Posted: May 4, 2012
Retired scientist and GM-Free Cymru activist Brian John last week posted an English language account of a story that has set everyone talking in Denmark. It describes the simple way that one Danish pig farmer has been able to raise healthier animals: about a year ago, he stopped feeding his pigs GM soya.
Ib Borup Pedersen is representative of his sector, with a breeding herd of 450 sows, raising nearly 30 piglets per sow. This is an increase of almost two piglets per sow against the time when he was still feeding GM soy to his animals.
However, Pedersen is far from ordinary, since he has had the courage to talk about his findings openly, appearing in the Danish farming paper Effektivt Landbrug on April 13. The paper's extensive coverage and editorial comment has set off a lively debate within Denmark, all the more heated after interested enquiries from foreigners.
Read the full story here: http://www.arc2020.eu
Posted: May 1, 2012
A bill currently making a swift path through Congress would give the federal government yet another way to keep tabs on U.S. Citizens: though our cars. As Paul Watson of InfoWars reports, Section 31406 of Senate bill 1813, known as "MAP-21," would require all new vehicles to come pre-loaded with "mandatory event recorders," or black boxes, which keep track of a wide variety of information about the vehicle and how it's driven.
All information collected "or transmitted" by the "event recorders" remains the property of the car's owner, according to the legislation. Though the bill does outline a number of different scenarios in which the data may be shared with the government or other third parties.
Read the full article: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/u-s-bill-makes-black-box-monitors-mandatory-in-all-new-cars-by-2015/
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/u-s-bill-makes-black-box-monitors-mandatory-in-all-new-cars-by-2015/
Posted: May 1, 2012
Though the human genome has been sequenced, scientists are still trying to figure out how the accomplishment can help people, for example, how it can be used to treat disease. As University of Massachusetts Amherst geneticist Jacob Mayfield notes, "It was easy to think of the human genome as the big prize, but what we realize now is, it's just a foot in the door."
"What we're beginning to understand is that the information we're interested in knowing lies in comparisons between genomes," he adds. As society moves to personalized, genome-based medicine, "much work remains for us to grasp what it is that we know. As we uncover new variations at the DNA level, we have to address their consequences. To learn what genetic differences mean to the whole organism, we have to find ways of asking about function. Because the way genes interact to cause traits like red hair isn't understood, let alone how they cause disease!"
Read the full article: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/152409.php
Posted: May 1, 2012
Reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing is a missed opportunity for states to improve public health, according to a new review of state alcohol advertising laws from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The report examines the extent to which states' alcohol advertising laws incorporate eight different best practices to reduce youth exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing, and finds only eleven states use more than one of the eight and no state uses more than five. The report is available on CAMY's website, www.camy.org.
"We know quite a bit about how to reduce youth exposure to alcohol marketing and advertising," said David Jernigan, PhD, CAMY director. "Unfortunately, this report shows states have a long way to go towards using that knowledge to reduce youth exposure."
Alcohol is responsible for 4,700 deaths per year among young people under the age of 21. At least 14 studies have found that the more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, or if they are already drinking, to drink more.
Read the full article:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/jhub-mos050112.php
Posted: May 1, 2012
Renowned researcher and professor Tyrone Hayes has been studying the effects of the common herbicide atrazine for more than a decade. His findings contributed to the European Union's decision to ban this toxic endocrine disrupter.
Much of his research has focused on how atrazine affects amphibians, especially their processes of metamorphosis and sex differentiation. Be warned - it's not pretty.
Uncomfortable with a chemical that causes sex-changes in frogs to be allowed in our water and on our farms? Let Washington know. Legislation introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) would ban the herbicide in the U.S. Rep. Ellison's bill - H.R.4318 - would specifically prohibit production, sale, use, importation or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine.
It's time to call your congressman to support this bill.
Read more on this article: http://www.enviroblog.org/2012/04/baby-meet-frog-frog-meet-baby.html
Posted: May 1, 2012
A third of people with asthma are at a high risk of having a potentially fatal asthma attack, research suggests.
The findings come from an online test launched a few months ago by Asthma UK to help those with asthma gauge how serious their condition is.
Nearly 25,000 people took the Triple A (Avoid Asthma Attacks) test, which asks simple questions about factors known to be linked to worsening disease.
Before taking the test, less than half recognised that they might be at risk.
The charity believes most asthma-related emergencies are avoidable.
It estimates that up to 75% of emergency hospital admissions would be preventable with better disease management.
But the latest findings suggest that people with asthma are considerably underestimating their risk of having an attack.
