Experiment with speeding ions verifies relativistic time dilation to new level of precision |

When Einstein came up with his theories on special relativity, the world was introduced to the idea of measuring time dilation—where an astronaut would age at a different rate than those left behind on Earth—due to the speed of light being a constant. Relativistic time dilation comes from the Lorentz invariance, which says that no matter where in the universe an object is, or at what speed it might be traveling, the rules remain the same. Since Einstein's time, scientists have conducted many experiments to prove the theory true—some by using natural objects such as the movement of the Earth in relation to other celestial bodies—others by conducting experiments in the lab. Such experiments have proven successful and today,
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Read More Fundamentals of physics confirmed

A solar cell that stores its own power: World’s first ‘solar battery’ runs on light and air |

Actually, the patent-pending device invented at The Ohio State University is both: the world’s first solar battery.

In the October 3, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Communications, the researchers report that they’ve succeeded in combining a battery and a solar cell into one hybrid device. Read More:

After-school exercise program enhances cognition in 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds |

Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Summary:
A nine-month-long, randomized controlled trial involving 221 prepubescent children found that those who engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day after school saw substantial improvements in their ability to pay attention, avoid distraction and switch between cognitive tasks, researchers report.
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Plant engineered for more efficient photosynthesis |

"It is an important first step in creating plants with more efficient photosynthesis," Hanson said.
"This is the first time that a plant has been created through genetic engineering to fix all of its carbon by a cyanobacterial enzyme," said Maureen Hanson, a co-author of the study and Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at Cornell.

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Climate change is a fact, and most of the warming is caused by human activity.

 Only recently scientists have realized that sea ice has an impact on the planet's CO2 balance.
"We have long known that the Earth's oceans are able to absorb huge amounts of CO2. But we also thought that this did not apply to ocean areas covered by ice, because the ice was considered impenetrable. However, this is not true: New research shows that sea ice in the Arctic draws large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere into the ocean", says Dorte Haubjerg Søgaard.

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Electric car breaks 200 mph barrier to set new land speed record |

An electric car built by BYU engineering students has once again set a world land speed record, this time besting the previous mark by nearly 50 mph. About half the students who have worked on the streamliner program over the years have been manufacturing engineering technology majors, about 40 percent mechanical engineering majors, and the rest from various other disciplines, including electrical engineering. Many worked on the car as part of an annual capstone course, but most were unpaid volunteers.

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Modular Battery Exchange and Active Management |

Source:
University of California - San Diego

Summary:
Rather than swapping out  whole batteries, which is cumbersome and requires large, heavy equipment, engineers plan to swap out and recharge smaller units within the battery, known as modules. They named the project Modular Battery Exchange and Active Management, or M-BEAM for short.
Imagine... being able to switch out the batteries in electric cars just like you switch out batteries in a photo camera or flashlight. A team of engineers are trying to accomplish just that, in partnership with an engineering company. They have developed smaller units within the battery, called modules, and a battery management system that will allow them to swap out and recharge the modules.
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Using solar energy to turn raw materials into ingredients for everyday life |

Just about everything we touch in the course of a day - car, phone, computer, fridge, detergent - even medicines, rely on the chemical industry to turn raw materials such as petroleum by-products, minerals and farm products into valuable chemicals that are the ingredients of life's essential objects.

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Closing the gap between major societal problems and known solutions |

"You think you can just tell someone the scientific facts, and that will solve the problem," he said. "There is very good evidence that it doesn't solve the problem at all because personal beliefs interfere." "There is a big gap between what science offers us and what gets applied," said Northwestern University Professor Noshir Contractor.

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New study shows that rapidly charging and draining batteries may not be as damaging as previously thought.

A comprehensive look at how tiny particles in a lithium ion battery electrode behave shows that rapid-charging the battery and using it to do high-power, rapidly draining work may not be as damaging as researchers had thought – and that the benefits of slow draining and charging may have been overestimated.
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Air Pollution Harmful to Young Brains, Study Finds

Pollution in many cities threatens the brain development in children. Findings from a recent study reveal that children living in megacities are at increased risk for brain inflammation ...
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Neutron diffraction sheds light on photosynthesis

The presence of hydrogen bonds which stick the membranes together across layers of water opens the doors to a deeper understanding of Photosynthesis.

