Tag Archives: university

Michigan School Ends Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award

Wayne State University announced Friday that as a result of the anti-Semitic remarks made by the former White House correspondent the previous day, it is ending its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media award. The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday: read more

Follow this link:
Michigan School Ends Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award

Radiation scientists agree TSA naked body scanners could cause breast cancer and sperm mutations

The news about the potential health dangers of the TSA's naked body scanners just keeps getting worse. An increasing number of doctors and scientists are going public with their warnings about the health implications of subjecting yourself to naked body scanners. These include Dr Russell Blaylock (see below) as well as several professors from the University of California who are experts in X-ray imaging. At the same time, some internet bloggers are insisting that the TSA's naked body scanners pose no health risks because air travelers are subjected to higher levels of radiation by simply enduring high-altitude flights where cosmic radiation isn't filtered out by the full thickness of the Earth's atmosphere. This comparison, however, is inaccurate: The TSA's body scanners focus radiation on the skin and organs near the skin whereas cosmic radiation during high-altitude flights is distributed across the entire mass of your body. Comparing the total radiation exposure across your entire body to machine-emitted radiation exposure that focuses its ionizing radiation primarily on your skin is like comparing apples and oranges. You'll see this explained further, below, in the words of these scientists. As Dr Russell Blaylock ( www.BlaylockReport.com ) recently reported: “The growing outrage over the Transportation Security Administration's new policy of backscatter scanning of airline passengers and enhanced pat-downs brings to mind these wise words from President Ronald Reagan: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. So, what is all the concern really about – will these radiation scanners increase your risk of cancer or other diseases? A group of scientists and professors from the University of California at San Francisco voiced their concern to Obama's science and technology adviser John Holdren in a well-stated letter back in April.” The letter Dr Blaylock is referring to is from the Faculty of the University of California, San Francisco and is signed by Doctors John Sedat Ph.D., David Agard, Ph.D., Marc Shuman, M.D., Robert Stroud, Ph.D. You can download or view the full letter from NaturalNews here (PDF): http://www.NaturalNews.com/files/TS.. . Even though it was written in April of this year, this letter has received increased publicity lately due to the TSA's sudden expansion of naked body scanners in airports as well as the agency's arrogant insistence that such machines will soon be used at bus stations, railway stations and other entrance points for mass transportation…. …Ten big concerns voiced by the scientists Here are ten additional concerns raised by these scientists in their letter: (the bolded titles are my subheads, the subsequent explanation test is quoted straight out the scientists' letter) #1) Cancer in senior citizens – The large population of older travelers, greater than 65 years of age, is particularly at risk from the mutagenic effects of the X-rays based on the known biology of melanocyte aging. #2) Breast cancer – A fraction of the female population is especially sensitive to mutagenesis-provoking radiation leading to breast cancer. Notably, because these women, who have defects in DNA repair mechanisms, are particularly prone to cancer, X-ray mammograms are not performed on them. The dose to breast tissue beneath the skin represents a similar risk. #3) White blood cells being irradiated – Blood (white blood cells) perfusing the skin is also at risk. #4) HIV and cancer patients – The population of immunocompromised individuals — HIV and cancer patients (see above) is likely to be at risk for cancer induction by the high skin dose. #5) Radiation risk to children – The risk of radiation emission to children and adolescents does not appear to have been fully evaluated. #6) Pregnant women – The policy towards pregnant women needs to be defined once the theoretical risks to the fetus are determined. #7 Sperm mutations – Because of the proximity of the testicles to skin, this tissue is at risk for sperm mutagenesis. #8 Radiation effects on cornea and thymus – Have the effects of the radiation on the cornea and thymus been determined? #9 Problems with the machine – There are a number of 'red flags' related to the hardware itself. Because this device can scan a human in a few seconds, the X-ray beam is very intense. Any glitch in power at any point in the hardware (or more importantly in software) that stops the device could cause an intense radiation dose to a single spot on the skin. Translation: This machine does not emit a “flood light” of radiation like you might get from a dental X-ray machine. Rather, this machine emits a thin, narrow beam of radiation that is quickly “scanned” across your body, back and forth, in much the same way that an inkjet printer prints a page (but a lot faster). Because the angle of the X-ray beam is controlled by the scanner software, a glitch in the software could turn the naked body scanner into a high-energy weapon if the beam gets “stuck” in one location for more than a fraction of a second. #10 Higher radiation for the groin? – Given the recent incident (on December 25th, 2009), how do we know whether the manufacturer or TSA, seeking higher resolution, will scan the groin area more slowly leading to a much higher total dose? Continued at: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Bq5v8T4ediQ/TOyk6Kcd9tI/AAAAAAAAA04/ZCSL9_LA0ME/s400/c… http://www.naturalnews.com/030607_naked_body_scanners_radiation.html added by: Dagum

