White House Science and Technology Director John P. Holdren wants to do something about our consumption habits. Photo: Paulien Osse/Flickr CC
Conservative news outlet reminds us of Obama appointee’s quirky vision for moving backward:
“De-development means bringing our economic system especially patterns of consumption into line with the realities of ecology and the global resource situation,” Holdren and the Ehrlichs wrote.
Photo: tourist_on_earth/Flickr CC
U. of Haifa scientists have found that LAN, or “light at night,” suppresses the secretion of melatonin in mice, which leads to rises in certain cancers.
This comes as more bad news to people finding themselves forced by Agenda 21-inspired urbanization schemes into dense cities that never sleep, where streetlights and other sources of artificial ambient light crash in through apartment windows.
From U. of Haifa announcement, today:
Earlier studies in which Prof. Haim has participated at the University of Haifa, have shown that people living in areas that have more night-time illumination are more susceptible to prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. The researchers’ hypothesis was that LAN harms production of melatonin, a hormone that is released from the pineal gland during the dark part of the 24h cycle and which is linked to the body’s cyclical night-day activity and seasonality. When this hormone is suppressed, the occurrence of cancer rises.
via Connection Between Light at Night LAN and Cancer Revealed.
Orwell advises against using the vague language found in the Independent’s story about the dead MI6 guy, saying Gareth Williams worked for an MI6 division that “eavesdrops on global communications.”
Better to have said “international calls and email messages,” or “between the UK and other countries.” “Global,” though often used, is so vague as to be meaningless.
The Independent (link and excerpt, below) also seems in a hurry to shoot down, based on no evidence either way, any suggestion the agent’s murder might be work-related:
The reality, however, is likely to be more mundane. Sources within the murder inquiry led by the Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command insisted that “the suggestion there are terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities”. They are believed to be concentrating on Mr Williams’ private life.
via Mystery of the MI6 man who was found dead in his bath – Crime, UK – The Independent.
Photo: Anthony Joh/Flickr CC
When I told my eighth grade guidance counselor I was going to be a professional hockey player, and I didn’t need a “backup plan,” she scoffed, looked at my mom, and announced she would be writing in my record, “business.”
As it turns out, the counselor was right about the hockey. But she was wrong about the business. (Although I write for the Business section of the Boston Globe, I cannot say I am much of a businessman.)
Now University of California scientists are saying that brain scans might prove more effective than aptitude tests at guessing what you will be good at…
“A person’s pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses is related to their brain structure, so there is a possibility that brain scans could provide unique information that would be helpful for vocational choice. Our current results form a basis to investigate this further.”
via Medical Daily: Brain scans may help guide career choice.
Christopher Knowles (The Secret Sun), taking his typically sweeping, epic view of the symbols being hurled at us, notes that the otherwise ugly International Space Station resembles the cross of Lorraine, the alchemical symbol to which some have attributed the religious meaning, “As above, so below.”
From Knowles’ blog:
But it’s all good. Very clever, actually- keep the malcontents busy with celebrity gossip while the real action goes on under our noses – or over our heads. For instance, we all know about ISiS- the International Space Station- but did you know it was shaped like the Cross of Lorraine?
via The Secret Sun.
From my latest Boston Globe column, and the US Department of “Start Snitchin’”…
Swann made its name in the security business, with cameras designed to catch shoplifters and home invaders in the act.
But the company’s RemoteCam pinhole video camera, which will cost about $100 when it becomes available in a few days, is meant only for what I would classify as “offensive’’ purposes.
Journalists and police officers might find the RemoteCam handy for their undercover investigations. But so might perverts on the T, as well as private detectives spying on unfaithful spouses at North End restaurants.
via Swann’s latest security device has that sinister vibe – The Boston Globe.
The US military on July 8 will toss a $500 million satellite into orbit to observe space junk circling Earth.
At least, that’s what the AP is reporting about the July 8 launch of the US Air Force’s new “Space-Based Space Surveillance” (SBSS) satellite.
But the sat will be much more than a space junk surveyor: It will serve at the core of the Air Force’s ongoing space-based missile defense program. If you read the words of the military’s top brass on the subject of SBSS, you will find that the Air Force’s priorities for the program are to track (if not disable) Iran’s and North Korea’s sats.
A snip from the AP story:
Currently, the Air Force relies on a ground-based network of radar and optical telescopes around the globe to monitor about 1,000 active satellites and 20,000 pieces of debris. The telescopes can be used only on clear nights, and not all radar stations are powerful enough to detect satellites in deep space orbit, about 22,000 miles from Earth.
via New US satellite to monitor debris in Earth orbit – USATODAY.com.
The water will give her away. Photo: Julio Rojas/Flickr CC
I can see why some people in government might want us to start drinking locally. A study funded by a murky water forensics firm finds that the number and types of isotopes in water supplies are peculiar to each location.
That means a record of the water you are drinking, and where it came from — in other words, your travel history — can now be plucked from a strand of your hair.
The same goes for commercial drinks, which come with their own isotope signatures, based upon where their manufacturers get their water.
A snip from the study:
When combined with probability-based assignment approaches, collections of stable isotope measurements like these may eventually allow investigators to predict the original source of water used in beverage production from the stable isotope analysis of a beverage.
If you treasure your very soul, but are tempted to buy a new(er) face, here’s my advice: Run, run like an outlaw Sandman, from the plastic surgeon. (The iconic, Farah Fawcett-plastic surgery scene from Logan’s Run, appears, below.)
Because so much of our human emotions are tied to our bodies’ abilities to express them, it makes sense that docs are reporting a measurable, soul-sucking effect of cosmetic procedures:
“For at least some emotions, if you take away some part of the facial expression, you take away some of the emotional experience,” says study researcher Joshua Ian Davis, PhD, a term assistant professor in the department of psychology at Barnard College in New York City.
via Botox May Affect Ability to Feel Emotions. Thanks to the Secret Sun for continuing inspiration, and to River Bottom Video, for putting Logan’s Run back in my brain.