Sneak attack on science by US Congress must stop

Found on New Scientist on Tuesday, 24 March 2015
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Under the cover of "reform" and "accountability", Republican congressional leaders are pushing policies that hamstring the Environmental Protection Agency and make it nearly impossible for the government to use science to protect the public interest.

These bills create a disincentive for scientists to research controversial issues, seek federal grants or serve on advisory boards. It's a way to push them out of public service and engagement, and all because some politicians and their powerful industry constituents don't like what the science shows.

Scientific facts show the truth; that's why politicians and the lobbyists don't like them.

Pot Could Save Your Life: 4 Ways Cannabis is Good for Your Brain

Found on Alternet on Monday, 16 February 2015
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Now there is no doubt that cannabinoids cause new brain cells to grow in the hippocampus. This helps explain previous research showing that cannabinoids effectively treat mood disorders like depression, anxiety and stress – they are all related to a lack of adult neurogenesis.

Several recent studies have found that cannabinoids protect the brain from permanent damage after trauma or stroke.

The medicinal benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids are immense, and it’s time everyone is allowed full access to this amazing healing herb.

It's pretty simple: leave the decision to the people. After all the government has no issues allowing other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol which have a basically lethal effect in the long run.

Woman's stool transplant leads to 'tremendous weight gain'

Found on BBC News on Saturday, 07 February 2015
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Dr Colleen Kelly, from the Medical School at Brown University, said the option of a faecal transplant was discussed and the woman wanted to use a relative - her daughter.

The daughter was overweight at the time and was on her way to becoming obese.

Dr Kelly has now changed her practices and "as a result I'm very careful with all our donors don't use obese people".

Makes you wonder if it would work in reverse too. A whole new industry for curing obese people would pop up.

Mandatory labels on foods containing DNA? 80% of Americans support that

Found on Consumer Affairs on Sunday, 25 January 2015
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According to a recent survey by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics, over 80% of Americans said they would support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA,” roughly the same number that support the mandatory labeling of GMO foods “produced with genetic engineering.”

The joke, of course, is that DNA is the hereditary material found in the cells of human beings and almost all living organisms – including all the different meat and plant products people eat. Labeling all food containing DNA would be almost as pointless as labeling foods that contain atoms.

These are the results of a lack of proper education. 80% don't have the slightest idea what DNA is, even though it's not some secret substance at all.

Linking cannabis and suicide doesn't prove causation

Found on New Scientist on Saturday, 13 September 2014
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Echoing the research findings, the articles declared that if teenagers smoke cannabis daily, it makes them seven times more likely to commit suicide compared with non-users. Indeed, "there is no safe level of use", most reported.

"The authors should not have drawn these erroneous policy implications from this research," says Alex Wodak from St Vincent's hospital in Sydney, Australia. He points out that in Australia, 92 per cent of people say it is easy to buy cannabis, replicating similar findings elsewhere.

Just legalize it already. By keeping it illegal, politicians are basically supporting the dealers.

The Recovering Americans and the 'Top Secret' Ebola Treatment

Found on The Atlantic on Monday, 04 August 2014
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"One of the doctors called it 'miraculous,'" Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported from Emory this morning, of Brantly's turnaround within hours of receiving a treatment delivered from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Writebol is also reportedly improved since receiving the treatment, known as zMapp. But to say that it was a secret implies a frigid American exceptionalism; that the people of West Africa are dying in droves while a classified cure lies in wait.

This Ebola outbreak is the largest in the history of the disease, in terms of both cases and deaths—729 known so far.

Clearly some people are worth more than others. A lot of those who are currently infected would happily try an experimental serum; Ebola is more than lethal enough so they won't have to think twice. There is not much of a choice for them however because they aren't even offered that chance to survive.

Blackest is the new black: Scientists have developed a material so dark that you can't see it...

Found on The Independent on Sunday, 13 July 2014
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A British company has produced a "strange, alien" material so black that it absorbs all but 0.035 per cent of visual light, setting a new world record.

It also has "virtually undetectable levels of outgassing and particle fallout", which can contaminate the most sensitive imaging systems. The material conducts heat seven and a half times more effectively than copper and has 10 times the tensile strength of steel.

Sounds like a fun toy that can be used in many different cases.

Super bananas – world first human trial

Found on QUT on Monday, 16 June 2014
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The world's first human trial of pro-vitamin A-enriched banana, expected to lift the health and well-being of millions of Ugandans and other East Africans will start very soon.

"We are aiming to increase the level of pro-vitamin A to a minimum level of 20 micrograms per gram dry weight in order to significantly improve the health status of African banana consumers."

Looks like nobody had the idea to plant carrots as an alternative. Instead a GMO plant is released into the wild without thinking much about the effects, like mixing with non-GMO bananas. At least this one doesn't seem to belong to Monsanto.

'Biggest dinosaur ever' discovered

Found on BBC News on Saturday, 17 May 2014
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Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m (130ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall.

Weighing in at 77 tonnes, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus.

"Without knowing more about this current find it's difficult to be sure. One problem with assessing the weight of both Argentinosaurus and this new discovery is that they're both based on very fragmentary specimens - no complete skeleton is known, which means the animal's proportions and overall shape are conjectural.

That dinosaur could step on people without even noticing it.

Popular LAUSD science teacher on being suspended due to controversial experiments

Found on Southern California Public Radio on Monday, 21 April 2014
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One project was a marshmallow shooter—which uses air pressure to launch projectiles. The other was an AA battery-powered coil gun—which uses electromagnetism to launch small objects.

Schiller said Los Angeles Unified School District officials accused him of “supervising the building, research and development of imitation weapons.” He has been reporting to a district administrative office since March 6, as he waits for LAUSD to conclude its investigation.

Are there only full blown retards? If this goes on, picking up a rock would earn you a free trip to jail for "preparing an assault weapon". Those who granted the suspension should be under investigation instead.