"The Global Consciousness Project, also known as the EGG Project, is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others continuously collecting data from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites worldwide. The archive contains over 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second."
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, February 18, 2019
Results of a large-scale, 16-year anonymized research project found that states with Medical Marijuana Laws (MMLs) and decriminalization statutes, underage cannabis consumption declines, especially among minority youth.
One concern some have regarding legalization of cannabis – whether for Medical (MMJ), or Adult Recreational Use (ARU) – is whether or not it will adversely affect youth. Specifically, a question often asked is, “will legalizing cannabis increase underage consumption?”
Lead Researcher Dr Rebekah Levine Coley said that, “Some people have argued that decriminalizing or legalizing medical marijuana could increase cannabis use amongst young people, either by making it easier for them to access, or by making it seem less harmful.”
“However, we saw the opposite effect,” said Dr Coley, and noted that results of the 16-year-long study show that in states where MMJ is legal, rates of underage consumption of cannabis have declined.
Those findings occurred even after accounting for other variables, including policies on Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, January 17, 2019
In a recently published article entitled “Grey Matter Volume Differences Associated with Extremely Low Levels of Cannabis Use in Adolescence,” in the Journal of Neuroscience, 14 January 2019 edition, pp3375-17, researchers wrote in part that “We identified extensive regions in the bilateral medial temporal lobes as well as the bilateral posterior cingulate, lingual gyri, and cerebellum that showed greater GMV in the cannabis users.”
News items related to that newly published research are focusing upon that singular line as if it’s something negative. Since when did INCREASED grey matter become something dangerous, or cause for concern? Colloquially, the term “grey matter” is used to describe the brain, and by extension, brain power. So let’s examine this matter (no pun intended) in more detail.
But before proceeding further, it bears mentioning that adolescents should NOT be consuming cannabis, neither alcohol, nor tobacco. And try as much as we want, we will not ever stop underage consumption of any adults-only substance. The BEST we can do is to educate them, and others, of potential risks involved in its use – especially and particularly underage use – and deny them opportunities to consume alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. THAT is a strategy which has PROVEN to work, because the trite “Just say ‘no'” has never worked, nor will it ever.
Dr David Robert Grimes is a physicist, cancer researcher and science writer, who was the joint recipient of the 2014 Nature / Sense About Science Maddox Prize and wrote in a brief anti-marijuana article dated 15th May 2017 entitled “The rise of the cannabis cult: don’t believe the hype about medical marijuana” that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Dreams are a world of surreality, where anything can, and does, happen.
In our dreams, pigs can fly, cats bark, and trees can speak. But more importantly than the seeming peculiarities such as talking telephone poles, or growing houses, is the symbolism of the objects in the dreams. One thing stands for another.
In our dreams, snakes might not necessarily represent the animal, but may represent deception, or danger. Conversely, depending upon the context of the dream, snakes may represent sexuality, or even money. It is the combination of the context of the elements in the dream, their setting, and actions, in conjunction with the events of our waking lives, that may provide useful information, even unique insight, into our waking lives.
Dreams can be thought of a type of guide to our waking lives, because they often reflect what is occurring, sometimes even with imperceptible events occurring behind the scenes, of which we are naturally unaware.
And, our dreams may also forewarn us of events. For example, in the Scriptural account in the Gospel of Matthew, the Magi, popularly called the “Three Wise Men” (though no translation of the story specifies how many there were) who had come to visit the exiled Holy Couple – Joseph, Mary, and the newborn Jesus, who had similarly been warned in a dream to flee their homeland before the child’s birth – returned to their homeland after their visit, because they were warned in a dream to do so. In chapter 2, verse 12 it states that, “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (NIV)
The narrative doesn’t say what they dreamed, or the elements those dreams contained, it merely states that they used perceptive insight (were cognizant of significance) given to them while (presumably) in a state of unconsciousness – sleep. In other words, their dreams, as they interpreted, provided useful information to give them, giving meaning (and safety) to their lives at a time of unknown peril.
Cover of the First Edition of the book which introduced the Buck Rogers character by author Philip Francis Nowlan.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, August 20, 2018
If the GOP and POTUS have their way, your cell phone GPS, cell phone clock, Internet clock, atomic clock, communication satellites, and countless other devices reliant upon accurate timekeeping which are not even owned by you could go awry. Even our power grid could suffer.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Many have heard or read about United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ ignorant remark about marijuana, and many of us have heard or read numerous claims about cannabis, ranging from “it cures cancer” to “it makes you hungry,” and almost everything between. But if you want to make an effective argument for or against anything, you need facts. And the following information from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is THE MOST authoritative, up-to-date volume on the subject of cannabis. You would be wise to cite this research when you lobby your local, state or national legislator to legalize (or not) marijuana. (I am a legalization proponent & advocate for the 100% legalization, regulation, and taxation of adult recreational & prescriptive medical use of marijuana.)
Now, with the 2017 release of “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research” by the Committee on the Health Effects of Marijuana: An Evidence Review and Research Agenda, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice Health and Medicine Division, A Report of the National Academies of Science, we have one of THE MOST to-date conclusive pieces of EVIDENCE for/against cannabis consumption, either medically, and/or recreationally. It is AUTHORITATIVE, and unbiased. Bear in mind, this is findings of SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL RESEARCH.
An independent examination of the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and all review comments were carefully considered. A committee of experts was convened to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the health effects of using cannabis and/or its constituents that had appeared since the publication of the 1999 IOM (Institute of Medicine) report.
From their review, the committee arrived at nearly 100 different research conclusions related to cannabis or cannabinoid use and health.
Committee members formulated four recommendations to address research gaps, improve research quality, improve surveillance capacity, and address research barriers.
