The World Science Blog

From Michael Miller:

2012-02-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Re: Series of thumps may have thrown Uranus off-kilter (Oct. 7): About that impact simulation of why the planet Uranus tilts... this simulation explains it better!

Take a wine bottle cork, after of the contents of the bottle have been disposed of, and stick half of a toothpick into the bottom of the cork so that just a small point sticks out, that is to become the center point of gravity for the planet model. Then place the remainder of the toothpick on the top of the cork, sticking up to mark the north pole. Next, screw 3" drywall screws into the cork on all sides, 4 of them, aiming down, so that the whole thing balances on the center toothpick on your fingertip.

Voila... the model tilts at about 20 degrees, much like Mars, Saturn and Earth... one drywall screw (only one) yields Uranus, -4 degrees tilt. So this shows that planets tilt because they are lopsided. Under Uranus's clouds the core is lopsided. That settles it for me. There is nothing wrong with having people (kids too) draw their own conclusions in lieu of any definitive science on the subject. Is there? What we need is a new radar range of the planet Uranus - THAT's real science!

P. S. for kids, I've had it work with marshmallows and straws with tiny mini-marshmallows on the ends of them, but we always run out of marshmallows! Toothpicks are still vital, though it's been know to work well with swizzle sticks...

Michael Miller, Program Coordinator
The Glenfield Planetarium
Montclair, NJ

From Tom Sharp:

2012-01-31T06:19:00.000-08:00

Re: Comet dies on film, leaving trail of mystery (Jan. 22, 2012): The sun grazing comet article states,

"But ultimately, the fact that one can see this comet against the background of the sun means there is some physical process not yet understood, Pesnell said."

Please note that the reason this comet is bright with the sun in the background is because Nasa's comet model is wrong.

The Electric Comet theory predicts the brightness and not a black dot that Nasa supects.

The electromagnetic field of the comet reacts with the magnetic field of the sun and produces an extremely bright photon glow. It's that simple. It's like turning on a light bulb. The comet acts like the filament in the bulb. The sun provides the hydrogen proton (+ charge) and the comet provides the electron (- charge).

From Jon (j hlo ux@a tt.n et):

2012-01-31T06:14:00.000-08:00

Re: Was blackmail essential for marriage to evolve? (Dec. 2): Interesting article on marriage and blackmail, however I think another dynamic is at work. Since evolution is about exploitation, the question must be, what is being exploited? If marriage is a foundation institution of civilization, along with altruism and cooperation, then it is the very institution of society that is being exploited. Human beings have been self domesticating for millenia. We have become so domesticated that we cannot live without the social structure that we draw upon and contribute to.

I wrote an essay about this domestication called Well Governed Sharks that you may find interesting (see here).

Jon

From Amrit S. Sorli:

2012-01-31T06:11:00.000-08:00

Re: Possible hints of much-sought mystery particle reported (Aug. 17): Mass is an energy form of quantum vacuum in symmetry with diminished energy density of quantum vacuum. Presence of mass diminishes energy density of quantum vacuum respectively to the energy of a given mass. A given particle with a mass diminishes energy density of quantum vacuum, mass-less particle does not diminish energy of quantum vacuum. In order to explain mass of elementary particles this view does not require existence of the hypothetical boson of Higgs.

From William L. Row, Jr.:

2012-01-31T06:05:00.000-08:00

Re: E.T. might be detectable through his city lights, study proposes (Nov. 3): This article is the cutting edge of arrogant assumptions about what "life" is.

First of all, consider this; if another intelligent species had used this method to investigate Earth, but NOT in the last few thousand years... they would have decided Earth is lifeless. This time interval of no city lights represents 99.99% or more of Earth's history, although life has been here for (at least) over a billion years.

Furthermore, the assumption that these ET life forms have eyes... and that these "eyes" detect light in the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum that ours do, is just nonsense. We're adapted to our sunlight, yet we might see in infrared, ultraviolet, microwave, or many other ranges of EM that our star emits. "Lights" may be something very different to ET.

Another assumption is that life forms would want to live near each other at intervals of distance that mimic our cities. This is a human need, to form economic colonies of closely grouped habitats. Life in other places may be in the form of separated molecules that work together at large distances, sharing common thoughts.

In closing, the search for ET will be a waste of money until minds are opened as to what form ET may take when found. Any semblance whatsoever to humans or human activities would be a bizarre coincidence.

From Roger S. H. Schulman:

2012-01-31T06:02:00.000-08:00

Re: Ravens show things to partners, a rare ability, study finds (Nov. 29): I'm confused by the news that the crows' behavior of "showing things" to its fellow birds is rare, and usually utilized only by humans and their close cousins. Domesticated dogs do this on a regular basis. Any dog owner knows this. The dog will look at the toy, then at the human, then back at the toy. Even lead the human to the toy. Isn't that the same behavior?

From Charles Montange:

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Re: Ravens show things to partners, a rare ability, study finds (Nov. 29): While in the Galapagos Islands, I saw a flightless cormorant repeatedly show non-food objects to its mate, on their "nest." If she liked the object, she would carefully place it in a spot around the nest. If she did not, she would ignore it. The cormorant would then dive off to retrieve another object to display to her.

From Terry Chilcoat:

2012-01-31T05:56:00.000-08:00

Re: Physicists extract light from seeming emptiness (Nov. 18): I was very pleased to read your article, especially "They appear for an instant and disappear again, the energy fueling their existence "borrowed" from the void.' This goes along with my theory that the entire universe (matter and dark matter) started out as 'void' nothingness smooth even nothing. Since there was 'nothing' then there was no time constant. So, a previous universe collapsed into 'nothingness when time stopped" and our universe sprang (phoenix like) from this 'nothingness' instantly as there was no 'time constant' because there was no matter to create a 'time constant'. If a void can be coaxed into creating a photon then it can be coaxed into creating matter. Hence our universe.

Terrall (Terry) W. Chilcoat
US HWY 395 N
Gardnerville, NV

From Carlton Maley:

2012-01-31T05:53:00.000-08:00

Re: Is too much TV watching as dangerous as smoking? (Aug. 16): If it is merely the result of sedentary activity, as stated, then reading and desk work might be equally risky. Could obesity be the real culprit?

Carlton Maley
Washington, DC

From Artur Oliveira:

2012-01-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

Re: Physicists extract light from seeming emptiness (Nov. 18): In my opinion this is another strong indication that the vacuum does not really exist! I already talk about that even three years ago and I strongly suspect that I'm right! See here (unfortunately there is no translation into English).

From Bruno Angelin:

2012-01-31T05:45:00.000-08:00

Re: Physicists extract light from seeming emptiness (Nov. 18): In the article:

"That's because the equivalence of energy and mass, discovered by Einstein."

The equivalence of energy and mass was discovered by Olinto de Pretto. Einstein proposed the theory of relativity, using the same equation and the same meaning that De Pretto has published two years before. Please do your homework there.

From J David Strauss:

2012-01-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

Re: Global warming already causes some droughts, scientists say (Oct. 28): It would be interesting to deytermine if similar effects are noticeable in the winter rainfall regions of the southern hemisphere. As a resident of the Western Cape in South Africa i hjave noted that we have experienced similar conditions over the last ten or so years with higher temperatures recorded progressively each year over that time period!

Thank you for your regular, most interesting and revealling news release.

J David Strauss
Western Cape, South Africa

From Miguel Melgar:

2012-01-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

Re: "Junk DNA" may help explain human-chimp differences (Oct. 25): Isn't it possible that Homo sapiens get more cancer than chimps because while the chimps mainly continue ingesting what might be called their ancestral diet, humans do not. The human diet is currently far from what might be considered ancestral.

From Andy Turnbull:

2012-01-31T05:31:00.001-08:00

Re: More unequal societies spread faster, according to simulations (Sept. 28): Could be, but there's another possibility. I suggest that perhaps societies are unequal and they spread faster for the same reason -- that the ruling class is rapacious. I would not suggest that invasions of other countries are led by the poor -- rather that they are led, or ordered, by the wealthy.

