Sunday, August 05, 2007

Speedlinking 8/5/07

Quote of the day:

"I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building."
~ Charles M. Schulz

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Tip of the Week: Six of the Worst Workout Habits -- "Some of the most common exercise routines could be turning your gym sessions into wasted time. Here’s how to make every minute count."
~ Food And Nutrition Re-Married For Consumers' Health -- "It could be decades before science can accurately measure the body's systems to determine which foods, in what quantities and combinations, will best combat against disease and illness, experts say. But when that time comes, expect each diet to be as individual as the person. That's the general consensus among food scientists gathered here who in some instances can't even agree on the current effectiveness of functional foods." This is why fad diets don't work -- each person needs to find what works for him or her.
~ Protein may be why some turn red -- "Researchers now believe they have found a key mechanism that drives rosacea, a possible clue that could point the way to a future treatment for the condition that affects 14 million people in the United States."
~ The Facts About Fats in Our Childrens Diet -- "Some years ago health visitors were reporting a rash of reports on under-weight toddlers in middle-income households. Concerned parents were putting their small children on low-fat diets, believing this to be healthy. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Fats are essential to everyone’s health." Good info for adults as well.
~ Migraines Retreat With Diet Modifications -- "The research is clear, food intolerance, allergies, and hypersensitivities are key triggers of headaches and migraines. Although each migraine sufferer may react to a different food or group of foods, there are a few which seem to pop up as frequent offenders: dairy (including milk, cheeses, and yogurt), wheat, eggs, soy, corn, citrus, chocolate, coffee, beef, yeast, red wine, and processed foods with additives and preservatives."
~ Gene Doping: The Next Big Thing in Cheating -- "Gene doping is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency as "the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or of the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to improve athletic performance". Yeah, thats right, self-inflicted and unwarranted gene therapy to increase athletic ability."
~ 9 Reasons why An Apple a Day Really Keeps the Doctor away -- "Do you really know what makes an apple so special? Why is it that we never hear an orange or a banana a day keeps the doctor away?"