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The factories of the future... Microalgae

"Photosynthesis is the only biochemical process that removes large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transforms them first into sugar and then into many other substances"
The goal is optimum photosynthesis performance with minimum power consumption; in addition to other parameters, the efficiency of algae cultivation depends primarily on the power requirements of the lighting.

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Indoor mold poses health risk to asthma sufferers

Date:

August 28, 2014

Source:

University of Exeter

Summary:

By critically reviewing the findings from 17 studies in eight different countries, the research has found that the presence of several types of mould can lead to breathing problems in asthma sufferers, as well as increasing the likelihood of developing the condition.

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Water and sunlight the formula for sustainable fuel

"It's the beginning of a whole suite of possibilities, such as creating a highly efficient fuel, or to trapping atmospheric carbon." Professor Pace said large amounts of hydrogen fuel produced by artificial photosynthesis could transform the economy. "That carbon-free cycle is essentially indefinitely sustainable. Sunlight is extraordinarily abundant, water is everywhere – the raw materials we need to make the fuel. And at the end of the usage cycle it goes back to water," says he.

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Solar fuels as generated by nature

"Synthetic solar fuels open up wide-ranging possibilities for renewable energy technologies, in particular for the transport and infrastructure sectors, which are still reliant on fossil fuels," says Professor Wolfgang Lubitz, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion. "An efficient light-driven, water splitting catalyst based on common metals such as manganese would represent huge progress here. The insight gained into nature's water splitting enzyme through this research has laid the foundations for such developments."
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Is there any place in the Universe where there's truly nothing?

What are the properties of nothing?
Even in the gulfs of intergalactic space, there are hundreds or thousands of particles in every cubic meter. But even if you could rent MegaMaid from a Dark Helmet surplus store, and vacuum up those particles, there would still be wavelengths of radiation, stretching across vast distances of space.
There's the inevitable reach of gravity stretching across the entire Universe. There's the weak magnetic field from a distant quasar. It's infinitesimally weak, but it's not nothing. It's still something.
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The ever-increasing benefits of natural LIGHT

Employees with windows in the workplace received 173 percent more white light exposure during work hours and slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than employees who did not have the natural light exposure in the workplace, a study shows. There also was a trend for workers in offices with windows to have more physical activity than those without windows. Office workers with more natural light exposure at the office had longer sleep duration, better sleep quality, more physical activity and better quality of life compared to office workers with less light exposure in the workplace, a study shows. "There is increasing evidence that exposure to light, during the day, particularly in the morning, is beneficial to your health via its effects on mood, alertness and metabolism," said the senior study author.

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Better to give than to receive: Personality affects knowledge exchange |

These results have important implications for organizational knowledge management. The findings suggest that it may not be enough to simply provide knowledge management tools in order to optimize knowledge exchange. It may also be necessary for leaders and managers to keep in mind the personality and interaction styles of their employees. Specifically, they should be wary that takers may keep the important information for themselves.
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Infants learn what to fear in the first days of life...

Date:

July 28, 2014

Source:

University of Michigan Health System

Summary:

Newborns learn what to fear in the first days of life just by inhaling the scent of their distressed mothers’, new research suggests. And not just “natural” fears: If a mother experienced something before pregnancy that made her fear something specific, her baby will quickly learn to fear it too -- through her scent when she feels fear. Read more:

To those who followed Columbus and Cortez, the New World truly seemed incredible because of the natural endowments. The land often announced itself with a heavy scent miles out into the ocean. Giovanni di Verrazano in 1524 inhaled the cedars of the East Coast a hundred leagues out. The men of Henry Hudson's Half Moon were temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, while ships running farther up the coast occasionally swam through large beds of floating flowers. Wherever they came inland they found a rich riot of color and sound, of game and luxuriant vegetation. As it was...
~  Frederick Turner

