"Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?"
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Image of the day:
BODY
~ Is Your Social Life Making You Fat? -- "Find out how to avoid letting others steer your diet off course."
~ New Study Adds Further Confirmation That Circadian Rhythm Exists In Athletic Performance -- "A new study investigating the potential of a circadian rhythm in athletic performance adds further confirmation that it exists."
~ Quarter of US women infected with cervical cancer virus: study (AFP) -- "About a quarter of females in the United States aged 14 to 59 may have the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus, which is linked to cervical cancer, according to research published Tuesday."
~ Low-fat dairy infertility warning -- "A diet rich on low-fat dairy food may make it harder for some women to conceive, according to a study involving thousands of US women."
~ On the other hand, Ice cream good for fertility, study suggests -- "A diet rich in ice cream and other high-fat dairy foods may lower the risk of one type of infertility, a study suggests."
~ Antioxidants Don't Help You Live Longer -- "Antioxidant vitamins taken by tens of millions of people around the world won't lead to a longer life, according to an analysis of dozens of studies that adds to evidence questioning the value of the popular supplements." A different headline for the same story: Antioxidant supplements tied to death risk.
~ Anti-inflammatory Drug Breakthrough From Israeli Biochemist -- "The transformation in her laboratory mice was so dramatic that Israeli biochemist Prof. Rachel Levy could not believe her eyes when she first saw the results. The mice, suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, had been unable to move because of their extremely swollen and deformed paws and limbs." This sounds extremely promising.
~ Analgesics, Aspirin Included, Increase Hypertension Risk -- "Daily use of over-the-counter analgesics --including aspirin -- significantly increased the risk of new onset hypertension in men, researchers here reported."
~ Are You Overdosing on Caffeine With Energy Drinks? -- "Based on some serious reports, attorneys are warning food manufacturers to think twice before automatically adding caffeine to their mix of health-harming processed foods and drinks. Even though the FDA has taken little interest in regulating it, they may do so very soon, based on reports of caffeine intoxication that are growing by the day."
PSYCHE
~ College students think they're so special -- "Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society."
~ Talking about war found to help stressed soldiers -- "Women soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress, such as those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are best off directly confronting their wartime experiences in therapy, a study said on Tuesday."
~ Body image key to treating eating disorders -- "The most important factor in the successful treatment of eating disorders is improving the patient’s perception of their body — and that’s not an easy task, says a psychologist with the Eating Disorders Program at The Menninger Clinic in Houston."
~ Stress And Alcohol Cues Appear To Target The Brain Differently To Produce Craving -- "New findings indicate that stress and alcohol cues work on the brain differently to produce craving. Results suggest that independently addressing the effects of stress and alcohol cues on craving may improve an alcoholic's chances of remaining sober. "Alcohol cues" are reminders of drinking."
~ Psychology and Religion [The Frontal Cortex] -- "Over at Mixing Memory, Chris has an excellent post complicating the recent psychological study which demonstrated that reading selected passages from the Bible about retributive violence makes people more aggressive." Here is the link to the post this one looks at: Does Religion Make You Meaner or Nicer? Inquiring Minds, Etc. [Mixing Memory].
~ Emotions: A Touching Story -- "How well do you interpret touch?"
~ The benefits of inheriting despair -- "The LA Times has an interesting article on evolutionary theories of depression that also discusses how these might lead to new and improved treatments for the condition." NOTE: I plan to post on this article as well.
~ Making Decisions -- "Can't make up your mind? Five decision-making strategies that will help you decide everything from what investment to make to whether you should stay with your partner."
~ Brain Teasers -- "Pop neuroscience promises to reveal the secrets of life. Too bad the brain is a gray area."
CULTURE
~ Experts Look At How Our Perceptions Of Illness Are Shaped -- "'Medicalize' me: Experts look at how our perceptions of illness are shaped by drug ads, patient empowerment, and more."
~ Subliminal messages on slot machines -- "CBC News is reporting that Ontario's gambling regulator has removed almost 90 slot machines from use because they appear to show subliminal jackpot displays every time the game is played." Hmmmm. . . . that explains a lot . . . .
~ Conservapedia's Glorious War on Sarcasm: the Gene Edition [Mike the Mad Biologist] -- "What happens when you take Science Blogs "basic concepts" and add it to Conservapedia, the information website for fucking morons? You get more fun than a barrel of monkeys (which, of course, are not related to humans...)." More here: Conservapedia Redux: Reality Matters [The Questionable Authority].
~ Dow Plummets More Than 500 Points -- "The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points today before gaining some of it back. The Dow dropped 546.02, or 4.3 percent, to 12,086.06."
~ A history of vegetarianism -- "I read them all—every one of Tristram Stuart's 446 voraciously researched, densely detailed, beautifully written pages about European vegetarianism since 1600—and at the end I still wasn't convinced."
~ Sisters Are Doin' It To Themselves -- "The Delta Zeta membership at DePauw had declined, so some important DZs from the national office in Ohio went to Indiana to help. They interviewed 35 members of the DePauw DZ chapter, and concluded that 23 of them were "insufficiently committed" to the sorority. Those women were asked to leave the sorority house. Every one of the 23 women just happened to not pass the American standard of weight normalcy, i.e., they were considered overweight."
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Scientists Invent Real-life 'tricorder' For Chemical Analysis -- "Purdue University researchers have created a handheld sensing system its creators liken to Star Trek's "tricorder" used to analyze the chemical components of alien worlds. But the system could have down-to-earth applications, such as testing foods for dangerous bacterial contaminants including salmonella, which was recently found in a popular brand of peanut butter."
~ Urban Ants Handle Heat Better -- "The heat of cities is transforming how urban ants respond to extreme temperatures, providing glimpses of the impacts that changes in global climate might trigger, an international team of scientists now reports."
~ Big storms more important than thought -- "U.S. researchers have determined typhoons and hurricanes are the dominant cause of mixing between the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere."
~ Green parking schemes catch on across Britain -- "A decision by a London borough to introduce different rates for parking permits based on vehicle fuel emissions has led a string of other areas around Britain to follow suit, AFP has learnt."
~ Studies Shed New Light on Blue Whales and Their Calls -- "Using a variety of new approaches, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego are forging a new understanding of the largest mammals on Earth."
~ Microbes Tapped to Harden Shaky Ground -- "Microbes that turn soil into rock can be used to stiffen soil under buildings."
~ Frogs' Sex Changed by Pollutants -- "Frogs exposed to estrogen-like pollutants in the lab morph from male to female." More proof that xenoestrogens are messing with our bodies.
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Kronology on the present human condition, its location within the total scheme of evolution -- From Joe at Until.
~ Also from Joe: Kosmic Coordinates on the Kronos mandala (or, the birth of a hypersphere).
~ Going with the Flow Key to Job Satisfaction and Bottom Line -- I don't think of positive psychology as integral (see here), but this is posted at Integrative Spirituality, so I put it here.
~ Zen is philosophy for some, religion for others -- From The Buddhist Channel.
~ The Turquoise Shadow--do you have it? -- Interesting discussion at the Zaadz I-I pod. Personally, I really doubt many people have a self centered in Turquoise, so there's not likely to be much Turquoise shadow. But hell, what do I know?
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