Links for 2008-04-16 [del.icio.us]
- Vitamins 'may shorten your life' (BBC)
Research has suggested vitamin supplements do not extend life and could even lead to a premature death. - Eviction Slip (Guernica)
While many governments now involve indigenous groups in their environmental conservation, India is on the verge of creating what might become the largest mass eviction for conservation ever. Groups like India's Adivasis have come to be called "conservat - Peer-to-Peer Virtual Worlds (Technology Review)
A new system is designed to handle sudden crowds. - Flunk This Movie! [Expelled] (Ronald Bailey)
The film is entirely free of scientific content—no scientific evidence against biological evolution and none for "intelligent design" (ID) theory is given. Which makes sense because biological evolution is amply supported by evidence from... - Low-calorie diet may help stave off skin cancer: study (CBC)
Eating fewer calories appears to inhibit the development of precancerous skin conditions, U.S. researchers have discovered, possibly showing that a low-calorie diet can play a big role in preventing skin cancer. - New Genome Tech May Pave Way for Personalized Meds (Nat'l Geographic)
James D. Watson is now the second person in the world to have his whole genome sequenced - the first to have it done with a next-generation technique that took a mere two months to complete and cost "only" a million U.S. dollars - When we abuse animals we debase ourselves (csmonitor)
What qualities associated with the best in mankind aren't expressed by animals? - The Challenge of Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries (RAND)
North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon in 2006 shows that such weapons are within reach of determined regional powers. Thus, defense planners in the United States and elsewhere must begin now to confront the new security challenges posed by nuclear-arme - Radiation Sickness, Cellular Damage and Increased Cancer Risk for Long-term Missions to Mars (Universe Today)
There is a nagging problem under the surface of the excitement surrounding the future of long-term missions into space. Human exposure to the high amounts of solar radiation and other sources of cosmic rays is likely to be the main factor that could curta - The End of the World as We Know It? (Science & Spirit)
Scientific Pessimism Meets 'Openness Theology' - Scientology's First Celebrity Defector Reveals Church Secrets (Village Voice)
Veteran television actor Jason Beghe tells the Village Voice that the Church of Scientology will be feeling blindsided by the YouTube video of him that hit the Internet on March 14. - Women's Neuroethics? Why Sex Matters for Neuroethics (bioethics.net)
How and why women and men are different is a topic of enduring scientific and public interest. Over the past decade, the number of neuroscience studies documenting sex differences in brain anatomy, chemistry, and function, and involving cognitive domains - Digital Sound Separator (Technology Review)
New software can modify the individual notes of a recorded chord. - Hunter tracks down father wanted in B.C. slayings (Globe & Mail)
"They have him down on the highway now, last I heard," Ms. Smith said. "The bloodhounds got him, just about chewed his arm off. Kim caught him and tied him to a tree." = hero.
I've got some quibbles on the science in two of these articles.
ReplyDeleteIn the BBC article on vitamins, they say "the researchers linked vitamin A supplements to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7% increased risk and vitamin E to a 4% increased risk."
It'd be nice if they explained the cause of death, or if they mean dead before a certain age. As it is, this invites me to point out that statistically there is a 100% chance of death for everyone.
For the Science & Spirit article, the author writes that stars will cease to form when the universe is 1012 years old. I'm sure he meant 10 to the 12th (maybe he wrote that and the editor changed it), but it seems like a poor reflection on the publication. Other than that, the article raises some good points, that philosophy and religion might mitigate depression about the end of the universe.
My sentiments exactly re: the vitamin study; the jury is still out on that one, and clarification is certainly in order.
ReplyDeleteThe Science & Spirit typo is unfortunate -- they're usually pretty good about that sort of stuff. Given their readership, it will most assuredly throw some people off; hopefully it'll be corrected.
It's an interesting journal, mostly because of all the rationalizing that goes on with those religious folk who are desperate to reconcile their faiths with their rational brains and the presence of so much empirical evidence.
That said, I do appreciate the larger existential and 'spiritual' perspectives that are put forth. It provides an interesting forum for these overarching issues. A lot of this gets lost in traditional transhumanist, humanist, and scientific discourse.
I'll probably check the Science & Spirit site out some more, since it is extremely relevant to my interests. It seemed to have a Christian bent to it, but I sympathize with the motivation.
ReplyDeleteI mean, how else are we supposed to react to the idea that the universe is a purposeless heat sink? It's only human to want to ascribe purpose to everything we see.