9/30/2010 PERMALINK
New remarkably efficient method for generating human stem cells discovered. SOURCE : The ability to efficiently generate patient-specific stem cells from differentiated cells and then reliably direct them to form specialized cells (like neurons or muscle) has tremendous therapeutic potential for replacing diseased or damaged tissues. However, despite some successes, there have been significant limitations associated with existing methods used to generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). But now researchers have found a new method that does not require risky genetic modification and holds great promise for making the reprogramming process more therapeutically relevant. They developed synthetic modified messenger RNA molecules (which they termed modified RNAs" that encoded the appropriate proteins but did not integrate into the cell's DNA. Importantly, the modified RNA method was also used to successfully to control the fate of the iPSCs. These findings demonstrate that the novel RNA-induced iPSC technology offers significant advantages over existing methodologies. 'We believe that our approach has the potential to become a major and perhaps even central enabling technology for cell-based therapies,' explains senior study author, Dr. Derrick J. Rossi from Harvard Medical School.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Study finds longevity is extended by getting just enough sleep, but not too much. SOURCE : A new study, derived from novel sleep research conducted by University of California, San Diego researchers, suggests that the secret to a long life may come with just enough sleep. Less than five hours a night is probably not enough; eight hours is probably too much.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Study finds first direct evidence that ADHD is a genetic disorder. SOURCE : Research funded by the Wellcome Trust provides the first direct evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a genetic condition. Scientists at Cardiff University found that children with ADHD were more likely to have small segments of their DNA duplicated or missing than other children.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Newly discovered planet may be first truly habitable exoplanet, and it's only 20 light years away. SOURCE : A team of planet hunters has announced the discovery of an Earth-sized planet (three times the mass of Earth) orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it squarely in the middle of the star's 'habitable zone,' where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. If confirmed, this would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered and the first strong case for a potentially habitable one. Good news, because the Cosmos is a very dangerous neighborhood and our species needs to get all our eggs out of one basket if we want to continue our existence in it.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Growing nanowires horizontally yields new benefit: 'nano-LEDs'. SOURCE : While refining their novel method for making nanoscale wires, chemists at NIST discovered an unexpected bonus -- a new way to create nanowires that produce light similar to that from light-emitting diodes.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists genetically engineer transgenic silkworms to produce artificial spider silk. SOURCE : A research and development effort by the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wyoming, and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. has succeeded in producing transgenic silkworms capable of spinning artificial spider silks.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
3 tiny qubits, another big step toward quantum computing SOURCE : A team led by Yale researchers has achieved the quantum entanglement of three solid-state qubits, or quantum bits, for the first time. Their accomplishment represents the first step towards quantum error correction, a crucial aspect of future quantum computing.

9/30/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists uncover the genes that determine your height. SOURCE : An international collaboration of more than 200 institutions, led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, the Broad Institute, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine and public health have discovered genes that regulate human height.

9/29/2010 PERMALINK
Technique to reattach teeth using stem cells developed. SOURCE : A new approach to anchor teeth back in the jaw using stem cells has been developed and successfully tested in the laboratory for the first time by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

9/29/2010 PERMALINK
Blueberries help fight artery hardening, lab animal study indicates. SOURCE : Blueberries may help fight atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries, according to results of a preliminary US Department of Agriculture-funded study with laboratory mice. The research provides the first direct evidence that blueberries can help prevent harmful plaques or lesions, symptomatic of atherosclerosis, from increasing in size in arteries.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers find gene that causes aggressive skin cancer. SOURCE : The loss of a gene known as INPP5A could predict the onset, and track the progression, of an aggressive type of skin cancer, according to a study published today by the Arizona Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
The researchers putting together a 3-D image library of proteins releases their 1,000th protein structure. SOURCE : The Structural Genomics Consortium, an international public-private partnership that aims to determine 3-D structures of medically important proteins, announced today the release into the public domain of its 1,000th high-resolution protein structure.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
Sneaking spies into a cell's nucleus SOURCE : Duke University bioengineers have not only figured out a way to sneak molecular spies through the walls of individual cells, they can now slip them into the command center -- or nucleus -- of those cells, where they can report back important information or drop off payloads.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers engineer 'firefly' stem cells who's glow can help docs repair damaged hearts. SOURCE : Stem cells that glow like fireflies could someday help doctors heal damaged hearts without cutting into patients' chests. In his University of Central Florida lab, Steven Ebert engineered stem cells with the same enzyme that makes fireflies glow. The 'firefly' stem cells glow brighter and brighter as they develop into healthy heart muscle, allowing doctors to track whether and where the stem cells are working.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
You aren't your genes, you are your connectome. SOURCE : In this must see talk at TED, Sebastian Seung describes his efforts to map a massively ambitious new model of the brain that focuses on the connections between each and every neuron. He calls this connection map our 'connectome,' and it's as individual as our genome -- and understanding it could open a new way to understand our brains and our minds. Your connectome defines precisely who you are.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
Where Are All the Prosecutions From the Financial Crisis? There are none. SOURCE : Back during the Savings & Loan crisis, when our nation was still ruled by laws and not an utterly corrupt elite, hundreds of executives were prosecuted for fraud. So how many are getting prosecuted for the massive mortgage frauds that got so bad that those in the industry even labeled many of their loans with the moniker liar loans? 'We have seen very little in the way of senior officer or boardroom-level prosecutions of the people on Wall Street who brought this country to the brink of financial ruin,' Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware. 'Why is that?' Could it be Ted, that the revolving door between Wall Street and the Treasury, SEC, etc., all the agencies charged with preventing fraud, might have some effect? Or perhaps the with massive campaign contributions Wall Street gives to all your fellow congress critters, especially those on financial oversight committees? Or maybe its all those cushy jobs Wall Street finds for wives and kids of Congressmen, regulators leaving government, and Congressmen retiring from office? Even the dumbest congress critter knows the meme that you don't put the fox in charge of guarding the hen house, but all the money flowing their way makes them willing to do it.

