New Cool Science Articles

New Visible Light Photocatalyst Kills Bacteria, Even After Light Turned Off (via)

In the battle against bacteria, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a powerful new weapon -- an enhanced photocatalytic disinfection process that uses visible light to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses, even in the dark.

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Based upon a new catalyst, the disinfection process can be used to purify drinking water, sanitize surgical instruments and remove unwanted fingerprints from delicate electrical and optical components.

"The new catalyst also has a unique catalytic memory effect that continues to kill deadly pathogens for up to 24 hours after the light is turned off," said Jian Ku Shang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the U. of I.

Fish Oil Given Intravenously to Patients in Intensive Care Has Many Benefits, Study Finds (via)

A randomised controlled trial of fish oil given intravenously to patients in intensive care has found that it improves gas exchange, reduces inflammatory chemicals and results in a shorter length of hospital stay.

Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care investigated the effects of including fish oil in the normal nutrient solution for patients with sepsis, finding a significant series of benefits.

Philip Calder, from the University of Southampton, UK, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study in 23 patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis in the Hospital Padre Américo, Portugal. He said, "Recently there has been increased interest in the fat and oil component of vein-delivered nutrition, with the realization that it not only supplies energy and essential building blocks, but may also provide bioactive fatty acids. Traditional solutions use soybean oil, which does not contain the omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oil that act to reduce inflammatory responses. In fact, soybean oil is rich in omega-6 acids that may actually promote inflammation in an excessive or unbalanced supply."

Side effects may include dipsomania, hydrophilia, and hyper-retroamnesia.

Zambian Study Finds Longer Breastfeeding Best for HIV-Infected Mothers (via)

The researchers' initial hypothesis, which proved to be incorrect, suggested that by 4 months of age, children would have passed the critical developmental point when breastfeeding is essential to their survival. However, stopping breastfeeding at 4 months, compared to usual breastfeeding as the child reaches 6 months to 24 months or older, did not decrease mortality or play a significant role in protecting the child from HIV transmission.

These findings were consistent with those for mothers not infected with HIV; longer breastfeeding is necessary to protect children against potentially fatal infectious diseases, especially those prevalent in low-resource settings. To prevent postnatal HIV transmission, however, mothers with HIV should be on antiretroviral drugs.

The breasts knows the bests.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers Can Reduce Incidence of Alzheimer's

A study published in the BMJ concludes:

Angiotensin receptor blockers are associated with a significant reduction in the incidence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia compared with angiotensin converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors or other cardiovascular drugs in a predominantly male population.

Monsanto Corn Gave Me the AIDS

GM corn from Monsanto tied to organ failure in this study.

Krijg Nou de Pokke!

More about Dutch profanity than you ever would care to know.

Like "Lost," Except Russian and Real

A young surgeon removes his own appendix (BMJ report of 1961 incident).

When the preparations were complete Rogozov scrubbed and positioned himself. He chose a semi-reclining position, with his right hip slightly elevated and the lower half of the body elevated at an angle of 30°. Then he disinfected and dressed the operating area. He anticipated needing to use his sense of touch to guide him and thus decided to work without gloves.

...Rogozov first infiltrated the layers of abdominal wall with 20 ml of 0.5% procaine, using several injections. After 15 minutes he made a 10-12 cm incision. The visibility in the depth of the wound was not ideal; sometimes he had to raise his head to obtain a better view or to use the mirror, but for the most part he worked by feel. After 30-40 minutes Rogozov started to take short breaks because of general weakness and vertigo. Finally he removed the severely affected appendix. He applied antibiotics in the peritoneal cavity and closed the wound. The operation itself lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

One of the assistants to Rogozov wrote in his journal:

When Rogozov had made the incision and was manipulating his own innards as he removed the appendix, his intestine gurgled, which was highly unpleasant for us; it made one want to turn away, flee, not look—but I kept my head and stayed. Artemev and Teplinsky also held their places, although it later turned out they had both gone quite dizzy and were close to fainting . . . Rogozov himself was calm and focused on his work, but sweat was running down his face and he frequently asked Teplinsky to wipe his forehead . . . The operation ended at 4 am local time. By the end, Rogozov was very pale and obviously tired, but he finished everything off.

There's more gold in the article itself. This just makes my day.

Weekend Roundup

Chuck Klosterman usually doesn't do it for me, but he has many interesting things to say during segment 2 of this episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge.

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On to urban cavemen. This is so stupid I don't even know where to begin. I think these people, though svelte and beautiful, are horribly mistaken w/r/t the soundness of their foundational principles. Imitating the diet and exercise profile of a caveman may be a sort of simulation of our "natural" state, I don't see how this is better because natural. Hobbes would beg to differ.

