BBC News: Rare Roman lantern found in field near Sudbury.
”The lantern dates from between 43 and 300 AD. It is like a modern hurricane lamp and the naked flame would have been protected by a thin sheet of horn which had been scraped and shaped until it was see-through.” Startlingly modern in design!
Fast Company: E.T. For Real: Cells From Red Rain Can Reproduce, May Be From “Out There”.
”With recent evidence that simple microbes found in beer can live in the radiation-soaked vacuum of space for nearly two years, it now seems plausible that the red cells represent a form of life known as an extremophile. Earth-based extremophile entities, like the beer microbes, can live in seemingly impossible environments for extended periods.” Or, the Vogons are coming. Be prepared for bad poetry.
Gizmodo: After Watching This Video, You Will Like to Be an Astronaut Too.
First thought after watching the first video ... look at that thin, fragile atmosphere. What a miracle it is.
University of Minnesota: Capsaicin can act as cocarcinogen.
If you use a capsaicin muscle-soothing cream, stay the hell out of the sun.
MedPageToday: ‘Brain Exercise’ May Worsen Existing Alzheimer’s.
In other words, you need to be doing crossword puzzles and sudoku *before* impairment. ”In other words, ‘brain exercise’ may shorten the period of time in which patients must live with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, as they remain mentally healthy deeper into old age and then decline quickly.”
The Economist: Ye cannae change the laws of physics.
“In a paper just submitted to Physical Review Letters, a team led by John Webb and Julian King from the University of New South Wales in Australia present evidence that the fine-structure constant may not actually be constant after all. Rather, it seems to vary from place to place within the universe. If their results hold up to the scrutiny, and can be replicated, they will have profound implications — for they suggest that the universe stretches far beyond what telescopes can observe, and that the laws of physics vary within it.” Best news I’ve heard in a coon’s age. Infinite mysteries mean infinite possibilities.
Washington Post: You might want to rethink those high heels.
”You can’t run at the same level as a person who doesn’t wear high heels ... [snip] If the tendon becomes stiffer and the muscle fibers become shorter, the ability to store and release elastic energy is problematic.” So if you run or do sports, high heels will hold you back.
What Makes Them Click: Your Most Vivid Memories Are Wrong.
I think the takeaway is that distinct details are likely inaccurate, while the event itself is accurate.
Discover Magazine: Dawkins meets giraffe: the full show.
Dissection of a giraffe. Watch it just to see the explanation (and demonstration) of the ligament in its neck.
New Scientist: Bjørn Lomborg: climate change is a problem after all.
We’ll have to see if “better late than never” applies.
Eurekalert: SAMe for treatment of adults with major depressive disorders?
”A new study conducted by investigators at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) suggests that S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAMe), an over-the-counter dietary supplement, can be an effective, relatively well-tolerated, adjunctive treatment for adults with major depressive disorders who do not respond to their treatment with antidepressant medication.” Don’t play with SAM-e, however. Read the side effects, and consult a physician.
Eurekalert: Breakthrough news involving migraine.
They’ve found a genetic link, which is exciting enough ... however, I found this particularly interesting: ” It also supports previous research findings on the potential role of glutamate in migraine , as well novel glutamate modulating drugs that are currently being tested in migraine.” Hasn’t MSG been a trigger for migraine sufferers? Which means, drop these ingredients from your daily foodstuffs. Today.
BBC News: Dry weather reveals archaeological ‘cropmarks’ in fields.
60 new sites in a day. Impressive.
Discover Magazine: Frog Skin Secretions Could Yield Antibiotic Bonanza.
“These potent compounds, collectively known as antimicrobial peptides (which are strings of amino acids), are not only found in frog skin secretions, but in a range of other animals as well (us included) where they do triple duty warding off wave after wave of bacterial, viral, and fungal broadsides. think of them as the body’s own antibiotics.” So, frog secretions may prevent us from ... croaking.
Discover Magazine: When the ancients were wise.
“The Renaissance had been an efflorescence of learning, but it had been retarded in its progress in some ways because of the reverence for ancient precedents. This is most evident in medicine and physics, where Galen and Aristotle led scientists astray. There are some domains where the ancients still hold sway today. Religion is one.”
New Scientist: Remains of the oldest feast found.
“In a cave 12,000 years ago, a group of people settled down to a dinner that has rarely been matched: 71 tortoises that had been roasted in their shells.” They can thank their lucky stars they lived before mock turtle soup.
NY Times: Phys Ed: Playing Music During Exercise.
“On the other hand, when the tempo of the songs was upped 10 percent, the men covered more miles in the same period of time, produced more power with each pedal stroke and increased their pedal cadences. Their heart rates rose. They reported enjoying the music — the same music — about 36 percent more than when it was slowed.” Time to drop the slow stuff out of my personal workout mix!
Eurekalert: Circadian rhythms: Their role and dysfunction in affective disorder.
Science Daily: On organic coffee farm, complex interactions keep pests under control.
“A 10-year study of an organic coffee farm in Mexico suggests that, far from being romanticized hooey, the ‘balance and harmony’ view is on the mark. Ecologists John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto of the University of Michigan and Stacy Philpott of the University of Toledo have uncovered a web of intricate interactions that buffers the farm against extreme outbreaks of pests and diseases, making magic bullets unnecessary.”
Science Daily: Smoking can increase depressive symptoms in teens, study finds.
”The association between depression and smoking exists principally among teens that use cigarettes to feel better.” So, the ones who pick up the habit are *exactly* the ones who shouldn’t?
The Economist: Scientific misconduct: Monkey business?
“At the least, then, Dr Hauser stands accused of setting the study of animal cognition back many years. Trying to discern an animal’s thought processes on the basis of its behaviour is notoriously tricky and subjective at the best of times. Now, his critics fear, no one will take it seriously.” Bad science hurts us all.
Treehugger: Nearly 80% of Oil From Gulf Spill Remains in Water, Threatens Ecosystem.
”The news media’s tendency to interpret ‘dispersed’ and ‘dissolved’ and ‘gone’ is wrong. Dispersed and dissolved forms can be highly toxic. Furthermore, sorting the oil into the four above states falls short of assessing how much of it remains a potential threat to the system.” Independent analysis shows great concern over the Gulf’s oil situation is not misplaced.
Discovery News: How Does Salmonella Get Into Eggs?
Discover Magazine: Was Ötzi the Iceman Buried With Pomp and Circumstance?
“They used a modeling technique called spatial point pattern analysis to make a map of how Ötzi’s goods–including axe, dagger, quiver, backpack, and unfinished bow–got to their final resting places. Specifically, the analysis determines how Ötzi’s surroundings froze and thawed over time. The researchers say the scattering is consistent with a ceremonial burial and that Ötzi’s tribe may have placed his possessions around him on a nearby stone platform.”
Eurekalert: Supplement produces a ‘striking’ endurance boost.
”This is important for endurance athletes as we would expect the supplement to bring a 1-2% improvement in race times. While this may seem small, this is a very meaningful improvement — particularly at elite levels where small gains can be the difference between winning and losing.” Forget the steroids; drink beet, you won’t get ... beat.