Trees save lives, reduce respiratory problems |

Date:

July 25, 2014

Source:

USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station

Summary:

In the first broad-scale estimate of air pollution removal by trees nationwide, scientists have calculated that trees are saving more than 850 human lives a year and preventing 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms. The study considered four pollutants for which the U.S. EPA has established air quality standards: nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in aerodynamic diameter.  Read More:

 

 

Study shows how to power California with wind, water and sun

A new Stanford study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert California's all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by clean, renewable energy. Published in Energy, the plan shows the way to a sustainable, inexpensive and reliable energy supply in California that could create tens of thousands of jobs and save billions of dollars in pollution-related health costs.
"If implemented, this plan will eliminate air pollution mortality and global warming emissions from California, stabilize prices and create jobs – there is little downside," said Mark Z. Jacobson, the study's lead author and a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering. He is also the director of Stanford's Atmosphere/Energy Program and a senior fellow with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy.


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How existing cropland could feed billions more

Date:

July 17, 2014

Source:

University of Minnesota

Summary:

Feeding a growing human population without increasing stresses on Earth's strained land and water resources may seem like an impossible challenge. But according to a new report focusing efforts to improve food systems on a few specific regions, crops and actions could make it possible to both meet the basic needs of 3 billion more people and decrease agriculture's environmental footprint. Read More:

 

 

Efficient water splitting |

Water splitting:
It is a key in the process of photosynthesis, through which plants produce glucose and oxygen from water and carbon dioxide, using sunlight as energy. However, there are still significant mysteries about the process.
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal fluctuate over time, and storing this energy is a crucial task for creating a sustainable society.
For Nakamura, this work has exciting future potential. "As seen from a flower in a vase," he explains, "plants can use even tap water as a resource to make fuels. They do not need acid and base solutions. In other words, nature utilizes a safe, clean, and abundant form of water, thereby creating truly sustainable ecosystems. I hope that our findings will be able to contribute to the use of water at a neutral pH as a resource for generating renewable energy, which is one of the foundations for sustainable human societies."
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Geologists confirm oxygen levels of ancient oceans...

"More than 2.5 billion years ago, there was little to no oxygen in the oceans, as methane shrouded the Earth in a haze," says Lu, a member of Syracuse University's Low-Temperature Geochemistry Research Group. "Organisms practicing photosynthesis eventually started to overpower reducing chemical compounds [i.e., electron donors], and oxygen began building up in the atmosphere. This period has been called the Great Oxidation Event. "Using a novel approach called iodine geochemistry, Lu, Zhou and their colleagues have confirmed the earliest appearance of dissolved oxygen in the ocean's surface waters. 

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Hybrid energy transfer system mimics process responsible for photosynthesis

May 27, 2014
Source:
University of Southampton
Summary:
Scientists have developed a new hybrid energy transfer system, which mimics the processes responsible for photosynthesis. From photosynthesis to respiration, the processes of light absorption and its transfer into energy represent elementary and essential reactions that occur in any biological living system.

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Liberating devices from their power cords

May 19, 2014
Source: Vanderbilt University
Summary: A new type of supercapacitor that can hold a charge when it takes a lickin’ has been developed. It is the first “multi-functional” energy storage device that can operate while subject to realistic static and dynamic loads – advancing the day when everything from cell phones to electric vehicles will no longer need separate batteries.
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High-speed solar winds increase lightning strikes on Earth

May 14, 2014
Source: Institute of Physics
Summary:
Scientists have discovered new evidence to suggest that lightning on Earth is triggered not only by cosmic rays from space, but also by energetic particles from the sun. Researchers found a link between increased thunderstorm activity on Earth and streams of high-energy particles accelerated by the solar wind, offering compelling evidence that particles from space help trigger lightning bolts.
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A synthetic biology approach to improve photosynthesis

