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I stumbled across this AWESOME Ted Talk. I was amazed by this guy's knowledge and outright geekiness. This tricky bastard is hacking mushrooms! In 17 minutes you will learn more about Mushrooms than most people know in the world. Mushrooms create soil, sequester CO2, are incredibly resiliant thriving without light after the prehistoric asteroid hit and are the largest organisms on earth.
Is science exploding with what seems like new daily discoveries each day or what? Quantum to the core.....what is called a quantum microphone has an eye which can view two different objects at once.
Israel has angered many countries by two incidents. Firstly, it used Australian and European passports to kill a terrorist in an Arab country. It has also decided to build over one thousand homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, angering even its main supporter, the USA.
Building more Jewish settlements is a threat to a Palestinian homeland with East Jerusalem as its capital. It breaks agreement with the USA and EU. It is a threat to the peace process. Will Israel get away with this?
Researchers have found that yawning isn’t only catching among people; it is also among chimpanzees. No one has devised a fully convincing explanation of why.
Compounding the mystery is the odd way in which the contagious power of yawning is largely unconscious. We can see someone yawn, yearn to replicate the action ourselves, and do it, all without thinking about it. Other times we’re aware it is happening, though it still floats somewhere beneath the realm of reason and of purposeful actions.
In an effort to find the answer, the Finnish government funded a brain scanning study. The results turned up some hard-to-interpret, possible clues. It also confirmed the obvious: yawn contagion is largely unconscious. Wherever it might affect the brain, it bypasses the known brain circuitry for consciously analyzing and mimicking other people’s actions.
This circuitry is called the "mirror-neuron system" because it contains a special type of brain cells, or neurons, that become active both when their owner does something, and when he or she senses someone else doing the same thing.
Mirror neurons typically become active when a person consciously imitates an action of someone else, a process associated with learning. But they seem to play no role in yawn contagiousness, the researchers in the new study found. The cells are have no extra activity during contagious yawning compared with during other non-contagious facial movements, they observed.
Brain activity "associated with viewing another person yawn seems to circumvent the essential parts of the MNS [mirror neuron system], in line with the nature of contagious yawns as automatically released behavioral acts — rather than truly imitated motor patterns that would require detailed action understanding", wrote the researchers.
But if seeing someone yawn doesn’t activate these centers, what does it do to the brain? The researchers found that it appears to strongly activate at least one brain area, called the superior temporal sulcus. But this activation was unrelated to any desire to yawn in response, so it may be irrelevant to the contagion question, the researchers added.
Possibly more significant, they wrote, was the apparent deactivation of a second brain area, called the left periamygdalar region. The more strongly a participant reported wanting to yawn in response to another person’s yawn, the stronger was this deactivation.
Exactly what the finding means is less clear, they acknowledged. The periamygdalar region is a zone that lies alongside the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain in the area of the side of the head. The periamygdalar region has been linked to the unconscious analysis of emotional expressions in faces. Why it would be deactivated in tandem with yawn contagion is unclear.
One thing seems clear from the study is that "contagious yawning does not rely on brain mechanisms of action understanding, it seems to be an 'automatically' released (and most likely very archaic) motor pattern" or sequence of physical actions.
Apart from the physical brain mechanisms of yawn contagiousness, researchers have offered different reasons as to why it exists. Some have proposed that in early humans, yawn contagiousness might have helped people communicate their alertness levels to each other, and thus coordinate their sleep schedules.
This might be part of a more general phenomenon of unconscious signals that serve to synchronize group behavior, the authors of the Neuroimage paper wrote. "Such synchronization could be essential for species survival and works without action understanding, like when a flock of birds rises to the air as soon as the first bird does so — supposably as it notices a predator."
I think this would be a great product for children who are lactose intolerant and could eat the cheese as a toddler. But for Adults? I am not sure about that.
Anne Mitchell, RN, of Kermit, Texas, a town of 5,200 just south of the New Mexico border, reported Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., MD, to the Texas Medical Board because she believed that he was practicing bad medicine.
Mitchell’s complaint said that Arafiles was improperly prescribing medications at his weight-loss clinic, and performing improper surgical procedures at the 25-bed Winkler County Memorial Hospital.
Mitchell and a second nurse, Vickilyn Galle, RN (who was dropped from prosecution), learned that Arafiles was e-mailing patients he had seen at the hospital, encouraging them to buy questionable herbal products that he sells off the books. He also performed some questionable procedures in the hospital’s emergency room.
Others noticed problems, too. Two staff physicians also lodged complaints against Arafiles with the hospital board, but the board failed to act. So in April 2009, Nurse Mitchell contacted the Texas Medical Board. She asked that it investigate Arafiles' care of several patients.
The board notified Arafiles that it had received the complaint and asked him to provide copies of the medical records. (To see a copy of the board’s letter, see http://www.casewatch.org/civil/mitchell/tmb_complaint.pdf.) The doctor complained to the local county sheriff and his friend, Robert Roberts, alleging harassment. Roberts credits Arafiles for saving his life when he had a heart attack; he also is a partner in the doctor’s herbal remedy enterprise.
Mitchell, who with Galle has lost her job at the hospital, has been accused of “misuse of official information,” a third-degree felony in Texas. It carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She was fingerprinted and photographed at the Kermit jail, an experience she called “surreal” because you shouldn’t “go to jail for doing the right thing.”
Mitchell’s trial began Feb. 8. The jury found her "Not Guilty" after one hour of deliberation. The turning point in the trial came when Dr. Arafiles stated confidently under oath that "diabetics heal wounds at the same rate as normal people", a statement that caused audible gasps and murmurs in the court gallery. Most laypeople, not to mention competent medical professionals, are well aware that slow wound healing is a major feature of diabetes, and the cause of frequent amputations in diabetics from slow-healing wounds that become gangrenous.
