Unaffected family members show characteristic abnormalities.: “The results are prompting researchers to ask how some people can be unaffected by brain deficits that cause such pronounced behavioural abnormalities in others.” (Nature)
Monthly Archives: November 2005
Why sleep?
Science asks the iguana: “Today animals sleep in many different ways: brown bats for 20 hours a day, for example, and giraffes for less than two. To understand why people sleep the way they do, scientists need an explanation powerful enough to encompass the millions of other species that sleep as well.” (International Herald Tribune)
Meditation Builds Brain Structure; Ecstasy may damage its physical defences
“The practice does more than just make you feel good, it makes you perform better – and alters the structure of your brain.” (New Scientist)
And: “The drug ecstasy reduces the brain’s defences, reveals a new study of rats, leaving it vulnerable to invasion by viruses and other pathogens.” (New Scientist)
Who They Are
The double standard that underlies our torture policies. David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center writing in Slate, succinctly dissects the mockery Bush & Co. make of human rights with the U.S.’ policy on detention of foreign combatants without protection of law. Even torture apart, the central ploy, holding foreign nationals abroad so as to claim theat the U.S. constitution does not apply, makes no sense. We find humanity through the encounter with the alien, who deserves our consideration simply because he or she is human, nthing more. If we dehumanize the alien, we cannot be anything but, in the literal sense of the word, inhuman ourselves. The Republican ethos, I am convinced, is incapable of embracing humanity because it is fundamentally an appeal to tribal identity which is deeply encoded, I am convinced, in the neuroevolution of our social brains. Progressive ecumenism represents a moral imperative transcending our tribal xenophobia and the demonization of the Other. The culture war being waged now is literally one between our finer and our baser natures, and Guantanamo and the other extrajudicial detention facilities of the Bush administration are the frontlines of our battle to remain human, in all that that may potentially mean in the 21st century.
“The Republican senate is using habeas corpus as a political football. South Carolinian Lindsay Graham, the sponsor, is undoubtedly feeling tremendous pressure because of his ‘soft’ stance on torture (I still can’t believe we are even talking about it) and this is his way of restoring some manly credentials. But there is no excuse for the Democrats who signed on to this. Nor is there any excuse for the Blue state moderates either.
There was obviously some back room dickering on this bit of legislation and that makes me about as sick as anything about this whole thing. They’re playing politics with habeas corpus for Gawd’s sake. This isn’t some fucking highway bill or a farm subsidy. It’s the very foundation of our system of government and the single most important element of liberty. If the state can just declare someone an ‘unlawful combatant’ and lock them up forever, we have voted ourselves into tyranny. “
Happy Birthday to Me
Follow Me Here… is six years old today.
Update: Thanks to Blogger; publishing didn’t work today, preventing me from publishing this post in time for the anniversary. “001 java.net.SocketTimeoutException: Read timed out.” And thanks to all my readers for putting up with, among other things, six years of intermittent Blogger crump-outs! Many happy returns.
Who They Are
The double standard that underlies our torture policies. David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center writing in Slate, succinctly dissects the mockery Bush & Co. make of human rights with the U.S.’ policy on detention of foreign combatants without protection of law. Even torture apart, the central ploy, holding foreign nationals abroad so as to claim theat the U.S. constitution does not apply, makes no sense. We find humanity through the encounter with the alien, who deserves our consideration simply because he or she is human, nthing more. If we dehumanize the alien, we cannot be anything but, in the literal sense of the word, inhuman ourselves. The Republican ethos, I am convinced, is incapable of embracing humanity because it is fundamentally an appeal to tribal identity which is deeply encoded, I am convinced, in the neuroevolution of our social brains. Progressive ecumenism represents a moral imperative transcending our tribal xenophobia and the demonization of the Other. The culture war being waged now is literally one between our finer and our baser natures, and Guantanamo and the other extrajudicial detention facilities of the Bush administration are the frontlines of our battle to remain human, in all that that may potentially mean in the 21st century.
“The Republican senate is using habeas corpus as a political football. South Carolinian Lindsay Graham, the sponsor, is undoubtedly feeling tremendous pressure because of his ‘soft’ stance on torture (I still can’t believe we are even talking about it) and this is his way of restoring some manly credentials. But there is no excuse for the Democrats who signed on to this. Nor is there any excuse for the Blue state moderates either.
