Friday, April 13, 2007

Speedlinking 4/13/07

Quote of the day:

"More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
~ Woody Allen

Image of the day from Shorpy, a very cool photo blog:

A line of unemployed men drink free coffee at the Bowery Mission in New York City on Jan. 2, 1908. The long table is covered with cups. View full image.

BODY
~ Nutrition Quest 3 -- "Did you know that if you pig out after a short calorie restriction period, you can trick your body into adding more muscle? Did you know that you can make protein bars out of road kill? Okay we lied about that last one, but regardless, Mike does offer some cool recipes for high-protein snacks."
~ 8 Sneaky Weight Loss Saboteurs -- "Find out the habits that are keeping you from getting fit."
~ Neural Biochemical Levels Increase With Exercise -- "Levels of a naturally-produced chemical that promotes brain health increase proportionally to the intensity of exercise, according to a joint research project between the Departments of Physiology and Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences at Texas Tech."
~ New obesity gene may pack on extra 7 pounds -- "Researchers have found another gene that may keep you from fitting in your jeans." Biology is NOT destiny.
~ Smoking affects heart of even the young and fit -- "Young adult smokers may seem healthy, but smoking is taking its toll on their heart, a research team in Poland reports. Chronic smoking appears to impair the ability of the heart to relax between beats, resulting in decreased pumping capacity."
~ Hospice care does not hasten death, study shows -- "Researchers hope a new study will help dispel the myth that medications used in a hospice to relieve pain and other symptoms hasten death. On the contrary, hospice care may actually prolong life, they've found."
~ Human growth hormone use rises, but is it legal? -- "Human growth horman has been used since the 1950s to help children with growth problems. In 1990, a small study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported its fat-reducing and muscle-building effects in men. The report inspired a flood of anti-aging literature touting the benefits of growth hormone."


PSYCHE
~ Can selfish lovers learn to return the favor? -- "What do you do when your lover isn't a team player? Can body piercing boost pleasure? Does sexual activity slow down after a walk down the aisle? Sexploration answers your queries."
~ Taking Charge of Our Charge -- Robert Masters -- an old essay being discussed at Zaadz I-I pod. "Sexual excitation -- the amplification of which will be referred to from now on as charge -- is not just something that happens to us, but often is also something that we, however unknowingly, generate in ourselves."
~ Connectedness, Intimacy, and the Self -- A nice post from Art of Intimacy.
~ Parental Relationships After Divorce: From 'Perfect Pals' to 'Fiery Foes' -- "Continuing the series on the psychology of relationships, this post examines five broad ways psychological research has found people negotiate their newfound status as 'separated parents'."
~ The Goals That Guide Us -- "Setting objectives can guide us to well-being and success."
~ Your Dream, Not Your Mom's -- "How to set goals that are yours."
~ Dreams Deferred -- "When we regret our life choices."
~ Can Science Explain Near Death Experiences -- From Mind Hacks. Also from Mind Hacks: Creative Imagination.
~ Research shows men and women look at sexual photographs differently -- "A study funded by the Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) analyzed the viewing patterns of men and women looking at sexual photographs, and the result was not what one typically might expect."
~ Subliminal Rewards Trigger Harder Work, Research Shows -- "Like an invisible brass ring or dangling piece of bacon, subliminal rewards can drive people to work harder without them even knowing it."