Andy Turnbull
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

From Michael Haynes:

2012-01-31T05:21:00.000-08:00

Re: More unequal societies spread faster, according to simulations (Sept. 28): Was it taken into account that in more stratified societies- some of them are stratified because some individuals and small groups create more value than others, and those that create value become enormously rich, while those that are poor get only slightly richer (because the economy in general is larger) than they were before? And that the freedom to try to better yourself is a strength and a strong culture is better at expanding than a weak one? Is this worse than a society that us universally poor than the poorer than the general poor in a stratified society? (note- this is only applicable to those societies where individuals are free to attempt to improve themselves, even if they are far poorer than the top)

From Anadish Pal:

2012-01-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

Re: Possible hints of much-sought mystery particle reported (Aug. 17): Hint or an arrow? There is a hint of a Yeti too in the Himalayas for the past 200 years.

From David Michael:

2012-01-31T05:09:00.000-08:00

Re: Scientists testing theory that there are multiple universes (Aug. 4): Have to say I find this article extraordinary that physicist have thought previously there is only one universe. What did they think there was some sort of fence around our universe? This must surely be the greatest case of tunnel vision ever if its true.

From Tibor R. Machan :

2011-01-18T02:10:00.000-08:00

Re: From brain science, new questions about free will (July 1): Although I am no brain scientist, I have done a lot of work on the free will issue and the contention that because some unconscious motives are detectable when one thinks one is deciding unconsciously is a hasty generalization--commits what I call the blow up fallacy (taking a tiny picture an applying it to everything). As the saying goes, one swallow does not a spring make.

One can test this point easily enough. Just decide that after you see a purple car coming down the road, you will beep your horn. Then wait and when you do see such a car, you will beep your horn but not before. Well, if the beeping were motivate unconsciously, the sequence would be impossible. One needs to be conscious of the purple car before beeping the horn, as per one's plan.

Hundreds of other simple experiments confirm the point. Whatever Libet & Co. , have recorded must cover but a tiny fraction of human action, maybe at habitual levels, certainly not when it comes to complex behaviors (such as constitute most of what we do).

Tibor R. Machan
R. C. Hoiles Chair in Business Ethics and Free Enterprise
Argyros School
Chapman University

From Ray Mainer:

2011-01-18T02:06:00.000-08:00

Re: Prehistoric bird used club-like wings as weapon, researchers claim (Jan. 4, 2011): Swans do this. Swans are the only flying bird known to have killed a human. They beat him to death with their wings.

From Pieter Folkens:

2011-01-18T02:05:00.000-08:00

Re: Climate change to go on for at least "1,000 years" (Jan. 9, 2011): The title of the article is strangely axiomatic. Climate change has been going on for what, four billion years? With that track record, it is expected to last another thousand years, probably longer. The study was based exclusively on nothing but "what if" computer modeling. The relevant apophthegm in science is: All computer models are wrong, some are useful. It is disingenuous for these researchers to present such studies as some form of data-based predictions. They are simply computer game playing with nothing more than "what if scenarios" and the work is certainly not rigorous science.

Pieter Folkens
fmr Professor of Science Communication,
University of California, Santa Cruz

From John Polasek:

2011-01-18T02:03:00.000-08:00

Re: Thunderstorms produce antimatter, scientists find (Jan. 10, 2011): This sounds like the normal pair production process which we cannot achieve in the laboratory because of the high electrical fields>10^18V/m required but apparently are attained in thunderstorms. Gamma Rays >1.02MeV can expel pairs out of the quantum vacuum, but they can only be detected as fuzzy curved tracks in magnetic field cloud chambers. Amazing that they can accomplish this in an orbiting capsule.

From Philip F Henshaw:

2011-01-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

Re: Societies evolve a bit like organisms, study finds (Oct. 13): I'm a systems scientist, author of the Encyclopedia of the Earth overview article on the broad range of complex systems theories (1).

The sciences of how natural systems are organized and evolve is incredibly diverse, as diverse as the inherent complexity of natural systems.

The article in Nature, or at least as you summarized it, seems to take the simplest of all possible views of what comprises societal complexity.

That's very disappointing given how frequently historical complex societies have seemed to fail as a consequence of becoming excessively complex and unmanageable.

The number of levels of social hierarchy would accurately measure the degree of organizational complexity, if societies were simple top down control systems.

They never are, of course, but have quit numerous overlapping networks of organization.

The diversity of specializations and personal roles might be a better measure of the complexity of real societies, considered abstractly as organisms.

The true meaning of the word "complexity" would be better reflected, as a society grows, by the shrinking ability of members of a society to understand and communicate their increasingly complex environmental interactions and each other's roles, options and effects.

What seem missing from our thought process, and to often steer us away from appreciating the real complexity of nature, is taking the things nature seems to do so simply for granted, instead of considering such observations as discoveries of explorable parts of the fabulously intricate process nature uses and needs to make things "simple".

The most stunning example of natural complexity people generally take for granted, is the simple process of rapid spontaneous organizational multiplication we call "growth". Virtually everyone really does literally take it for granted, like nothing more than a check in a check box on some application form…

(1) Complex Systems -
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Complex_systems

Philip F Henshaw
HDS Systems Design Science
Ft. Washington Ave NY 10040
www.synapse9.com

From Jordan Mondesir:

2011-01-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

Re: Pollution causes four in 10 deaths, survey finds (Aug. 14, 2007): My name is Jordan and I read one of your articles. I read, "Pollution causes four in 10 deaths, survey finds." I was very shocked and just felt bad how many people have died even children from such a terrible environment. We are loosing people so quickly and more. Let's just hope that this will not continue and we find a plan to save lives and our world. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading one of your articles and how understanding it is. From a teenager's point of view, I believe that we can make a difference in the world a unleash the light in the dark. Thank you very much for reading this and keep up the great work.

From Jose Mireles:

2011-01-18T01:48:00.000-08:00

Re: Mystery "solved": how honeybees fly (Nov. 29, 2005): Concerning the article stating that the honeybee altered the frequency of its wing beats to maintain flight which has had scientists puzzled for generations. I see how this can be disconcerting because the small wings of this insect do not seem to be able to sustain it aloft. However, in my own studies on this curious creature, I was under the impression that the honeybee was not capable of flight per se but manipulated the earth's electromagnetic currents. Indeed, In body weight and aerodynamic design. . it cannot possibly fly, yet it does so by literally manipulating the electromagnetic currents from the earth around it and performing a sort of levitation. Thus its wings do not sustain but merely alter the flight pattern or control it... like a rudder on an airplane. There have been a smattering of humans among us throughout history who have literally been able to accomplish just this feat via mind levitation which entails using the earths magnetic currents as well. A short study on the subject of levitation can help one arrive at that conclusion. I concede this conclusion may be erroneous or flawed regarding the honeybee, nonetheless I did want to share my opinion or belief as the act of flight as the majority of we humans have come to know it, is by far not the only method of doing so.

From Steve (ste ves igns@bi gp ond.c om):

2010-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Re: Neanderthals had Siberian kin, study finds (Dec. 24): 30-40000 year old bones with genentic material still intact? Why is it then, that we have NO known dinosaur DNA? Most fossils only contain minerals - genetic material has long since vanished. The apparent ease with which modern DNA can infiltrate ancient remains has led many researchers to doubt even those studies employing the most rigorous methods to weed out contamination by modern genetic material. Professor Paabo told BBC News: That has made me think: 'how can I trust anything on this'?

From Kate Sisco:

2010-12-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Re: Our gold was a crash delivery from space, study finds (Dec. 10): Interesting post re gold from space but I have seen that before, and the idea of a plasma phase change is correct. The gold is from space all right, direct on Earth as a result of a solar energy blast.

The info in I Velikovsky's Earth in Upheaval is so informative; and it was written in 1965.

If the solar particles are responsible for reversed magnetism, then might they not be responsible for a plasma phase change of enoumous magnitude? We may experience such a tremendous energy influx from the sun that even rearrangement on an atomic level is possible. Gold may be the result of such a impact of solar mass particles. It would be much more believable than to think that gold has been laying around on the top of the planet and now scooped up until now. I rather think is is emplaced by the power of the sun through rearranged molecular form. What is next to gold on the periodic chart anyway?

Kate Sisco
http//:www.chequamegon.blogspot.com

From David Robson:

2010-12-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

Re: Sticks appear as "dolls" in hands of chimps (Dec. 20): A nice article about the importance of sticks as a play thing for chimps.

I've long held the theory that we humans as vicious, as selfish, as ignorant as we are don't really have the ability to think of animals as equals or better than equals. I'm not sure if this comes from our in-bred arrogance, our zest to cast a cursory glance at things which are far more important than they ostensibly seem or our desire to remain as number one nihilists on the planet.

