Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Speedlinking 2/14/07

Quote of the day:

Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
~ Franklin P. Jones

Image of the day:

BODY
~ AP report says that Armstrong will run NYC Marathon AGAIN on November 4, 2007 -- Run, Lance, run. He can still become a great marathoner.
~ Mild Dehydration Causes No Harm -- "The Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Barrington, Illinois published a study showing that 46 percent of recreational exercisers are dehydrated (Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, June 2006). However, with good reason, the study does not say that they are harmed." Gatorade is one of the biggest marketing scams in fitness.
~ Could A Component Of Niacin Point The Way To Anti-Aging Drugs? -- "In recent years, scientists have discovered that a family of enzymes called sirtuins can dramatically extend life in organisms as diverse as yeast, worms, and flies. They may also be able to control age-associated metabolic disorders, including obesity and type II diabetes."
~ Exercise Pivotal In Preventing And Fighting Type II Diabetes -- "One in three American children born in 2000 will develop type II diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia says that acute exercise -- as little as 15 minutes a day -- can have a profound influence on preventing and fighting the disease."
~ 6 Nutrients That Boost Weight Loss -- "We've rounded up a list of the nutrients most often lacking in women's diets, along with easy tips to boost your intake of delicious foods that contain these nutrients. Eating well not only makes you feel vibrant and energetic — it can also give you the mental push you need to lose weight."
~ Researchers Discover Master Metabolism Regulator With Profound Effect On Fat Metabolism -- "Two biologists at Penn State have discovered a master regulator that controls metabolic responses to a deficiency of essential amino acids in the diet. They also discovered that this regulatory substance, an enzyme named GCN2 eIF2alpha kinase, has an unexpectedly profound impact on fat metabolism."
~ New Protein Inhibitor Impedes Growth Of Cancerous Cells -- "Researchers have developed a small-molecule inhibitor of a protein that plays key roles in the control of cell division, and they show that the inhibitor can halt the growth of tumors in mice and cancer-derived cells growing in culture."


PSYCHE
~ Boost Your Body Image in the Bedroom -- "Is low self-esteem preventing you from getting the loving you deserve?"
~ Scientists unravel secrets of amore -- "Valentine’s Day isn’t just a hectic time for florists and chocolatiers — it’s busy for scientists and scholars, too."
~ A Simple Test Distinguishes Between Bipolar Disorder And Depression -- "Type II bipolar disorder is an underdiagnosed disease which can be easily confused with depression. Contrarily to what happens in type I bipolar disorder, depressive symptoms and, above all, manic symptoms alternated in this form of the disease are not evident and difficult to identify."
~ Belief in exercise boosts the benefits -- "People who think they're getting a good workout obtain more benefits than those who perform the exact same activities, but don't think what they are doing is exercise, according to the findings of a study by Harvard researchers."
~ With sex, do women settle for less? -- "Women have high expectations for nearly every area of their lives, but when it comes to sex, they settle for less."
~ Bad relationships weaken immune system -- "Feeling insecure in close relationships with others may take a toll on the immune system, preliminary research suggests."
~ Grant To Study Creativity In The Response To Two Terrorist Attacks -- "David Mendonca, PhD, an associate professor in the department of information systems at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has received a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study creativity by first responders following the 2001 World Trade Center attack and the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City."
~ Not-So-Secret Intentions In The Brain -- "Every day we plan numerous actions, such as to return a book to a friend or to make an appointment. How and where the brain stores these intentions has been revealed by John-Dylan Haynes from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, in cooperation with researchers from London and Tokyo."
~ Teens: Suburban Blues -- "Money does not equal happiness, especially for the young."
~ Alcoholism: A Toxic Brew -- "Adult children of alcoholics face down denial."
~ Decision-Making -- A Link Between Cognition And Execution -- "For the first time, a team of researchers in the Movement, Adaptation, Cognition Laboratory has revealed the existence of an interaction at the cellular level between cognitive information and motor information. This discovery provides the missing link between studies on decision-making processes and those relative to the execution of motor acts."


