Streaming

I have this new addiction. Storm Chasing. Now, if you know me at all, you're thinking, "Haley, you HATE storms!" But actually no, that's not true. I've always loved storms, Twister was one of my favorite movies when I was younger. But because I've always been interested in them, I've developed a very healthy respect for them. I know what damage they can cause and so when there's tornados predicted in my area, I try to seek shelter.

Recently though, because of Twitter, I've started watching streaming video from the storm chasers in the Plains States. I especially enjoy Michael Phelps, his audio commentary is always interesting and educational (he's a science teacher in real life, or so I'm told), and there's a chat feature so I can interact with other "home chasers."

It amuses me though, that I am able to stream video like this for hours at a time. I remember when videos and music first became available on line, my dad (the internet provider) would get so frustrated with us when we watched just a short clip online. I still hear his voice in my head every time I watch something. It's so unreal that technology now allows us to follow along live with chasers in Kansas, or watch a movie from Netflix, or have a "face to face" conversation with a soldier in Iraq. We can even do it on our phones now, which is just crazy. I'm in the generation that grew up with this stuff. I don't mean the teens now who grew up ALWAYS having a cell phone with text messaging. I mean we grew up right along side technology. I've really watched technology expand and grow. I remember playing Centipede (or snakes or something like that) on my dad's DOS. It was so awesome that he was able to get weather updates sent to his computer from who knows wear. now I have a live radar on my computer all the time and I can stream video and can SEE the weather! So incredible.

news for fellow winos

I've been a wine drinker for awhile now, and I have recently converted Jordan when we went to Oliver Winery on our minimoon. He prefers white wine, but I have always been a red wine drinker. So for me, this is good news!

Cure for Cancer AND the Energy Crisis

I had to share this video with you guys. This is pretty awesome. I won't waste time explaining it. Just watch the video.

Science is Making Men Obsolete

Apparently, "they" are working on a new project that will produce sperm from women's bone marrow. How do people come up with this kind of thing? "Oh, I think I'll turn this marrow into baby makers today."

Finally! Birth control for a MAN!

It's finally here ladies. Nonsurgical birth control for a man! And it even comes complete with a remote control, men's favorite tool! Now if we can just get them over their pride haha!

Aninimal Human Hybird...

Who really thinks this is a good idea? Note that they say that a human embryo will be injected into an animal egg in which ALMOST all genetic material will be removed.

I heart Coffee, and you should too

"(WebMD) The caffeine in three daily cups of coffee or tea may help older women preserve their memory, a new French study shows.

Researchers included Karen Ritchie, PhD, of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Montpellier, France.

Ritchie's team studied some 7,000 men and women aged 65 and older (average age: 74) in three French cities: Bordeaux, Dijon, and Montpellier.

When the study started, participants reported how many daily cups of tea and coffee they drank. They also noted all of their medications, since some drugs contain caffeine. Few drank colas or cocoa, which also contain caffeine.

Participants took several tests of their mental skills, including a memory test based on a list of words. They repeated those tests two years later and again four years after the study began.

Women who reported drinking at least three cups of coffee or tea per day at the study's start showed less of a drop in their test scores during the study, compared with women who reported consuming at most one daily cup of tea or coffee.

The biggest benefit was seen in the women's verbal memory.

It didn't matter if the women favored coffee or tea. That finding suggests that the caffeine was what mattered most, according to the researchers.

But caffeine didn't seem to affect women's risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. The study may have been too short to show such a benefit, the researchers note.

What about men? The data show no caffeine benefits in men's test scores over the years. Women may be more sensitive to caffeine's effects, according to Ritchie and colleagues.

Caffeine consumption may merely be a marker of other health habits that
affect memory. Ritchie's team considered that possibility. The study's results didn't change.

Still, observational studies such as this one don't prove cause and effect. That is, the researchers didn't directly test caffeine to see whether it helps save women's memory."



Hitti, Miranda. "Caffeine May Help Women's Memory." 6 Aug 2007. CBS.com. 8 Aug 2007. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/06/health/webmd/main3139469.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_3139469

Water is Dangerous

H2O: Dangerous Chemical!
A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

And for plenty of good reasons, since:

1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. it is a major component in acid rain
3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. accidental inhalation can kill you
5. it contributes to erosion
6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

* Forty-three (43) said yes,
* six (6) were undecided,
* and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.

The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

He feels the conclusion is obvious.

This was found here.

Human Sheep

Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.

The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.

Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, has spent seven years and £5million perfecting the technique, which involves injecting adult human cells into a sheep's foetus.

He has already created a sheep liver which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep.

The process would involve extracting stem cells from the donor's bone marrow and injecting them into the peritoneum of a sheep's foetus. When the lamb is born, two months later, it would have a liver, heart, lungs and brain that are partly human and available for transplant.

"We would take a couple of ounces of bone marrow cells from the patient,' said Prof Zanjani, whose work is highlighted in a Channel 4 programme tomorrow.

"We would isolate the stem cells from them, inject them into the peritoneum of these animals and then these cells would get distributed throughout the metabolic system into the circulatory system of all the organs in the body. The two ounces of stem cell or bone marrow cell we get would provide enough stem cells to do about ten foetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails."

At present 7,168 patients are waiting for an organ transplant in Britain alone, and two thirds of them are expected to die before an organ becomes available.

Scientists at King's College, London, and the North East Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle have now applied to the HFEA, the Government's fertility watchdog, for permission to start work on the chimeras.

But the development is likely to revive criticisms about scientists playing God, with the possibility of silent viruses, which are harmless in animals, being introduced into the human race.

Dr Patrick Dixon, an international lecturer on biological trends, warned: "Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans. Mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV."

Animal rights activists fear that if the cells get mixed together, they could end up with cellular fusion, creating a hybrid which would have the features and characteristics of both man and sheep. But Prof Zanjani said: "Transplanting the cells into foetal sheep at this early stage does not result in fusion at all."

Joseph, Claudia. "Now scientists create a sheep that's 15% human." Daily Mail: 24 Mar. 2007 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=444436&in_page_id=1770.