I watch wildlife and in particular Corvids, since we tend to get more than a few in the garden. These birds are seriously clever, ingenious and cunning, (not in the human sense of nihilism). We just don't give other species the time of day really. It's about time we did. We might learn a few things from them.

From Elaine Keller:

2010-12-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

Re: Burning debate lights up over safety of electronic cigarettes (Dec. 17): It's unfortunate that so many column inches of the "Burning Debate" story were devoted to Prue Talbot's Consumer Reports-style evaluation of e-cigarettes. Nothing in Dr. Talbot's article justifies removing the products from the market. Dr. Talbot's article is filled with accusations that are not supported by her findings. She states, "Nothing is known about the chemicals in the aerosolized vapors from e-cigarettes." Since users inhale the aerosolized vapors, it would seem that this would be the most important information to have regarding product safety. So did Dr. Talbot test the vapor? No.

As Dr. Seigel's article points out, numerous tests have been performed on the vapor and have found no dangerous chemicals.

In fact, the FDA itself tested the liquid and the vapor. And while the FDA did produce an alarmist press release regarding the chemicals found in the liquids, the FDA failed to point out that the quantities were too miniscule to present any danger to human health. Furthermore, the agency said nothing at all in the press release about what their lab tests found in the vapor, which was nothing at all.

At least three scientific studies involving human subjects have been published. All show that e-cigarettes do not harm users and are effective at subduing withdrawal symptoms. If a lay person like me has found these studies, why are they so difficult for Dr. Talbot to find?

If the design flaws identified by Dr. Talbot represent "serious public health problems," how is it possible that during the seven years the products have been in use world-wide that there have been no reports of any serious illness or injuries caused by e cigarettes? How is it possible that more than 90% of users report in surveys that their health has improved since switching from smoking to inhaling vapor? If the products might be ineffective, how does Dr. Talbot explain the fact that approximately 80% of users have managed to use e cigarettes as a complete replacement for all their smoked cigarettes?

Elaine Keller, Vice President
Consumer Advocates for Smoke Free Alternatives Association (CASAA)
http://www.casaa.org

From Mike MacCracken:

2010-12-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

Re: A lost civilization under the Persian Gulf? (Dec. 15): Might the flooding of the Persian Gulf as sea level rose be the basis of the flood story of Noah? Might one of these locations be the basis for the story of Atlantis, even though not to the west? Sounds like an interesting story over coming years.

From Jim McClarin:

2010-12-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

Re: Our gold was a crash delivery from space, study finds (Dec. 10): Bottke, Walker, et al. are probably right about the splattered cores of a few large impactors leaving gold deposits on Earth. However, Earth's own core may prove to be a source as well. Such a large iron core as Earth's may have resulted from a larger body striking dead-on, slamming through the crust and mantel and seriously impacting the core, spewing out core fragments from both but mostly melding together with the upper layers closing in and reassuming their spheroid shape. Another possibility is that a much larger body struck our planet a glancing blow, knocking off a spray of asteroid chunks, including part of Earth's core, some of which could have settled back to the surface of the damaged planet. Both actions were claimed to have happened in our solar system's youth by whoever initiated the "creation myth" of the Anunnaki, gods of the ancient Sumerians. A portion of the debris was said to have remained as a "necklace" between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter while the largest chunk, along with its largest moon, was knocked into a new orbit between Mars and Venus.

From Jim McClarin:

2010-12-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Re: A lost civilization under the Persian Gulf? (Dec. 15): When Rose "hints that vital pieces of the human evolutionary puzzle may be hidden in the depths of the Persian Gulf," he may be on the right track. After all, Sumerian texts claim that their cities were rebuilt following their destruction by the inundation, associated by some with the end of the ice age and the calving of a million cubic miles of antarctic ice into the ocean that raised the sea level. If signs of a much older pre-flood Sumeria are found on the bottom of the gulf, one more of the "myths" from their cuneiform tablets will be proven factual. Those myths include detailed accounts of how their gods, the mysterious Anunnaki, created the "Adamu" in their own image and likeness by combining their own "essence" with that of "early man" some 250, 000 or more years ago.

From Peter A. Robb:

2010-12-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

Re: "Drop" of blood still enough to get you perceived as minority (Dec. 14): How can white Caucasians trace or find out if they have a hypodescent factor in their genetic makeup from their distant past?

IE: Research and DNA analysis on Viking settlements in Europe [cannot recall the place] within the last ten years revealed that there was a mongoloid gene marker in the alleles of tall white Vikings. The mongoloid marker remains whilst no visible evidence remains in the phenotype, as if a vestigial gene [if that is correct usage of the word]. Not what scientists expected. One could hypothesise that Vikings made it to Asia via river systems or other means and brought wives back or encountered migrating Asians in Europe.

So how can White Caucasians claim to be pure blood whites when evidence like this comes to light?

I have names in my larger gene pool that may be Danish or Viking, one being Eving. Our families migrated to New Zealand in the late 19thc from Scotland. Mainly lowland Scotland. This Eving was modified to Ewing in the 17-18c according to Scottish church parish records[TV series character spelling JR EWING] to fit in with local culture and customs that populations. This may have been due to religious persecutions and factions at the time. In much in the same way Asians migrants to my home country New Zealand, adopt upper class English names such as James or American pulp names such as Betty for girls and so forth, to blend in more easily or bridge the sameness gap. Asian names like Tang Ping tend to 'other' minorities here, so they hide their origins through dialectical perceptions of what they consider the local naming norms to be. In many cases the adopted English name tends to disrupt the expectations of Caucasian locals whose christian names now may be adopted from American sitcoms of the 1970s for example and not handed down from earlier generations of a patriarchal system. .

So if a 'one drop' concept is the legal identifier criteria for being a minority; are we all ruled out of the White equation as we cannot really know what our backgrounds are until complex DNA analysis of our body parts is undertaken?

From Kevin Mulvina:

2010-12-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Re: Burning debate lights up over safety of electronic cigarettes (Dec. 17): In regard to the e-cig discussion and pious high drama; The safety of e-cigs is a straw man diversion, to undermine the fact that not one of the voices at the head table designing the autonomy of others, gives a hoot about the smokers or their risks.

Their concerns are blatantly obvious and self serving. Robert Wood Johnson spends hundreds of millions annually, promoting the charities who sing along with their promotions of [approved] alternatives, to suit the millions of shares they hold in their benefactor; Johnson and Johnson. It is no state secret they promote what suits their very existence, as the medical institutions and body part charities have been doing for a century, in service to their well heeled investors. Keeping the dreams alive, while hoping that cures are never found.

The "no such thing as a safer cigarette" was entitlement to open the regulatory floodgates to imports, grown with no regulation, to compete on even terms with the more expensive domestic products in North America.

The demands for RIP cigarettes, which by physiological principles, have to increase toxic loads by the temperature adjustment, which will increase the volumes and number of toxins you will find, as a direct result of that adjustment.

It is no small wonder "the magical smoke" is always calculated and referenced as state and stable product, when it is well known to be anything but. The 4000 - 100, 000 "deadly toxins" are said to be a cause for alarm, yet no one anywhere is even monitoring what is in the many brand offerings and evaluating which could carry a greater or lesser risk and relaying that useful information to those actually at risk, in less than alarming tones depicting quit or die. There is no greater determinant of health risk than personal economy, so where is the caring or compassion attached to taxing an addiction?

If we even take a moment to understand what extra risks someone will face, being designated as a lesser person or a less deserving soul [non-normal] and the level of increased risks millions of law abiding citizens will face, for being treated as something else, the damages should be obvious to anyone with a calculator and a humane bone in their body. Blaming the victim has become all the rage in the gotcha headlines business. Risk is always a useful tool of fear, or the stick to drive people where you want them to be, even if they never wanted to go. The groups at the head of the pack are there for reasons much less than a concern for the milk of human kindness. Who else could afford to buy that seat? Primarily they are speaking in support of increased profits and market-share, with a following attached to self sanctimony and moralist aversions.

There is nothing noble, valuable to society or humane in what has become of tobacco control, its bullies or its social manipulations. All that is left to be decided is which of the cabal should be shamed to set an example and which of them should be convicted for leading others astray. Insanity has proven to be consistent in its result once again, no matter how many iterations are repeated.

TC is an out of control social experiment, who's day has come and who's damages can no longer be tolerated, its time to find a cure and re-balance. Before the profiteers and power mad dictators residing at numerous "Health and Safety" UN appendages, take control of us all, by our own inaction in the face of unfettered madness. This was never science or scientific, it was just a major mistake, exaggerated by gossip and innuendo to suit political puppeteers and their profits. Can anyone still deny, it was always about the money?