[photosynthesis;CO2 concentration mechanism]
New findings represent important progress toward the goal of making plants more efficient at fixing carbon dioxide from the air into molecules that can be used by the plant for growth.
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Digital Age Enigma

The Information Age [also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age] is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization. Holding a dominant position or a monopoly of a market is often not illegal in itself, however certain categories of behavior can be considered abusive and therefore incur legal sanctions when a business is too dominant. The onset of the Information Age is associated with the Digital Revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age.
The Information Age formed by capitalizing on the computer microminiaturization advances, with a transition spanning from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s, to the Internet's reaching a critical mass in the early 1990s, and the adoption of such technology by the public in the two decades after 1990.
During the second industrial revolution: Who designed, developed or for that matter, built the tracks for the steam engines, the roads for the first automobiles or airport runways for our aircraft?
The enigma of the Digital Age is that much of the business emphasis is placed on digital expansion and real world economics [curb side] is being disregarded and gradually becoming unstable.

Founded in 1609 Albany was known as Fort Orange and was then renamed "Albany" in 1664 to honor the Duke of York and Albany. It is the capital (1797) of the state of New York, U.S., and seat of Albany County (1683). It lies along the Hudson River, 143 miles north of New York City. In 1689 one of the first intercontinental conventions was held in Albany to discuss a system of mutual defense. The city was one of the first in the U.S. to establish a commercial airport (1919). It is also a site of the first railroad in the U.S.

Sustainable Supercar With the i8 Project

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT called the practice of architecture "sublimated mathematics," and I invite you to think of car design the same way. Beneath the wind-raked, time-traveling skin of the BMW BMW.XE -0.31% i8 luxury hybrid lurk a lot of large and unaesthetic numbers. The biggest is the daily parts per million of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere, now over 400 and going nowhere but up. European car makers are under social, political and regulatory pressure to reduce greenhouse emissions. Read More:

New technique will quicken genetic characterization of photosynthesis |

April 15, 2014
Source:
Carnegie Institution

Potosynthesis provides fixed carbon and energy for nearly all life on Earth, yet many aspects of this fascinating process remain mysterious. For example, little is known about how it is regulated in response to changes in light intensity.
Accelerated renewal

A powerful community of people dedicated to clean air and children’s health...

Moms Clean Air Force
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Dance To The End Of Time and Space

Bringing astrophysics to the masses is difficult at the best of times, but how do you communicate such complex science to students in underserved groups, such as those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing? One research team has developed a unique approach by using dance and stunning backdrops to teach the mathematics and physics of the Universe. Read More:

Studying crops from space

Source: Carnegie Institution Summary: Plants convert energy from sunlight into chemical energy during a process called photosynthesis. This energy is passed on to humans and animals that eat the plants, and thus photosynthesis is the primary source of energy for all life on Earth. But the photosynthetic activity of various regions is changing due to human interaction with the environment, including climate change, which makes large-scale studies of photosynthetic activity of interest. New research from a team including Carnegie's Joe Berry reveals a fundamentally new approach for measuring photosynthetic activity as it occurs around the planet. It is published this week by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The Planets Climate is not in the process of altering course... It has altered course.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The head of the World Bank is warning that climate change will lead to armed conflicts over shortages of food and water. On “Ann Curry Reports: Our Year of Extremes,” airing Sunday night on NBC, Curry shows us how people are witnessing the impact of rising global temperatures. Read More:

The Economics of Sustainable Development

History | Sustainability is not a new issue in economics. The 18th century English philosopher and economist Thomas Robert Malthus expressed concern about sustainable growth in his 1798 work, "An Essay on the Principle of Population."
Identification | Sustainable development, as defined by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, refers to resource use and allocation that meets present human needs without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

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Are the latest workplace productivity trends sustainable |

While many employers are concerned about the skills gap in this country, there's another gap growing in today's workplace: a performance gap. According to a 2013 workplace survey, workplace performance has gone down 6 percent since 2008, due largely to a decrease in employee focus. Perhaps that's why some employers are taking some unconventional measures to increase workplace productivity and re-engage their teams. But are they sustainable? Behavior and Productivity Management

A new point of view with business leaders:

Targeting Adult Asthma Where It Hits Hardest |

Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx takes a comprehensive approach, combining lifestyle and medical advice, and has reduced emergency room visits and hospitalizations. There are 19 million adults in America with asthma, but the disease is not distributed evenly across the country.