Read the full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17892523
Posted: May 1, 2012
A recent article in the journal Neuron analysed how neuroscience stories are typically presented by major UK newspapers. Although diplomatically stated in the paper, the findings do not inspire confidence. To summarise, it seems that when neuroscience findings are covered by the mainstream press, they're invariably interpreted in questionable ways in order to support political ideology or predetermined views and theories, up to and including discriminatory stereotypes - for example about homosexuals.
While newspaper stories about neuroscience research usually have some sort of appreciable logic, they typically end up with conclusions or predictions that are well beyond the focus of the original study, and bear little or no resemblance to a scientific critique. (Ironically, the most common category used in what seemed to be an ever increasing flow of misinformation was "Brain optimisation".)
Read the full article at: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Posted: May 1, 2012
With massive amounts of untapped renewable energy and energy efficiency potential hidden within the burgeoning economies of developing countries across the world, Worldwatch Institute's low-carbon development strategies project provides nations with advice on crafting policies that unlock these potentials and establish effective deployment strategies. Worldwatch will initially focus on the Caribbean and Central American regions and then extend the approach to other municipalities, provinces, and countries elsewhere.
Read the full article: http://www.worldwatch.org/sustainable-energy-roadmaps
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/us/amid-rural-decay-trees-take-root-in-silos.html?ref=us
The sight is a familiar one along the dusty back roads of the Great Plains: an old roofless silo left to the elements along with decaying barns, chicken coops and stone homesteads.
This is the landscape of rural abandonment that defines a region that has struggled with generations of exodus.
But increasingly there are unexpected signs of rebirth. Many of these decrepit silos, once used to store feed for livestock, now just hollow columns of cinder blocks, have through happenstance transformed into unlikely nurseries for trees.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://grist.org/list/budget-friendly-hotel-chains-also-have-the-smallest-carbon-footprints/
When choosing an environmentally friendly hotel chain, the best indicator probably isn't whether the place asks you to hang up your towels if you don't want them replaced each day. According to a new analysis by sustainability company Brighter Planet, budget and mid-range hotels tend to produce the least carbon per room.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/dark-chocolate-health-cholesterol-blood-sugar_n_1452799.html?ref=healthy-living
Hooray! -- even more research shows why dark chocolate (in moderation) has heart-healthy benefits.
Researchers from San Diego State University conducted a small controlled study illustrating that eating dark chocolate has positive effects in lowering blood sugar levels and "bad" cholesterol levels and increasing "good" cholesterol levels -- all of which could have positive effects on heart health.
The study was presented at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting.
For the study, researchers had 31 people eat either 50 grams of regular dark chocolate (70% cocoa), dark chocolate (70% cocoa) that has been overheated, or white chocolate (0% cocoa). The study participants ate their assigned chocolate for a 15-day period; their blood glucose, circulating lipids, blood pressure and blood flow were all measured before and after the study.
But while the researchers found a positive effect of eating the dark chocolate in the study, they cautioned that chocolate is also high in saturated fat and calories, and must therefore be eaten in moderation.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577365782995320366.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Could a single molecule -- one chemical substance -- lie at the very center of our moral lives?
Research that I have done over the past decade suggests that a chemical messenger called oxytocin accounts for why some people give freely of themselves and others are coldhearted louts, why some people cheat and steal and others you can trust with your life, why some husbands are more faithful than others, and why women tend to be nicer and more generous than men. In our blood and in the brain, oxytocin appears to be the chemical elixir that creates bonds of trust not just in our intimate relationships but also in our business dealings, in politics and in society at large.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/apr/27/survey-sleeping-habits-germans-britons
Society plays an enormous role in shaping our attitudes towards sleep and this affects how much sleep we get. Sleep, in turn, has a major impact upon society, influencing childhood learning and development, affecting workplace safety and efficiency, and even risk-taking behaviour.
Sleepiness and sleep disorders cost the economy billionseach year in days off work, lost time, inefficiency and accidents, yet the machismo associated with short sleep and long work hours is pervasive. Society glorifies "driven" individuals who succeed on apparently little sleep, whereas those who prioritise sleep are viewed as weak and not having the "right stuff". Some professions even demand excessive sleep deprivation as part of the job or a "rite of passage".
In addition to work, many other factors affect our sleep, including children, pets, noise pollution, temperature, bed type, pain, gender, bed partner, your income, hobbies, alcohol, drugs and medications, exercise, television, radio, computers, telephones - the list goes on and on.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/27/hungarian-home-births-jail
Saturday will be the 494th day of Dr Agnes Gereb'shouse arrest in Budapest. For the past 16 months, the midwife and internationally recognised home-birth expert has been confined to her home for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Officers arrive unannounced, at any hour of the day or night, to check that Gereb, 59, is home. If not, she can expect to return to the prison where she spent 77 days in 2010, accused of negligent malpractice after a woman went into early labour in her birthing centre.