From Barry Carter:

2010-12-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

Re: Forecast: global warming may bring giant drought (Oct. 19): Most people have a favorite disaster scenario. Some favor global warming, others favor peak oil. Financial collapse is the favorite of many people but geological cataclysm is favored by others. Regardless of which disaster you may favor, the most immediate problem that develops, as a result of any disaster, will be related to food shortages. Already it is estimated that one billion people are starving on earth.

Most disasters reduce food production or availability. Climate change causes flooding, drought and unseasonable freezes which all reduce food production. Peak oil reduces the availability of petro chemicals for fertilizer and pesticides as well as the fuel to transport food for long distances. Financial collapse makes it more difficult for everyone to produce and purchase food. Geological cataclysm can even cause an ex-president to apologize for policies that reduced the local food supply in Haiti in favor of imported rice from the USA.

Even social disasters are most likely to cause suffering through starvation. When the structures we have built to serve us loose their way and begin to believe that we are here to serve them, they try to monopolize our sources of supply. Whether these are corporate structures, government structures, belief structures or religious structures does not change this pattern. Read more here.

On the page above I discuss ways that most of us can use to help insure our own food supply in these times of change. If we could increase food production and nutrition while also increasing carbon sequestration in soil this would be a great way to mitigate the changes we are facing in each disaster scenario.

Barry Carter
Baker City, Oregon

From Bernard Sunderland:

2010-12-27T16:41:00.000-08:00

Re: Religion provides happiness because of the social ties, study claims (Dec. 7): Did it really need a 'scientific' study to recognize this point? It is, I think, self-evident. I for one spent much of my youth in association with a church community in spite of being agnostic. I still count those people as being my closest friends, though many are absent.

Religion is essential to long-term social stability because it fosters a close-knit society. It is the reason why Britain is set to be overcome by Islam, because of the general apathy toward Christianity among the white population.

From David Chalk:

2010-12-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

Re: Religion provides happiness because of the social ties, study claims (Dec. 7): After reading this article, I have to reassess my own beliefs. My beliefs ? That religion was a mental illness, caused by the sick writings in the bible.

From Phillip Petersen:

2010-12-27T16:38:00.000-08:00

Re: Being too clean may lead to allergies, study suggests (Nov. 29): This, to me, is a persistent fallacy that could only be held by a relatively young person (or an old one with a shoret memory) and no knowledge of domestic history. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were, unless forced by extreme poverty, not less hygienic. In fact, they tended to scrub the hell out of everything that couldn't be boiled. The problem is surely not that we do more cleaning but what we use to do the cleaning.

From Randy Kramer:

2010-12-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

Re: Forecast: global warming may bring giant drought (Oct. 19): Where does the water go? "In contrast, higher-latitude regions from Alaska to Scandinavia are likely to become moister, but not enough to balance out the dry ing elsewhere, Dai predicts." I mean, I learned in school (a long time ago) that there was such a thing as the water cycle. Is it going to be locked up in ice caps and similar? A link to the original article could be helpful.

From Jonathan Allen:

2010-12-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

Re: Scientists work on sun-charged "heat battery" (Oct. 27): There are other systems for storing heat, such as the latent heat of a molten salt. It is my understanding that an advantage of this system is that the "charged" material is not hot and hence will not lose its "charge" over time by thermal leakage. For solar-powered engines which need to run at night but get their heat replenished the next day, leakage is not a big problem, but for longer storage times it would be, and (if I understand the article correctly) this is where the "heat battery" should have an advantage.

A couple of big questions, aside from cost, are the energy density and efficiency. That is, how many joules can one store per unit mass or volume of the storage medium compared with, for example electrical storage batteries, especially since the heat storage is upstream of the heat engine? And how would the overall system efficiency (sunlight to recovered work) compare with that of an electrical storage battery charged by photovoltaic panels? In a solar thermal system, raising the collector temperature improves the engine efficiency (Carnot's Equation) but it also reduces the solar collection efficiency due to re-radiation from the absorber (Planck Theory). Thus there is a temperature tradeoff or optimization. Another point is that to generate temperatures approaching 200 deg C requires focusing concentrators. Thus only specular (direct) sunlight will contribute. Scattered light from the sky will not, and when the sun goes behind a cloud, the system output is nil. A photovoltaic system, on the other hand harvests all incoming rays and continues to work, albeit at reduced output, even on a cloudy day.

I am all for exploring this heat battery, but remain skeptical as to its widespread application even if we find a cheaper medium without the rare element ruthenium.

- Jonathan Allen, Ph.D.

From Charles Douglas Wehner:

2010-12-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

Re: Scientists work on sun-charged "heat battery" (Oct. 27): Two other examples of "Heat Batteries" spring to mind.

Firstly, we have water. It is unique in the sheer quantity of "heat of melting" that it requires. Substances like wax melt easily, but water stays at exactly zero degrees for a considerable time, whilst it expands. The expansion of water explains why it floats in winter, instead of sinking. Only after this internal molecular rearrangement (phase change) does it melt.

The disadvantage is that it is simply too cold. One needs something with a large latent heat that melts at perhaps a comfortable TWENTY degrees Celsius, not at zero.

Secondly, there was a novel hollow frying pan containing an alloy similar to Wood's Metal. This was placed on the stove until the metal melted. Then it could be put on the side, and the curve of temperature had a "plateau" at the melting point, allowing it to continue to fry the food all on its own.

The disadvantage of the frying pan was that the "latent heat of melting" of the alloy was just too little. The gadget worked, but the effect was hardly magical.

If the research into Ruthenium compounds should lead to substances with spectacular latent heats, things may change.

From Milton Runcie:

2010-12-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

Re: Astronomers peer into primordial "fog" (Oct. 21): I'm fascinated to read 'how far back in time' can be observed with today's telescopes. It's amazing we can 'see' what appears to have been evolving in the early universe about 13 billion years ago. What beats me is how we (today's observers) managed to get 'out here', on our observation platform (the earth) long before the light arrived from (ostensibly) the same source as we did... !!! Are we time-travellers? Were we travelling faster than light to get here... ??? Or is the king wearing clothes, after all... ???

From Nuno Pinto Do Souto:

2010-12-27T16:23:00.001-08:00

Re: Astronomers peer into primordial "fog" (Oct. 21): Something doesn't click with this article.

The universe is estimated to be around 13 billion years old. We are "seeing" these galaxy's light as "it were" when the universe was 600 million years old. It's supposed to be the farthest object so far detected, at the edge of the universe "expansion".

The universe has been measured as being at least 90 billion light years across.

So let's assume half that, for a "central" point of observation: 45 billion light years. We are now "seeing" something whose location is supposed to be 45 billion light years away, and that light is only 600 million years "old"? I. e. , it's taken at least 45 billion light years for that light to reach us as it was 600 million years away from the big bang?

And I'm supposed to believe that it's travelled to that location - 45 billion years away - in what? A fraction of a second? How can it be we're seeing it at 600 million years old?

It must be at least 45 billion years old: that's how long that light is supposed to have "travelled"!

Clearly, something is missing from this article and I believe it's called "credibility"…

From John Beckman:

2010-11-23T22:17:00.000-08:00

Re: Bars may kill spiral galaxies (Nov. 8): I am an astrophysicist working at the IAC (Astronomical Institute of the Canaries), and one of my specialities is the structure of galaxies.

It has been known for some time that although the fraction of spiral galaxies observed at optical wavelengths which have identified bars is close to 50%, this fraction rises to over 65% when observations are made in the infrared, and with very careful analysis of the two-dimensional light structure an extra fraction of galaxies is found to have bars, whether the observations are made at any wavelength (i. e. at optical wavelengths this rises to well over 50% and in the infrared to over 70%). In other words although the original classification by Edwin Hubble was into "normal" and "barred" galaxies, in fact barred galaxies are more "normal" than unbarred galaxies. This is point number one. Point number two is that the reason why a higher fraction appears barred in the infrared (and the same would hold true between blue and red, i. e. more galaxies would appear barred when observed in the red) is that not only does the light from bluer galaxies come from more specific zones, i. e. star forming zones, and does not exactly reflect the underlying mass distribution, so that a bar in the total stellar population could easily be masked, bluer galaxies also contain more interstellar dust, whose distribution follows that of the interstellar gas rather than that of the stars, and is in any case much more patchy, much less smooth. Here again the underlying mass distribution of stars can be partly masked. If the same blue galaxies were observed in the infrared a higher fraction of them would show bars, because the dust absorbs much less in the infrared, and the contribution of star forming regions to the light is also relatively less in the infrared than in the blue. So the effectdescribed in the article may well not be due to bars being less common in blue spirals, but that they are much less easy to detect. This would be particularly true for the type of work done in Galaxy Zoo, where visual detection is the research tool, and the images are not especially deep. I should add that I greatly respect the work of Galaxy Zoo and do not want to raise any kind of general criticism of it.