Story Continues | Text & Video

Food Prices Surge As Drought Exacts A High Toll On Crops

Surging prices for food staples from coffee to meat to vegetables are driving up the cost of groceries in the U.S., pinching consumers and companies that are still grappling with a sluggish economic recovery. Read more:

In spite of American ingenuity the repairs to infrastructure, in the face of global climate change are barely sufficient.

A massive explosion tore through East Harlem in New York City, leveling two five-story buildings filled with apartments. Most people don’t even know when these pipelines need replacing, and there are no beautiful renderings of the result. According to a report by the Center for an Urban Future released just this week, “many critical components are past their useful life and highly susceptible to breaks and malfunctions.” It’s not until something terrible happens--like hurricanes or explosions--that basic repair projects to shore up infrastructure become a top priority. It’s not just a problem in Manhattan, New York. It’s a problem all over the country, and the world. Story Continues:

Why Facts Matter: Science Is Not an Opinion |
~Jeff Schweitzer [Scientist and former White House Senior Policy Analyst; Ph.D. in marine biology/neurophysiology]

Climate Change Denying Koch Brothers Are Deemed a Threat to National Security

It is generally expected and hoped that a country’s national security is not threatened by domestic traitors who deliberately jeopardize their homeland for monetary rewards. It hardly matters how powerful and efficient a nation’s military is when its mandate to defend the country is undermined from within the government due to the machinations of the country’s domestic enemies. One of the greatest assets protecting America’s national security is its intelligence community and military that spends a great deal of their time identifying and assessing threats to national security and evaluating terrorism threats at home and abroad. Recently, the Department of Defense identified a major threat to America’s national security and in doing so exposed domestic enemies intent on reinforcing the threat with millions of dollars for propaganda, blatant lies, and diversion.
The nation’s enemies are a familiar cult led by the Koch brothers who, with their foot soldiers in the Republican Party, teabagger movement, and evangelical Christians, are working in concert to enable terrorism and threaten America’s national security in the pursuit of power and money.
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50 State Plan For Renewable Energy

Stanford University scientist Mark Jacobson has developed a 50-state roadmap for transforming the United States from dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. He unveiled the plan at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. “Drastic problems require drastic and immediate solutions,” said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Our new roadmap is designed to provide each state a first step toward a renewable future.” Hover over each state to see projected energy mix * CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERACTIVE MAP * Read More:

Preserving Company Benefits:

Regenerating and using reclaimed materials are key steps for preserving the benefits that companies receive from the natural world, such as clean water, healthy workers, and moderate weather.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry On Climate Change Peril

Secretary of State John Kerry delivered remarks on climate change to an audience of students in Jakarta, Indonesia. He accused climate change deniers of burying their heads in the sand. Continue Reading:

Supporting A Clean Energy Revolution

The polar vortex that made life dangerously cold for tens of millions of people in North America this month is the latest in a long list of extreme weather events that are becoming increasingly common. Twenty thirteen saw some of the most extreme weather in decades. Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm on record ever to hit land, killed thousands of people and caused economic losses of billions of dollars in the Philippines. Australia had record heat waves, Brazil’s northeast suffered its worst drought in decades, southwest China experienced its heaviest rainfall in 50 years and flooding in Canada was the most expensive natural disaster in that country’s history. And this is only the tip of the (melting) iceberg. Read More:

Tesla sets EV speed record for cross-country trip. Model S coast-to-coast rides set new marks for overall speed and swift recharge.

Tesla has been conquering "range anxiety" by building its own network of fast-charge stations all over the United States. With 73 Supercharger stations now open in America (and 14 in Europe), Tesla has finally created a charging infrastructure that can let owners drive coast-to-coast.