9/28/2010 PERMALINK
Ultra-thin organic polymer solar cells can tap 10 times more energy from sunlight. SOURCE : Ultra-thin solar cells can absorb sunlight more efficiently than the thicker, more expensive-to-make silicon cells used today, because light behaves differently at scales around a nanometer (a billionth of a meter), say Stanford engineers. They calculate that an organic polymer thin film could absorb as much as 10 times more energy from sunlight than was thought possible.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Breakthrough single electron reader opens path for quantum computing. SOURCE : A team led by engineers and physicists at the University of New South Wales have developed one of the key building blocks needed to make a quantum computer using silicon: a 'single electron reader.' Their work was published today in Nature.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Right or left handed? Brain stimulation using magnetic fields can change which hand you favor. SOURCE : Each time we perform a simple task, like pushing an elevator button or reaching for a cup of coffee, the brain races to decide whether the left or right hand will do the job. But the left hand is more likely to win if a certain region of the brain receives magnetic stimulation, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Exoskeleton equipped soldiers to define tomorrow's battlefield say the US military. SOURCE : The U.S. military is now hoping the next decade will see a new class of warrior, a faster, stronger and more durable exoskeleton-empowered infantryman. Such an 'iron man' was unveiled Monday at a demonstration of Raytheon Company's new Exoskeleton (XOS 2) at the company's research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. XOS 2 was designed to be stronger and allow soldier wearing the exoskeleton to execute movements more fluidly than its XOS 1 predecessor, first unveiled in May 2008 (riding the publicity at the time that led up to the release of the first Iron Man movie).

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Gene that causes your nerve cells to die after a stroke discovered. SOURCE : A Dutch-German medical research team led by Harald Schmidt from Maastricht University, Netherlands, and Christoph Kleinschnitz, University of Wurzburg, Germany, has discovered that an enzyme is responsible for the death of nerve cells after a stroke. The enzyme NOX4 produces hydrogen peroxide, a caustic molecule also used in bleaching agents. Inhibition of NOX4 by an experimental new drug in mice with stroke dramatically reduces brain damage and preserves brain functions, even when given hours after the stroke.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers locate impulse control center in brain. SOURCE : A research team led by neuroscience PhD student Scott Hayton has pinpointed the area of the brain that controls impulsive behavior and the mechanisms that affect how impulsive behavior is learned. The findings could have a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment of several disorders and addictions, including ADHD and alcoholism. 'In the classroom, kids often blurt out answers before they raise their hand. With time, they learn to ... put up their hand until the teacher calls them. We wanted to know how this type of learning occurs in the brain,' says Mr. Hayton, a PhD student at the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen's. 'Our research basically told us where the memory for this type of inhibition is in the brain, and how it is encoded.'

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Genetic factor in osteoporosis discovered SOURCE : Scientists from the University of Barcelona (UB) have discovered that the genetic variant 677CT (a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that is very well known in genetic studies) is linked to osteoporotic vertebral fractures, which many women suffer from after the menopause. 'In this genetic variant, the women that displayed a TT combination (or genotype) had double the risk of suffering from osteoporotic fractures than women with the other possible combinations (CT and CC)', Susana Balcells and Daniel Grinberg, lead authors of the study and researchers at the UB, tell SINC.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists discover yet another gene linked to a disease, this time a common form of migraine. SOURCE : An international study led by scientists at Université de Montréal and University of Oxford, has identified a gene associated with common migraines. Their findings show that a mutation in the KCNK18 gene inhibits the function of a protein called TRESK. TRESK normally plays a key role in nerve cell communication.

9/27/2010 PERMALINK
The 'Gimme' is the personal assistant bot for our times. SOURCE : The Gimme bot scans a room and locks onto people near it, enticing them nearer and watching their approach. When they are in front of it. It looks down at and shakes its tin cup. After the 'mark' drops in a coin, it begins scanning the area again for a new mark.

9/25/2010 PERMALINK
Obama takes another step towards cementing America's move into fascism that was initiated by George Bush. SOURCE : The Reps under Bush stuck the knife into the Bill of Rights and now the Dems under Obama are twisting that knife to full blown fascism. Maintaining that the right of American citizens to a trial by law is no longer in force and the President can send assassins after any American and keep the execution of a citizen a 'state secret.' Even normally Dem-friendly site Salon.com can't stomach Obama's fascist tendencies saying, 'What's most notable here is that one of the arguments the Obama DOJ raises to demand dismissal of this lawsuit is 'state secrets': in other words, not only does the President have the right to sentence Americans to death with no due process or charges of any kind, but his decisions as to who will be killed and why he wants them dead are 'state secrets,'and thus no court may adjudicate its legality. Liberal and Conservative are useless memes for evaluation of leaders. What you want to know is how 'statist' are they or how much do they think the elite that controls the state should control your life, as opposed to you having a right to control your own life.

9/24/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers find a molecule that can short circuit the cancer genes' on-off switch. SOURCE : In the quest to arrest the growth and spread of tumors, there have been many attempts to get cancer genes to ignore their internal instruction manual. In a new study, a team led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists has created the first molecule able to prevent cancer genes from 'hearing' those instructions, stifling the cancer process at its root.