From Jacques du Vol:

2010-11-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

Re: "Liberal gene" identified (Oct. 28): do you get paid by the word? You repeated your self in every sentence to the point I dismissed it as rubbish.

From Joseph Spenner:

2010-10-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Re: Neanderthals had feelings too, researchers say (Oct. 5): I read the article "Neanderthals had feelings too, researchers say:" and have often wondered the same thing. Additionally, I am curious what type of "sense of humor" did ancients have. I mean, sorry to be blunt/crude, but did the males find farts funny? Did the women throw them out of the cave if the males farted? Did they laugh if someone fell in the mud? It would be interesting to find artifacts indicating a sense of humor. Perhaps paintings of someone being chased by an angry buffalo while the other guys watched and laughed.

From Stephen Mikesell:

2010-10-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Re: Societies evolve a bit like organisms, study finds (Oct. 13): there might be a problem that creatures may not evolve solely according to this model of incremental development, which some might say has a bit of a neo-Darwinian bias.

Incremental evolution only reflects one side of evolution. On the other side has been various forms of symbiosis, pursued in studies by Lynn Margulis beginning some 40 years ago, in which genetic material combine from different cells and organisms to introduce new forms of dynamism and radical divergences into evolutionary development. In the genetic record most of the existing phyla may have emerged in this way. The biologists Smith and Szatmary have extended these insights into the realm of social development.

Anthropologists have attempted to explain such change in terms of concepts such as cultural diffusion. The anthropologist Aidan Southall, working from a more dialectical as opposed to functionalist perspective in his "Cities in Time and Space," identified a process in the development of urban civilization in which new urban cultural forms emerged at the edges of old civilizations as outside cultures and ideas merged to introduce new forces of dynamism.

Not knowing better, perhaps focus on Oceanic cultures, with more uniform kinds of adaptation and less cultural inter-mixing as opposed to continental intermixing of highly divergent adaptations and cultures, might over-exaggerate a neo-Darwinian view, just when in biology neo Darwinians are being forced to begrudgingly accept the role of symbiosis in introducing sudden changes into evolutionary development.

From Rich Garratt:

2010-10-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

Re: Lagging U.S. life expectancy ranking blamed on health system (Oct. 9): I found the conclusions of the scientists strange because within the Wellness industry in the Western Hemisphere, the S. A. D. (Standard American Diet) is used as an almost benchmark for how to kill yourself via sickness, regardless of your body fat percentage. As well as that, ethically reprehensible activities of the FDA and AMA are renowned for killing Americans before their time. (I am not saying that all doctors are evil. Please do not take that message from this email. ) Some levels of the United States Government may be elected by the people, but there are many documented cases of "leaders" and amply funded organizations working against the wellbeing of the general population. It is sad, because whatever we do affects every other person, even if we don't get to see the affects, directly, so the people in positions of political or wealth grounded authority, when driven by their own greed or their own fear of losing (or not gaining) perceived power, have often sentenced their own descendants to a less then ideal lifestyle. Although the article was somewhat interesting, due to their being no mention of environmental toxicity that has increased over years of ecologically negligent and even destructive policies; no mention of the increased use of drugs per capita; and no mention of other similar concepts that I am sure seem obvious to thousands of Americans; I wonder if the Commonwealth Fund have censored some of the scientists' work.

From Charles F. Barth:

2010-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Re: Lagging U.S. life expectancy ranking blamed on health system (Oct. 9): Have the authors considered the outrageously high costs of health care in the U. S. as a direct cause of the lagging life expectancies? Some of the root causes may involve; the FDA's cumbersome process of drug approvals limiting development of effective drugs and inflating the cost of medications, health insurers routinely denying coverage in about half the submitted claims, HMO's in particular limit time spent between doctors and patients, doctors requiring many additional tests to protect them from malpractice suits, and people themselves following very unhealthy lifestyles.

From William M Montante:

2010-10-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Re: Societies evolve a bit like organisms, study finds (Oct. 13): This makes perfect sense if you understand the science of Complexity and evolution.

Complexity is scale-free. It fits to the molecular/ cellular level as well as societal. Just degrees of difference along the same pattern…. small incremental changes over long periods of relative stasis, with that equilibrium infrequently "punctuated" here and there by upheaval (e. g. revolution). Societies, like all organisms and organizations, are complex adaptive systems.

From Joanne Scutero:

2010-10-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

Re: It seems we're all more human than average (March 14 ): One sentence towards the end of the piece really struck me:

"The self-enhancement effect was stronger than the self humanizing effect in four nations, but self-humanizing was stronger in Germany and Japan."

These are the two countries who were the main aggressors in World War 2, and I can't help wondering if the results of this survey reflect that people in those two countries still dealing with the psychological aftermath of that war (and the attitude of other cultures towards the Germans and the Japanese as a result of what those two countries did).

Perhaps it's the other way around, and this tendency in the Germans and Japanese was one of numerous factors that led them into war in the first place.

From Alice McRae:

2010-10-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Re: Ocean covered a third of Mars, study concludes (June 13, 2010): IMO there is another, equally plausible hypothesis relating to a giant Mars impact which suggests that axial displacement did indeed taken place following a huge impact event. Observational techniques were used to identify the location of the impact site that caused the axial displacement, and the geology of Mars is used to substantiate this.

More can be found here: www.theimpactandexitevent.com.

From Bryn Duffy:

2010-10-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Re: Did volcanoes wipe out Neanderthals? (Oct. 1): Would it be too much to ask that you do the politically incorrect, but honest, thing and reference the the Max Planke Institute Genetics discovery?

I mean really! Your a neanderthal, I'm a neanderthal... they didn't "die out", they got absorbed and we are them. Time to move on with the new truths and get over the old bull shit. Have a great day! Have you considered switching to Geico?

(Editor's note: Studies purporting to demonstrate human-Neanderthal interbreeding go back many years and we have reported on them more than once, for example here.)

From Bernard Sunderland:

2010-10-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Re: Over a fifth of plant species may face extinction threat (Sept. 28): It has long been my opinion that global population control is the only solution to all ecological and sociological problems. Conversely, I believe it can be taken for granted that lack of control of the human population guarantees doom for this planet as we know it.

From Rick Osmon:

2010-10-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Re: Candidate "habitable" planet called most promising yet (Sept. 29): In reading the story about the "habitable planet" around the star Gliese 581, the question of it's being tidally locked to the star seems unsupported, at least within the story. Do you have any further information on how they arrived at this or could you possibly provide direct contact info to the researchers?

(Editor's note: according to astronomers, tidal locking occurs when two orbiting bodies are so close that their gravitational forces create substantial friction within one or both objects. The rotation of an affected body then slows down until the time it takes to rotate once, equals the time it takes to orbit once. As a result this object will always show the same face to the other one, i.e. it is tidally locked. Scientists can estimate the likelihood that a planet is tidally locked to its host star based on its distance therefrom, its mass and other factors. The original paper on Gliese 581g in PDF form may be found here; see also e.g. here or here for futher details on tidal locking in general.)

From Tibor Machan:

2010-10-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Re: Just bad boys, or malfunctioning brains? (Sept. 26): The title suggests either/or but both could be right. Being a bad boy could have its corollary brain state. By cultivating bad behavioral habits one could well shape one's brain in certain ways without the brain being the cause of the emerging bad character. This is a kind of chicken and egg question and the big point at issue is whether developing young people have a capacity for self development which they could fail to exercise, thus ending up out of (self) control. The sweeping implications of denying self-control should suggest that it is not sensible to take it as the norm for anyone. Or, in other words, use it or lose it.

From Brent Heid:

2010-10-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Re: Origin of brain lies in a worm, scientists say (April 23, 2007):Just read article about nervous systems (brains) of Humans developing (evolving) from that of worms--seems like a stretch. Probably more integrous to accept that we are created in the image of the Living God----its not that hard, really. It takes a little intellectual honesty and openness to all possibilities. Just a step easier than the worm-to-man theory.