EAT ME ; TEXAS

Wheres the BEEF !?! Nostalgia: When Bevo was barbecue, and other trials of Texas' most famous longhorn -Jim Weber runs the college football and men’s basketball site LostLettermen.com. This week, he looks at the early trials of Bevo, introduced to Texas on Thanksgiving 1916, ahead of Thursday night's rivalry showdown between the Longhorns and Texas A&M in Austin. -There isn't a fan base more proud of its school or more in love with its mascot than the faithful from the University of Texas. Longhorn fans stay true to their school by traveling en masse to road games, decking themselves head to toe in burnt orange and obsessively lashing the “Hook 'em Horns.” And they show their affection for the live longhorn mascot, Bevo, with endless merchandise that ranges from golf head covers to Halloween costumes, as well as a student group, the Silver Spurs, whose sole purpose is the care and transport of the 2,000-pound steer. These days, he's treated like royalty while taking in games from the field. continued – – – http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Nostalgia-When-Bevo-… added by: remanns

Radiation ripples show the Big Bang may not have been the first, and there could be more to come

THE Big Bang might not have been the beginning of the universe, but just the start of a new chapter. Scientists have found rings of radiation in the cosmos that may be older than the Big Bang, suggesting that event was just the latest in a series of rebirths, Wired reports. The theory was proposed by Sir Roger Penrose, a theoretical physicist at Oxford University, and Vahe Gurzadyan of the Yerevan Physics Institute in Armenia, in an article on arXiv.org. The circles of radiation appear in concentric circles made up of below average temperature in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the leftover glow of the Big Bang. The CMB — which dates back to 300,000 years after the Big Bang — is a consistent temperature, indicating the density. According to the mathematical research, pulses of energy created a uniform region of dark matter, seen as circles. These pulses were the result of gravitational waves from previous eons running into the current one. The researchers posit that a single Big Bang would release huge gravitational energy bursts, not in uniform waves as the circles indicate. Sir Roger interprets the circles as ripple-like evidence of collisions between multiple supermassive black holes that occurred during the Universe's previous life, or eon, suggesting that there were and will be many more. “What would normally be regarded as a probable entire history of our universe, starting with its Big Bang… is taken to be but one aeon in a (perhaps unending) succession of such aeons (sic),” the scientists say. Sir Roger says these circles cannot be explained by the current “inflation theory” which posits that the universe grew rapidly from the size of an atom in the first nanoseconds of the Big Bang. Inflation would most likely iron out these patterns, or not create them in the first place. Princeton University cosmologist David Spergel told Wired that “the existence of large-scale coherent features in the microwave background of this form would appear to contradict the inflationary model”. However he added that there was not enough detail to assess the reality of the circles yet. http://www.news.com.au/technology/radiation-rings-show-big-bang-may-have-been-ju… added by: bundlebear

Man googles self, finds out he’s murder suspect | Technically Incorrect – CNET News

If we want to find out what the world thinks about us, we google. There, we find every reference to our delicate beings. Well, every reference that we can't find on Facebook. Please imagine, then, the mental entertainment that played itself out behind Zachary Garcia's forehead, when he googled himself and happened to notice that he was being accused of murder. No, he was not being accused by some crazy former lover or fellow University of Florida student attempting to enter the Prankdom Hall of Fame. It was the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which reportedly mistakenly released his driver's license photo in connection with a murder. According to WTSP 10, Garcia's first reaction when he saw his picture being displayed as that of someone being charged with murder, was to call his mom in the middle of the night to tell her that he feared being kicked out of school and losing his two jobs “or worse.” This was not because he had actually committed any murder. He is, reportedly, an excellent student and fine citizen. However, he seems to have been confused him with Zachery (with an “e”) Garcia, who was allegedly one of four teens involved in a house burglary that resulted in one of them, 15-year-old Otilio Rubio, dying from gunshot wounds. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20024168-71.html#ixzz16q0OP4QJ added by: Itsbatman_Durr

