical trial has confirmed the utility of marijuana as treatment for AIDS-related nerve pain. Needless to say, the White House/DEA (both famous for scientific integrity) claim that the study was too small (n=50, which is almost certainly plenty), and invalid, etc., because it does not fit with their political ideas. Can we, as a society, move on please?
The FDA has approved its first recombinant DNA sutures for use in the US. The sutures absorb into the patients body, eliminating the need to have them removed (which can interfere with healing), and hopefully you're not allergic to them. Which the FDA's ruling suggests you may be.
But you know what's good for you? Naps. A large study of Greek men and women found that those who took frequent midday naps were less likely to die of heart disease than non-nappers. The study was big, and with a decent follow-up (n=23000 over six years), and looks convincing. Now, if only I could convince my employers to go for it!
And more from Captain We-Already-Knew-That-Really, a well-executed clinical trial has confirmed the utility of marijuana as treatment for AIDS-related nerve pain. Needless to say, the White House/DEA (both famous for scientific integrity) claim that the study was too small (n=50, which is almost certainly plenty), and invalid, etc., because it does not fit with their political ideas. Can we, as a society, move on please?
Labels: AIDS, breast implants, breasts, drugs, heart disease, Japan, marijuana, nap, recombinant DNA, sleep, stem cells
Monday, November 20, 2006
Change and Brain Damage
Evolutionary change is something we don't usually get to see in action, except in fruit flies and bacteria. Research in the Bahamas (whose ethics I wouldn't touch with someone else's 10-foot-pole) seems to have stimulated an amazingly rapid series of developments in lizards. After introduction (by researchers) of predator lizards to six islands, the native populations of smaller lizards quickly began to adapt to have longer legs - better for running away. The small lizards behavior changed soon though, as they discovered that hiding in trees was better protection from the predators. Thus, six months after long legs were in fashion, small legs - good for climbing - became the dominant trait. This is so cool I can't stand it!
While the most recent global conference on climate change ended more or less in shambles, at least one really scary idea got serious airtime. Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen spoke about his proposal, first published last summer, of using smog to combat global warming. The idea is that, as when a volcanic eruption sends tonnes of sulfuric soot into the atmosphere and cools the planet for a while, humans could fly blimps full of sulfates up for release, and they would similarly act as a solar shield.
There are so many reasons why I don't like this idea. First of all, it is at best just a way of delaying actually dealing with global warming. Secondly, what happens when all that soot falls to the Earth? Do we really want to be covered in ash all the time? Thirdly, what will blocking all that UV do to plant life? I'd imagine it'd offset the carbon balance even more, by lowering photosynthesis rates. Not to mention depriving people of vitamin D.
But people often forget these details. Is it because they smoke pot? Rutgers researchers have found that THC screws up the synchronized firing necessary in hippocampal neurons for memory formation. The study did not address long-term changes, but they are, of course, a possibility if these results are real (I am perpetually dubious of any US-based marijuana research, as it is so often tainted by the political agendas of funders and regulators).
Speaking of "stupid days," apparently some short guy called "Tom Cruise" married some scrawny chick called "Katie Holmes" this weekend. Apparently this was bigger and more important news than kidnappings in Iraq or school shootings in Germany or Ruth Brown's death. (That last one should be more important because (a) she was a true revolutionary, and also (b) her death is permanent, whereas I'd not give this marriage more than 11 months) What also bothers me is the Scientologist wedding vows that were apparently to be used. He promised her "a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat," and she essentially promised to not mind his indiscretions. Hardly seems like something any modern woman in her right mind would accept.
While the most recent global conference on climate change ended more or less in shambles, at least one really scary idea got serious airtime. Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen spoke about his proposal, first published last summer, of using smog to combat global warming. The idea is that, as when a volcanic eruption sends tonnes of sulfuric soot into the atmosphere and cools the planet for a while, humans could fly blimps full of sulfates up for release, and they would similarly act as a solar shield.
There are so many reasons why I don't like this idea. First of all, it is at best just a way of delaying actually dealing with global warming. Secondly, what happens when all that soot falls to the Earth? Do we really want to be covered in ash all the time? Thirdly, what will blocking all that UV do to plant life? I'd imagine it'd offset the carbon balance even more, by lowering photosynthesis rates. Not to mention depriving people of vitamin D.
But people often forget these details. Is it because they smoke pot? Rutgers researchers have found that THC screws up the synchronized firing necessary in hippocampal neurons for memory formation. The study did not address long-term changes, but they are, of course, a possibility if these results are real (I am perpetually dubious of any US-based marijuana research, as it is so often tainted by the political agendas of funders and regulators).
Speaking of "stupid days," apparently some short guy called "Tom Cruise" married some scrawny chick called "Katie Holmes" this weekend. Apparently this was bigger and more important news than kidnappings in Iraq or school shootings in Germany or Ruth Brown's death. (That last one should be more important because (a) she was a true revolutionary, and also (b) her death is permanent, whereas I'd not give this marriage more than 11 months) What also bothers me is the Scientologist wedding vows that were apparently to be used. He promised her "a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat," and she essentially promised to not mind his indiscretions. Hardly seems like something any modern woman in her right mind would accept.
Labels: climate change, crazy, evolution, global warming, hippocampus, marijuana, media, memory, news, Scientology, stupid, THC, TomKat