From William Treurniet:

2010-10-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Re: Physicists claim first true random number generation (Sept. 13): It would be nice if the authors explained how the random numbers generated by their new process have a randomness different from those obtained using radioactive decay or quantum tunneling in diodes. Devices based on the latter have been around for more than 30 years. The new process is an interesting way to generate true random numbers, but the author appears to be wrong in saying that "This year, for the first time, scientists have built devices that exploit quantum physics to generate what they say are real random numbers".

(Editor's note: the above statement may indeed be wrong, as we have not investigated these earlier reports. We do often (admittedly) base our statements on the opinion of scientists. In the present case, the article title may have been more accurate a summary of the situation than the statement cited by Mr. Treurniet. We have modified the questionable statement to clarify that this is based on the claims of the scientists in the latest studies).

From Tibor R. Machan:

2010-10-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

Re: Money CAN buy happiness, within limits: study (Sept. 8): I believe this study is misleading. They are talking about satisfaction, not happiness. Sure with more money people get more of what they want and need, which gives them satisfaction (as opposed to the dissatisfaction of being thwarted in their goals). But this is obvious, so how much money was spent on this study and who paid for it (was it paid out of taxes, mostly, in part)?

Tibor R. Machan
R. C. Hoiles Chair in Business Ethics and Free Enterprise
Argyros School
Chapman University
Orange, Calif.

From Lugo Teehalt:

2010-10-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Re: World Science (Sept. 20): I find this article odd.

'"HIV is the odd man out," because most other viruses of its type, called immunodeficiency viruses, "impose a much lower mortality, "' -- It certainly is, it kills essentially everyone infected, this is completely unheard of. Odd a journalist does not make this dramatic point. There is no serious evidence for these assertions. Incidentally no other retrovirus cause illness, or even kill cells in vivo.

'Worobey then compared DNA sequences of the viruses' -- they are retroviruses, RNA viruses.

'short-term changes of viruses like the flu or HIV, ' -- all flu and HIV have in common is the word virus: you might as well talk about mammals and bacteria in the same breath.

The tea party lot: do I take it we must assume that all AIDS 'denialists' are similarly unhinged.

From Gita Dunbar:

2010-10-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Re: "Psychedelics" could find new lease on life-in the d (Aug. 18): Everything old is new again! 'An article in the Aug. 20 issue of the research journal Nature Reviews in Neuroscience proposes that "psychedelics" might be useful in low doses as a treatment for psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. '

I'm Australian. I'm now 70.

In 1966 I was given injections of psilocybin by a psychiatrist whom I consulted for severe post natal depression. 5 sessions with chat in between.

It worked a treat! Until one of my kids was killed by a car in 1969, then depression returned, albeit not so severe as before.

However, parents then dying, a son diagnosed as terminal, husband dying, son eventually dying, mother-in-law dying, sent me into the arms of anti-depressants in 1975. A couple of years as a zombie, I then chucked it in favour of naturopathic stuff, but still needed some help.

Do you know the work of Dr. Stanislav Grof? Born in 1931 in Prague, he received an M. D. from Charles University and a Ph. D. (Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine) from the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences. Between 1960 and 1967, he was Principal Investigator in a psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

In the United States, Dr. Grof served as Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. He was also Scholar-in-Residence at Esalen Institute. He has written heaps of books. I participated in lots of his groups, both in Australia and at Esalen, and found his model so extremely helpful. He used non-drug techniques which gave the effect of a psychelitic (sp?) rather than psychedelic dose of LSD. I've never had to use antidepressants since that first lot despite sliding back a bit... thyroid deficiency for which, once diagnosed, I got effective treatnent.

Currently, Dr. Grof is Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, and teaches at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA Perhaps I'm biased, but I reckon Stan is the best person to talk to about this subject...

From Barbara Jackson:

2010-10-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

Re: Dummy pill may improve women's sex life (Sept. 17): This behavior has been known for many many years. It is called the Hawthorne Effect.

From Laurel Kornfeld:

2010-10-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Re: Solar system’s distant ice-rocks come into focus (Sept. 14, 2010): I am a writer, amateur astronomer, and astronomy graduate student writing in response to your article “Solar System’s Distant Ice Rocks Come Into Focus.” Specifically, I am writing to object to your listing of Neptune as the solar system’s most distant planet and description of Pluto as a former planet. This represents only one point of view in an ongoing debate. Only four percent of the IAU voted on the controversial demotion, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. One reason the IAU definition makes no sense is it says dwarf planets are not planets at all! That is like saying a grizzly bear is not a bear, and it is inconsistent with the use of the term “dwarf” in astronomy, where dwarf stars are still stars, and dwarf galaxies are still galaxies. Also, the IAU definition classifies objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were in Pluto’s orbit, according to the IAU definition, it would not be a planet either. A definition that takes the same object and makes it a planet in one location and not a planet in another is essentially useless. Pluto is a planet because it is spherical, meaning it is large enough to be pulled into a round shape by its own gravity--a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium and characteristic of planets, not of shapeless asteroids held together by chemical bonds. These reasons are why many astronomers, lay people, and educators are either ignoring the demotion entirely

In writing about the outer solar system, I urge you to, rather than portray one view of the debate as gospel truth, note that the status of Pluto and of all dwarf planets remains a matter of contention on which there is no consensus among astronomers.

The following links should be of assistance in demonstrating this:

Petition of professional astronomers who opposed IAU decision:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/planetprotest/

The Great Planet Debate, held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in August 2008 in response to the IAU decision:
http://gpd. jhuapl. edu/

My four-year-old blog advocating the planetary status of Pluto and all dwarf planets and chronicling worldwide efforts toward that end:
http://laurele. livejournal.com

-Laurel Kornfeld

Highland Park, NJ

Graduate student in astronomy, Swinburne University Astronomy Online program

From David Mulligan:

2010-10-11T16:22:00.001-07:00

Re: Money CAN buy happiness, within limits: study (Sept. 8): This piece is neither new nor well researched. The study is comprised of only US citizens. The US is characterised by a high-level of inequality of income and as such has a large amount of conspicious consumption. In more unequal societies purchasing goods as status symbols is the method to achieve high social status. From high social status comes high respect and happiness. If this study was to be carried out on an international scale and in countries with much higher levels of income equality (eg. the Scandanavian trio) then I would expect to see a much flatter curve with increasing income providing much less marginal happiness. A much more full answer is to be found in the book 'The Spirit Level' which covers this in great detail and encompasses many studies. Also I'd like to say how much I like this site as it allows me to keep in touch with areas of science that I wouldn't be researching myself.

From D. Hutzler:

2010-10-11T16:20:00.001-07:00

Re: Do cleaning products cause breast cancer? (July 20): You should target specific job groups of women for your survey like women who do cleaning, production line work, secretaries, doctors, etc. Then find the groups with the highest rate of breast cancer and see if there is a correlation in their environment. Of course the home environment, which you attempted to study, will cloud the study as does the genetic factor.

From David Hop:

2010-10-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Re: Claims of a watery moon in question (Aug. 6): "Recent studies reporting that the Moon has unexpectedly high amounts of water seem to be wrong, a group of scientists says."

Wrong.

While Sharp questions the presence of water in lunar magma, none of the water detected by M3, MIP, and Mini-SAR is thought to originate from lunar magma.

The water detected by M3 in the lower latitudes as well as water moleucules MIP detected above the moon is thought to come from solar protons interacting with oxygen rich minerals. (A solar proton is another word for a hydrogen ion from the sun. The moon receives a stream of them).

The frozen ice from the poles that mini-SAR detected is thought to come from the occasional comet impact, as well as the steady stream of water detected by M3.

Is the person who wrote that article a high school graduate?

From Pierre-François Puech:

2010-10-11T16:15:00.001-07:00

Re: Oldest evidence of tool use, meat eating identified among human ancestors (Aug. 11): Paleo Anthropology, specialy in analysing V-shaped grooves on bone surface, must not confuse component of prove with a definite prove. In order to reconstruct past hominid activity at a site it is crucially important to have a context.

From Catherine Scott:

2010-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Re: Women attracted to men in red, research finds (Aug. 2): When are we going to stop the knee-jerk pseudo scientific rubbish that attempts to explain the preferences of the supremely cultural animal, the human being, by references to what turns female baboons on?