Categories, including subtopics, are as follows:
Therapeutic effects
• Chronic pain; cancer, chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting; anorexia and weight loss; irritable bowel syndrome; epilepsy; spasticity related to multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury; Tourette syndrome; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Huntington’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; dystonia; dementia; glaucoma; traumatic brain injury; addiction; anxiety; depression; sleep disorders; post-traumatic stress disorder; schizophrenia and other psychoses
Cancer
• Lung cancer; head and neck cancer; testicular cancer; esophageal cancer; other cancer
Injury and death
• All-cause mortality; occupational injury; motor vehicle crash; overdose injury and death
Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal exposure to cannabis
• Pregnancy complications for the mother; fetal growth and development; neonatal conditions; later outcomes for the infant
Psychosocial
• Cognition (learning, memory, attention, intelligence); academic achievement and educational outcomes; employment and income; social relation- ships and other social roles
Mental health
• Schizophrenia and other psychoses; bipolar disorders, depression; suicide; anxiety; post-traumatic stress disorder
Problem cannabis use
• Cannabis use disorder
Cannabis use and abuse of other substances
• Abuse of other substances
Weight Of Evidence Categories for Conclusions are ranked High-to-Low-and-None as Substantial, Moderate, Limited Evidence, and No or Insufficient Evidence to Support the Association for therapeutic effects, and other health effects.
Here are: Conclusions—Therapeutic Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids
There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective:
• For Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, January 5, 2018
“I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful.”
–United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, prepared remarks on “Efforts to Combat Violent Crime and Restore Public Safety Before Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement” in Richmond, VA, Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Many have heard or read about US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ other willfully ignorant remarks about marijuana, such as his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee when he was then-president Reagan’s first federal judicial nominee to be rejected:
“I thought those guys [the Ku Klux Klan] were OK until I learned they smoked pot.” -Jeff Sessions, nominee of then-President Ronald Reagan as Federal Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, to Senate Judiciary Committee, June 1986
The Senate Judiciary Committee rejected on June 5, 1986 the nomination of Jefferson B. Sessions, III to be a Federal District Judge in Alabama. It was the first time one of President Reagan’s judicial nominees was rejected.
In 1986, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about Jeff Sessions from 21 witnesses over 19 hours, including from Thomas Figures, a Black Assistant U.S. Attorney who had worked with Sessions, and testified that Jeff Sessions had made that remark, and other racist comments to him while Sessions was serving as United States Attorney in Mobile, AL. Sessions denied making racial statements, but Republican and Democratic senators expressed concern over his attitude toward members of minority groups, and especially Sessions’ prosecution of three Blacks who were eventually acquitted on charges of voting fraud.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 against Jeff Sessions’ nomination in June 1986, which made him Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Today is the memorial of Albert Magnus, known as Albert the Great, Bishop, Doctor of the Church.
Albert was known for his vast knowledge in all areas of learning. He was Saint Thomas Aquinas’ tutor, a man skilled in all the sciences of his age. Albert did not fear science; for him there was no contradiction between what he learned about the natural world through scientific observation and what he believed as a person of faith. People of mature faith have nothing to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 28, 2017
NPR recently reported about research that seems to point to one benefit of daily use of cannabis.
Increased sexual activity.
I continue to maintain that:
a.) People NEED & OUGHT to have MORE SEX, and;
b.) Cannabis NEEDS & OUGHT to be legalized, taxed & regulated.
Because:
a.) No one ever had an orgasm while “mad” or “angry,” and;
b.) I’ve neither read nor heard of anyone being “mad” or “angry” while high.
Fact is, research is continuing to show that increasingly, people are ANGRY at/because of many things, some of which are outside the locus of their immediate control, and that correspondingly, people are having sexual encounters less often – including married couples (for the benefit of those who believe that sexual activity belongs only among married couples). STOP ANGER! Get high! Have sex!
There’s SIGNIFICANTLY MORE argument to be made AGAINST ETOH (ethanol alcohol, aka “beverage” alcohol) than against cannabis.
Researchers Find Frequency of Sex Rises With Marijuana Use
“Surveys of 50,000 people found that those who smoked marijuana had sex more often than those who Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, September 25, 2017
In her book of devotions entitled Revelations of Divine Love, 14th-century mystic Julian of Norwich describes how she came to understand that God is light, Whom she described as, “our endless Day.” Seven centuries later, physicist Bernard Haisch came to the same understanding: “The solid, stable world of matter appears to be sustained at every instant by Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 18, 2017
If you’re a prescriber, consider this research. If you’re a patient, or know someone who is, consider this for your, or their well-being.
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Statins Have No Primary CVD Prevention Benefit To Older Patients
Takeaway
Statins offer no benefit for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adult patients aged ≥65 y.
Why this matters
“[S]tatins may be producing untoward effects in the function or health of older adults that could offset any possible cardiovascular benefit,” say the study authors.
Study design
Researchers conducted post hoc secondary data analyses of patient data from a randomized, open-label clinical trial (N=2867; age, ≥65 y; 49.4% women; all without evidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease); patients were assigned to either a treatment group receiving pravastatin sodium 40 mg/d or a usual care (UC) group.
Funding: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; AstraZeneca; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Pfizer; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; The Stroke Foundation.
Key results
Hazard ratios for all-cause mortality in the treatment group vs the UC group were Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, March 5, 2017
Perhaps you’ve studied the 12-Step program, or perhaps you’ve practiced it. I have done both. Practicing it was not as a matter of addiction, or any such thing for myself, but instead, was a part of my personal spiritual growth and development.
Over the years, I’ve heard commentary, or news features which interviewed people with divergent perspectives on 12-Step programs, most notably which were skeptical of them, and were thoughtfully seeking answers themselves for the “whys and wherefores” of substance abuse, whether it’s long-term or temporary, and whether it is a genetic fault, or if it is a personality or character flaw in response to external or internal stressors. In other words, it’s the classic “Heredity vs Environment” argument.
As I have come to view it, there is validity for both sides, but I think the stronger case is made for a combination of environment and character flaw, instead of genetic defect.
—/—
“In his recent book, The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry, Lance Dodes, a retired psychiatry professor from Harvard Medical School, looked at Alcoholics Anonymous’s retention rates along with studies on sobriety and rates of active involvement (attending meetings regularly and working the program) among AA members. Based on these data, he put AA’s actual success rate somewhere between 5 and 8 percent. That is just a rough estimate, but it’s the most precise one I’ve been able to find.”
The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous
By Gabrielle Glaser, April 2015 Issue Its faith-based 12-step program dominates treatment in the United States. But researchers have debunked central tenets of AA doctrine and found Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, December 5, 2016
A man named John Goodwin made a public post on FaceBook, which also included a link to an OpEd published in the Washington Post on November 9, 2016, which was written by Charles Camosy (PhD, University of Notre Dame), and entitled “Trump won because college-educated Americans are out of touch.” Dr. Camosy is an Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University, and the author of a book entitled “Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for A New Generation.”
Mr. Goodwin’s FaceBook profile is sufficiently ambiguous of himself, though in his public post which is time & date-stamped 9:45AM, November 10, 2016, and ostensibly geolocated from Washington, D.C., he wrote of himself that, “I haven’t posted about the election mostly because 1) I do this for a living and most of you don’t,” which would lead one to suppose that at some level, he works in or with public policy, or more likely, with politicians.
I do not.
However, suffice it to say, that for many, many, many years, I have remained immensely interested in public policy, though I do not now, nor have I ever made my living from it, or influencing, or attempting to influence others in elected office.
In order to fully understand the matter of discussion herein, I encourage the reader to fully read this item following herein, as well as Mr. Goodwin’s post, and the OpEd upon which he opined
I have responded to Mr. Goodwin’s post as follows:
His words appear italicized, and in “quotation marks.”
My commentary follows immediately after.
“…not everyone lives in big cities.” • That is correct. The United States Census Bureau says that 80.7% of American reside in urban areas. In fact, they report that “the population density in cities is more than 46 times higher than the territory outside of cities.” So that leaves a whopping 19.3% in rural areas.
“I didn’t grow up with money.” • Money had been invented by the time I was born. But seriously, someone votes for Donald Trump as if the wealthy are advocates for the impoverished or even the average American? C’mon. Mr. Born-With-A-Silver-Spoon-In-His-Mouth? Really?
“…not everyone went to elite colleges.” • According to the United States Census Bureau, “in 2015, almost 9 out of 10 adults (88 percent) had at least a high school diploma or GED, while nearly 1 in 3 adults (33 percent) held a bachelor’s or higher degree.” I’m in the 33%. So I’m an elite. Thanks!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, November 3, 2016
Remember how ANGRY some folks got when Michael Weisskopf (b.1946) of the Washington Post wrote on February 1, 1993 (link to original article with the WaPo’s editorial addendum) that the simple-minded evangelical groupies of Jerry Falwell (who himself died in 2007), Pat Robertson (b.1930), et al, that: “The gospel lobby evolved with the explosion of satellite and cable television, hitting its national political peak in the presidential election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
“Unlike other powerful interests, it does not lavish campaign funds on candidates for Congress nor does it entertain them. The strength of fundamentalist leaders lies in their flocks. Corporations pay public relations firms millions of dollars to contrive the kind of grass-roots response that Falwell or Pat Robertson can galvanize in a televised sermon. Their followers are largely poor, uneducated and easy to command.
“Some studies put the number of evangelical Americans as high as 40 million, with the vast majority considered politically conservative.”
[ed. note: The excerpt, which has frequently been distilled to “largely poor, uneducated and easy to command,” is provided here in full proper context with leading and following sentences, not merely excerpted, in order to thoroughly show proper context.]
The USCB has also performed research on income, which is similarly delineated and categorized by education. For the year 2011 (18 years AFTER the remarks were made), and those aged 25+ with at least a Bachelor’s Degree, the average income was Read the rest of this entry »
In the interview, among the comments Hawking made was that “We certainly have not become less greedy or less stupid. The population has grown by half a billion since our last meeting, with no end in sight. At this rate, it will be eleven billion by 2100.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, September 13, 2015
Research: Higher Wages Reduces Smoking
September 7, 2015 Raising the minimum wage could benefit health, say researchers.
A 10% increase in wages leads to a 5% decrease in the rate of smoking. That is especially true for male employees with a low level of education, report scientists from the UC Davis Health System in Sacramento in the “Annals of Epidemiology.” Moreover, the likelihood of quitting smoking increases from 17-20%.
For their study, researchers analyzed data from full time workers aged 21 to 69 in the years 1999 to 2009 and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, August 10, 2015
It was Easter Sunday, 2010, and unknown to me, dumb luck had befriended me.
Pure dumb luck.
Even scientists believe in it.
In 1996, Duncan C. Blanchard, a meteorological researcher then affiliated with the State University of New York at Albany, authored a scientific paper entitled “Serendipity, Scientific Discovery, and Project Cirrus” published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society in which he cited Project Cirrus (1947-52), a period and project of research from which “many serendipitous discoveries and inventions were made, opening up areas of research still being pursued today.”
Blanchard’s work was cited a decade later in 2006 by David M. Schultz, who was then affiliated with the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, and the NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma in a research paper entitled The Mysteries of Mammatus Clouds: Observations and Formation Mechanisms. In it he wrote that what little we know about mammatus clouds was, because of their nature, “obtained largely through serendipitous opportunities.”
In other words, what little we know about the clouds (so named after human breasts because of their appearance), has been obtained by pure dumb luck – although, being prepared, and being in the right place at the right time does account for something.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Consumption Of Marijuana With Respect To The Passage Of Respective State Medical Marijuana Laws
The Lancet Psychiatry – Jul 20, 2015
The Passage Of Medical Marijuana Laws Could Improvise Medical Usage Of Marijuana, With Due Investigation
Background
Adolescent use of marijuana is associated with adverse later effects, so the identification of factors underlying adolescent use is of substantial public health importance. The relationship between US state laws that permit marijuana for medical purposes and adolescent marijuana use has been controversial. Such laws could convey a message about marijuana acceptability that increases its use soon after passage, even if implementation is delayed or the law narrowly restricts its use. We used 24 years of national data from the USA to examine the relationship between state medical marijuana laws and adolescent use of marijuana.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, May 23, 2015
And God said, “Let there be light,” and POOF! As if by magic, the sun suddenly appeared fully formed and functional!
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” And POOF! As if by magic, every bird and fish was fully formed & functional, and there were bazillions of ’em!
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image.” And POOF! As if by magic, Adam, the first human, was fully formed and functional.
Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it?
It should. Yet that’s precisely what it says. Of course, the “And POOF! As if by magic” part was added for purposes of ludicrous illustration.
And, it is equally preposterous to imagine that God is a magician, and that POOF! As if by magic, everything just suddenly appeared.
What we see and understand – if we can use observations of the natural world to guide us – is that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, May 10, 2015
Brain Stimulation Reduces Racial Prejudice
Racial discrimination remains to be a pressing issue across the globe. In a study published in “Brain Stimulation“, Dutch researchers have now demonstrated that racial prejudice can be reduced with brain stimulation.
Scientists at the University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands, conducted an experiment in 60 healthy volunteers. Half of the group received transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with a low intensity current administered by electrodes placed on the frontal part of the scalp. The other half received sham treatment.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, May 10, 2015
“Reset Button” For Internal Body Clock Discovered
Canadian scientists have discovered a type of molecular “reset button” for the body’s “internal clock.” In a study published in “Nature Neuroscience” they describe processes and proteins in the brain which play a role in synchronizing the circadian rhythm. They hope that their findings may contribute to treating disorders associated with a disruption of the body’s internal clock.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, May 8, 2015
Pancreatic Cancer Linked To Low Amount Of Sunlight
Researchers and scientists in the United States have found an association between sunlight deficiency and the occurrence of pancreatic cancer. The rates of pancreatic cancer are highest in countries with the least amount of sunshine (due to high altitude and heavy cloud coverage). Their findings were reported in a study published in “The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, May 7, 2015
I find it strangely fascinating that so many are so fearful… particularly in the South, and in Alabama especially.
Two days ago many celebrated Cinco de Mayo – the 5th of May – by eating out at Mexican-themed restaurants, quaffing a few margaritas, or by making Mexican-styled eats at home. It’s a way, in part, to acknowledge solidarity with our Mexican brothers and sisters and commemorating Mexico’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. A turning point in Mexican struggle for independence, the firefight pitted 2000 ragtag, poorly equipped Mexicans against 6000 well equipped, battle-tested French soldiers. By the time the French retreated from the all-day battle, 500 French, and 100 Mexican lives were lost.
Alabama State House 11 South Union Street, Montgomery, AL
But May 5 also marks another significant event, largely unknown – and certainly unrecognized – by many, if not most.
On May 5, 1925 John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
It certainly seems Southerners have had it out for Science for quite some time.
Now, like hogs wallowing in mud, Alabama politicians want to meddle even more in the stinking pot of their own making by… well, here’s the news item: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, May 1, 2015
The Bible never mentions abortion.
It doesn’t suggest it, nor does it even hint at it.
The Bible doesn’t forbid prostitution.
In fact, there are many things the Bible doesn’t even mention.
But it does forbid eating pork, shrimp, oysters, mussels, clams, cheeseburgers, wearing clothing made with cotton/polyester blended fabric, that a man should marry his brother’s wife if the brother dies before impregnating her, and several hundred other nonsensical rules, regulations and laws – almost all of which were religiously based upon ignorance.
At the time the Bible was written (approximately 4000 BC/BCE), there was no understanding of Germ Theory (1864). No one understood Bernoulli’s Principle (1783). In fact Bernoulli wasn’t even born then. No one understood the physics and principles of lift, low pressure, high pressure, or how weather systems occurred. Even the beer and wine that was made then was thought to have been made magically – as if it were some kind of mystical gift from the gods, a god, or the God. They had no idea – were literally clueless – that it was through fermentation, because Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Researchers: Diet To Blame For Obesity, Not Lack Of Physical Activity
Lack of physical activity is not to blame for the prevalence of obesity, but rather the wrong diet, report physicians from the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa who published their findings in the “British Journal of Sports Medicine.” However, they emphasized that even regular exercise cannot compensate for poor dietary habits.
Excess consumption of sugar and carbohydrates is mainly responsible for obesity, say the experts. Even 40% of people with a normal BMI will consequently have metabolic abnormalities normally associated with obesity.
But it is problematic that the public firmly believes that development is exclusively due to lack of physical activity. That misconception is due almost exclusively to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Disruption Of Sleep In Children Could Hamper Memory Processes
Sleep disordered breathing can hamper memory processes in children, according to a new study presented at the Sleep and Breathing Conference held in April in Barcelona, Spain. The research found that disrupted sleep had a negative effect upon different memory processes and how children learn.
Sleep apnea can also negatively affect growing children.
A team of researchers from the University of Szeged and Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary analyzed 17 children with sleep disordered breathing aged between 6 and 12 years. They looked at different memory processes compared to a control group of 17 children of similar age without any sleep disorders.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
As anyone who has been in a hospital – either as patient, or visitor – can attest, hospitals are NOT a place where rest occurs. And THAT! is a crying shame! For healing restoration can ONLY occur with proper rest, and that means SLEEP!
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Study Reveals An Absence Of Consistent Standards In Children’s Hospital Environments
The sound, light and temperature levels in European pediatric hospital wards often vary, highlighting the lack of consistent environmental standards, according to a new study presented at the Sleep and Breathing Conference held in April in Barcelona, Spain.
Quietude aids healing and restoration
Children and parents often suffer sleep deprivation when the environment on a ward is disruptive, which can affect disease recovery and quality of life in hospitalized children. There are no general consistent recommendations covering sound, light, and temperature levels to help guide hospitals across Europe.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Playing A Wind Instrument Could Help Lower The Risk Of Sleep Apnea
A study performed in India suggests wind instrument musicians are at lower risk for Sleep Apnea. Seen here, a B-flat trumpet.
A new study has found that wind instrument players have a reduced risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea. The findings, presented at the Sleep and Breathing Conference held in April in Barcelona, Spain suggest that this could be considered beneficial to those individuals who are at high risk of developing sleep apnea.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Hyperactivity Helps Children With ADHD To Learn
When children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are supposed to learn, adults usually ask them to sit still. However, a study published in the “Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology” now suggests that physical hyperactivity is essential for the cognitive learning processes.
Researchers from the University of Central Florida in Orlando conducted trials in 52 boys aged from 8 to 12. Of the group, 29 boys had ADHD, while the others showed normal development. The study subjects were asked to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, April 26, 2015
Supermarkets Make Adults Fatter
In developing and emerging countries, the shift towards purchasing food in supermarkets changes people’s dietary habits and may lead to an increase of weight in adults. That is the finding of a study carried out by German researchers which was published in “Public Health Nutrition.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 25, 2015
Household Animals Can Pass Along Diseases
While there are many positive effects of keeping household pets, they can also pass along diseases. In a study published in the “Canadian Medical Association Journal,” Canadian and American researchers warned that animals are able to transmit numerous pathogens to their owners.
For healthy people, the risk of contracting a disease was low if the animals were adequately kept and hygiene guidelines followed. However, children younger than 5, adults older than 65, people who are ill, and pregnant women were at increased risk of developing a zoonotic disease. Moreover, researchers found in that group of people the diseases may be more severe, symptoms may last longer, and the risk of complications was higher.
Practically all household pets can transmit pathogens. Transmission occurs through bites and scratches, contact with feces, when cleaning cages, or when an animal licks a person.
Dogs and cats can transmit the diarrhea pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, and cats also pass on Bartonella bacteria. Infection with resistant bacteria such as ESBL, MRSA or Clostridium difficile, is possible between humans and animals in both directions.
Parasites, such as worms, are usually contracted from dogs and cats. Cats can also pass on the bacteria Toxoplasma gondii, which can lead to serious birth defects in unborn children, or even miscarriage. Amphibians and reptiles commonly transmit salmonella. According to U.S. studies, about 11% of all salmonella infections in those under age 21 are caused through contact with those animals.
In general however, the companionship provided by household pets has more positive than negative effects. Dogs, in particular, contribute to protecting toddlers against allergies and respiratory infections. Furthermore, canines have positive effects on the psyche and especially have positive effects because owners get more exercise by taking the animal out.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, April 24, 2015
Maple Syrup May Make Bacteria More Susceptible To Antibiotics
According to Canadian researchers, maple syrup may have the potential to make bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, thus leading to lower usage of the medicines. That is the finding of a study recently published in “Applied and Environmental Microbiology.” The syrup extract also contributed towards destroying biofilms.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, August 22, 2014
Summertime is quickly drawing to a close, and some of you -no doubt- have enjoyed (or at least attempted to enjoy) reading a few good books during these past few months.
However, just in the case you didn’t, and if you’re looking for a good list from which to choose, either for yourself, your children, or others, here’s an EXCELLENT starting point.
Most are novels, some are not, many are classics, some are from antiquity, some from modernity, some obscure, while others (and their authors) renown. In some cases, authors are not listed because many -if not most- of the works are so renown, or they’re simply unknown; and in the cases where some help could help identify or clarify, the author’s name is provided.
While by no means is this list wholly complete, it’s a damn good start.
If anyone has read at least 1/3 of these, they may consider themselves reasonably well read. (While I’ve not read all of the selections, I have read many – and am familiar with most.)
And remember, if you can’t read, you’re doomed!
Don’t ban books!
1.) Daphnis & Chloe (Longus),
2.) I, Robot (Isaac Asimov),
3.) To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee),
4.) Lord of the Flies (William Golding),
5.) The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas),
6.) Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift),
7.) The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck),
8.) The Catcher in the Rye (J.D.Salinger),
9.) The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle),
10.) Frankenstein (Mary Shelley),
11.) 1984 (George Orwell),
12.) The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells),
13.) David Copperfield (Charles Dickens),
14.) Don Quixote (Don Quijote de la Mancha),
15.) Moby-Dick (Herman Mellville),
16.) Metamorphoses (Ovid),
17.) The Napoleon of Notting Hill (G.K.Chesterton),
18.) Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan)
19.) Ulysses (James Joyce),
20.) Catch-22 (Joseph Heller),
21.) Robinson Crusoe,
22.) Clarissa (Samuel Richardson),
23.) Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë),
24.) The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne),
25.) Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert),
26.) The Brothers Karamazov ( Fyodor Dostoyevsky),
27.) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stephenson),
28.) The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde),
29.) The Call of the Wild (Jack London),
30.) The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame),
31.) Men Without Women (Ernest Hemingway),
32.) Brave New World (Aldous Huxley),
33.) The Plague (Albert Camus),
34.) Charlotte’s Web (E.B.White),
35.) The Lord Of The Rings (J.R.R.Tolkein),
36.) On the Road (Jack Kerouac),
37.) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,
38.) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov),
39.) The Tin Drum (Günter Wilhelm Grass), Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, May 29, 2014
According to Dr. Tommy Bice, Alabama State Superintendent of Education, high schools in the state have achieved an 80% graduation rate. While that sounds impressive, there is an underlying problem, which is this:
How do we know that the children being graduated are competent?
Competency is exemplified as being able to do something successfully. So if merely graduating high school was sufficient demonstration of competence, everyone with a high school diploma would be competent. But sadly, we know that is NOT the case. For example, one need only look to private high schools to so illustrate. Very few private high schools have any such problems. And, it is not to say that all public schools suffer problems. And yet, it is evidence as well that many courses taught in 1960, or even 1860 at the “high school” level are more advanced than those taught today.
For example, consider the following courses of study were required for a diploma of graduation from Middletown City High School, Connecticut in 1848: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Raise a Glass of Scottish Wine to Global Climate Changes
By Rudy RuitenbergMar 25, 2014 11:00 PM CT
Thanks to climate change, Christopher Trotter will make history later this year by pairing a Scottish white wine with the local spoots.
The razor clams harvested from the nearby shores of the North Sea will go down nicely with the first bottles from Trotter’s vineyard north of Edinburgh. The 2014 vintage will be special for Scotland, where Highlanders have distilled whisky and brewed ale for centuries.
“Scotland has probably been more of a beer-drinking nation than anything else,” said Trotter, a chef and food writer. Wine hasn’t been part of the culture, he said, “until now.”
Christopher Trotter, Scottish Chef, Vintner and food writer, stands in his vineyard in Fife, Scotland – Source: Christopher Trotter via Bloomberg
Trotter might as well pour a splash on the ground in memory of a vanishing world. Climate change, which scientists say is caused by heat-trapping gas accumulating in the atmosphere, is transforming dinner tables and scrambling traditions in the $270 billion global wine industry. In Europe, warmer seasons are chasing Italian and Spanish vintners up hillsides, making a winner of Germany, encouraging growers in Poland and spreading the cultivation of wine grapes to latitudes friendlier to belly-warming whiskies and ales. And it’s raising the alcohol content, and altering the flavors, of famous wines in France.
Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, is a finicky crop. Vineyards flourish where average annual temperatures range from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit). Too much dry weather, hail or too much rain can downgrade or wreck a vintage.
“Scotland has probably been more of a beer-drinking nation than anything else,” said Trotter, a chef and food writer. Wine hasn’t been part of the culture, he said, “until now.”
Trotter might as well pour a splash on the ground in memory of a vanishing world. Climate change, which scientists say is caused by heat-trapping gas accumulating in the atmosphere, is transforming dinner tables and scrambling traditions in the $270 billion global wine industry. In Europe, warmer seasons are chasing Italian and Spanish vintners up hillsides, making a winner of Germany, encouraging growers in Poland and spreading the cultivation of wine grapes to latitudes friendlier to belly-warming whiskies and ales. And it’s raising the alcohol content, and altering the flavors, of famous wines in France.
Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, is a finicky crop. Vineyards flourish where average annual temperatures range from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit). Too much dry weather, hail or too much rain can downgrade or wreck a vintage.
“Wine is very responsive to climatic factors,” said Karl Storchmann, a professor of economics at New York University and managing editor of the Journal of Wine Economics. “This is especially true for fine wine, when weather-induced vintage-to-vintage price variations can exceed 1,000 percent.”
Over centuries, growers in the top producing countries — France, Italy and Spain — selected grape varieties that now account for 75 percent of the world’s wine plantings, according to a database prepared by the University of Adelaide in Australia.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 14, 2012
As I had opined earlier, while the the otherwise reputable New York Times headlines him as “daredevil” (and doubtless, there is an element to that), he is much more than a mere thrill-seeker. There is significant, and legitimate science being undertaken in this mission.
Further, so-called “daredevils” rarely prepare 5ive years for their stunts, as did Mr. Baumgartner and his team.
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Before the jump, Mr. Baumgartner went through a checklist with help from Joe Kittinger, 84, the retired Air Force colonel who in 1960 jumped from 102,800 feet, setting records that remained more than half a century later — and that Mr. Baumgartner was hoping to break. – Credit: Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Stratos, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
ROSWELL, N.M. — Felix Baumgartner, the professional daredevil, said he was not thinking about setting records or collecting scientific data in the moments before he jumped from a capsule more than 24 miles high.
He was just thinking about making it back to Earth.
“Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It’s not about breaking records anymore. It’s not about getting scientific data. It’s all about coming home,” Mr. Baumgarter said after returning by helicopter to mission control in Roswell.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Regardless whether global climate change is man-made, or cyclical… it’s going to affect us all, and we would be wise to DO SOMETHING to PRESERVE, PROTECT and DEFEND ourselves NOW!
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Milk-Cow Drought Culling Accelerates as Prices Jump: Commodities
U.S. milk production is headed for the biggest contraction in 12 years as a drought-fueled surge in feed costs drives more cows to slaughter.
Output will drop 0.5 percent to 198.9 billion pounds (90.2 million metric tons) in 2013 as the herd shrinks to an eight- year low, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Milk futures rose 45 percent since mid-April and may advance at least another 19 percent to a record $25 per 100 pounds by June, said Shawn Hackett. The president of Boynton Beach, Florida-based Hackett Financial Advisers Inc. correctly predicted the rally in March.
Dairies in California, the top milk-producing state, are filing for bankruptcy, and U.S. cows are being slaughtered at the fastest rate in more than a quarter century. Corn surged to a record in August as the USDA forecast the smallest crop in six years because of drought across the U.S. Global dairy prices tracked by the United Nations rose 6.9 percent last month, the most among the five food groups monitored, and that will probably mean record costs next year, Rabobank estimates.
“Farmers can’t afford to buy as much grain and protein, and that affects milk production,” said Bob Cropp, an economist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who has been following the industry since 1966. “In California, there’ve been some foreclosures and some sell-off of cows quite heavily. You’re going to see that in other parts of the country.”
Mercantile Exchange
Class III milk, used to make cheese, jumped 22 percent to $21.05 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this year. That’s more than 21 of the 24 commodities in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index, which rose 1.8 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) of equities climbed 12 percent, and Treasuries Read the rest of this entry »
Beware The ‘Cave Robber’: New Spider WithVelociraptor-Like Claws Found InOregon
By Roxanne Palmer
A mysterious organism has been found lurking in the caves and forests of the Pacific Northwest. No, it’s not a sasquatch – it’s a six-eyed spider with curved, vicious-looking claws that scientists have dubbed Trogloraptor, or “cave robber.”
In a paper published in the journal Zookeys on Friday, scientists from the arachnology lab at the California Academy of Sciences described the new critter, which is about the size of a half-dollar coin and likes to hang from simple webs on the ceilings of caves. Researchers and citizen scientist have found Trogloraptor in old-growth redwood forests and in caves across Oregon and California.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, July 27, 2012
What if the so-called “medical marijuana” proponents could have their cake, and eat it to?
That is, what if they could have the “benefits” they claim they derive from smoking marijuana, while NOT having its intoxicating effects?
Would they still smoke it?
That would tell the story.
It certainly would.
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What a drag, Israeli firm grows “highless” marijuana
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. REUTERS-Baz Ratner
By Maayan Lubell SAFED, Israel | Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:48am EDT
(Reuters) – They grow in a secret location in northern Israel. A tall fence, security cameras and an armed guard protect them from criminals. A hint of their sweet-scented blossom carries in the air: rows and rows of cannabis plants, as far as the eye can see.
It is here, at a medical marijuana plantation atop the hills of the Galilee, where researchers say they have developed marijuana that can be used to ease the symptoms of some ailments without getting patients high.
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner
“Sometimes the high is not always what they need. Sometimes it is an unwanted side effect. For some of the people it’s not even pleasant,” said Zack Klein, head of development at Tikun Olam, the company that developed the plant.
Cannabis has more than 60 constituents called cannabinoids. THC is perhaps the best known of those, less so for its medical benefits and more for its psychoactive properties that give people a “high” feeling.
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Vice President Biden said, “Now people, when I say that, look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’ The answer is ‘yes,’ that’s what I’m telling you.”
“And folks look, AARP knows – and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know – that the status quo is simply not acceptable. Its totally unacceptable. And its completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially, Were going to go bankrupt as a nation. Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’ The answer is ‘yes,’ I’m telling you.”
Of course, Vice President Biden was speaking in context of the Affordable Care Act – also commonly known as “ObamaCare” – which the Government Accountability Office has shown has already demonstrated significant cost savings and proven to be business-stimulating legislation, and that to eliminate it’s protections would cost the federal government even more in the long-term.
Analogously, it’d be like having a fuel inefficient automobile – one that only got about 5 miles/gallon, or less. If you were to purchase even a used vehicle with twice the fuel economy – 10mpg – you could realize significant overall long-term savings. Simply ceasing driving will not solve any problem, but would rather create more problems.
Similarly, could you imagine having an inefficient Heating/Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) system? You gotta’ stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter – there’s no way around it. And to lower your average monthly utility bills by even 1/3 would be beneficial.
So, here’s a shocker for armchair philosophers, political pundits, amateur economists, Radical Republicans, TEA Party types and more: Government spending – in part – is a significant driver of our nation’s economy. And, spending on economic infrastructure is ALWAYS a most wise investment.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Readers may already know of the legend of an irony of naming Greenland “Greenland,” especially since much of that nation is covered by ice or snow. On the other hand, their nearest national neighbor, Iceland, is green. In fact, some say Iceland’s verdancy is exceeded only the Emerald Isle (that’d be Ireland).
Again, Greenland is snowy/icy, while Iceland is green.
But, thanks to that great myth called “global warming,” Greenland may become green!
It seems the mythical fallacy of “global warming” is causing ice to melt in Greenland.
Yeah.
Must be the hot air from the Great Debate over whether or not “Global Warming” is merely a periodic, or even occasional occurrence, or if it is a cyclical, if not long-term trend.
You know it, the one that says “there is no global warming.”
Extent of surface melt over Greenland’s ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right). Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12. In the image, the areas classified as “probable melt” (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as “melt” (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting. The satellites are measuring different physical properties at different scales and are passing over Greenland at different times. As a whole, they provide a picture of an extreme melt event about which scientists are very confident. Credit: Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory
Just like the myth that Americans landed on the moon.
