Sunday, July 22, 2007

Speedlinking 7/22/07

[Another Sunday speedlinking edition. Regular speedlinks will return on Tuesday.]

Quote of the day:

"We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them."
~ Charles Caleb Colton

Image of the day:



BODY
~ One Billion People Don't Get Enough Vitamin D -- "Vitamin D deficiency is a common problem that can lead to a number of serious health conditions, but it can be prevented, says one expert. People get vitamin D from sun exposure, diet and supplements. Yet vitamin D deficiency is all too common."
~ You Are What You Eat: Triglycerides and Diet -- "Many people today are concerned about their triglyceride levels. And rightly so. High triglycerides have been marked as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). But in all the scramble to reduce our triglycerides many doctors have been trying to tell us that the truth is as plain as the nose on our collective face."
~ Systematic Review Finds More Reasons To Avoid Diabetes Drug Avandia -- "Little evidence supports using rosiglitazone (Avandia) to improve the quality or length of life among adults with diabetes, according to a systematic review of data by German researchers. Furthermore, data suggest that the drug might worsen complications of the disease such as weight gain, swelling, bone fractures and heart disease."
~ Diet Helps You Lower Your Blood Pressure -- "The diet involves reducing the salt consume and also eating more fruits, vegetables and non fat or low-fat dairy products, according to a declaration from the American Heart Association (AHA),which affirms that all these elements are important for the persons who need to lower blood pressure."
~ Have bad acne? Try eating a low-glycemic diet -- "The findings from a new study suggest another reason why diets that contain low glycemic loads may be of benefit. Not only can they improve insulin sensitivity, this type of diet also appears to clear up acne as well."


PSYCHE
~ More women over 30 battling eating disorders -- "Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have long been considered diseases of the young, but experts say in recent years more women have been seeking help in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and older. Some treatment centers are creating special programs for these more mature patients."
~ Scientists Unlock Secrets of the 'Placebo Effect' -- "A new study reveals a brain region behind the placebo effect -- the phenomenon in which a person's belief in the effectiveness of a treatment boosts its effect."
~ Sleep pattern linked with teen's behavior -- "New study findings suggest that a preference for nighttime over daytime activities may be associated with antisocial behavior in adolescences, even in children as young as 8 years old."
~ Measuring Neural Activity Whlst Looking For Something Reveals Surprising Number Of Neurons Employed -- "A person searching for a ripe tomato at the grocery store is more likely to notice apples, strawberries and other red fruits as well, according to a new study that measured changes in blood flow in the brain. The researchers also discovered that more neurons are called into action to help the eyes find a particular object than has previously been documented."
~ Augmented cognition: Science fact or science fiction? -- "The limitations of cognitive processes, particularly attention and working memory, place a ceiling on the capacity of the brain to process and store information. It is these processes that some researchers are aiming to enhance with augmented cognition, an emerging field which aims to use computational technology to enhance human performance in various tasks by overcoming the bottlenecks in processes such as attention and memory."
~ Making Sense of Dennett's Views on Introspection -- "Dan Dennett and I have something in common: We both say that people often go grossly wrong about even their own ongoing conscious experience (for my view, see here). Of course Dennett is one of the world's most eminent philosophers and I'm, well, not. But another difference is this: Dennett also often says (as I don't) that subjects can no more go wrong about their experience than a fiction writer can go wrong about his fictions (e.g., 1991, p. 81, 94) and that their reports about their experience are "incorrigible" in the sense that no one could ever be justified in believing them mistaken (e.g., 2002, p. 13-14)."
~ Study: Life can alter one's memory storage -- "The everyday experiences of a human being can have a direct effect on the brain's physiology and how memory storage operates, a U.S. study found."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ U.S., Iran to meet again over Iraq -- "The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq will meet this week to discuss security issues in the war-torn country, a senior Bush administration official said Sunday."
~ Democratic senator proposes censuring Bush -- "Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution."
~ Harrington Steals A Wacky British Open -- "Padraig Harrington finally learned the lesson of Carnoustie, surviving a calamitous finish in regulation and a tense bogey putt in the playoff to win the British Open on Sunday."
~ The 10 Best Simpsons Endings Of All Time -- "I obviously wasn’t going to allow Simpsons Movie week to slip by without doing some kind of Top 10 list, but because I wouldn’t be able to do a favorite episodes / jokes / characters list without deliberating for nine more years and making a list of fifty, I’ve decided to take a look at some of the funniest, most touching, and most memorable endings in the history of the show that I’ve spent more hours of my life watching than I have sleeping."
~ Remembering Tammy Faye -- "She blended camp with church, and created a durable pop icon. Remembering Tammy Faye Bakker."
~ In the Name of Objectivity, the Media Clouds the Reality of Terror Report -- "The newly released National Intelligence Estimate which utterly repudiates Bush's war in Iraq is being spun as a mixed bag of evidence -- with the spin dutifully echoed by the media."
~ Review: New and Selected Poems (1965-2006) by David Shapiro -- "What is there to say? Prodigious, brilliant, David Shapiro has lived in many worlds of art, including music and painting. Shapiro is also the author of four books of criticism: on poet John Ashbery, and on artists Jim Dine, Jasper Johns and Piet Mondrian. In total, there are 20 books to his name, including translations, editions, and collaborations with painters and poets and philosophers and aestheticians. But poetry is at the center of his work...."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Sticking Powers Of Gecko And Mussel Mimicked To Produce Revolutionary Synthetic Adhesive -- "Geckos are remarkable in their ability to scurry up vertical surfaces and even move along upside down. Their feet stick but only temporarily, coming off of surfaces again and again like a sticky note. But put those feet underwater, and their ability to stick is dramatically reduced."
~ Outline of Scotland's Scone Abbey found -- "Scottish archaeologists say they have located the exact location of Scone Abbey, where Robert the Bruce is believed to have been crowned king."
~ Weather extremes hit southeast Europe, England -- "Extreme weather hit Europe Saturday as the death toll from a heat wave in Romania, Austria and Bulgaria rose to 18 and hundreds faced another night of misery in flood-drenched England."
~ Chips: High Tech Aids or Tracking Tools? -- "CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself - until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms."
~ UK to get its first desalination plant -- "During some of the wettest weather that Britain has seen in years the government has just granted approval for the UK’s first desalination plant. One of the staples of western society is clean water...."
~ Dupont agrees to spend 66 mln dlrs to cut US pollution -- "The Justice Department said Friday that chemical firm E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. had agreed to spend at least 66 million dollars to cut air pollution at four US plants."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Imagining a world -- "As I continue to explore the thoughts through choiceless awareness practice (labeling the six sense fields, including thoughts) it becomes easier to directly see thoughts, and their effects, as they arise here and now."
~ Buddhists 'are truly happy' -- "New research suggests joy lies just behind the forehead, in the brain's left prefrontal lobes." Hat tip to simra.net for the link.
~ A Buddhist analysis of Fight Club -- "I avoided watching Fight Club for a very long time, until I found myself on a plane with a limited set of seat-back choices. Here's a thoughtful article on Fight Club and its exposition of the four noble truths." Links to the article.
~ Life: Conversations with mom -- "As a Buddhist I believe that I need to know myself before I can effectively transcend my self. Toward that goal, these past couple years have found me reflecting ever more deeply on the places, people, and events that have shaped me, this ego, here, now."
~ Consciousness, Music, & Israeli Culture -- Andrew Cohen -- "On the challenge of being an Israeli who wants to evolve to a kosmocentric orientation to life."


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