CULTURE
~ Bill Moyers: Discovering What Democracy Means. "We know who the enemies of democracy are. In his Jefferson Lecture the late Cleanth Brooks of Yale identified them as the “bastard muses” propaganda, which pleads, sometimes unscrupulously, for a special cause or issue at the expense of the total truth; sentimentality, which works up emotional responses unwarranted by, and in excess of, the occasion; and pornography, which focuses upon one powerful human drive at the expense of the total human personality." Agree or not, Moyers is a thought-provoking writer.
~ Politicians Increasingly Addressing Health Care Reform, Universal Coverage, Including 2008 Presidential Contenders -- "The Dallas Morning News on Thursday examined how '[a]fter a decade of relative silence, politicians are again broaching the issue of universal health care.'"
~ Chimpanzees Conform to Cultural Norms -- "A recent study has shown that chimpanzees conform to each other just like humans - even when they don't need to."
~ GOP Senators to Lay Out Agenda -- "Emboldened with ideas aired at two private retreats, Senate Republicans are planning as soon as Thursday to release their 2007– - 2008 legislative agenda, which they hope will help the 21 GOP senators up for re-election next year keep their seats."
~ A war on the press? I don't think so -- "It's easy to deny that there is a war going on if nobody is shooting at you. So it should be noted that I compose this column about the alleged war on the press from the comfort of the Pressboxdome, far from the threat of prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917, or even a grand jury subpoena." Not sure I agree.
~ Where does the ubiquitous Valentine's heart shape come from? -- "Americans will dole out countless Valentine's Day paraphernalia today, a good portion of which will be in the shape of hearts. In an "Explainer" column printed last year and reproduced below, Keelin McDonell attempted to track down the origin of the Valentine's Day symbol and explain how it got its familiar shape."
~ Mitt Romney Announces -- "The former Massachusetts Governor has a lot going for him in a Republican primary race - not much of which was on display in the formal announcement of his candidacy."
~ Bush Puzzled by Doubters -- "President Bush yesterday sounded perplexed that anyone would think he is preparing to attack Iran -- going so far as to make a sour face and lower his voice in a mocking imitation of his critics."


HABITATS
~ Air in the home could affect infant health -- "Compounds found in air in the home could pose more of a health risk to breast-fed babies than chemicals they are exposed to through their mother's milk, researchers in the United States said on Tuesday."
~ Lung cancer in nonsmokers more common in women -- "The findings of a new study confirm that lung cancer among nonsmokers is more common in women than in men."
~ Albuquerque tops fittest city list -- "The magazine's non-scientific survey of 50 cities listed Seattle as No. 2 in the most-fit rankings, followed by Colorado Springs; Minneapolis; Tucson; Denver; San Francisco; Baltimore; Portland, Ore.; and Honolulu. It's Top 10 fattest cities are Las Vegas, Nev., up from No. 2 last year; San Antonio, Texas; Miami; Mesa, Ariz.; Los Angeles; Houston; Dallas; El Paso; Detroit; and San Jose, Calif." Wow, Tucson is in the top 10.
~ A Call for Climate Adaptation -- "The reasons to care about climate change are obvious, right? A planetary fever is about to deal a wallop of catastrophic floods, insect borne disease, deadly heat waves, and an all around worsening of the risks people face everyday across the world."
~ Ninety-six percent of Finns have broadband internet -- "Ninety-six percent of Finns have access to broadband Internet and 50 percent to third-generation (3G) mobile telephony, a study published by the communications ministry showed."
~ "No Two Snowflakes the Same" Likely True, Research Reveals -- "Temperature, time, humidity, and gravity all can radically alter the shape of a snowflake, making it virtually impossible for any two to ever be the same, an author says."
~ Don't trade carbon, tax it -- "Revenues will go to reduce regressive taxes or to finance progressive, equal rebates to all U.S. residents."
~ Controlling Photons for Use in Quantum Computing -- "Quantum information science makes use of the quantum nature of particles to perform computation,” Gerhard Rempe explains to PhysOrg.com. “One approach is to use single particles of light - photons - as the basis of the computer, storing information in a property of the light such as its polarization. To do this, you need a source able to produce photons under full control.”"


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ From On Art & Awakening: On The Secret / Last word by Julian.
~ From The Zero Boss: The Blogosphere Needs to Wash Its Mouth out!
~ From Frozen Truth: Transhumanism.
~ From Dating God: Snow, Politics, and Cartwheels -- and an early happy birthday from IOC.
~ How to Save the World offers From Simplistic Thinking to Embracing Complexity.
~ Current thoughts from Alan Kazlev, and a belated happy birthday from IOC.
~ From KW's blog, yesterday, the transcript of The Many Meanings of the Matrix.
~ Over at Zaadz's I-I pod: Post-Porn Priestess of Pleasure, on Annie Sprinkle.


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