PSYCHE
~ Musical Appreciation Increases Current Knowledge Of Event Segmentation Processes In The Brain -- "In what has to be one of the most pleasant brain studies on record, researchers asked subjects to listen to symphonies in order to probe one of the central talents of the brain -- its ability to segment the continual stream of sensory information into perceptual chunks to extract meaning."
~ Anorexia May Be More Common Than Thought -- "Anorexia nervosa is more common than previously thought, according to a study of more than 3,000 Finnish women born between 1975 and 1979."
~ Mental Health 101 - American Psychiatric Association -- "Across the country, students are preparing to start or return to college. This is an exciting time, though for some it's overwhelming and stressful. Depression, substance use and eating disorders are increasingly common mental health issues on college campuses."
~ SciAmMind on altruism, money and leadership -- "The August edition of Scientific American Mind has just arrived online and in the shops. The freely available articles from this edition tackle teamwork and finance as one investigates the psychology of leadership and the other looks at the role of altruism in financial decision-making."
~ Young Athletes Try New Coach: The Psychologist -- "The idea that mental coaching can help young athletes has pervaded the country’s zealous youth sports culture."
~ What Autistic Girls Are Made Of -- "Research and clinical observation are starting to show that autistic girls are different from autistic boys. And these differences may have implications for the quality of their lives."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Road Rules -- "The novel [On the Road] that launched the Beats, the hippies and designer jeans turns 50. But this legendary 'joyride' is actually the saddest book you'll ever read—even with God on every page. Time for another look."
~ Sean O'Hagan on Jack Kerouac's dazzling novel On the Road -- "Fifty years ago Jack Kerouac's dazzling novel On the Road became the blueprint for the Beat generation and shaped America's youth culture for decades. It influenced scores of artists, musicians and film-makers, but how does it resonate with young people today?"
~ The Online Beat: An Overwhelming Vote for Waste, Earmarks and Corruption -- "House Democrats and Republicans unite to back a $460 billion Pentagon budget that is packed with 1,300 earmarks and the defense equivalent of a thousand bridges to nowhere."
~ GOP field seeks space from Bush -- "The Republican presidential candidates walked a delicate line in their latest campaign debate, seeking some distance from President Bush and an unpopular war in Iraq while offering assurances of change in a new Republican administration."
~ Woods wins Bridgestone Invitational (AP) -- "Tiger Woods looked as unbeatable as ever Sunday at Firestone. Woods erased a one-shot deficit in two holes, then buried Rory Sabbatini and the rest of the field to win the Bridgestone Invitational for the third straight year and send him to the PGA Championship with his game in good shape."
COMMENT: People have talked about Woods being in a slump this year (he hasn't won a major title), but he is #1 in the world, #1 in the Fed Ex Cup race, and #1 on the money list. Slump? When Woods plays badly, he finishes in the top 10, often in the top 5 (2nd at two of the majors this year). When he plays well, he wins. When plays very well, he looks like he's playing a whole different game. It's fun to watch him.
~ Daniel Brook: Hillary's Hypocrisy -- And Ours -- "Last night at the Yearly Kos Democratic presidential candidates' debate in Chicago, Hillary Clinton, bated by Barack Obama and John Edwards who have pledged not to take campaign money from Washington lobbyists, defended her open pocket policy...."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Energy Search Goes Underground -- "When tremors started cracking walls and bathroom tiles in this Swiss city on the Rhine, the engineers knew they had a problem."
~ Tiny blob hides a big secret -- "Just about every fictional witch or wizard eventually ends up with some sort of pouch that hides infinite space inside. Now real-life scientists have come up with something similar: An unassuming brown gel that is so porous, one of its inventors says "A cubic centimeter of this stuff could have 1,500 square meters...inside of it." It's not just a cool party trick. Turns out the gel has an uncanny knack for filtering huge amounts of mercury out of water."
~ Prediction of major hurricanes lowered -- "The United States' leading storm forecaster has slightly lowered the number of hurricanes expected to form in the Atlantic basin this year."
~ Everglades Decision Criticized -- "The Bush administration's hand in removing the Everglades from a United Nations list of endangered sites was denounced Friday by a Florida senator."
~ Scientists warn of chemicals in plastic -- "U.S. scientists warn the chemicals bisphenol A or BPA -- found in plastic -- could cause serious reproductive disorders."
~ A Car-Free Future? -- "There are few possessions to which people are more attached than their cars. Surveys have consistently shown that between a quarter an a third of all Americans bestow names on their cars. One survey found that 84 percent of all people say they “love” their cars...."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Dharma-Burger! "Karma Checks" -- "Big, BIG thanks to Horse reader Jaime McLeod who sends this great find, and really took the time to give it a proper writeup: Why wait for other people’s karma to catch up to them, when you can take the law of cause and effect into your own hand..."
~ Richard Dawkins and Multi-perspectivalism -- "Normally I'm not a big fan of this (non)debate (so-called) between religion and science. The science is rarely, although sometimes defined, the religion never is---one kind of religion/faith is simply assumed and then argued from or about, depending on whether the person is pro or con."
~ un-intelligent non-design -- "Last post took some shots at Dawkins and "New" Atheism ("meet the new boss, same as the old..."). So to be fair and balanced, a shot at (so-called) Intelligent Design. [I did see Michael Behe on Colbert Show the other night]."
~ Pushing Belief -- "I’ve been pushing my perspective on others for my entire life, but I have rarely questioned its foundations, including the scientific method and my own ability for rational thought. Both have been central to my beliefs despite many boneheaded decisions. I’ve also had a strong feeling that everything in existence fits together somehow."
~ Meditation with the Buddha Within -- "I have been having some awful nightmares of late and was talking with my therapist about it and she had a suggestion. She said that since meditation works so well for me that I should try and do a mini-meditation before bedtime--one that concentrated solely upon getting ready for sleep."


1 comment:

CJ Smith said...

WH,

Just a word of thanks for linking some of my posts. I appreciate it. Peace.

Chris