This bowdlerised Darwinist nonsense, with its one factor explanation for human behaviour '- 'The savannah! The savannah!' - is preventing an intelligent engagement with a properly scientific search for the origins of human action.

Pulling out Occam's razor and getting to work with it suggests a more parsimonious explanation: see red on lots of high status people, come to associate red with status. No need to twist oneself into a foolish shape trying to prove via a series of untested assumptions that it's all down to mandrills' mating practices.

Dr Catherine Scott
Senior Research Fellow
Teaching, Learning and Leadership Program
Australian Council for Educational Research

From Charles F. Barth:

2010-10-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Re: Robots designed to develop emotions through rel ationships (Aug. 10): The article describing emotional responses by robots to actions of their human caregivers is exciting! These initial results represent a major step towards development of sentinent machines. Such machines, when adequately developed, would eventually be ideal candidates for space exploration and avoid the myriad challenges of long travel times and exposure to damaging radiation in space.

Dr. Charles F. Barth

From H. Harut:

2010-08-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Re: Company floats giant balloon concept as solution to space mess (Aug. 4): I would say that this idea is the best so far to get rid of space junk. It has never crossed my mind that just a balloon would be needed to do this. Hopefully they will start to use this idea soon and will use it forever until a better idea comes along.

Decay in Earth's orbit is causing global warming

2010-08-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists: artificial steps against global warming may be dangerous, necessary (Sept. 2, 2009): Global warming can be reversed, if action is taken in time. If its not reversed in time the sun's heat will dominate this planet's weather, and generate unusual weather patterns to the point where the only thing left to eat will be other people (cannibalism). Criminal activity will promote, disorder will rule (robbery, rape, murder, etc. ) The real reason for global warming is the earth's orbit around the sun is decaying, in other words the earth is moving closer to the sun. The earth is a planet that functions like a machine. Like cars, trucks, aircrafts, or rockets. The earth has a fuel system (crude oil/ methane gas wells), an engine system (the core), exhaust system (volcanoes), and a cooling system (the oceans). A car's engine system generates torque, an aircraft's engine system generates thrust, and the earth's engine system generates a powerful magnetic field.

People take the earth's magnetic field for granted, because its invisible, and silent, but the earth's magnetic field protects all life on the surface of this planet, and beneath the oceans from the sun. The magnetic field performs several other functions. The magnetic field holds this planet together, and holds life, objects, and the ocean to the surface of this planet, it retains the air we breathe, and keep it from escaping into space, it protects life on this planet from sun flares, deadly radiation, and from poisonous gases, it acts as a force shield, and its responsible for thunder storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards

The earth acts as a generator's armature, it rotates at one thousand miles per hour, its magnetic field brushes against the magnetic field of the surrounding universe, and electricity is generated, just like in a common generator. This energy is trapped in earth's atmosphere, where it gathers moisture from the atmosphere, and forms thunder storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, snow storms, etc. These are all electromagnetic phenomena.

The earth's magnetic field also, keeps the earth at a safe distance from the sun, and the molten core of the earth is the engine, that generates the magnetic field. The earth's fuel system is referred to as oil wells/ crude oil reservoirs. They are actually self pressurizing fuel cells. Like any machine, if you were to shut off fuel to the engine, the engine will stop operating. The oil company's crude oil extraction process compromises the earth's fuel system, and shut off fuel to the earth's engine (the core), by releasing pressure out of the earth's fuel system (oil wells). Normally the pressure in a crude oil well/ reservoir is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pounds per square inch.

These oil wells are located all around the planet for even heating of the core, uneven heating of the core will result in a shift in the earth's axle.

Under normal circumstance the core (the engine) stays at a constant 5000 to 7000 degrees celsius, and that's hot enough to melt steel, and the pressure in the core is tens of thousands to hundreds of pounds per square inch. The oil is ignited long before it reaches the core, and enters the core as flames, and/ or heat. Crude oil, and its components are called hydrocarbons, and are capable of generating the temperatures, and pressures found in the core, and mantle, and in oil wells. Hydrocarbons are used to melt, and manufacture steel. The higher the temperature in the core, and the stronger the earth's magnetic field. The cooler the temperature in the core, and the weaker the earth's magnetic field. The earth's engine is being fuel starved, and it is slowly cooling. As the core cools the earth's magnetic field weakens, and the earth is being pulled closer to the sun.

Global warming has nothing to do with green house gases (Co2), holes in the ozone, CFC, R-12 refrigerant, the sun going nova, aerosol propellant, methane gases, or the earth going through a cycle, etc. Hydrocarbons such as coal are safe to use, its crude oil/ methane gas that should be left alone. If Co2 gases are responsible for global warming, why are there no reports of a spike in global temperature in the early twentieth century, during the industrial revaluation in America, and Europe? WARNING: Ridding the air of green house gases will not reverse global warming. This is not a cycle the earth is going through. This is a man made catastrophe in the making.

The only way to reverse global warming is for the oil companies to re-pressurize the earth's fuel systems (crude oil/ methane gas wells). One way this can be accomplished, by igniting the methane gas in the fuel cell (oil/ gas well). The ignited gas will expand, and create the pressure need to force the remaining crude oil (fuel) into the core. This is the real cause for global warming, and the only way it can be reversed. It must be understood crude oil, and methane gas was not created to fuel our industries, or automobiles. It was created to fuel this planet.

Volcanoes are the earth's exhaust system, and was designed to rid the core (the earth's engine) of spent fuel, debris, and they regulate the pressure in the core, which is generated by the combustion of crude oil / methane gas. The pressure that's release from volcanoes are provided by dioxide, nitrogen, sulphur, dioxide, carbon monoxide, and the facts are these are all crude oil by-product, including the pressure.

These gases, and the pressure proves beyond a shadow of doubt, hydrocarbons are being burned in the core of this planet, and lots of it. The materials ejected from volcanoes originate from the earth's core. Volcanic eruptions in the pass were stronger, than present day eruptions. This is due to the core of this planet cooling. The more hydrocarbons that are burned in the core, the higher the core's temperature, and the stronger, and more frequent volcanic eruptions will occur. Green house gases are not responsible for global warming, it goes beyond green house gases. Something is going wrong with the earth itself, and its obit around the sun is changing, and not for the better.

1. The earth is moving away from the moon at 4 centimeters each year.

2. A total of 24 leap seconds have been added to the atomic clock over the decades, because the earth's rotation is slowing down. Many scientists believe the hours of the day will increase from 24 to 25 hours in a day.

3. 12 noon use to be the hottest part of the day, now it 3 o'clock in the after noon, due to the earth shifting on it's axis by 26 degrees, and the earth is wobbling on it axis. Many astrophysicists believe the earth will eventually flip upside down.

4. NASA scientists have discovered that the earth has developed a breach in its magnetic field.

5. The winters are getting sunnier, and warmer from the equator (latitude- zero) to (latitude 29 degrees N, and S) in winter.

6. The polar ice caps are being melted, one at a time, during each polar ice cap's summer season, and the oceans are rising, due to the melting ice.

7. Floods, and tornadoes are developing in winter, from (latitude 25. 0 degrees-North, and South) to (latitude 37. 0 degrees North, and South), and there shouldn't be enough sun rays, and heat for the green house gas theory to be applicable.

8. The same weather is occurring in the southern hemisphere from (latitude- zero to 42-S) in winter.

9. It's getting noticeably hotter every 15 to 20 years.

10. Hundreds of scientists believe the green house gas theory is wrong.

Most of what I've written in the last two paragraphs was written by scientist, geophysicists, geologists, astrophysicists, and can be found on the internet. The decay, and global warming are in the beginning stages, the worse has yet to come. Don't be confused by the fluctuation in weather (temperature) from year to year. Instead, focus on on this planet is rising, and so are the oceans. Global warming has to be measured by the decades. Earth's orbit around the sun will decay very slowly. Hundreds of scientist disagree with the green house gas theory, because it makes no sense.

- Willie McDonald

From Peter F Coleman:

2010-08-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Re: Mysterious ball lightning may be brain illusion (May 19): This is basically an invitation to engage in a debate on ball lightning if you are in any way curious as to what it is. It is pure science and it is a paradox that has survived at least 150 years or more of scrutiny by many scientists and is linked to unexplained aerial objects. So. . .

