Monday, January 22, 2007

Speedlinking 1/22/07

Quote of the day:

"Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others."
~ Edward Abbey

Image of the day: Snow in Tucson!



BODY
~ Indulge in chocolate for your sweet tooth and your health -- The joys, and health benefits when consumed in moderation, of chocolate.
~ Experts 'Weigh In' On Popular Diet And Exercise Myths -- 10 excellent debunkings of dumbass myths.
~ UCF Scientists' Molecular Discovery Could Help Drugs Target Unhealthy Cells -- "University of Central Florida and University of California Riverside professors are a step closer to being able to deliver life-saving drugs through tiny molecules that would travel through the bloodstream and destroy only cancer-ridden cells." Very cool -- targeted molecular treatments.
~ Built-in Molecular Brakes Curb The Sniffles -- "Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered how our anti-infection machinery turns itself down and limits the sniffles, congestion and fevers that are a side effect of the campaign against invading viruses. The discovery seems to solve part of the mystery of why the misery of the common cold lasts only so long."
~ Boomers' health mistakes can add up later -- "Even when boomers' behavior and choices lead to serious problems, their health may still not come first."
~ Syndrome X: Treat with Lifestyle Change -- "Syndrome X describes people who have low blood levels of the good HDL cholesterol and high blood levels of triglycerides, which puts them at high risk for heart attacks."


PSYCHE
~ Are you a giver? Brain scan tells the truth -- "Altruism, one of the most difficult human behaviors to define, can be detected in brain scans, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday."
~ Causes of Postpartum Depression -- "Many experts believe that the causes of postpartum depression/postpartum mood disorders are related to hormones, yet that is clearly only part of the story."
~ Developing Thought-Controlled Artificial Limbs: New Ideas From Penn Scientists -- "Investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine describe the basis for developing a biological interface that could link a patient's nervous system to a thought-driven artificial limb."
~ When Depression Hits Your Family -- "Depressed people may not do much to help themselves because 'it's the nature of the disorder to make people passive.'"
~ Studies Yield Insight Into The Numerical Brain -- "The researches said their findings will contribute to understanding how the brain processes quantitative information as well as lead to studies of how numerical representation in the brain develops in children."
~ Steven Pinker on The Mystery of Consciousness -- An excellent article from one of our best minds.
~ Sexual emulation and rivalry -- "Researchers have shown women rate a man as more attractive after they’ve seen another woman smiling at him. By contrast, being a jealous bunch, male observers rate a man as less attractive after they’ve seen a woman smiling at him."
~ From Buddhist Geeks: Developing Concentration: Do We Have What it Takes?


CULTURE
~ Hillary’s Real Competition: Her Husband -- "Starting right away, Hillary Clinton will be compared to her husband in nearly everything she does—sometimes favorably, sometimes less so. In fact, the whole issue of how she stacks up against Bill Clinton will be one of the major themes of the upcoming campaign."
~ Obesity, Education Levels Have An Impact On Chemo Doses For Women With Breast Cancer -- This should not be a cultural listing, but it is: "Women with breast cancer who are obese or less educated are twice as likely to get reduced doses of chemotherapy than doctors recommended, jeopardizing survival, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center." This is clearly an issue of bias.
~ New Journal NanoEthics From Springer -- "Springer has announced the launch of a new peer-reviewed journal called NanoEthics: Ethics for Technologies that Converge at the Nanoscale. Supported by an international editorial board, the journal will provide a multidisciplinary forum for exploration of ethical issues related to nanotechnology." There should be some ethics placed on the "coming singularity."
~ Competency to Be Executed -- "If society has determined that a right to commit suicide does not exist, can a convict sentenced to death waive his appeal?"
~ Fundamentalism, blind spots, and anti-authoritarianism -- "At the core of my disagreement with Sam Harris (and with our own Jason Rosenhouse) is the role of religion in making religious authoritarianism bad. I argue that authoritarianism (and extremism in general) is the issue, while others think that religion should be the focus."
~ Psychoanalysts Approve Position Statement Condemning The Use Of Torture -- "On Thursday, during the Winter 2007 Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) in New York, the organization's Board of Directors approved a position statement strongly condemning the use of torture."
~ Nancy Pelosi - "Damaged Goods"? -- Glenn Greenwald calls the pundits on their short-sighted dismissal of Pelosi, long before she even took office.
~ What does Hillary's announcement mean for the Dem primary picture? -- Slate looks at the Democratic field.


HABITATS
~ Tax Benefits For Private Health Insurance Proposed By Bush -- In the absence of universal care, I can almost support this -- except that I'm not sure it really helps the poor.
~ Talk of Universal Health Care Grows -- "An elusive goal that has tantalized presidents and governors for decades is roaring back this year with ambitious proposals in a handful of prominent states...."
~ From Burning Silo: a look at goldenrod crab spiders -- A cool post with some very cool pictures of our eight-legged friends.
~ Conservationists: Sharks Need Help -- "They estimate 20 percent of the world's shark population is threatened ... and they're calling upon to public to give up its fear and start acting on the predator's behalf."
~ Phantom-Limb Pain Eased With Virtual Reality -- "The agony of a ghost limb can be all too real for amputees. But recent experiments suggest that an unreal treatment may hold the key to a cure."
~ Video: Octopus Trades Arms for Safety -- "Watch as a blue crab is left clutching for more after facing off with a tiny octopus that puts life over limb." No worries, the arm grows back.
~ Should we burn climate skeptics at the stake? -- "Of course not. That would release CO2, and we'd have to buy an offset or plant a tree or something."


INTEGRAL
~ From Joe Perez: Writing myself well. See also: The edge of vanilla and Anatomy of a typical contemplative Write.
~ From ISC: Brace Yourselves for Boomeritis Buddhism!
~ From Mystery of Existence: Voices disowned in the self-inquiry process, Layers of identity, The three centers in the Big Mind process.
~ From Indistinct Union: Aurobler? Wilbindian? and non-spiritual spirituality.
~ Age of consent, young teenage lesbians from Ray Harris at Open Integral.


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