Keep it tuned to Faux News!
Just click your heels three times and you’ll be back in Kansas!
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For several days this month, Greenland’s surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of Greenland, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Seriously.
They are.
It’s kinda’ like the gun saying, albeit with a peppermint twist:
“When ‘they’ outlaw science, only outlaws will be scientists.”
The whole scientific process means that folks get up and argue about it, and demonstrate their findings, and argue their conclusions, and implications for the same.
This is a prime example of Republican idiocy.
Utter stupidity brought to you by TEApublican TEAvangelical radicals.
After a state report predicts higher ocean levels, based in part on global-warming data, new legislation seeks to all but outlaw such projections. The bill has drawn ridicule, as well as scrutiny of the state’s new political climate.
RALEIGH, N.C. — When scientists at a state commission predicted that North Carolina’s sea levels could rise 39 inches by 2100, coastal business and development leaders weren’t alarmed at the prospect of flooding. They were outraged by the report itself.
They complained to state legislators, saying the projection could trigger regulations costing coastal businesses and homeowners millions of dollars.
Waves lap against Johnnie Mercer’s Pier at Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington, N.C. (Paul Stephen / The Star-News / May 29, 2012)
The result is House Bill 819, a measure that would require sea level forecasts to be based on past patterns and would all but outlaw projections based on climate change data.
The bill, now under discussion by a legislative conference committee, has been ridiculed nationwide. It was mocked by comedian Stephen Colbert and savaged in a Scientific American blog post titled “N.C. Considers Making Sea Rise Illegal.”
It has also focused attention on the political shift in North Carolina, where Republicans in 2010 won control of the state Legislature for the first time in a century. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 11, 2012
Bear this in mind as you read the following news item: For the vast majority of workplaces, alcohol consumption during work hours could lead to significantly more than mere dismissal from employment. For those whose work involves human life – such as heavy machinery operators, healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, and others – it could result in harm or loss of life to individuals.
However, for those who do high-level thinking, or are involved in the creative arts, this could be a boon to their efforts.
To your health!
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Having A Drink Or Two At Work Could Boost Your Productivity
“Being mildly drunk facilitates a divergent, diffuse mode of thought, which is useful for such tasks where the answer requires thinking on a tangent,” says BPS Research Digest.
Something that has DEMONSTRATED SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE – or some hocus pocus baloney baloney which is the equivalent of an old wives tale with utterly NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to support its specious claims?
Your “bullshit” detectors should be pinging 100% every time you pass by some “herbalist’s” corner.
If for no other reason, consider this: There is NO inspection of any ingredients used in such so-called “medicine.”
So, yeah… you could be ingesting arsenic.
Why?
Because there’s no inspection required.
Good luck!
And besides… are you really gonna’ believe that some root, gall bladder of bear, or powdered horn of an endangered specie will genuinely cure you?
Or, will it only relieve the symptoms of your wallet?
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Logo of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine ---
Traditional Chinese medicine is enjoying increasing popularity all over the world. But two recently published studies show that the treatments can be harmful. The papers focus attention on the fact that not all of the ingredients in TCM treatments are listed, or even legal, and that some can cause cancer.
Critics have long warned that some mixtures can also contain naturally occurring toxins; contaminants such as heavy metals; added substances such as steroids, which can make them appear more effective; and traces of animals that are endangered and trade-restricted.
Now, researchers in Australia have investigated the issue using modern sequencing technology. The team analyzed 15 TCM samples seized by Australian officials.
“We took these traditional preparations, smashed them to pieces and extracted the DNA from the powder,” explained molecular geneticist Michael Bunce.
Some products contained material from animals classified as vulnerable or critically endangered, such as the Asiatic black bear and the Saiga antelope, just as the producers of the products claimed. But often, the medicine also harbored ingredients not mentioned on the packaging, the team reported online in PLoS Genetics.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
For years, we’ve been told that our brains don’t regenerate, that “it’s all downhill.” However, findings over the years have slowly begun to debunk that myth. Researchers have known that physical activity contributes to decreased depressive symptoms, and can significantly improve one’s outlook and self-esteem.
Now, even more exciting is the news that physical activity – in the form of exercise – actually does improve mental ability!
The value of mental-training games may be speculative, as Dan Hurley writes in his article on the quest to make ourselves smarter, but there is another, easy-to-achieve, scientifically proven way to make yourself smarter. Go for a walk or a swim. For more than a decade, neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering evidence of the beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But the newest findings make it clear that this isn’t just a relationship; it is the relationship. Using sophisticated technologies to examine the workings of individual neurons — and the makeup of brain matter itself — scientists in just the past few months have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.
“Follow the money.” As a young journalist on the political left, I often heeded this well-worn advice. If conservatives were denying the science of global warming, I figured, big fossil-fuel companies must be behind it. After all, that was the story with the tobacco industry and the dangers of smoking. Why not here?
And so I covered the attacks on the established scientific knowledge on climate change, evolution and many more issues as a kind of search for the wealthy bad guys behind the curtain. Like many in Washington, I tended to assume that political differences are either about contrasting philosophies or, more cynically, about money and special interests.
There’s just one problem: Mounting scientific evidence suggests that this is a pretty limited way of understanding what divides us. And at a time of unprecedented polarization in America, we need a more convincing explanation for the staggering irrationality of our politics. Especially since we’re now split not just over what we ought to do politically but also over what we consider to be true.
Results of a large-scale, 16-year anonymized research project found that states with Medical Marijuana Laws (MMLs) and decriminalization statutes, underage cannabis consumption declines, especially among minority youth.