Not to mention that it is decidedly unnatural to either live in a skyscraper or to use a bathtub-sized meat freezer.

These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping, to replicate how a prehistoric person might have fled from a mastodon.

In a city crowded with vegetarian restaurants and yoga studios, the cavemen defy other people’s ideas of healthy living. There is an indisputable macho component to the lifestyle.

“I didn’t want to do some faddish diet that my sister would do,” Mr. Durant said.

No, we wouldn't want that, now would we?

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Predictibly Irrational.

Are You There?

Glenn Greenwald has a retarded post here. He lauds Helen Thomas for asking what the motivation for the Xmas day attempted bombing was. First of all, that is a stupid question to ask. Who knows the hearts of men? But the crazy thing is the divorce between the question and the answer. The question of Helen Thomas concerned the motivation of the person(s) who wished us harm, but the answer from Napolitano addressed the level of security at Skipple airport. But that equally moronic (but ballsy) woman Thomas keeps asking what the motivation of the would-be bomber was, to which John Brennan replies with the standard they-are-evil-and-kill-innocents response. There is a negative communication level going on here. Not only is the question not being answered, but the "answer" is irrelevant to the "question."

Chinese History

During my visit to China and Tibet I learned to detest China, but my opinion is ignorant of the magnificent history of a great land. I present to you a history of China.

American Exceptionalism and American Religion

American Exceptionalism and American Religion. No analysis here but only a link.

James is a Weirdo

James Ellroy is the strangest person ever (if his reading on "Writer's Block" is any indicator). Here is the audio link.

Protestants on the Road

Yet another example of what happens when you allow the hoi polloi read the Word of God.

The Carlisle outpost of Truckstop Ministries is one of 74 chapels in 29 states. From Barstow, Calif., to Bordentown, N.J., truckers are gathering in meeting rooms, modular trailers and old movie theaters. There are other ministries and groups catering to truckers nationwide, too. Just down the road, at the Petro truck stop near Interstate 81, the Carlisle Truck Stop Chaplain Ministry meets in a trailer. However, Truckstop Ministries is the largest and most organized Christian outreach network on the highway.

Mr. Hershey and chaplain Leon Wells run their Sunday meeting in Mr. Hershey's 28-foot Coachman motor home. Half a dozen drivers huddle in on this sunny Sunday, 24-ounce cups of truck-stop coffee in hand, to listen to Mr. Hershey's sermon and talk about God, the road and life.

It looks like they have some competition though (from Youtube user "Yoked to Jesus"):

Don't believe what anybody tells you about God! That's where people get so screwed up, they're lookin' to a pastor, a minister, whatever to, you know, interpret God's Word for 'em. You know what? They could teach you, that's great...you can listen to 'em. But never believe it! Until you check it out for yourself until you go to the Word, until you go to the Bible and you check it out for yourself....

Part 2:

I tell you what. That was like a blanket of comfort, it really was like a blanket of comfort because it was God saying, "Jeff, Jeff, just climb up into my lap and cry. I'm gonna hold you through this, be still and know that I am God....

Part 3:

Debating Scripture is frivolous 'cause somebody comes into a debate discussion about Scripture, that heart will keep them from ever seein' from seein' what God wants 'em to see.

Yes, okay, let's take what we all agree to be the WORD OF GOD and just ASSUME that it is a very simple thing to understand! Jesus Christ! Please bring back Torquemada! In this case he would be the lesser of two evils.

Bill Shakey Does Lebowski

Two Gentlemen of Lebowski:

BLANCHE
Whither the money, Lebowski? Faith, we are servants of Bonnie; promised by the lady good that thou in turn were good for’t.

WOO
Bound in honour, we must have our bond; cursed be our tribe if we forgive thee.

BLANCHE
Let us soak him in the commode, so as to turn his head.

WOO
Aye, and see what vapourises; then he will see what is foul.

Cool Passage from the Histories #1

From Herodotus' Histories, 1.150:

This is how the Aeolians lost Smyrna. The people of Smyrna took in and sheltered some Ionian men who had been defeated in factional strife and exiled from Colophon, their home city. Once they were admitted into the city, the Colophonian exiles watched and waited until one day the people of Smyrna went outside the city walls to hold a festival in honor of Dionysos. Then the Colophonians shut and locked the gates and took possession of the city. When all the Aeolians rushed there to help the Smyrnians recover their city, the two sides reached an understanding whereby the Ionians agreed to return to the Smyrnians all of their movable goods in the city, and the Aeolians agreed to abandon the site of Smyrna itself. The Smyrnians carried out their part of the bargain, and the eleven Aeolian cities distributed the former Aeolians of Smyrna among themselves and made them citizens.

Kind of like the Trojan Horse scheme in reverse. Never trust an Ionian from Asia Minor!

