12/29/2011 PERMALINK
Diet, nutrient levels linked to cognitive ability, brain shrinkage. New research has found that elderly people with higher levels of several vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood had better performance on mental acuity tests and less of the brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's disease – while "junk food" diets produced just the opposite result. The study was among the first of its type to specifically measure a wide range of blood nutrient levels instead of basing findings on less precise data such as food questionnaires, and found positive effects of high levels of vitamins B, C, D, E and the healthy oils most commonly found in fish. "This approach clearly shows the biological and neurological activity that's associated with actual nutrient levels, both good and bad," said Maret Traber, a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute and co-author on the study.

12/23/2011 PERMALINK
App measures your hearing deficiencies and tweaks your smart phone to compensate. A new smart-phone app called ACEHearing can diagnose your hearing deficiencies and mod your device's output to better match your ability to hear. One of the developers, Andrew van Hasselt of the Chinese University of Hong Kong says their ultimate goal is to make this capability standard on all phones and other audio devices.

12/23/2011 PERMALINK
A prosthetic eye that hooks a camera right into the brain through the optic nerve. In a TEDMED talk, Sheila Nirenberg describes a breakthrough in restoring sight in people with certain kinds of blindness, by hooking into the optic nerve and sending signals from a camera direct to the brain.

12/21/2011 PERMALINK
Researchers find that CREB1 activates many genes linked to longevity and proper brain function. A team of Italian researchers at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome have discovered that a molecule called CREB1, which is triggered by "caloric restriction" (low caloric diet) in the brain of mice, activates many genes linked to longevity and to the proper functioning of the brain.

12/09/2011 PERMALINK
Modding cell communications can grow new organs. For the first time, scientists have altered natural bioelectrical communication among cells to directly specify the type of new organ to be created at a particular location within a vertebrate organism. Using genetic manipulation of membrane voltage in Xenopus (frog) embryos, biologists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences were able to cause tadpoles to grow eyes outside of the head area. The researchers achieved most surprising results when they manipulated membrane voltage of cells in the tadpole's back and tail, well outside of where the eyes could normally form. "The hypothesis is that for every structure in the body there is a specific membrane voltage range that drives organogenesis," said Tufts post-doctoral fellow Vaibhav P. Pai Ph.D., first author of the paper, entitled "Transmembrane Voltage Potential Controls Embryonic Eye Patterning in Xenopus laevis." Pai noted, "These were cells in regions that were never thought to be able to form eyes. This suggests that cells from anywhere in the body can be driven to form an eye."

12/02/2011 PERMALINK
Can just a few bad memes wreck an entire civilization? The answer is yes! Our Cosmos is a dangerous and unforgiving neighborhood. Where the widespread adoption of just few bad memes by those in a few key sectors of a civilization, can result in the completely collapse of that civilization. Listen to this interview of Ann Barnhardt by James Puplava. She does not mince words. No political correctness here. This tour de force interview is a much needed slap in the face for every thinking person, to jar us out of our complacence. Because unless we immediately force the reform of the incredibly destructive meme sets that have been adopted by those running the financial and political sectors of our civilization. We are very likely to experience a catastrophic failure of our civilization.