There was obviously some back room dickering on this bit of legislation and that makes me about as sick as anything about this whole thing. They’re playing politics with habeas corpus for Gawd’s sake. This isn’t some fucking highway bill or a farm subsidy. It’s the very foundation of our system of government and the single most important element of liberty. If the state can just declare someone an ‘unlawful combatant’ and lock them up forever, we have voted ourselves into tyranny. “
Some Believe Kimchee To Be Bird Flu Vaccine
“A report out of Seoul, Korea, points to how infected birds recovered from the flu after being fed an extract of kimchee. ‘Maybe it does help some with bird’s immune system, but it’s a big extrapolation to think it would help a human’s immune system if in fact, it really does do that,’ said human nutrition and animal science specialist Alan Titchenal.
Titchenal has his doubts how the bacteria produced by the spicy fermented cabbage would help tackle the virus, but one local business is looking at how the publicity about the avian flu may help its sales.” (MSNBC)
The Military Applications of Silly String
A Marine inquires about ordering in bulk, describing how spraying fluorescent silly string into a darkened room lets you spot tripwires on boobytraps with ease. (Cockeyed)
And: How much silly string can you get out of a can?
Black hole ate my twin, but it can’t catch me
| “A young star has been caught in the act of speeding out of the galaxy – seemingly on the run from a giant black hole that had already swallowed its twin.” (New Scientist) | ![//www.newscientistspace.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn8295/dn8295-1_250.jpg' cannot be displayed]](https://i0.wp.com/www.newscientistspace.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn8295/dn8295-1_250.jpg "The trajectory of the speeding star") |
Serotonin and Depression:
A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature: “In the United States, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are advertised directly to consumers. These highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) campaigns have largely revolved around the claim that SSRIs correct a chemical imbalance caused by a lack of serotonin. For instance, sertraline (Zoloft) was the sixth best-selling medication in the US in 2004, with over $3 billion in sales likely due, at least in part, to the widely disseminated advertising campaign starring Zoloft’s miserably depressed ovoid creature. Research has demonstrated that class-wide SSRI advertising has expanded the size of the antidepressant market, and SSRIs are now among the best-selling drugs in medical practice.
Given the multifactorial nature of depression and anxiety, and the ambiguities inherent in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, some have questioned whether the mass provision of SSRIs is the result of an over-medicalized society. These sentiments were voiced by Lord Warner, United Kingdom Health Minister, at a recent hearing: “…I have some concerns that sometimes we do, as a society, wish to put labels on things which are just part and parcel of the human condition”[4]. He went on to say, “Particularly in the area of depression we did ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence [an independent health organisation that provides national guidance on treatment and prevention] to look into this particular area and their guideline on depression did advise non-pharmacological treatment for mild depression”. Sentiments such as Lord Warner’s, about over-medicalization, are exactly what some pharmaceutical companies have sought to overcome with their advertising campaigns. For example, Pfizer’s television advertisement for the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) stated that depression is a serious medical condition that may be due to a chemical imbalance, and that “Zoloft works to correct this imbalance”. Other SSRI advertising campaigns have also claimed that depression is linked with an imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and that SSRIs can correct this imbalance (see Table 2). The pertinent question is: are the claims made in SSRI advertising congruent with the scientific evidence?” (PLoS Medicine)
Another in the occasional series of articles to which I link about the execrable penetration of reductionism, popularization, pseudoscience, marketing and profiteering into what I do, the care of urgently ill and suffering psychiatric patients. Let me emphasize, however, that I don’t post this stuff to call into the question the enterprise of treating depression, but rather our explanations for what we are doing when we do so. Others have written that antidepressants are no better than placebo, and (believe me) I know fervently that the placebo effect plays a great role in any healer’s repertoire. But it is also indubitably clear that medication treatment makes a great deal of difference — sometimes, literally, a life-or-death difference — in severely mentally ill patients. As readers of FmH know, I think claims to the contrary often relate to the expansion of the definition of medication-responsive conditions in the past few decades, driven by market pressures rather than empirical evidence.
