Tuesday Funny

When science is abused ...

The United Kingdom provides us with a lovely example.

Britain has built the world's biggest DNA database without proper political debate and police routinely arrest people just to get their DNA profiles onto the system, the genetics watchdog said in a report on Tuesday.

Good going PoPo.

What would Hell be like?

I imagine it'd be like this.

Rom Houben was misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state after a car crash left him totally paralyzed.

But, in actuality, he was trapped in his own body the whole time with no way of letting friends and family know he could hear every word they were saying.

The 46-year-old, who can now tap out computerized messages and read books on a device above his hospital bed, has revealed: "I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.

"All that time I literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt," he said. "I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me — it was my second birth. I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy life now people know I am not dead."

His misdiagnosis was discovered by neurological expert, Dr. Steven Laureys, who fears there may be similar cases all over the world.

I read this story and I think of the Metallica song One. I truly cannot imagine being trapped for 23 years ... 23 YEARS ... without being able to communicate at all. I'm surprised the guy isn't totally insane at this point, and to think that other people might be in a similar condition? WTF!

Microbial coolness

Video of nematode-eating fungi.

Video courtesy of Tom Loynachan, Professor of Agronomy (and Microbiology) at Iowa State University. All of the videos (accessible via the second link) are informative and worthy of a view.

Woe is me

After a four day weekend (self imposed), I have a backlog of manuscript peer reviews that need to be done today. The first one is obviously from authors who have English as a possibly fourth or fifth language. When you find over ten grammatical and typographical errors in the abstract alone (150 words max) you know you're in for a long slog. It's an interesting subject though, so I'll push all the way through rather than fight the urge to triage it.

Don't drink the water ...

... interesting study, gross findings.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Intrepid Ohio State University researchers have learned students don't just party in a campus lake during rituals before the annual Michigan game. They also potty there. Thousands of students will jump into Ohio State's Mirror Lake Thursday night, ahead of Saturday's football game between the Buckeyes and Wolverines.

Before, during and after last year's big swim, the College of Earth Sciences monitored the water quality.

Postdoctoral research associate Steve Goldsmith said the lake's temperature went up 3 degrees throughout the night, and the ammonia level surged.

He said body heat could explain the warmer water, but the ammonia likely means one thing: urine.

Goldsmith advises students to have fun, just not open their mouths.

Bold emphasis mine.

Monster Rancher With DNA!

There was a PS/PS2 line of games that I thoroughly enjoyed playing. The series was called "Monster Rancher". The concept was that you inserted a CD or DVD into your system, and then based on some sort of algorithm, the game would make a "monster". Different CD's and DVD's produced different monsters.

Now, a company is launching a line of perfumes based on a celebrities genetic code.

Verdun makes clear that the recipes are secret formulas based on the genetic coding for mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, which exists outside the nucleus of every cell and is passed down genetically only from the mother's side. There are a limited number of variations in mtDNA, and millions of people share the same variation. So if the fragrance called "Blue Suede" is based on Elvis Presley's genetic code, it could also be based on the code for Elvis Weisenheimer who lives down at the end of the street.

Yep, sounds like they'll take some sort of pattern from the DNA, run it through an algorithm and then the result will be used to formulate a perfume.

Big whoop.

Be on your best behavior

I know it stinks to go through life having a target on your back, but when you know you have one, and you don't take it seriously, you open yourself up to legitimizing the attacks that you know could possibly come.

Case in point.

But animal producing farms, including CVFF, realize they have become targets for groups like MFA, which promotes a strict vegetarian diet.

The president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Dr. Butch Baker, who also watched the MFA video, says it is upsetting to see animal rights organizations try to destroy America’s farmers.

“They (MFA) would like to put all those people (farmers) out of business and out of work," Baker told Fox News. "I have no patience for anyone who abuses animals or no tolerance and I don’t think anyone should, but these films ... really are an attack on the rural lifestyle of America.

"People in rural communities depend on farms and farming for their livelihood. If you let an extremist group run the industry that’s just as bad as letting the people who didn't care about the animals at all run the industry,” he said.

Dr. Butch Baker just doesn't freaking get it. The tape obviously shows people who don't care about the animals, handling them. It's also obvious that CVFF did not, at least at that facility, have proper procedures in place to ensure that such abuse did not happen. I am very sympathetic to the plight of the farmer. I think rural America is a necessity for the continued success of our country, and I want to do everything to ensure that farmers have profitable farming systems.

It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Some upfront training in proper animal husbandry for these employees, and an effective oversight system would have saved the industry from getting this black eye. So, instead of trying to demonize MFA, fix the damn problem with CVFF and get back to business.

Capeesh?

WTF?

