Friday, April 03, 2009
Oral Sex Could be Deadly (So Could Robots)
So I guess it's been a while...having a job I don't spend all day bored at really does cut in to blogging time (not to mention reading-cool-science time). But, today I ran across some science that's just so cool I have to write it down, lest I forget forever. That's why I started this blog anyways, innit?
Starting with the bad news. It seems that HPV, that sexually transmitted infection most famous for causing cervical cancer (which, for those who took biology in Texas, only women can get), is also associated with tonsil cancer (which men can get). HPV is also preventable with a vaccine which causes nymphomania, but which is not approved for use in men (possibly due to redundancy on that last point). Well, I've been meaning to have my tonsils out anyhow, so this seems like a good excuse.
On the upside, you may not need that heart transplant. Swedish researchers used Carbon-14 concentrations to show that humans' hearts do indeed regenerate themselves, albeit slowly. The next step will be figuring out how to speed up the process. I guess this suggests that there may be hope for other organs as well?
Speaking of replacement parts, it seems that scientists may be close to replacing their research assistants with actual giant nerd-bots. In this week's Science, two articles (cite-one and two) describe the development of Adam, a lab-worker generating and testing his own hypotheses about the yeast genome, and another (cruelly nameless, it seems) which was able to deduce the law of conservation of momentum and Newton's second law of motion from sets of raw data. Both of these developments herald perhaps startling changes in the way science gets done, and also suggests that now might be a good time to buy stock in robot-overlord repellent.
Starting with the bad news. It seems that HPV, that sexually transmitted infection most famous for causing cervical cancer (which, for those who took biology in Texas, only women can get), is also associated with tonsil cancer (which men can get). HPV is also preventable with a vaccine which causes nymphomania, but which is not approved for use in men (possibly due to redundancy on that last point). Well, I've been meaning to have my tonsils out anyhow, so this seems like a good excuse.
On the upside, you may not need that heart transplant. Swedish researchers used Carbon-14 concentrations to show that humans' hearts do indeed regenerate themselves, albeit slowly. The next step will be figuring out how to speed up the process. I guess this suggests that there may be hope for other organs as well?
Speaking of replacement parts, it seems that scientists may be close to replacing their research assistants with actual giant nerd-bots. In this week's Science, two articles (cite-one and two) describe the development of Adam, a lab-worker generating and testing his own hypotheses about the yeast genome, and another (cruelly nameless, it seems) which was able to deduce the law of conservation of momentum and Newton's second law of motion from sets of raw data. Both of these developments herald perhaps startling changes in the way science gets done, and also suggests that now might be a good time to buy stock in robot-overlord repellent.
Labels: AI, health, hearts, HPV, oral sex, regeneration, robots, science, vaccine
Thursday, November 15, 2007
An Oral Sex Gene?
Sounds fishy*. Swiss researchers found that certain male chiclids have fin markings that 'trick' females in to sucking up their sperm. While this is hilarious and awesome, I would really not call it an "oral sex gene." Not that I'm saying there shouldn't be one...it'd explain a lot.
* No, I have no shame, and could not resist.
* No, I have no shame, and could not resist.
Labels: biology, fish, funny, oral sex, science, sex, sperm
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Down the Hatch
So there's bad news out there today: oral sex is linked to throat cancer. HPV, the same virus famous for causing cervical cancer in women, has been linked to a dramatic increase in throat cancer risk in both men and women. The upside is that there's a vaccine, but the downside is, it's not approved for use in men. Hopefully this research will motivate a quicker turnaround to see if it does, and then either get men to take it or find something that works.
Speaking of things that go down your throat (and, ultimately, about sex), Canadian researchers have found that omega-3 fats from fish oil seem to improve muscle mass (site in French). Cattle fed a diet supplemented with marine omega-3's showed improved insulin sensitivity and better protein metabolism - twice the amount of amino acids was used by their bodies to synthesize proteins, especially in muscles. The applications for farming is clear, and applications to human problems (and vanity, lest we forget) are on the horizon, pending further study. Cool!
Speaking of things that go down your throat (and, ultimately, about sex), Canadian researchers have found that omega-3 fats from fish oil seem to improve muscle mass (site in French). Cattle fed a diet supplemented with marine omega-3's showed improved insulin sensitivity and better protein metabolism - twice the amount of amino acids was used by their bodies to synthesize proteins, especially in muscles. The applications for farming is clear, and applications to human problems (and vanity, lest we forget) are on the horizon, pending further study. Cool!
Labels: cancer, cattle, diet, fat, health, HPV, insulin, metabolism, muscle, omega-3, oral sex, proetein, sex, vaccine