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Asthma is the third ranking cause of hospitalization in young adults

Enjoy a collection of cartoons by New Yorker cartoon artist Danny Shanahan, along with helpful information about how to deal with asthma at college. Asthma is the third ranking cause of hospitalization in young adults and it accounts for approximately 500,000 hospitalizations a year.

Did you know that Aromatic Cedar deters roaches and reduces mold growth, two common known agents that help trigger asthma attacks?  Everyday Solutions for the breathlessness of asthma.

The Truth About Vitamin C and Cancer

Vitamin C has about a dozen functions that enhance your body’s natural immunity. At one level you can think of a cancer cell as a cell that’s lost information, or has low energy. It actually reverts to a primitive way of surviving with disregard for its neighbors. By increasing nutrient intake you are adding energy, or information, into the system to restore health.  

New research shows how complex plant compounds drawn from ancient practice (TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine) kills cancer cells |

Traditional Chinese Medicine:

TCM | A number of mushrooms and fungi have also been shown in various studies to contain substances (mostly complex polysaccharides) that stimulate the body's immune system (particularly its T-cell lymphocytes, macrophages, and natural anti-cancer cells) to destroy cancerous cells, lessen the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and combat viral infections.      Read More:


Harnessing the Immune System to Fight Cancer
TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine | Ji Xue Teng Qin Gao Pian\ Spatholobi Caulis | Increases white blood cell count in cancer patients. {Zhu, p. 103}

This blog or any printed matter that is generated as a result of this blog is not to be intended or in any way considered a substitute for the services of a medical professional.

Making Obsolescence Obsolete

Physics may be esoteric in conception, but this charmingly illustrated video gets us through a few hundred years of scientific discovery.
BBC Science Club - Physics from Asa Lucander on Vimeo.

Not just the Koch brothers: New study reveals funders behind the climate change denial effort |

New study exposes the organizational underpinnings and funding behind the powerful climate change countermovement and marks the first peer-reviewed, comprehensive analysis ever conducted of the sources of funding that maintain the denial effort.
"The climate change countermovement has had a real political and ecological impact on the failure of the world to act on the issue of global warming," said Brulle. "Like a play on Broadway, the countermovement has stars in the spotlight -- often prominent contrarian scientists or conservative politicians -- but behind the stars is an organizational structure of directors, script writers and producers, in the form of conservative foundations. If you want to understand what's driving this movement, you have to look at what's going on behind the scenes."
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Original Image [1938 x 1574]

Survival Guide For Climate Change Debates:

200,000 Moms | Clean Air Strong

Fighting For Our Kids' Health

Air-Purifier Bike

Some observers are calling it "the photosynthesis bike." The bike of interest has captured a lot of imaginations, press coverage, and even picked up an award in the 2013 Red Dot competition for design concept. Dubbed "Air Purifier Bike," from Bangkok-based Lightfog Creative and Design, the bicycle presents a next-level functionality to bicycles as environmentally sound vehicles—to the point where the rider not only uses a clean mode of transport but also helps to purify the air along with the ride. 

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Let Science Set the Facts

When it comes to handheld computers, smart phones and other electronic devices people don’t ever seem to question science when underlying something easily valued. We either take it for granted or celebrate science-based products like G.P.S., Global Positioning Systems, which guide drivers and pilots and allow heavy machinery or a farmer’s tractor to be operated with a precision that approaches ballet. And people are always eager to take advantage of the latest advances in medicine.