CULTURE
~ Majority of Students Encounter, Engage in Bully Behavior -- "A recent survey of American elementary school students found that nine out of ten reported at least occasionally being victim to behaviors consistent with bullying. Yet these incidents are clearly not the work of a sinister minority: six out of ten of the same kids confessed to participating in or initiating acts of bullying themselves."
~ The multilevels of religion [Gene Expression] -- "I read Evolution for Everyone, and I was struck by how much David S. Wilson discussed religion."
~ Did I frame that wrong? [A Blog Around The Clock] -- "As you know, the last several days saw quite a flurry of blog posts about framing science. I posted my thoughts here and I keep updating my post with links to all the new posts as they show up (except the expected drivel by William Dembski, some minor creaitonists and Lubos Motl). Some of the other bloggers ignored my post, many linked to it without comment, and many linked to it with positive commentary - with two exceptions."
~ 2008 Candidates to Post on YouTube -- "YouTube, the popular video Web site, wants you to have a little face time with the presidential candidates. Virtually speaking, that is."
~ Pope: Evolution Cannot Be Proven -- "In a new book, the pope praised progress gained by science, but cautioned that evolution raises philosophical questions science alone cannot answer."
~ Wittgenstein, explained -- "The following essay is adapted from Clive James' Cultural Amnesia, a re-examination of intellectuals, artists, and thinkers who helped shape the 20th century."
~ Rove and Co. Broke Federal Law With Email Scam -- "Our friends at CREW are back in the news. They've put out a report saying "the Executive Office of the President (EOP) has lost over FIVE MILLION emails generated between March 2003 and October 2005." The White House was apparently given a plan to recover those emails, but has chosen to do nothing."
~ Women outnumber men online in United States: study -- "A study released on Thursday indicates that more women than men go online in the United States, defying the perception of the Internet as a male-dominated realm."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Apple Delays Launch of Operating System -- "Apple Inc. said it won't be shipping its next-generation operating system in June as planned, saying it had to divert resources from the project so that it could launch its highly anticipated iPhone on time."
~ Research Monkey DNA Mapped -- "Scientists unravel the DNA of rhesus macaques, hoping for insights into disease."
~ Study reveals economic role of regional clusters in rural America -- "Regional groups of industries that share common markets, suppliers or work force skills are the key to stimulating economic development in rural areas, according to a report released Thursday (April 12)."
~ Pricing practices cost consumers -- "You may be paying more for that can of soup or loaf of bread, depending on whether they have an individual price sticker or not. A new study from the DeGroote School of Business finds grocery items individually priced with stickers are more costly for consumers than those with price tags on the shelf only."
~ Organic lighting research burns bright -- "The long, challenging technological march from the low-power light bulb Thomas Edison invented to the ultimate in a bright and energy-efficient lighting device may reach fruition in work led by the two ASU researchers."
~ First major U.S. oil company joins coalition to limit greenhouse gases -- "This week, ConocoPhillips became the first major U.S. oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of green groups and corporations begging Congress to impose federal limits on greenhouse gases forthelovagod. To walk its talk, ... "
~ Scientists shake Darwin's foundation -- chickens inherited parents' stress symptoms -- " Evolutionary theory ever since Darwin is based on the assumption that acquired traits, such as learnt modifications of behaviour, cannot be inherited by the offspring. Now, a Swedish-Norwegian research group, led by professor Per Jensen at Linköping university in Sweden, shows that chickens can actually inherit behavioural modifications induced by stress in their parents."
~ Quantum secrets of photosynthesis revealed -- "Through photosynthesis, green plants and cyanobacteria are able to transfer sunlight energy to molecular reaction centers for conversion into chemical energy with nearly 100-percent efficiency. Speed is the key - the transfer of the solar energy takes place almost instantaneously so little energy is wasted as heat. How photosynthesis achieves this near instantaneous energy transfer is a long-standing mystery that may have finally been solved."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Brain States Vs. States of the Brain -- "Particular brain states occur against, and only against, background states of the brain. By 'states of the brain' I intend to include such states as being awake or being asleep; although there may turn out to be more than these two once we fully explicate what one is." -- This isn't integral, but since states are important in Wilber's theory, I thought this might be interesting.
~ Life is like taking a poo -- From The-universe-is-all-in-your-head -- uh, yeah.
~ Whadya Want? -- From Dharmashanti's Blog.
~ From The Buddha Diaries: Racist Words: Another Perspective -- "Alright. Racism bad. Insult bad. Bad Imus. True. But there's a piece in all this fuss that leaves me very uncomfortable with the way it's playing out. It's associated with what I think of--and have written about--as our American literalism. It's an almost childish inability to see things in context, an inability to perceive or understand irony, a way of taking everything as a personal insult, as though the world revolved exclusively around ME."
~ From Gary at Integral in Seattle: Day 2: Shamanic Breathwork Intensive and Day 3: Shamanic Breathwork Intensive, Breathing -- good stuff.
~ Matthew Dallman at The Daily Goose offers JS Bach and classical education and How to integrate the Humanities? -- more good stuff.
~ MD also has something to say On Imus -- and for what's it worth, I think Imus is an idiot on his best days, but speech must be protected, even when it is moronic, or especially when it is moronic.


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