9/24/2010 PERMALINK
Mimicking nature, water-based 'artificial leaf' produces electricity SOURCE : More research into the potentially game changing breakthrough of harnessing the amazingly efficient energy production system of plants from a team led by a North Carolina State University researcher has shown that water-gel-based solar devices -- 'artificial leaves' -- can act like solar cells to produce electricity. Their findings, say the NCSU researchers, prove the concept of solar cells that mimic nature. They believe their cells can also be much less expensive and much more environmentally friendly than the standard silicon-based solar cells currently generating a tiny fraction of the world's current.

9/23/2010 PERMALINK
WiFi that goes for miles instead of meters comes a step closer. SOURCE : Wireless gadgets that weave signals between TV stations to create WiFi-like connections that span miles rather than meters just jumped significantly closer to market. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made a crucial decision on the rules that will regulate such devices, which will use the 'white spaces' between TV channels that were freed up by the analogue switch off.

9/23/2010 PERMALINK
Artificial Photosynthesis - the ultimate fuel may come not from corn or algae but directly from the sun itself. SOURCE : Researchers have devised artificial leaves capable of converting sunlight and water into hydrogen fuel just like a leaf does. If these can be made cheaply enough using thin, flexible sheets of silicon nanowires. They theoretically could produce enough hydrogen to power all our vehicles, heat all our buildings and generate all our electricity to completely end our dependence on fossil fuels.

9/22/2010 PERMALINK
MIT neuroscientists reveal how your brain learns to recognize objects. SOURCE : Understanding how the brain recognizes objects is a central challenge for understanding human vision, and for designing artificial vision systems (no computer system comes close to human vision). A new study by MIT neuroscientists suggests that the brain learns to solve the problem of object recognition through its vast experience in the natural world.

9/22/2010 PERMALINK
Breakthrough 100X solar energy concentrator is possible using nanotubes. SOURCE : Carbon nanotubes can concentrate solar energy from a larger area onto photovoltaic cells in a smaller area. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Using carbon nanotubes (hollow tubes of carbon atoms), MIT chemical engineers have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic cell. Such nanotubes could form antennas that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays. 'Instead of having your whole roof be a photovoltaic cell, you could have little spots that were tiny photovoltaic cells, with antennas that would drive photons into them,' says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and leader of the research team.

9/20/2010 PERMALINK
Protein behind development of your immune system's sentinels identified by scientists. SOURCE : A protein called PU.1 is essential for the development of dendritic cells, the sentinels of the immune system, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have shown. Dendritic cells (DC) are immune cells that present proteins from foreign invaders, such as viruses, to the killer T cells of the immune system, allowing a full immune response to be mounted against the invaders.

9/20/2010 PERMALINK
Smart bot camera works like your eye, analyzing what it sees in real time and flagging the unusual. SOURCE : Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin have developed SEARISE Smart Eyes Attending and Recognizing Instances of Salient Events. The automatic camera system is designed to replicate human-like capabilities in identifying and processing moving images. We are all going to regret all this WOMO (Weapons of Mass Oppression) that politically ignorant scientists and engineers around the world keep developing. They won't like the world it creates for all of us to live in.

9/17/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers define the structure of key molecule for accurate DNA duplication during cell replication. SOURCE : Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine have defined the structure of a key molecule that plays a central role in how DNA is duplicated and then moved correctly and equally into two daughter cells to produce two exact copies of the mother cell. Without this molecule, entire chromosomes could be lost during cell division. Ben Black, PhD, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Nikolina Sekulic, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Black lab, report in the September 16 issue of Nature the structure of the CENP-A molecule, which defines a part of the chromosome called the centromere. This is a constricted area to which specialized molecules called spindle fibers attach that help pull daughter cells apart during cell division. "Our work gives us the first high-resolution view of the molecules that control genetic inheritance at cell division," says Black. "This is a big step forward in a puzzle that biologists have been chipping away at for over 150 years."

9/16/2010 PERMALINK
'Nanosprings' move us toward tomorrow's tiny, sophisticated bio/nano autodoc implants. SOURCE : Researchers at Oregon State University have reported the successful loading of biological molecules onto 'nanosprings,' a type of nanostructure that has gained significant interest in recent years for its ability to maximize surface area in microreactors. 'They're a little like a miniature version of an old-fashioned, curled-up phone cord,' Christine Kelly, an associate professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at OSU. 'They make a great support on which to place reactive catalysts, and there are a variety of potential applications.'

9/16/2010 PERMALINK
Fat stem cells can safely be used for breast regeneration when cancer is dormant. SOURCE : Fat-derived stem cells can be safely used to aid regeneration of breast tissue after mastectomy as long as there is no evidence of active cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Tissue Engineering. Plastic surgeons have been considering adding stem cells to fat transferred from another part of the body to the breast to encourage tissue integration, but have been concerned about the potential for tumor regrowth.

9/16/2010 PERMALINK
The size of one brain region determines your ability for introspective thoughts. SOURCE : A specific region of the brain appears to be larger in individuals who are good at turning their thoughts inward and reflecting upon their decisions, according to new research published in the journal Science. The team of researchers, led by Prof. Geraint Rees from University College London, suggests that the volume of gray matter in the anterior prefrontal cortex of the brain, which lies right behind your eyes, is a strong indicator of your introspective ability. Furthermore, they say the structure of white matter connected to this area is also linked to this process of introspection.

9/16/2010 PERMALINK
Experiencing mild memory loss is an early warning, not a part of normal aging. SOURCE : The very early mild cognitive changes once thought to be normal aging are really the first signs of progressive dementia, in particular Alzheimer's disease. The pathology in the brain related to Alzheimer's and other dementias has a much greater impact on memory function in old age than previously recognized.