Science seems to be only questioned when people dislike the implications of scientific results. Story continues:

                                   

The light-harvesting states of photosynthesis are highly efficient in many species, and happen extremely fast |

Inspired by nature | Through billions of years of evolution, life on Earth has found intricate solutions to many of the problems scientists are currently grappling with. Physicists at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory are trying to unravel nature's secrets to develop new energy-generating technologies for a more sustainable future. "The light-harvesting states of photosynthesis are highly efficient in many species, and happen extremely fast – within a nanosecond, if not picoseconds," said Chin. "We're very interested in that efficiency and how it's managed. Biology has evolved phenomenally subtle systems to funnel light energy around and channel it to the right places. It has also become incredibly good at building tiny devices that work with high efficiency, and at replicating them millions of times." Read More:

How algae may one day cure parkinson’s disease |

Ever see a green film form on a still pond? It happens because alga needs sunlight to complete the photosynthesis cycle, the process it uses to convert carbon dioxide and water into the sugar it "eats." It’s that drive to seek the light that makes Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single-celled alga, a brain research superstar and the core of optogenetics technology--which uses light-sensitive proteins to study how neurons employ electrochemical signals to produce memories, thoughts, and behaviors. It is helping scientists research brain diseases and disorders such as Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression, stroke, PTSD, addiction, some forms of blindness, and more:   Read More

It's Not Socialism .. Is It?

"It's been said that democracy is the worst form of government
except all the others that have been tried.” ~ Sir Winston Churchill 

Much the same can be said for capitalism, particularly the form of capitalism that has been practiced over the past 20 years.  However, the alternatives to capitalism have all been tried and all been found wanting -- some, like communism or socialism, catastrophically so.  So capitalism, with all its faults, is the only game in town. The task confronting the present generation of leaders is to improve on it, to build on its strengths and eradicate its weaknesses. The challenge is to hold on to the energy, enterprise and creativity that characterize capitalism at its best, while doing away with its destructive elements.
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If a picture is worth a thousand words..

you might say photographer Matt Hoyle's book of comedian portraits is worth thousands of laughs.

Story Continues:

You can buy the book on Amazon here.

"Comic Genius: Portraits Of Funny People" is Hoyle's epic new compendium featuring 200 pages of beautiful, 9 x 11 in. photos of comedians both legendary and of-the-moment. Hoyle worked closely with each of the comedians to capture their spirit with costumes, props and facial expressions unique to each one.

Even better, Hoyle will donate his net proceeds from the sale of the book to Save the Children.

Bike Share with a fresh design and energy |

~New York City

The bike helmet on her head said "Nutcase," and though this was merely the name of the Oregon company that made it, there was something wry and self-aware about Janette Sadik-Khan choosing to wear one on the streets of New York. You had to be a little unhinged and adventurous to have the big vision that Sadik-Khan, New York City's transportation commissioner, brought to this unruly madhouse of a city. Sadik-Khan expected resistance, but the tenor of anger surprised her, especially at its peak a couple of winters ago. She was grateful to the mayor for having her back. She was now philosophical about it. "I think most of the animosity was about fighting change," she said. "Challenge the status quo, and it will push right back."
 Since then Polls now showed strong public support for bike lanes and bike share—in Citi Bike's case, a 73% approval rating after four months of operation. Politicians who had once howled about bike lanes were now using the blue bikes as campaign vehicles. A city was evolving.
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3 Favorite Journeys on a Bike

For many cyclists, riding a bike is a kind of heaven. You’re simply a body breathing clean air and having very few thoughts. It’s just the wind in their faces, and the tranquillity and peace that they feel. With the advent of fall, three writers tell us about their favorite bike journeys, from a beloved route along rolling fields and Lake Champlain in Vermont and upstate New York to a ride in the wild green countryside of western Ireland and a night ride in Paris| Journeys Continue

7 ways to get lost in the joy of autumn |

Fall’s Most Amazing Corn Mazes |

The Adventure Continues:

6 Unforgettable Train Trips in the U.S

Train travel offers families so much more than merely an alternative to driving. The most memorable train trips deliver both fabulous scenery and a dose of Americana you just can’t appreciate through the windows of a car | Read More: Best Train Trips for Families|

First-ever real estate website designed to help high volume-inclined music-lovers |

If your college parties never received any noise complaints then there is a chance that you weren't doing college right. In any case, for some people, the inclination to blare music at deafening decibels doesn’t go away after earning a diploma. Read More: