If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows.
— Dave Barry
If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows.
— Dave Barry
Space is fizzing. In a place where Earth’s magnetic field meets the constant stream of gas from the Sun, astronomers have found thousands of bubbles of superheated gas constantly growing and popping. The discovery could allow scientists finally to understand the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.
A new lava dome which began forming last week at Indonesia’s Mount Merapi may signal that heightened activity is ending at the volcano, a scientist said Tuesday.
There is a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer in Asia where people smoke heavily, which may be accounted for by high consumption of tea, particularly green tea, according to a review article published by a Yale School of Medicine researcher. One theory is that the average 1.2 liters of green tea consumed daily by many people in Asia offers the anti-oxidant protective effects of the polyphenolic EGCG. EGCG may prevent LDL oxidation, which has been shown to play a key role in the development of arteriosclerosis. EGCG also reduces the amount of platelet aggregation, regulates lipids, and promotes proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells, which are all factors in reducing cardiovascular disease, he said. Other reports show that EGCG prevents growth of certain tumors. Tea, according to studies, also can improve gastrointestinal function, alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic function, protect skin and eyes and alleviate arthritis.
Operating above 95% of the atmosphere, high-tech blimps could soon provide Hubble-like views of the sky at a small fraction of the cost of a space-based mission, a new study concludes. Several companies, including Lockheed Martin, have been developing solar-powered blimps that pilot themselves and could remain aloft for months or even years at a time. The blimps could be used as giant cell phone towers or to detect incoming missiles. While Hubble cost $1.5 billion to build, this sort of telescope would cost just $10 million to construct.
Iowa State scientists say they’ve developed tiny nanospheres that could revolutionize how biodiesel is produced. The current process of producing biodiesel requires use of toxic chemicals, and is labor and energy intensive. The new catalysts, based on calcium and sand, should address these problems and are non-toxic in themselves. And biofuels are going mainstream: DuPont Co. and BP announced on Tuesday that they were partnering to develop transportation biofuels that would help cut overall greenhouse gas emissions and reduce reliance on petroleum. Thomas Connelly, DuPont’s chief innovation officer, said the companies projected that its new biofuel, “biobutanol,” would be competitive without subsidies with oil in the range of $30 to $40 per barrel.
A study has shown the mechanism by which carcinogenic chemicals in household products such as mothballs and air fresheners cause cancer. The research by the University of Colorado-Boulder showed cancer developed when the chemicals blocked the normal process of “cell suicide” in living organisms. Naphthalene in mothballs and para-dichlorobenzene, or PDCB, in some air fresheners were shown to block enzymes that initiate programmed cell death, or apoptosis, said Associate Professor Ding Xue of CU-Boulder’s molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. Apoptosis is a normal function of certain cell groups that acts as a “brake” to prevent unchecked cellular proliferation similar to the process that triggers the formation of cancerous tumors.
A minor cannabis constituent named cannabigerol, which is devoid of psychotropic activity, has been shown to lower high blood pressure.
We’ll have to see what comes of this: The United States and the European Union, long at odds over the significance of climate change, will agree on Wednesday to act with “resolve and urgency” to reduce emissions of gases blamed for global warming. In draft conclusions of the EU-U.S. summit in Vienna obtained by Reuters, the two sides pledge their commitment to boost investment in less-polluting fossil and renewable fuel sources, make more use of renewable energy and lower the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. [And who was it that predicted here that Bush would “go green” to save his tattered legacy?] “We will work more closely to address the serious and long-term challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and air pollution and will act with resolve and urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the draft conclusions said.
The FT reports this morning:
This is more than a garden-variety big oops. It’s not completely clear what’s going on, but the FT article does say that “Mr. Ellison’s advisers last autumn began linking payment to final settlement of an insider trading suit brough by Oracle shareholders, which was to include a substantial donation to charity.” Yeah, and Ellison was just thinking about public safety in the days after 9/11 when he volunteered to spearhead a drive to set up a huge database to help track the terrists.
A memorial plaque commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot will be installed at Noon this Thursday, June 22nd, at the corner of San Francisco’s Turk and Taylor Streets. The 1966 riot was the first known instance of transgender resistance to police harassment in the U.S.
National and local community leaders present will include The Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church, author/activists Leslie Feinberg and Jamison Green, National Center for Transgender Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling, and representatives of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office, SF Human Rights Commission, and SF Police Commission. Among those honored will be several transgender individuals who were active in the community 40 years ago, and retired SFPD Officer Elliott Blackstone, the first SFPD liaison to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities.
Sparked by the riot, San Francisco activists and allies began their own civil rights movement in 1966, three years prior to the famous rioting at New York’s Stonewall Inn, popularly credited as the start of the Gay Freedom Movement. “In many ways, we can attribute our success in the transgender civil rights movement and the larger LGBT movement to our courageous predecessors at Compton’s Cafeteria,” said San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner and Transgender Law Center Deputy Director Cecilia Chung. “Unexpected allies, like Sgt. Blackstone, fought by our side against prejudice and stigma at a time when our cries seemed to be ignored, and helped to create a ripple of positive change. Today not only do we see transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual people serving on the police force, but we also witness the wave of positive transformation in laws and policies in governments and institutions across the country and around the world.”
Filmmakers Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman, co-producer/directors of the film “Screaming Queens,” which documents the social conditions that led to the riot, will also speak. Their film recently won a Northern California Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement, Historical/Cultural Program Special, and will be screened on KQED at 9:30pm on June 29th, and several times on June 30th.
The commemoration event, to be held at Oshun Center, 101 Taylor Street, is sponsored in part by Good Vibrations, San Francisco’s legendary destination for accurate information about sex. For more information about this event and the history behind it, please visit Compton’s Cafeteria Riot.