Where to Begin?

Over dinner last night with a family friend, the conversation turned to politics. Unsurprisingly, I was the voice of pessimism and apathy while Bill's was that of civic involvement and cautious optimism. I said that politics made me automatically shutdown because:

• What's the point when no one listens?
  
• It only makes you angry and frustrated.
  
• It is so often trivial and inane.
  
• It is totally uninteresting, especially when compared to history, classics, science, literature, &c.
  

He made the Zinnian argument that you must take a position and be informed in order to be an intelligent, responsible person. I would love to agree with him, but this approach makes me feel forced into politics because the world is so often fucked up by assholes and idiots. Why should my time, emotions, energy, &c. be manipulated by assholes and idiots?

I'm afraid I came off as an indifferent prick, the type of person who if more active could actually make a difference despite his or her negative predictions.

I have thought about it and agree with him, with a few caveats. I don't think that I should be obligated to be involved in the political "discourse" of the United States merely because I am a U.S. citizen or in the vicissitudes of the global political clusterfuck just because I live on this planet.

What I do think is that one should be involved in reducing evil/suffering/stupidity/&c. in the world in some way. Any way. If I choose to try to tackle starvation or child abuse or human rights abuses anywhere in the universe, that should count just as much as emailing my representative in Congress or drawing up petitions. One could even argue that the former causes are much more important than the latter ones.

The most challenging part is that the world is so supremely fucked up that I don't even know where to begin—and if that's the case, anywhere is better than nowhere.

Saint Frank and His Nonexistent Creatures

From the First and Second Lives of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano:

Both Francis and his companions agree in reporting that, when he had spoken thus, the birds exulted marvelously in their own fashion, stretching their necks, extending their wings, opening their mouths, and gazing at him. Francis walked into their midst, touching their heads and bodies with his tunic. Finally he blessed them and, making the sign of the cross, gave them permission to fly off to some other place.

Rejoicing, the blessed father went off with his companions, giving thanks to God whom all creatures worship. Since he had now been made simple by grace and not by nature, he began to accuse himself of negligence for not having preached to the birds before, since they listened to the word of God with such reverence. And thus it came about that, from that day on, he exhorted all birds, all animals, all reptiles, and even nonexistent creatures to praise and love the creator, for every day, when the name of the savior was announced, he himself saw their obedience.

Grrr...Language

A Metafilter post about various trademark issues with Google's new phone. Apparently, Dick's estate is made over Google's use of "Nexus" paired with a number and Verizon had to pay Lucasfilm to use "Droid." It's really unbelievable what people trademark and then "own." Just because you take a perfectly good word that is widely used by everyone and then place a number next to it, it's special now? Or you chop off the first two letters of "android," you all of a sudden have such a novel verbal construct that you can have exclusive rights to it?

Well, "android" is formed two Greek roots, so why don't we just pay them? It's really pathetic that people/companies can secure "rights" to language (which everyone "owns").

Just another reason why George Lucas is the biggest piece of shit in the universe.

Blinded by Overwhelming Fury (Apparently)

Immediately after waking up this morning, I had the misfortune to discover an interview with Gallagher. He seems to be a living example of why it's important to never let yourself become an angry person. (It's alright to be a person who occasionally, and for a reason, happens to get angry, though.)

He calls President Clinton "the most common" and complains that Bill ruined oral sex, never mind that he was a Rhodes scholar and if he happened to affect some down-home charm, it was only for show and oral sex.

You can actually take a drink now during your show! You know, George Burns performed smoking a cigar, and never needed a drink of water on a stool. But now this has become a tradition in America. They more or less have a stool ready for you and ask, “What water ya want?” To me, as a visual artist, everything that’s in the picture should have meaning—what does a stool and a bottle of water mean?

Oh, please. Throughout the interview he bemoans trivial and minute changes in the comedy industry and places the blame for his lack of recent success squarely upon the shoulders of a "society" constructed for the lowest common denominator.

And I suppose this is what I mean in saying "O, woe betides the souring of a man." Careful when you bitch like this because it just may blind you to the incredible irony of being both the subject and object of your derision.

(And he dismisses the heinous nature of Michael Vick's crimes, saying, "One player kills somebody and somehow isn’t punished as much as a quarterback who kills a dog. Dogs are given to the pound, and the pound kills them. So if, I forget his name, if [Michael Vick] had worked for the pound, he wouldn’t have been put in jail.")

I Find It Very Frustrating...

...that some of the most super important issues around are also some of the most boring.

Some Photos From California

Corn is Only Corn if You Live Where "Corn" is Most Common

From Corn in the Columbia Encyclopedia:

The name corn is given to the leading cereal crop of any major region. In England, corn means wheat; in Scotland and Ireland, oats.