I know some people feel that the United States needs to do everything it can to restore itself in the eyes of other nations, but ... we shouldn't drop ourselves below our peer status.

There is no need to bow to other world leaders. Just shake their hands with a nice, firm handshake, and look them square in the goddamn eyes. How hard is that?

STI's on rise in US

CDC reports that sexually transmitted cases are increasing.

The CDC's latest study on STDs found:

* 1.2 million cases of chlamydia were reported in 2008, up from 1.1 million in 2007.

* Nearly 337,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported.

* Adolescent girls 15 to 19 years had the most chlamydia and gonorrhea cases of any age group at 409,531.

* Blacks, who represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for about 71 percent of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases in 2008.

* Black women 15 to 19 had the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea.

* 13,500 syphilis cases were reported in 2008, an almost 18 percent increase from 2007.

* 63 percent of syphilis cases were among men who have sex with men.

* Syphilis rates among women increased 36 percent from 2007 to 2008.

It shouldn't be this hard folks. You have several options to decrease your chances of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. First, you can abstain. No sex means no sexually transmitted diseases. If that's not for you, you can find yourself a monogamous relationship with a person who likewise has no STI's (sexually transmitted infection). Third, you can practice safe sex, which means wearing condoms. Of course, condoms may* reduce, but won't eliminate your risk of acquiring HSV or HPV, the two STI's which are carried by large portions of the sexually active population. You'll need to consider that when deciding to have sex.

*Depends on where your partner is infected with HSV or HPV.

Well one thing is certain ...

... Oklahoma will go bowling this season. They romped Texass A&M. Next is Tortilla Tech, then OSWho? in Stoolwater.

I am so glad ...

... I'm not traveling for the holidays. At least not anywhere outside of driving distance.

What to do?

So my dream has always been to get a widescreen, high definition television (somewhere around 42" minimum) for my living room. I wanted to get it set up with surround sound, extra speakers for placement through the house, and connect it to a computer which would serve as a media platform. I could use it to stream NetFlix movies, play my music collection (well over 120 GB at this point), and record television shows. I'd also have it connected to my Wii and PS2. Well, just recently NetFlix announced that the PS3 can now stream movies. The PS3 also can play music. The only thing I don't think it will do is record television shows, which I guess isn't much of a loss since I don't get anything but local television. The benefit of getting a PS3 then is the array of videogames. Killzone 2 and Borderlands look awesome, and I'm a huge fan of the Unreal Tournament series. It'd also be cheaper than buying a computer with the capabilities I'd need. The only problem is having something at home for word processing and the like ... but I can always bring home my work laptop for that.

What to do?

Down from above

Whether Mount Pinatubo
Or the threat of God's love
There'll always be something that's raining
Down from above.

by: Moxy Früvous

CHP

No, not the California Highway Patrol*. I'm talking about Combined Heat and Power. Mike at the Big Stick blogged an entry about nuclear power, to which I replied:

I think there are current applications such as combined heat and power that will serve us immediate benefits. Oak Ridge National Laboratories recently put out a report where they state in their executive summary:

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) solutions represent a proven and effective near-term energy option to help the United States enhance energy efficiency, ensure environmental quality, promote economic growth, and foster a robust energy infrastructure.

It’s also hugely underutilized.

I was quoting from the ORNL document entitled COMBINED HEAT AND POWER: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future which can be found here (PDF, 38 pages).

If you go through the document, you'll come to page 35 and the section What Fuels Does CHP Use? The beauty of these systems is that they're open-ended. Just about anything that can be burned can be utilized for CHP. You can run it on natural gas, but you can also run it off of land-fill gases, rubber and plastics, and better yet ... biomass. We have tons of biomass, especially excess wood. This is an issue that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed early on after his appointment.

Right now the US Forestry service is hampered from doing anything but primarily fighting fires. That is not their only mission, but it is the one which they are straddled with. Part of the problem is, there is little money to clean up wood residue in forests, which serve as great kindling for future fires. Since it is so good for kindling, it would also be a great source of energy for CHP. Get enough CHP plants and the government could license forested areas to those companies to harvest all that woody biomass. That would decrease the potential for future fires, would provide an additional source of funding for the US Forestry service (to research how to effectively and efficiently provide CHP plants with sustainable woody biomass), and would cut down on the expense to the average citizen. Forest fires increase insurance rates, divert tax money from other programs to fund fire fighting, and probably increase taxes to ensure that they money in future years will exist to fight those fires. To me, it seems like a total win-win situation.

We need to let our Senators and Representatives know that we know of an excellent energy source, that is environmentally friendly, that will give us a huge degree of energy independence, and that can be put online almost immediately ... if they move us in the proper direction. Send them a link to this document as well.

*I don't own a pair of Estrada sunglasses.