Earle’s last stand
“He postponed retirement to prosecute Tom DeLay — only to be hounded by the right as a crazy zealot. Does the Gary Cooper of D.A.’s have the goods to bring down the Hammer?” (Salon)
Vonnegutisms
In observance of Kurt Vonnegut’s 83rd birthday, a consummate collection of tidbits from the master modern aphorist by a consummate fan. Thanks, Ed, for introducing me to this apocryphal (but likely from Vonnegut) notion that we should more properly think of the year as having six seasons instead of four.
Action Potential
Nature Neuroscience has a new weblog which promises to be more interactive and speculative than its companion peer-reviewed scientific print journal. One of the interesting early posts is about natalizumab. Seemingly the most effective drug ever developed against multiple sclerosis, the drug has been pulled from the market because of an indubitable but inexplicable link to the development of the devastating brain disease PML. For those of you interested in such things, the post discusses an intriguing hypothesis about how matalizumab might potentiate PML.
Happy Election Day!
Not a bad day at the polls. Despite Ken Mehlman’s attempt to spin them off, the two Democratic gubernatorial wins do seem like a rebuke to the Bushites, especially Virginia, where Bush made a last-minute campaign stop. Kilgore might have been thinking of that as the kiss of death when he woke up a loser this morning.
Perhaps more enjoyable was that the pro-‘Intelligent’ Design Dover, PA school board was roundly turned out of office. (CBS News) And I was very entertained watching all the Schwarzenegger ballot initiatives getting shot down. I share Rafe Coburn‘s disappointment, however, that the ballot question in support of taking legislative redistricting out of the hands of the politicians was rejected, notwithstanding the fact that Democrats opposed it. In my book, gerrymandering is a central challenge to the claim that the U.S. is a democratic state at all, and it has reached epic proportions.
Contemptible Liar
President Bush: “Our country is at war, and our government has the obligation to protect the American people. The executive branch has the obligation to protect the American people; the legislative branch has the obligation to protect the American people. And we are aggressively doing that. We are finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. We are gathering information about where the terrorists may be hiding. We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture.”
I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up
Bush’s Approval Ratings Will Not Recover – There Will Be No Comeback: “I’ve already seen the so-called “narrative of comeback” being bandied about in the mainstream media. They tell us that the story line is supposed to go: 1. Rise 2. Fall 3. Comeback. Now that George Bush has suffered the fall, the media now gets busy writing the comeback. There are two problems with this.” — Cenk Uygur (The Huffington Post)
Fitzmas Comes But Once a Year
Should all right-minded liberals give generously to the Scooter Libby Defense Fund? Perhaps a vigorous and spirited defense of Libby might go after the real culprits for whom he might have no love lost after being compelled to take the fall? (New York Times )
And:
“Even if the vice president himself is not indicted, imagine the questions he might be asked, under oath, in Libby’s case.” — Sidney Blumenthal (Salon)
At Center of a Clash, Rowdy Children in Coffee Shops
“And so simmers another skirmish between the childless and the child-centered, a culture clash increasingly common in restaurants and other public spaces as a new generation of busy, older, well-off parents ferry little ones with them.” (New York Times )
Neural Oscillations …Still Make Waves
“When an oscilloscope’s audio monitor starts to screech rhythmically in a neurophysiology lab, its waves hint at one of the most puzzling patterns in biology…. Eighty years and the debate continues. Are these waves an extra dimension of neuronal coding, or just noise?” (The Scientist)
The Next Big Thing in Online Type
“Bill Gates wants computer users, well, Microsoft users, to have a more enjoyable on-screen reading experience — so much so that he made improving reading on the screen one of his top five priorities.
Beginning in 2006, Microsoft says it will ship with its operating system and other software products six brand new typefaces created especially for extended on-screen reading.” (Poynter Online)
When Cleaner Air Is a Biblical Obligation
“In their long and frustrated efforts pushing Congress to pass legislation on global warming, environmentalists are gaining a new ally.
With increasing vigor, evangelical groups that are part of the base of conservative support for leading Republicans are campaigning for laws that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which scientists have linked with global warming.” (New York Times )
Since this advocacy is a searing indictment of the Bush administration’s fiddling-while-Rome-burns, the IRS had better investigate pulling these evangelicals’ tax-exempt status!