Researchers Ditch Toxic Nanoparticle Chemicals for Delicious Cinnamon

Nanoparticles these days are quietly being slipped into products and processes as diverse as electronics, healthcare products (like sunscreen), and pharmaceuticals to fight cancer. http://www.dailytech.com/Arsenic+Nanoparticle+Fights+Breast+Cancer/article19058…. But for all that promise, there's a dark side. In order to make nanoparticles like tiny gold nanoparticles( http://www.dailytech.com/Gold+Nanoparticles+Dont+Just+Look+Pretty+They+Fight+Can… ) or titanium dioxide nanoparticles, caustic chemicals frequently are required. Scientists are concerned that minute quantities of those chemicals could harm the human body( http://www.dailytech.com/Nanotech+the+New+Asbestos+Carbon+Nanotube+Toxicity/arti… ), causing cancer or other diseases. But a University of Missouri research team, led by MU Physics and Radiology Professor Kattesh Katti thinks they have a solution — cinnamon. The team mixed gold salts in water with cinnamon and discovered that they remarkably formed nanoparticles. Typically such particles form only when exposed to an electric field or when toxic chemicals are added to the mix. Fellow radiology professor Raghuraman Kannan, who participated in the study, comments, “The procedure we have developed is non-toxic. No chemicals are used in the generation of gold nanoparticles, except gold salts. It is a true 'green' process.” Professor Katti adds, “From our work in green nanotechnology, it is clear that cinnamon — and other species such as herbs, leaves and seeds — will serve as a reservoir of phytochemicals and has the capability to convert metals into nanoparticles. Therefore, our approach to 'green' nanotechnology creates a renaissance symbolizing the indispensable role of Mother Nature in all future nanotechnological developments.” More serendipitous yet, the cinammon nanoparticles were found to release phytochemicals found in cinnamon debris. These phytochemicals have been shown to kill or reduce the growth of certain types of cancer cells. So not only are these particles non-toxic, but they also fight cancer. Professor Katti elates, “Our gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they also are biologically active against cancer cells.” It all sounds too good to be true, but the team insists that the approach is reliable. They hope to ready it for production so that the new cinnamon-gold nanoparticles can replace existing toxic varieties. The study on the work was published in the journal Pharmaceutical Research. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20872051 added by: toyotabedzrock

Could space farmers grow crops on other planets?

Some scientists question whether soil is necessary for space agriculture Science fiction lovers aren't the only ones captivated by the possibility of colonizing another planet. Scientists are engaging in numerous research projects that focus on determining how habitable other planets are for life. Mars, for example, is revealing more and more evidence that it probably once had liquid water on its surface, and could one day become a home away from home for humans. “The spur of colonizing new lands is intrinsic in man,” said Giacomo Certini, a researcher at the Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science at the University of Florence, Italy. “Hence expanding our horizon to other worlds must not be judged strange at all. Moving people and producing food there could be necessary in the future.” Humans traveling to Mars, to visit or to colonize, will likely have to make use of resources on the planet rather than take everything they need with them on a spaceship. This means farming their own food on another planet that has a very different ecosystem than Earth's. Certini and his colleague Riccardo Scalenghe from the University of Palermo, Italy, recently published a study in Planetary and Space Science that makes some encouraging claims. They say the surfaces of Venus, Mars and the moon appear suitable for agriculture. more, at LINK- – – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40418493/ns/technology_and_science-space/ graphic- http://www.dunecraft.com/img/products/gift%20ideas/space-plant1.gif added by: remanns

Skin As An Alternative Source Of Blood

Skin As An Alternative Source Of Blood – Scientists at Canada’s McMaster University claimed that they have figured out how to make blood out of human skin. This discovery could eventually mean that patients who need blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created Skin As An Alternative Source Of Blood is a post from: Daily World Buzz Continue reading

Animals Are Becoming Obese Like Us, Says Study

Photo: Yukari* / CC Obesity rates among people worldwide have soared over the last several decades — but it turns out that humans aren’t the only ones packing on the pounds. According to a recent study from the University of Alabama, many animals that spend too much time living around humans are prone to becoming overweight, and researchers aren’t entirely sure why…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Continued here:
Animals Are Becoming Obese Like Us, Says Study

Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’

Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study's authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views. Appearing in the latest edition of The Journal of Politics published by Cambridge University Press, the research focused on 2,000 subjects from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. By matching genetic information with maps of the subjects' social networks, the researchers were able to show that people with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults, but only if they had an active social life in adolescence. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter affecting brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. Previous research has identified a connection between a variant of this gene and novelty-seeking behavior, and this behavior has previously been associated with personality traits related to political liberalism. Lead researcher James H. Fowler of UC San Diego and his colleagues hypothesized that people with the novelty-seeking gene variant would be more interested in learning about their friends' points of view. As a consequence, people with this genetic predisposition who have a greater-than-average number of friends would be exposed to a wider variety of social norms and lifestyles, which might make them more liberal than average. They reported that “it is the crucial interaction of two factors — the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence — that is associated with being more liberal.” The research team also showed that this held true independent of ethnicity, culture, sex or age. Fowler concludes that the social and institutional environment cannot entirely explain a person's political attitudes and beliefs and that the role of genes must be taken into account. “These findings suggest that political affiliation is not based solely on the kind of social environment people experience,” said Fowler, professor of political science and medical genetics at UC San Diego. “It is our hope that more scholars will begin to explore the potential interaction of biology and environment,” he said. “The way forward is to look for replication in different populations and age groups.” added by: Vierotchka