In five days' time, Gereb will be taken back to prison after losing an appeal against her original sentence of two years' imprisonment (with a specification that she serve a minimum of a year) and five years' suspension from practising as either a doctor or midwife. The minimum time she must serve has been increased to 16 months and the ban doubled to 10 years.
Gereb's crime is to have spent the past 17 years quietly resisting Hungary's attempts to criminalise home births.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17865151
A judge in the Netherlands has upheld a new law to ban foreign tourists from entering cannabis cafes.
While soft drugs are tolerated, there is growing concern at tourists visiting just for drugs, and foreign dealers selling illegally at home.
The ban is due to start in three southern provinces next month, and go nationwide by the end of the year.
A group of cafe owners argued at The Hague district court that the ban was discriminatory against foreigners.
Under the new law, Dutch residents will still be allowed into the cafes, as long as they have valid identification, or possibly hold a new "weed pass", which is also being debated.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/uoc-tia042512.php
In a study with implications for businesspeople in a global economy, researchers at the University of Chicago have found that people make more rational decisions when they think through a problem in a non-native tongue.
People are more likely to take favorable risks if they think in a foreign language, the new study showed. "We know from previous research that because people are naturally loss-averse, they often forgo attractive opportunities," said UChicago psychologist Boaz Keysar, a leading expert on communication. "Our new findings demonstrate that such aversion to losses is much reduced when people make decisions in their non-native language."
"A foreign language provides a distancing mechanism that moves people from the immediate intuitive system to a more deliberate mode of thinking," wrote Keysar, professor of psychology at UChicago, in the paper, "The Foreign Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases." The paper, which appears in the current issue of Psychological Science, was co-authored by UChicago graduate students Sayuri Hayakawa and Sun Gyu An.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/uocd-ilp042512.php
There are lots of ways to treat a heart attack - CPR, clot-busters and more. Now CU medical school researchers have found a new candidate:
Intense light.
"The study suggests that strong light, or even just daylight, might ease the risk of having a heart attack or suffering damage from one," says Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, cardiology, and cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "For patients, this could mean that daylight exposure inside of the hospital could reduce the damage that is caused by a heart attack."
What's the connection between light and a myocardial infarction, known commonly as a heart attack?
The answer lies, perhaps surprisingly, in the circadian rhythm, the body's clock that is linked to light and dark. The circadian clock is regulated by proteins in the brain. But the proteins are in other organs as well, including the heart.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3481
Training physicians in mindfulness meditation and communication skills can improve the quality of primary care for both practitioners and their patients, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers report in a studypublished online this week in the journal Academic Medicine.
As ways to improve primary care, the researchers also recommend promoting a sense of community among physicians and providing time to physicians for personal growth.
"Programs focused on personal awareness and self-development are only part of the solution," the researchers stated. "Our health care delivery systems must implement systematic change at the practice level to create an environment that supports mindful practice, encourages transparent and clear communication among clinicians, staff, patients, and families, and reduces professional isolation."
Medical education can better support self-awareness programs for trainees while also promoting role models -- preceptors and attending physicians -- who exemplify mindful practice in action, they wrote.
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/aaop-ppm042312.php
BOSTON - Many parents cringe when their child asks for help with math homework. New research shows that poor math skills can cause another difficulty for caregivers -- measuring the right amount of medicine.
In fact, parents with math skills at the third grade level or below were five times more likely to measure the wrong dose of medication for their child than those with skills at the sixth grade level or higher, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.
"Parents face many challenges as they seek to administer medications to their children in a safe and effective manner," said study co-author H. Shonna Yin, MD, MS, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center. "Dosing liquid medications correctly can be especially confusing, as parents may need to understand numerical concepts such as how to convert between different units of measurement, like milliliters, teaspoons and tablespoons. Parents also must accurately use dosing cups, droppers and syringes, many of which vary in their measurement markings and the volume they hold."
Posted: April 30, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/consumer-brands-owned-ten-companies-graphic_n_1458812.html?ref=mostpopular
A ginormous number of brands are controlled by just 10 multinationals, according to this amazing infographic from French blog Convergence Alimentaire. Now we can see just how many products are owned by Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg's, Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, P&G and Nestle.
Is it any wonder our food supply is heading toward dangerous?
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