These nurses followed their consciences and filed a complaint against a physician who was causing harm through his shady practice of medicine. Instead of receiving accolades, these two women lost ther jobs and underwent criminal prosecution for "leaking official information". The prosecution was instigated by the malpracticing doctor, but the hospital that employed them all supported the physician (for fear of paying out malpractice lawsuits) and fired the nurses.
Many states, including Texas where this happened, have laws meant to protect whistle-blowers, but the laws are not general enough to cover all situations. The nurses in this case weren't covered under the whistle-blower's act in texas because that act only protects those who report public industries for wrong-doing, not individuals like Arafiles.
Is a blanket Federal Whistle-blower's act needed to protect those of good conscience in every profession, in every state, so that miscarriages of justice like the case I described above no longer appear in our courts?
It seems to me it would be a Good Thing, but I fear those who are anti-goverment would disagree. How do you all feel about it?
No, not "The Crying Game"; that's something else entirely.
The "choking game" is an activity in which persons strangulate themselves to achieve euphoria through brief denial of oxygen to their brains. It is different from autoerotic asphyxiation (the act of depriving oxygen to the brain by using a noose to achieve a stronger orgasm). Autoerotic asphyxiation was in the spotlight recently when celebrity David Carradine was found dead with evidence that this practice had caused him to pass out and strangle to death. Choking is not the same thing; it's typically practiced by children and young teens to get a "high" feeling, in the same way some children deliberately spin around and around to get dizzy, but choking can have devastating consequences, and even be fatal.
The choking game can cause permanent long-term disability and death. In 2008, the Center for Disease Control reported 82 deaths attributed to the choking game and other strangulation activities during the period 1995–2007; most victims were adolescent males aged 11–16 years. To assess the awareness and prevalence of this behavior among all 8th graders in Oregon, the Oregon Public Health Division added a question to the 2008 Oregon Healthy Teens survey concerning familiarity with and participation in this activity.
This report indicated that 36.2% of 8th-grade respondents had heard of the choking game, 30.4% had heard of someone participating, and 5.7% had participated themselves. Youths in rural areas were significantly more likely (6.7%) to have participated than youths in urban areas (4.9%). Choking game participation was higher among 8th graders who reported mental health risk factors (4.0%), substance use (7.9%), or both (15.8%), compared with those who reported neither (1.7%).
Parents, educators, counselors, and others who work with teens should be aware of strangulation activities and their serious health effects; they should watch for signs of participation in strangulation activities, especially among youths with suspected substance use or mental health risk factors.
The Oregon Healthy Teens survey, an annual anonymous survey of 8th and 11th graders, is based on the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey and includes questions on physical and mental health, sexual activity, substance use, physical activity/nutrition, and community characteristics. The mean age of respondents to this question was 13 years. A similar percentage of girls reported participating in choking compared with boys.
This practice is widespread, and is beginning to cause an alarming increase in deaths and brain damage from oxygen deprivation. Parents who notice changes in their kids' behavior and suddenly falling grades should not only consider drug use, but also the practice of "the choking game". One tell-tale sign is the appearance of a frequent red rash, bruising, or chafing around the neck. This is caused by the pressure of a noose (sometimes covered with a towel or washcloth to minimize neck damage). Nooses can be attached to closet poles, door knobs, shower rods, clothing hooks, anything strong enough to bear the weight of the child.
Just another thing that concerned parents should add to their list of things to watch out for to protect their kids. Don't assume your child has never heard of this game -- do your part to educate about the risks and fatal consequences of playing.
Jimi Hendrix, after going underground 40 years years ago, has popped his head up and finally released a new CD title "Valley's of Neptune". Reviews have so far been positive with most critic's stating that he still has what it takes to be the greatest guitar player of all time.
Quit yer bitchin. It's not Jimi but it still rocks.
The idea for a .xxx domain was first proposed in 2001 and was approved by Icann four years later.
The scheme is intended to create a silo for pornography on the internet.
"Those that do want to see it can; those that don't can filter it out," explained Mr Lawley.
However, the scheme is voluntary and adult sites will still be able to use other domains such as .com.
In 2007, Icann overturned its original decision to allow .xxx domains to be sold amidst a firestorm of protest from conservative groups, predominately in the US, which opposed the plan on moral grounds.
Recently an arbitration panel of retired judges at the International Centre for Dispute Resolution ruled that the plan should be revisited after analysing evidence about the alleged interference.
"Our claim was that Icann came up with a lot of different excuses," said Mr Lawley.
The board concluded that Icann's decision to reject the .xxx plan was "not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy" and should be revisited.
Mr Lawley described it as a "landmark" ruling.
The non-binding decision will now be discussed by Icann on 12 March and a decision will be made whether to reconsider its approach to .xxx.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8556364.stm
Interesting idea. Although I think that if this was to be overturned, all sites should be required to be within that domain. Those who do not want to have sites come up surprisingly in a search should be able to block and never have to see it again!
A friend sent me an article about recent slayings of 200 Christians in Nigeria. He was very upset that Muslims had done this. But of course at the end of the article after the media "shocked you" into reading, you find that this violence has been going on for awhile and in January 150 Muslims were killed in the town of Kuru Karama. Muslim officials say that a over 350 Muslims were killed in that week alone.
The media as usual is really ticking me off here. One LONG explicit article about the 200 Christians, but only a snippit on the Muslim death toll. Even the titles are obviously one sided. "Attack on Nigerian town kills hundreds" as apposed to "Christian-Muslim violence in Nigeria warrents probe, rights group says"