9/16/2010 PERMALINK
New supercomputer 'sees' well enough to drive a car someday. SOURCE : Now Eugenio Culurciello of Yale's School of Engineering & Applied Science has developed a supercomputer based on the human visual system that operates much more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Dubbed NeuFlow, the system takes its inspiration from the mammalian visual system, mimicking its neural network to quickly interpret the world around it." The system uses complex vision algorithms developed by Yann LeCun at New York University to run large neural networks for synthetic vision applications. One idea, the one Culurciello and LeCun are focusing on, is a system that would allow cars to drive themselves, recognizing the various objects encountered on the road, like cars, people, stoplights, sidewalks, not to mention the road itself. NeuFlow can processes tens of megapixel images in real time.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
A protein clamps tight to telomeres preventing aging to support cancer. SOURCE : Wistar Institute have published the first detailed report on the structure and function of a crucial domain in the protein known as Cdc13, which sustains telomeres by clamping to DNA and recruiting telomere-lengthening enzymes to the area. The study was performed using the yeast gene, however, this essential life process has changed little through evolution, and evidence suggests that the human equivalent of this protein may make a good target for future anticancer drugs.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Hello space elevator -- carbon nanotubes are much stronger than previously thought. SOURCE : For our kind to survive, we desperately need to get all our eggs out of one basket by colonizing space. Now one of the most innovative concept for doing that has become even more practical as carbon nanotubes -- those tiny particles poised to revolutionize electronics, medicine, and other areas -- are found to be much stronger than anyone ever thought. Scientists report new studies on the strength of these submicroscopic cylinders of carbon that indicate on an ounce-for-ounce basis they are at least 117 times stronger than steel and 30 times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests and other products. The findings appeared in the monthly journal ACS Nano.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Strong/y positive results of gene therapy treatment for blood disorder. SOURCE : Bluebird bio today announced publication in the journal Nature of its promising data highlighting positive results of LentiGlobin gene therapy treatment in a young adult with severe beta-thalassemia, a blood disorder that is one of the most frequent inherited diseases. The patient, who had been transfusion dependent since early childhood, has become transfusion independent for the past 21 months -- more than two years after treatment with the LentiGlobin vector.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Discovery highlights promise of new immune system-based therapies. SOURCE : A new focus on the immune system's ability to both unleash and restrain its attack on disease has led Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to identify cells in mice that prevent the immune system from attacking the animals' own cells, protecting them from autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and lupus.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Johns Hopkins scientists find genes related to body mass. SOURCE : Johns Hopkins scientists who specialize in unconventional hunts for genetic information outside nuclear DNA sequences have bagged a weighty quarry -- 13 genes linked to human body mass. The experiments screened the so-called epigenome for key information that cells remember other than the DNA code itself and may have serious implications for preventing and treating obesity, the investigators say.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Is the right meme for this point in history a 'bunker mentality?' SOURCE : It is a sad thing to watch the antics of investors nowadays. Searching for safety in world markets where almost everything is denominated in a bad meme. As Forbes magazine recently pointed out, in the long sad history of the meme that money can be fiat, or backed only by politicos' promises to be frugal, rather than something that enforces frugality, like silver or gold. No fiat money has ever survived for longer than 42 years. Since all the world's nations followed the USA into the fiat folly 39 years ago. We have begun to witness the catastrophic unraveling of the latest application of this terribly destructive meme. One result is that the world's currency markets have begun to resemble a big fruit market. Where no new fruit has come in for days, so everything available is getting pretty rotten. The rotten grapes are smelling especially rank today, so investors flock into the rotten apples instead. Lately, investors have been flocking out of other currencies and into the yen in such numbers, that it is hurting Japanese export companies. So the Japanese politicos have decided to take steps to make their currency smell even more rotten. With the biggest national debt load and the worst aging population demographic on the planet, that the yen could still smell good enough to attract even a single willing investor let alone a crowd, is a dramatic testament to just how rotten all the fiat monies have now become. Be ready for the hard times the latest unraveling of this rotten meme will bring.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
As the state begins tracking all citizens, children are the first victims, you are next. SOURCE : Contra Costa County in California is about to start tagging preschoolers with tracking chips. The kids will be given a jersey to wear with a RFID chip inside. The school says they will save money by keeping teachers from spending time on taking attendance. The government also has software that lets them use data recorded routinely by cell phone companies of the relative strength of your signal at different towers to track all of your movements to with a meter or two. And they have been trying to get the courts to allow them to obtain this data from your cell phone provider routinely, without the need for a court order.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists find the gene responsible for causing high cholesterol in your blood. SOURCE : Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have found a gene that causes high levels of bad cholesterol to accumulate in the blood as a result of a high-cholesterol diet.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
An acid molecule found in humans and many other animals has powerful life extension effect on yeast. SOURCE : The human quest for longer life may be one step closer, thanks to research from Concordia University. Published in the journal Aging, a new study is the first to identify the role of a bile acid, called lithocholic acid, in extending the lifespan of normally aging yeast. The findings may have significant implications for human longevity and health, as yeast share some common elements with people.

9/15/2010 PERMALINK
The genes responsible for hardening of your arteries and heart disease found. SOURCE : A gene network behind hardening of the arteries and coronary heart disease has been identified by a team of scientists from Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Their findings expose potential targets for the treatment of heart disease.

9/14/2010 PERMALINK
Neuralstem stem cells survive and differentiate into neurons in rats with stroke. SOURCE : Spinal cord stem cells survived, differentiated into neurons, and improved some motor functions in rats with stroke. "This animal study shows the potential promise of this cell line in treating post-stroke symptoms," said senior study author, Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, M.D., Ph.D.. "Four weeks after transplantation, the rats treated with Neuralstem's cells showed significantly decreased asymmetric body swing, increased vertical movements and increased grip strength, compared with the control group."

9/14/2010 PERMALINK
Polar ice has melted and refrozen an amazing 35 times over the last 4 million years. SOURCE : I've written before that humans MUST learn how to control our planet's climate. Because most of the time the areas where many of our largest cities and most productive farms are located is underwater or many meters of ice. Indeed, the rise of modern civilization has all taken place in a rare climate sweet spot. Over the last billion years, about 85% of the time the Earth was much warmer and the coastal area where so many of the world's cities are located was underwater. Another 10% or 12% of the time glaciers have covered much of northern North America, Europe and Asia under massive sheets of ice. Only 3 or 4% percent of the time, during brief climate sweet spots, is all the land our cities and farms sit on today available to us.
Scientist put an undue emphasis on the human effect on climate change, because it helps them get funding. But human causation isn't the central issue.
What's important is that repeated future devastations of human civilization are an absolute certainty. Unless we learn how to control our climate, and this would be true even if the effect of human civilization on today's climate turned out to be zero.
For the entire time our forefathers have existed on this planet, climate has cycled back and forth between glaciers and flooding of the areas where most of our major cities sit today. Dramatic global climatic catastrophes ARE going to hit our civilization repeatedly in the future, until we learn how to prevent them. But seeing is believing, and in a recent talk at TED, Rob Dunbar visually present compelling evidence that radical and devastating climate change has happened with incredible frequency throughout the entire time that our species has existed on this planet. Where would we be today if budding human civilizations in the past had not been snuffed out by one of these events? We may never be able to definitively answer this question, but we can learn how to control climate to insure that we don't lose our existing civilization to another such event in the future.

9/14/2010 PERMALINK
WSU researchers discover key mechanism behind sleep. SOURCE : Washington State University researchers have discovered the mechanism by which the brain switches from a wakeful to a sleeping state. The finding clears the way for a suite of discoveries, from sleeping aids to treatments for stroke and other brain injuries.

9/14/2010 PERMALINK
Dementia suffers lack Omega 3 in their brains because their livers lose the ability to make it. SOURCE : Omega 3 fatty acid DHA, found in fish, is not produced as much in livers of Alzheimer's patients and this causes brain depletion of DHA. Irvine, Calif. — UC Irvine researchers have discovered that markedly depleted amounts of an omega-3 fatty acid in brain tissue samples from Alzheimer's patients may be due to the liver's inability to produce the complex fat, also contained in fish-oil supplements. Low levels of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, have been associated with the chronic neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of Americans, but no cause had been identified. In postmortem liver tissue from Alzheimer's patients, the UCI team found a defect in the organ's ability to make DHA from shorter molecules present in leafy plants and other sources.

9/13/2010 PERMALINK
Honda’s Exoskeletons Help You Walk Like Asimo. SOURCE : Honda’s Asimo robot was taught how to walk like a human, and now its technology is returning the favor. The Japanese mega-corp has two walking exoskeletons based on Asimo research that assist humans in walking. The Bodyweight Support Assist exoskeleton is a set of thin legs attached to a seat. Users sit on the seat and slip their feet into shoes on the robotic legs. This system supports bodyweight to assist people in walking and moving up and down steps. The other, Stride Management Assist, is a brace worn around the hips and thighs that provides added strength when flexing that joint.

9/13/2010 PERMALINK
New artificial skin could make prosthetic limbs and robots more sensitive. ITEM: Stanford researchers have developed an ultrasensitive, highly flexible, electronic sensor that can feel a touch as light as an alighting fly. Manufactured in large sheets, the sensors could be used in artificial electronic skin for prosthetic limbs, robots, touch-screen displays, automobile safety and a range of medical applications.

9/13/2010 PERMALINK
Electric Skin that Rivals the Real Thing. ITEM: Flexible sensors could give prosthetics and robots a more sensitive sense of touch. The tactile sensitivity of human skin is hard to re-create, especially over large, flexible surfaces. But two California research groups have made pressure-sensing devices that significantly advance the state of the art.

9/10/2010 PERMALINK
Adult stem cells that don't carry the usual risk of cancer, can be made from wisdom tooth pulp. ITEM: A team of scientists at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology may have found an ideal source for stem cells -- the third molars, commonly known as wisdom teeth. The soft pulp inside of teeth contains a population of cells known as mesenchymal stromal cells that are similar to cells found in bone marrow, a common stem-cell source. However, unlike bone marrow, tooth pulp is more easily obtained, especially in wisdom teeth, which most individuals have removed anyway. The researchers, led by Hajime Ohgushi, collected tooth samples from three donors and managed to generate a series of iPS cell lines following the similar procedure of activating three key genes (however, in another beneficial change they did not have activate the c-MYC gene which might lead the cells to become cancerous.

9/09/2010 PERMALINK
USA's economy becomes total fantasy land as GM adds $30 billion in 'goodwill' to its assets so it can look good enough to go public. How GM Made $30 Billion Appear Out of Thin Air: Jonathan Weil - Bloomberg : The Obama administration wants GM to go public so they can look good politically. So taking a page from Enron's book, Government Motors has added $30 billion in goodwill to its balance sheet to make the company appear to have a net worth. This although their August car deliveries were down 25 percent from the already bad number of a year earlier and all their property, plant and equipment are valued at $18.1 billion, far smaller than their goodwill. Where are the regulators that are suppose to prevent financial fraud from happening? Cheering GM on, the Obama administration needs to look good. With this kind of insanity going on, we all need to get ready for a rocky road ahead.

9/09/2010 PERMALINK
Worldwide brain implants reach 80,000. ITEM: Since 1997, deep brain stimulation (DBS) implants have slowly been gaining US FDA approval for use in patients (2002 for Parkinson’s, 2003 for dystonia). These ‘brain-pacers’ are surgically implanted in the chest but have long lead wires that reach up through the neck and deep into the brain. Electric stimulation from the implant can dramatically lessen the tremors associated with movement disorders, and experiments suggest they may help with OCD, depression, and severe cases of Tourette’s. According to Medtronic, the largest manufacturer of these deep brain stimulation devices, over 80,000 people around the world have a DBS implant. Eighty thousand! Did the age of mental cybernetics arrive while I wasn’t looking?

9/09/2010 PERMALINK
You can alter your perception of negative stimuli using feedback from fMRI scans of certain brain regions. ITEM: "Our study demonstrates that voluntary control of emotionally important brain systems is possible. More importantly, after learning to voluntarily regulate the insula, the participants experienced emotionally negative material as more aversive than before training," said lead author, Dr. Andrea Caria. "This means that individuals can modify their perception to aversive stimuli."

9/09/2010 PERMALINK
Johns Hopkins researchers have determined why certain stem cells are able to stay stem cells. ITEM: The report in the June 4 issue of Cell Stem Cell reveals that an enzyme that changes the way DNA is packaged in cells allows specific genes to be turned on and off, thereby preventing a stem cell from becoming another cell type. Each cell has to fit in 6 feet of highly organized and carefully packaged DNA. Some regions of the DNA are more tightly compacted than others and this structure is dynamic. There are specific enzymes that change how condensed the DNA is to help turn genes on and off. The genes that are turned off generally are found in tightly condensed DNA. To turn genes on, the DNA around those genes is loosened so that activators and other proteins can interact with the DNA. The Johns Hopkins researchers believed that restructuring the DNA by proteins that make up chromosomes could play a role in deciding if a stem cell was going to change into another cell or stay a stem cell, since change in the DNA packaging would allow for many genes to be turned off and other genes to be turned on.

9/07/2010 PERMALINK
Microbial breakthrough impacts health, agriculture, biofuels. ITEM: For the first time ever, University of Illinois researchers have discovered how microbes break down hemicellulose plant matter into simple sugars using a cow rumen bacterium as a model. "A greater understanding of the large population of microbes in the large intestine can impact a person's health and nutritional status," " said Isaac Cann, associate professor in the U of I Department of Animal Sciences and member of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) in the Institute for Genomic Biology. "For example, a simple change in the colon's microbial population can contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel diseases. Understanding how different microbes obtain energy may allow us to modify our diets to select for beneficial microbes to promote better health."

9/07/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers working to map out an atlas of the human brain. ITEM: Uncovering the secrets of the brain requires an intense network of collaborative research. Building on a tool that was co-developed in his laboratory, Dr. Yaniv Assaf of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology is collaborating with an international team of scientists to understand how different parts of the human brain 'connect' -- and to turn this information into a 'brain atlas.'

9/07/2010 PERMALINK
Mechanism which causes the rare aging disease, Progeria, is linked to the normal aging process. LINK: A new study comparing Progeria and typical cardiovascular aging entitled 'Cardiovascular Pathology in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria: Correlation With the Vascular Pathology of Aging' has found that progerin, the abnormal protein that causes Progeria, is also present in the vasculature of the general population and increases with age. Could genetic or molecular therapies that slow the formation of progerin slow down the aging process?

9/07/2010 PERMALINK
How the physical environment influence stem cell development/differentiation. ITEM: A researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, together with Israeli and foreign collaborators, has revealed how physical qualities -- and not only chemical ones -- may have an influence in determining how adult stem cells from the bone marrow develop into differentiated ones. This represents an important step in understanding the mechanisms that direct and regulate the specialization of stem cells from their undefined state.

9/07/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted in skull atop the brain. ITEM: The University of Utah research team placed grids of tiny microelectrodes over speech centers in the brain of a volunteer with severe epileptic seizures. Using the experimental microelectrodes, the scientists recorded brain signals as the patient repeatedly read each of 10 words that might be useful to a paralyzed person: yes, no, hot, cold, hungry, thirsty, hello, goodbye, more and less. Later, they tried figuring out which brain signals represented each of the 10 words. When they compared any two brain signals – such as those generated when the man said the words "yes" and "no" – they were able to distinguish brain signals for each word 76 percent to 90 percent of the time. 'We have been able to decode spoken words using only signals from the brain with a device that has promise for long-term use in paralyzed patients who cannot now speak,' said bioengineer Bradley Greger.

9/06/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers fab RNA molecules that target ONLY cancerous cells leaving normal cells untouched. ITEM: In a recent study, researchers demonstrated that conditional small RNA molecules can effectively kill lab-grown human brain, prostate and bone cancer cells in a mutation-specific manner. The treatment separates the 'diagnosis' and 'treatment' aspects of chemotherapy, so a cell is killed if -- and only if -- it is diagnosed with a mutation. "The molecules are able to detect a mutation within a cancer cell, and then change conformation to activate a therapeutic response in the cancer cell, while remaining inactive in cells that lack the cancer mutation," claims Niles Pierce, co-author of a recent study which appears in the September 6 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

9/05/2010 PERMALINK
MIT researchers create new self-assembling photovoltaic technology that repairs itself. ITEM: MIT scientists have created a novel set of self-assembling molecules that can turn sunlight into electricity; the molecules can be repeatedly broken down and then reassembled quickly, just by adding or removing an additional solution. Their paper on the work was published on Sept. 5 in Nature Chemistry. Good work guys, a big step towards resilient and sustainable personal energy. By the way, when you run into any of those other MIT engineers that are still designing WOMO (Weapons Of Mass Oppression) for the Pentagon. Could you please take them aside and explain how giving politicos WOMO can create a future that none of us wants to live in and ask them to read the Humods Meme Set.