Fuel’s paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head
“Scientist says device disproves quantum theory; opponents claim idea is result of wrong maths… What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills’s claim that he has produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a single proton circled by one electron. In his “hydrino”, the electron sits a little closer to the proton than normal, and the formation of the new atoms from traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy.” (Guardian.UK)
If the Guardian‘s rendition is accurate, this sounds absurd. The inventor, after all, is a “Harvard University medic who also studied electrical engineering at (M.I.T.)…” (“I’m not a physicist, I just play one for the venture capitalists…”) The fact that his ‘hydrino’ violates basic tenets about the alllowable quantum states of electrons sugggests to Mills that quantum theory must be wrong. Although I would not think this would find many advocates, Mills claims to have independent confirmation of his theory and the invective is flying. What fun; I think we have just seen the beginnings of a monumental pissing contest between supporters and detractors in the physics community.
Of course the investors Mills claims to have interested are a different matter — all weighing in on just one side of the controversy. Money certainly shapes wishful thinking in the oddest, most tortured ways. I predict those who supported Mills’ claims are going to be massively chagrined people one day in the not too far distant future… and with far less in their bank accounts than otherwise.
Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning
“All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena risks losing its tax-exempt status because of a former rector’s remarks in 2004.” First of all, this takes outrageous and egregious license with the tax regulations prohibiting tax-exempt organizations’ advocacy for particular candidates or involvement in political campaigns. The sermon, just before the 2004 election, told no parishioner whom to vote for but clearly asserted that opposition to the war in Iraq was a Christian value that Jesus would have espoused. Second, of course, the church is singled out from among the multitudes in which antiwar sentiments are preached, perhaps because the sermon received conspicuous coverage in the Los Angeles Times at the time? Finally, I daresay that the IRS has not gone after the tax-exempt status of the myriad fundamentalist, evangelical and other conservative churches which have far fewer compunctions against direct solicitation of their congregants’ votes for Bush than liberal churches have against soliciting votes for his opponents. (Los Angeles )Times
Smokers’ Misperceptions About Nicotine Can Hamper Cessation Efforts
‘Surprising’ results of a survey presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Chest Physicians this week in Montreal indicate that there is a widespread misconception that nicotine causes cancer and that this interferes with efforts to stop smoking.
The investigator asserts that switching to “light” cigarettes on the basis of the belief that it will lower nicotine intake and thus reduce cancer risk is specious reasoning, since the carcinogens and other toxins are in the cigarette smoke and not the nicotine. But I don’t get it; it seems to me smokers switching to “light” cigarettes are doing the right thing even if it is for the wrong reason. Despite the mistaken belief that “light” means low-nicotine, doesn’t it indicate low tar and thus less carcinogens? Or is that just a marketing ploy without scientific basis?
In any case, the current study authors point out a more pertinent problem with the mistaken belief that it is the nicotine that causes cancer risk — smokers trying to quit will not use the nicotine patch. And it occurs to me that there is yet another reason why smoking “light” cigarettes would probably backfire. In the psychology of addiction, the belief that you have switched to a more benign product paradoxically encourages increased consumption, often to an extent that more than counteracts the risk reduction of having switched. This happens with food (“It’s ‘lo-cal’, I can have a little bit more…”) and alcohol (“I don’t drink the hard stuff anymore, just beer, so I’m okay…”) as well.
Sign of the Times
[thanks, Marla]
R.I.P. John Fowles
Reclusive novelist dies at 79: “(The French Lieutenant’s Woman) and works such as The Collector, and the self-consciously allusive and playful The Magus (he described it to his wife as ‘a young person’s book’), have been widely influential. According to John Mullan, professor of English at University College London, Fowles established that: ‘A highly literary novel could also be a potential bestseller … he offered readers literary pleasure as well as the voltage they expected from contemporary fiction.'” (Guardian.UK)
A Cheney-Libby Conspiracy, Or Worse?
John Dean: Reading Between the Lines of the Libby Indictment: “Having read the indictment against Libby, I am inclined to believe more will be issued. In fact, I will be stunned if no one else is indicted.
Indeed, when one studies the indictment, and carefully reads the transcript of the press conference, it appears Libby’s saga may be only Act Two in a three-act play. And in my view, the person who should be tossing and turning at night, in anticipation of the last act, is the Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney.” (FindLaw’s Writ)
Philips’ Funky LED Bulbs
“Aside from the unique shapes, the bulbs also change color with a touch, squeeze, or turn. Philips designed them as part of the Next Simplicity project, meaning they’re just prototypes, and won’t be a reality for another three years or longer.” (Gizmodo)
Self-Mutilation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
`
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…(I)n the world of performance art, where transience was an integral part of some of the best-known work from the 1960’s and 70’s, “the idea of replaying pieces as if from an orchestral score has usually been seen, if at all, as heresy.” (New York Times )
The Literary Darwinists
“Just as Charles Darwin studied animals to discover the patterns behind their development, Literary Darwinists read books in search of innate patterns of human behavior: child bearing and rearing, efforts to acquire resources (money, property, influence) and competition and cooperation within families and communities. They say that it’s impossible to fully appreciate and understand a literary text unless you keep in mind that humans behave in certain universal ways and do so because those behaviors are hard-wired into us. For them, the most effective and truest works of literature are those that reference or exemplify these basic facts.” (New York Times Magazine)
Although this turns out to be about something more proasic, upon seeing the title I thought the Times Magazine was proclaiming the overthrow of the theory that literary works are ‘intelligently designed.’ But, oh, postmodernism has already dismantled that notion, I guess.
Self-Mutilation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
`
…(I)n the world of performance art, where transience was an integral part of some of the best-known work from the 1960’s and 70’s, “the idea of replaying pieces as if from an orchestral score has usually been seen, if at all, as heresy.” (New York Times )
Happy Guy Fawkes Day
“Don’t you remember the 5th of November
Is gunpowder treason and plot?
I don’t see the reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
A stick and a stake, for Queen Victoria’s Sake
I pray master give us a faggit
If you dont give us one well take two
The better for us and the worse for you”
Is gunpowder treason and plot?
I don’t see the reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
A stick and a stake, for Queen Victoria’s Sake
I pray master give us a faggit
If you dont give us one well take two
The better for us and the worse for you”
| Today is the four hundredth anniversary of the ambitious but abortive Gunpowder Plot. I’ll be going out with friends to light a bonfire tonight. “Although Guy Fawkes’ actions have been considered acts of terrorism by many people, cynical Britons… sometimes joke that he was the only man to go to Parliament with honourable intentions.”
“One important aspect of the celebration is certainly venting! Shouting into the nights air is a wonderful release and an important part of the celebration through the centuries. There is something magic and healing about noise — cannons, bells and chants. Divide the group and assign each a different chant. Let them compete for noise and drama. Great fun. The chants are important aspects of freedom of espression and freedom to hold one’s own beliefs. Like much of that which is pure celebration chants need not be considered incantations or wishes of ill will at all times. Taken with the rest of celebration they contribute to a much more abstract whole where fun is the primary message for most.”
Here is a collection of verse in celebration of Guy Fawkes Day. |
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Sword swallowing uncertainties
British Medical Journal article on the anatomy and medical complications of sword swallowing. [via boing boing]
Rabid vampire bats attack Brazilian children
“Brazilian children are being menaced while they sleep by rabid vampire bats that have killed 23 people and bitten more than 1300 since September.
The winged creatures enter people’s homes at night and suck blood from the youngsters’ face or fingers. The Brazilian authorities attribute the large proportion of children attacked – 18 of the 23 killed were minors – to the fact that youngsters sleep more soundly than adults and are less likely to be disturbed by the bats.” (New Scientist)
U.S. Is Nonpareil in Medical Errors
“The U.S. leads an international parade of six major nations in medical errors, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund. Canada was not far behind.
Thirty-four percent of Americans reported at least one of four types of medical errors in the past two years. These included receiving a wrong drug, incorrect treatment, incorrect test results, and delayed test results.” (MedPage Today)
Annals of Depravity (Weblog Dept.):
Girl keeps blog on poisoning mother: “A 16-year-old Japanese girl was arrested for trying to kill her mother with rat poison and keeping a blog narrating how her condition deteriorated, news reports say.
The girl, part of an elite high school chemistry club, reportedly admired British serial killer Graham Young and kept severed animal body parts including a cat’s head in her bedroom.” (The Age)
Attack of the Blogs
“Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo.” — Daniel Lyons (Forbes)
Why thank you, Daniel…so flattered!
Professors Debate Virtues of Masculinity in Society
[Two male professors, it should be noted!]
“A tame debate turned controversial Wednesday night when current politics entered the arena as Harvard University government professor Harvey Mansfield and Dartmouth College English professor Peter Travis faced off about manliness in a free society.” (Dartmouth Online)
From the same planet, after all?
“…(A) scientific study just published in American Psychologist provides strong reasons to doubt that there are many inborn differences between genders. Janet Shibley Hyde, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has shown that in most cases psychological differences are small or non-existent. It turns out that there is no difference in how good girls and boys are at maths. Girls’ self-esteem is widely believed to nosedive on entering puberty; in fact, that of boys does so as well. In most respects, the genders communicate in the same way — forget all that stuff about men interrupting more and being less self-revealing.
Only a handful of the nostrums of evolutionary psychology survive Shibley Hyde’s scrutiny. It’s true that women can’t throw things as hard or as far; they do not masturbate nearly as much, and are not up for casual shagging to the same degree; and they physically attack others dramatically less often. Taken overall the study shows that, to a very large degree, in terms of gender difference, we do start as blank slates, and it provides one of the strongest ever scientific foundations for equal-sex social policies. But then how could we ever have doubted it?” (Mail & Guardian)
Just don’t stand so close to me
“Some people have a psychological need to keep their distance at all times, even from those who are closest to them. One doctor has identified the condition as personal space phobia.” (Times of London)
How to fall in love
“Here are 12 scientifically tested tips on finding Mr or Ms Right.” (Sydney Morning Herald)
Related:
Beauty is Not in the Eye of the Beholder
“Babies come into the world with a genetic predisposition to favouring pretty faces rather than ugly ones, according to a new study.” (Sunday Herald)
And:
Questioning Beauty
“Concept of perfect beauty varies throughout different eras, but definition still debatable.”
‘Tragic end’ for Neanderthals
“New evidence has emerged that Neanderthals co-existed with anatomically modern humans for at least a thousand years in central France, a finding that suggests these enigmatic hominids came to a tragic and lingering end.” (News24)
Related?
Iodine deficient?: “One of the most mysterious creatures that ever walked the earth was Neandertal, a prehistoric human-like being who first appeared about 230,000 years ago in Europe. Scientists have been debating since the first remains were found in 1856: Was he one of us or a separate species?
Neandertal, who looked very human but was burly and stocky, developed a far less sophisticated culture than Cro-Magnon, the first modern humans in Europe, who emerged about 40,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon apparently existed alongside Neandertal, but no one knows whether they made contact or not, either culturally or sexually. After a 200,000-year run, Neandertal vanished.
No one can say for sure what distinguished Neandertals from modern humans, but Computational Physics and Engineering Division researcher Jerry Dobson has a theory. In an article soon to be published in the Geographical Review, he suggests that Neandertals may have been iodine deficient. A single genetic difference in the thyroid gland, which controls iodine extraction from food, could account for many other differences in bone structure and body shape.
The bones of Neandertal (the spelling scholars prefer over Neanderthal) were first unearthed in Germany but since have been found in inland areas throughout Europe and Western Asia. They reveal numerous similarities to modern humans who suffer from iodine deficiency disorder—in its most severe form, cretinism.
“Distinctive Neandertal traits—overall body proportions, heavy brows and muscles, dental development and wear and propensities for degenerative joint diseases—are identical to those of modern humans suffering from cretinism,” Dobson says. “Whether it was biological—a genetically restricted ability to process iodine—or pathological—a dietary deficiency—I can’t say.”
War of the Worlds by the Star Trek Cast
From /. pointers to a radio remake of the famous H.G. Wells Mercury Theatre show from 1938, performed by members of the Star Trek Cast. The server is overwhelmed, but for this week only the show is apparently being streamed at http://www.scpr.org/programs/latw/. (via walker)
Being a self:
Considerations from functional imaging: “Having a self is associated with important advantages for an organism.These advantages have been suggested to include mechanisms supporting elaborate capacities for planning, decision-making, and behavioral control. Acknowledging such functionality offers possibilities for obtaining traction on investigation of neural correlates of selfhood. A method that has potential for investigating some of the brain-based properties of self arising in behavioral contexts varying in requirements for such behavioral guidance and control is functional brain imaging. Data obtained with this method are beginning to converge on a set of brain areas that appear to play a significant role in permitting conscious access to representational content having reference to self as an embodied and independent experiencer and agent. These areas have been identified in a variety of imaging contexts ranging from passive state conditions in which they appear to manifest ongoing activity associated with spontaneous and typically ‘self-related’ cognition, to tasks targeting explicitly experienced properties of self, to demanding task conditions where activity within them is attenuated in apparent redirection of cognitive resources in the service of task guidance and control. In this paper, these data will be reviewed and a hypothesis presented regarding a significant role for these areas in enabling degrees of self-awareness and participating in the management of such behavioral control.” (Conscious Cogn.)
Meta-perception for pathological personality traits:
Do we know when others think that we are difficult? (Conscious Cogn.) [Well, I’m sure I would know if anyone thought I was difficult — not that anyone does, of course — but the problem is that nobody I think is difficult seems to recognize that the problem is them, not me!]
A Necessary Pain in the Heart
A Review of Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind by David Livingstone Smith” (Human Nature)
Travelers can avoid jet lag by resetting their body clocks
“Altering bright light exposure and taking a nonprescription drug: A simple, at-home treatment — a single light box and the over-the-counter drug melatonin — allows travelers to avoid jet lag by resetting their circadian body clock before crossing several time zones, according to new research being published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. This treatment can also help those with delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), a persistent condition that results from a misalignment between a person’s internal biological clock and the external social environment.”
“Kerry Told Me He Now Thinks the Election Was Stolen”
“New York University professor and author Mark Crispin Miller says in an interview on Democracy Now!: “[Kerry] told me he now thinks the election was stolen. He says he doesn’t believe he is the person that can be out in front because of the sour grapes question. But he said he believes it was stolen. He says he argues with his democratic colleagues on the hill. He said he had a fight with Christopher Dodd because he said there’s questions about the voting machines and Dodd was angry.” “
Red, fights, and blue
“UK biologists spar over whether evolutionary psychology explains why wearing a colored uniform can give sportsmen a competitive edge“. (The Scientist)
Faithful Should Listen to Science
Vatican disdains anti-scientific ‘fundamentalism’?? (Yahoo! News)
Go Ahead, Get Angry: New Study
It’s Good For You: “People who respond to stressful situations with short-term anger or indignation have a sense of control and optimism that lacks in those who respond with fear.
‘These are the most exciting data I’ve ever collected,’ Carnegie Mellon psychologist Jennifer Lerner told a gathering of science writers here last month.” (Yahoo! News)
Thank you, George Bush, for nearly six years of unremitting contempt.
CIA Operates Secret Prison Network
“The CIA has operated a secret prison system where more than 100 terror suspects have been locked up since Sept. 11.
The so-called ‘black sites’ — which were so covert that only a handful of government officials even knew about them until today — operated over the past four years in eight different countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several Eastern European states, according to a story first reported today in the Washington Post.
…”The one overriding reason for such a facility is to torture those in detention,” said Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch. “So that they are away from any prying eyes from the public and from the media.”
…A former intelligence official said one reason this story was likely leaked to the press is because some CIA officers don’t believe the program is sustainable and could harm the United States’ reputation.” (ABC News via Noah)
Five Questions for the President
Tim Grieve (War Room) writes: “At a press conference in April 2004, a reporter asked George W. Bush to identify the biggest mistake he’d made since 9/11 and to describe the lessons he’d learned from it. The president couldn’t come up with anything. ‘I wish you would have given me this written question ahead of time, so I could plan for it,’ he said.
Well, here you go.” (Salon)
House Panel OKs School Lunch Funding Cut
“The House Agriculture Committee approved budget cuts Friday that would take food stamps away from an estimated 300,000 people and could cut off school lunches and breakfasts for 40,000 children.
The action came as the government reported that the number of people who are hungry because they can’t afford to buy enough food rose to 38.2 million in 2004, an increase of 7 million in five years. The number represents nearly 12 percent of U.S. households.
The cuts, approved by the Republican-controlled committee on a party-line vote, are part of an effort by the House GOP to curb federal spending by $50 billion. The food and agriculture cuts would reduce spending by $3.7 billion, including $844 million on nutrition, $760 million on conservation and $212 million on payments to farmers.
‘The fact is, our country is going broke,’ said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. ‘We’re spending money we don’t have and passing it onto our kids, and at some point, somebody’s got to say, `Enough’s enough.”” (Yahoo! News via walker)
Bush Looks to Bounce Back From Bad News
“Some Republicans inside and outside the White House were angered by Bush’s handling of Libby’s exit. They viewed it as a missed opportunity to restore badly needed credibility because the president neither condemned the aide’s actions nor acknowledged that White House spokesman Scott McClellan had said categorically in 2003 that Libby was not involved in the leak.” (Yahoo! News)
Perhaps Bush is too embarrassed…or is that an emotion in his repertoire?
AIDS Gel on a Faster Track
“New research in monkeys suggests a combination of AIDS drugs applied as a vaginal gel might prevent infection with HIV, and two major drug companies said Monday they would license promising compounds at no charge so that such a product can be created.” (Washington Post)
In Cheney’s Shadow, Counsel Pushes the Conservative Cause
The Washington Post on Libby’s successor in Cheney’s office: “Where there has been controversy over the past four years, there has often been Addington. He was a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism suspects without access to courts.”
The Pablo Picasso Alzheimer’s Therapy
“Museums are using guided tours to engage Alzheimer’s patients and even tap their creativity.” (New York Times )
A Scalia by any other name
“The Alito nomination has all the makings of one of the most contentious Supreme Court battles in American history, with both liberals and conservatives raring for a knock-down, drag-out fight. After the Miers debacle, conservatives finally have their man in the hot seat, a native son of the movement who spread his wings in the Reagan administration and then staked out a reputation as a conservative’s conservative on a relatively liberal appellate court. Liberals, for their part, have a nominee with a documented record opposing some of the country’s most popular legal principles.” — Michael Scherer (Salon)
But is an all-out fight over Alito going to be good for the Democrats? Ed Fitzgerald has a good discussion of the concerns that the Republicans may circle the wagons around this issue. He quotes Publius: “Court fights are necessarily culture war fights, and polarization along culture war lines are usually better for conservatives.” Has current Republican fractiousness and vulnerability been overestimated? Are Democrats now well-situated to rout the Republicans in the 2006 mid-term elections and how does that weigh in the balance against the damning legacy of stacking the Supreme Court with the stuff of Bush’s wet dreams and our worst nightmares? Fitzgerald reassures us that most people don’t pay much attention to the Supreme Court and the far-off Washington battle would not be likely to have any effect on the elections. I tend to agree; when has the American electorate ever made an informed choice based on the truly important issues? On the other hand, both the nature and the timing of the nomination suggest it may not have as much to do with leaving a legacy of conservative pain for future generations — Bush has, after all, not been one with much capacity for deferred gratification or a vision that extends beyond the confines of his paltry field of view — as it does beginning his comeback, reuniting Republicans (who are uniformly laudatory about the nomination, rightwingnut or not) and diverting attention from Plamegate and the Iraq debacle.
New York Times editorial (goes without saying):
“Instead of nominating a qualified moderate to the Supreme Court who could have garnered wide support, President Bush has set up another party-line standoff.”
Attytood query to Alito:
Where were you in ’72?: “A lot has been said this morning about Samuel Alito, President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and his impeccable legal resume. Well, here’s one portion of his resume we hope gets some very, very close scrutiny over the next few weeks, before his confirmation hearings.
Where were you in ’72?
Specifically, what were the circumstances of Alito getting a coveted slot in the Army Reserves that year, while the Vietnam War was still raging? Is Alito yet another ‘chickenhawk’ who avoided the war and now will be deciding on life-or-death cases involving our young men and women fighting in Iraq and elsewhere today?” (Attytood)