9/05/2010 PERMALINK
Biologists find way to reduce the big problem of stem cell loss during cancer treatments. ITEM: "During chemotherapy or radiation therapy that kills cancer cells by inducing significant DNA damage in their genomes, one of the main side effects for human cancer patients is the depletion of their own adult stem cells, particularly the ones responsible for making new blood and intestine cells. So these patients become anemic, lose appetite and a lot of weight," said Yang Xu, a professor of biology at UC San Diego who headed the team that published its findings in this week's advance online issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology. "Since p53 (gene) is a critical tumor suppressor, you cannot suppress p53 to prevent the depletion of adult stem cells since it will induce cancer," said Xu. "But you can target Puma (gene short for 'p53-unregulated modulator of apoptosis') to prevent p53-mediated depletion of adult stem cells, because a Puma deficiency does not promote the development of cancer. This gives us a nice target for preventing the p53-dependent depletion of adult stem cells in response to DNA damage. If you can suppress Puma function, you can rescue a lot of the adult stem cells that would otherwise be lost after the accumulation of DNA damage such as during cancer therapy."

9/05/2010 PERMALINK
Where is America's financial crisis headed? ITEM: Dimitry Orlov a Russian-speaking American went to Russia during its economic collapse to study it firsthand. He pointed out just before our financial crisis began that there were signs that America could be in for a similar collapse, but that ours would be much worse. Here's why:

RUSSIA: Free public housing, no rent, no problem.
USA: Most housing private, no rent, families on the street.

RUSSIA: Most of the country's transportation was public transportation. People mostly live in cities and can do without gas.
USA: Most transportation automobiles and trucks running on petroleum, two thirds of which is now imported. Gas prices likely to spike upward to levels unaffordable to most Americans as dollar's buying power crashes. Most live in suburbs, commute to their jobs, live miles from the nearest grocery store, affordable gas essential to their existence.

RUSSIA: People already grew a lot of their own food in small gardens. Farms around cities, fuel for transport.
USA: Very few gardeners, farms thousands of miles from most big cities, massive amounts of imported fuel necessary to keep cities from starving.
 
RUSSIA: All employment was in the public sector, no loss of jobs due to bankrupted companies.
USA: Most employment is in the private sector, where tens of thousands of companies will be forced into bankruptcy during a severe downturn.

RUSSIA: All education was free public education.
USA: No tuition, no education, students forced to drop out before finishing with thousands of dollars of student loan debt on their backs, that the law prohibits them from bankrupting against. A massive underclass of angry, disaffected, debt slaves will be created.

RUSSIA: Public healthcare, no health insurance, no problem.
USA: No health insurance and studies done before the financial crisis showed that you get worse treatment, worse outcomes, and more deaths. Imagine what it must be like in hospitals now as their resources get slammed by millions more uninsured families and in the future if a massive wave of business bankruptcies hits.

RUSSIA: Very little mobility creates good crime defenses, because neighbors tend to have known each other for years and cooperate in community protection.
USA: Highly mobile population, rarely know neighbors well, neighborhood cooperation against rising crime is likely to be minimal.

It is a sobering picture for America's future that Mr. Orlov paints. Fiat money is the failed meme at the root of the world's current financial problems. This meme makes possible the easy money, excessive government spending, and manipulation of currency values to grab jobs by some nations, which have created the current difficulties. Under the old gold standard, nations were automatically punished for doing these things.

9/03/2010 PERMALINK
Is Gmail's Priority Inbox the first smart personal assistant bot to go mainstream? ITEM: Google says that Priority Inbox can help save you time if you’re overwhelmed with the amount of email you get. It attempts to automatically identify your important incoming messages and separates them out from everything else. Gmail uses a variety of signals to prioritize your incoming messages, including who you emailed most frequently and which messages you’ve recently opened as opposed to which messages you’ve deleted. An early step into the humods era, when our minds will be enhanced by an army of smart bot assistants.

9/03/2010 PERMALINK
Induced pluripotent stem cell from women retain an inactivated X chromosome. ITEM: Female induced pluripotent stem cells, reprogrammed from human skin cells into cells that have the embryonic-like potential to become any cell in the body, retain an inactive X chromosome, stem cell researchers at UCLA have found.

9/03/2010 PERMALINK
Nothing but lies from our politicos. Some readers of my blog and other friends have sent me a letter being ciruclated by Newt Gingrich about the Muslim center in New York.

It is not my wish to defend Islam, which is certainly one of the loopiest religions around. What is it, 72 virgins you are suppose to get in heaven if you die in defense of the faith? What a hoot! LOL!

However, I do also seem to vaguely recall something about Newt being a lying scum bag. Didn't he cheat on his wife and do some other reprehensible things that caused him to have to resign his speakership of the House? There were lies and scandal of some sort back then, and he is certainly lying about the history of Cordoba, Spain. Probably not ignorance but deception at work here, since if I recall correctly, Newt was a history professor before running for Congress.

The facts are that after Christianity became the dominant religion in Rome, the Roman empire fell, and Europe plunged into a barbaric Dark Ages. Islam was able to rise into the power vacuum this left. Their advances into various parts of Europe, actually required very little force. This was because Europe had fallen so far that most people were barely able to eek out a hand to mouth existence. They had little strength to resist the Muslim advance and probably little will for it as well. Since when the Muslims arrived, conditions tended to improve dramatically. Hard to resent getting pulled out of the hand-to-mouth barbarity of the Dark Ages, into some semblance of civilization, I imagine.

Despite Newt's assertion in his letter, it is quite true that Cordoba was a shining example to Europe during this era. It was the largest, most civilized and prosperous city in Europe at that time. A place of refinement in a sea of brutality, where both Christian and Jews could live alongside Muslims relatively free of persecution. This while Jews were routinely persecuted in most of the Christian kingdoms of Europe. Documents released from the Vatican archives show that the Catholic Church encouraging their kings to persecute Jews.

As Christian kingdoms became stronger, at the urging of the Vatican, they brutally attacked and destroyed Cordoba. This period also produced the numerous, extremely bloody Christian Crusades to the holy lands. The stated purpose of these Crusades was to take back the holy lands for Christianity. The reality was a little different. The Crusades also afforded the still barbaric and dirt poor Christian kings of Europe a golden opportunity to loot a much richer civilization than their own. Massive quantities of loot were liberated from peaceful and prosperous Muslim cities all along the path to holy land taken by Christian crusaders.

Cordoba was a shining example of religious tolerance, just as the people attempting to build a Muslim center in New York have apparently claimed. Newt's claim to the contrary is a politically inspired lie. But when did the truth ever stop one of our scum bag politicos of either political party from attempting to use people's fears to obtain a few more votes?

Incidentally, in addition to their participation in the Crusades during this era, the Catholic Church in Spain also launched something that came to be called the Spanish Inquisition. This began when two brothers, who's views actually made them the very first Protestants, began teaching in remote villages in Spain that people did not need to go through the Catholic Church's priests to have a relationship with their God. They could instead have a direct relationship with their God.

These teachings threatened the Church's wealth and power, so with the help of the Christian Kings of Spain, the Catholic Church hunted down these two Protestant brothers. And the Church ordered them killed. The Church further ordered that ever man woman and child in the villages where these men had preached, who had heard about their teaching, also should be exterminated. These innocents were murdered by their own Church, merely because they had heard Protestant ideas, which the Pope's men felt might threatened the Church's power and wealth. As had the tolerance and civility that existed in the Muslim city of Cordoba, which the Church had also ordered destroyed.

This is what the Christians Bishops and Kings of that era were like. They were the thugs, not the Muslims. Protestants, Jews and Muslims alike were brutally murdered and suppressed by the Catholic Kings and Bishops of Spain and elsewhere in Europe, on the orders of the Pope of the "one true church." Documents they have released over the last few decades from Vatican archives show this. And the Vatican under Pope John Paul deserves credit for making these documents public. Airing their own dirty linen to that extent was an act of great honesty by Pope John Paul, something the Catholic Church has been short on down through history. Unfortunately, with the passing of John Paul, the church has reverted to its old ways. The current Pope, it now appears, was heavily involved in the despicable efforts to cover up the evil of child abusing priests by merely transferring the offenders to new churches. Turning them lose to destroy the lives of even more innocent young children to spare the church a scandal. Today's Pope, like the popes that ordered the Spanish Inquisition and the destruction of Cordoba, appears to be a man to whom maintaining the wealth and power of his Church is far more important to him than his sense of good and evil.

Sadly, there are people today in all three of the religions that share a common belief in the God of Abraham, that behave with intolerance for each other. And Newt's lies that seek to stir the pot of hatred and intolerance for political advantage are a despicable act of pure evil.

So please friends, forward me no more copies of the lies of Newt Gingrich. He has lost all credibility with me.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Functional motor neuron subtypes generated from embryonic stem cells. ITEM: Scientists have devised a method for coaxing mouse embryonic stem cells into forming a highly specific motor neuron subtype. The research, published in the Sept. 3 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, provides new insight into motor neuron differentiation and may prove useful for devising and testing future therapies for motor neuron diseases.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Study finds that cancer-causing gene crucial in stem cell development. ITEM: A research team at the University of Georgia has shown for the first time that a gene called Myc, which is traditionally thought of as a cancer-causing gene, may be far more important in the development and persistence of stem cells than was known before.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
UCSF unveils model for implantable artificial kidney to replace dialysis. ITEM: UCSF researchers today unveiled a prototype model of the first implantable artificial kidney, in a development that one day could eliminate the need for dialysis.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Reversing your kid's tendency to get low grades might be as simple as a tweak to their dopamine genes. ITEM: The academic performance of adolescents will suffer in at least one of four key subjects -- English, math, science, history -- if their DNA contains one or more of three specific dopamine gene variations, according to a study led by renowned biosocial criminologist Kevin M. Beaver of the Florida State University.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Stanford-developed app shows 2-D structure of thousands of RNA molecules. ITEM: For the first time, it's possible to experimentally capture a global snapshot of the conformation of thousands of RNA molecules in a cell. The finding is important because this scrappy little sister of DNA has recently been shown to be much more complex than previously thought.

9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists examine new ways to manipulate the microorganisms inside you. ITEM: Earlier this summer, scientists reported the success of an unusual medical transplant; a woman with a life-threatening Clostridium difficile infection was treated, and apparently cured, with an injection of some of her healthy husband's gut bacteria. Researchers are now exploring the effects of this type of transplant in greater detail. They hope to eventually treat a wide range of ailments--from bowel diseases to obesity, diabetes to depression--by manipulating the bacteria that live in the human gut.

9/01/2010 PERMALINK
Massive fraud in our banking system aided and abetted by government. Global Economic Trend Analysis: FDIC Quarterly Banking Report: If I recall correctly, this is the third straight quarter that bankers have fraudulently used big reductions in loan loss reserves to inflated reported profits. This although nearly every bank's loan loss reserves stand at record lows against reported non-preforming loans and nearly all banks are keeping many loans that should be on their non-performing list, off it. They are using loan work outs, new extensions of credit, allowing checking overdrafts to make payments and various other fraudulent techniques to do this. When the fraud necessary to sustain a failing system reaches these levels, aided and abetted by government regulators, it is hard to see how such a corrupt system can endure much longer. Be prepared for the worst.