Would you be interested in the debate on ball lightning's existence/origin to 'air' a different perception of ball lightning than that recently claimed by some scientists (Peer and Kendl) who unthinkingly assert that most BLs are not real in a paper published in Physics A (Elsevier) ie 'Transcranial stimulability of phosphenes by long lightning electromagnetic pulses. '

This paper was published with little or no understanding of past work on ball lightning. I tried to engage in this debate with the editor of the Journal with a written submission but I was ignored with a dismissive reply after 4 weeks.

I have instead argued that not only is ball lightning real but there is a suitable theory to describe the types of observations. I congratulate the editors of this journal, Journal of Scientific Exploration but also Weather, and the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar Terrestrial Physics in publishing my work and keeping alive this most interesting debate.

From Steve Snyder:

2010-08-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

Re: Unusual electrons go with the flow (July 15): Electrons, like other subatomic particles, have both particle-like and wavelike properties, in a duality that has never been satisfactorily explained, yet shows itself persistently in experiments." Anyway, I don't think that's correct. Standard quantum mechanics has explained that pretty well, hasn't it?

From Daniel Dearborn:

2010-08-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

Re: Drug may thwart mental decline, grow brain cells (July 8): Hmmm

So what exactly is this compound? A compound that was discovered using my tax dollars. I want to know every detail. I don't give a rats ass about 2 patented drugs that are "similar" but don't work. Clearly a cure for dementia has been found. And just as clearly we the people are not going to be allowed to benefit from it. How many hundreds of break thru drugs etc. have been discovered only to be hidden because it is more profitable for some corporation? And like the government we are always told it is for our own good.

Pretty soon Joe six pack is going to find out just how long and how hard he has been screwed. At that point I think the basic fabric of our society will rapidly break down. The first casualties will be government officials (the people who let it happen and profited by it) And of course the officers of major corporations. But it won't take long for the scientific community to bear the full brunt of the people's wrath. Because they are just as guilty and evil as the people in charge.

Daniel Dearborn

From Gordon Tibbles:

2010-08-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Re: "Standard model" safe as physicists can't find misb (June 29): J. W. Dunne - The Serial Universe - suggests the result of any test is inherent in the nature of the trap constructed to test an hypothesis. Thus all tests are flawed, regardless of intent, or lack thereof. I refer to tests designed to demonstrate that light is not a maxim. Wherein, when a particle is split by a barrier, the two resulting parts travel divergent paths. Yet, if one is blocked and diverted yet again, its other part varies course to the same degree... demonstrating instantaneous communication. Suggesting a state exists devoid of limiting factors. I'm led to Dr. Julien Barbour's "The End of Time", in which there is no real difference between anything. In a sense, all things occupy the same space, ad infinitum.

- Gordon Tibbles
Sudbury, Ontario Canada

From Joel Leef:

2010-08-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Re: What is consciousness? Study aims to settle debate (May 20, 2007): I have had some deep thought about your article "what is consciousness?" study aims to settle debate. I would like to make a comment on the paragraph about out of body experiences, that it would not be able to be experience though human senses such as seeing your body lying on a hospital bed or hearing a conversation. These are senses of the body that one would not have if they were a "spirit" or consciousness without a body. If a person was to experience an out of body experince they would not have the body senses such as sight to tell the brain coulor or shape nor would they have ear drums to hear or distinguish tone.

From Carl Kaun:

2010-06-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Re: Sense of direction may be innate (June 17): It's anecdotal, but ...

I grew up in Montana. While I lived in Montana, I pretty nearly always had a pretty good sense of where north was, and of course the other directions as well. This was true on gray days and sunny, and also at night although not quite as sharply. When I moved to Maryland, after college, I still had a sense of where north was, but actual north was always about 30 degrees clockwise from where I felt it was. This actually seems to be the wrong direction if my sense was based on magnetic north, but that was my experience. Still, it's nice to know that us mammals might have a sense of direction acquired somehow.

The sense seems to have faded now in my old(er) age, and I no longer have any sense at all of where north might be, except by accessing a compass, the sun, or some other device.

Carl Kaun
Henderson, NV

2010-06-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

Re: Hey Jude: Get that song out my head! (May 28, 2010): Despite the positive spin you place on these infections, I can tell you from personal experience, they can be *quite* problematic.

A couple months ago, I got a U2 song stuck in my head and it wouldn’t let me sleep at night and when I woke up, it was there. Yes, I was under a great deal of stress and had some personal turmoil in my life, but I never thought music would affect me that way.

I told my doctor about it and he put me on Celexa. That helped and it eventually went away. I am no longer on the medication. I have been musical all my life, so I have had earworms before. But I have never had a song stick so badly that I had to seek medical help.

Of interest also, was that my grandmother used to complain of her upstairs neighbor playing the piano loudly. There was no piano upstairs. Many years later, I read of musical hallucinations. I think she was having them. I hope it does not run in families!

Leila M. McMichael

From Peter Apthorp:

2010-06-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Re: Study seeks to show how acupuncture really works (May 30, 2010): I thought you’d be interested in knowing about a form of acupressure that works just as well, It’s called Emotional Freedom Techniques. Those of us who are practitioners of EFT find it not only relieves emotional disturbances, but many physical aliments, as well. It has been a very beneficial healing method for approximately 15 years and “often works where nothing else will.”

See http://www.eftuniverse.com.

Peter Apthorp, D. Min.
EFT Advanced Practitioner
8340 N Thornydale, #110-105
Tucson, AZ 85741

From Kermit Rose:

2010-06-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Re: Diversity within species may be as important as among them: study (June 2): When, years ago, I had first read the phrase “Diversity of species”, I had interpreted it to mean “Diversity within species”. I wonder what Charles Darwin had had in mind when he said “Diversity of species”.

From Marinus Anthony VanderSluijs:

2010-06-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Re: Mice show pain in their faces, study finds (May 9): I am disappointed that you report on scientific research that has involved the torture, abuse and wilfull mutilation of healthy animals, such as mice. Is that progress?

From Ben Dussan:

2010-06-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Re: Arctic ice at multi -millennium low: researchers (June 3): It is amazing that “scientists” use such iffy terms in their scientific output:

appears to be unmatched over at least the last few thousand years: Is this an opinion? Otherwise, how can you make such an unsubstantiated statement?

with certain skills and luck: Although luck may play a role in some scientific finds, I think that it is unscientific to rely on luck when making factual like statements.

scientists can search for a biochemical marker that is tied to certain species of algae that live only in ice. If that marker is in the sediment, then that location was likely covered in ice at the time: Does it mean that ALL ice must have such algae? What does likely mean in terms of probability?

Satellites can provide detailed measures of how much ice is covering the pole right now…. While knowing the loss of surface area of the ice is important, Polyak said that this work can’t yet reveal an even more important fact: how the total volume of ice—thickness as well as surface area—has changed over time. “Underneath the surface, the ice can be thick or thin. The newest satellite techniques and field observations allow us to see that the volume of ice is shrinking much faster than its area today. The picture is very troubling. We are losing ice very fast,” he said. These statements are contradictory. Care to elaborate on them newest satellite techniques and field observations, and much faster?

Perhaps what is the most troubling aspect of subject article is the inference that just from a few (compared to the utter vastness of the arctic) sediment core samples you guys give a whole picture of the arctic. In other words it is implied that the arctic ocean floor is homogeneous, in terms of its composition, and that the sediments came primarily from above the floor, thus appearing to neglect particulates carried by ocean currents from just about anywhere in the world oceans and rivers…. Also the inference that you guys know all what’s needed to be known to make such factual like statements quite frankly is, to put it mildly, quite ludicrous. It is ok to give opinions, but they must be stated as such, and not as facts.

From Warren Harding:

2010-06-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Re: Hey Jude: Get that song out my head! (May 28): I’m 57 and have been a musician all my life. While I’ve never heard the term “earworm” there’s rarely a time in my life when some song isn’t going round and round in my head (often to my dismay). All to often it’s stupid stuff like nursery rhymes or songs I hate. Don’t get me started on Achey Breakey Heart. 8^O

What I wanted to say is that whatever’s going around in my head when I go to bed is usually there when I wake up. That’s got to be a significant clue as I imagine it rules out some sort of support from conciousness.

Just thought I’d say. If anyone wants to discuss it with me I’m happy to help.

New Zealand
Warren Harding

From Charles F. Barth:

2010-06-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Re: Study seeks to show how acupuncture really works (May 30): Maiken Nedergaard’s research on the mechanism by which acupuncture relieved pain was quite interesting. The results, however, raise questions as to locating the source of the pain. Masking pain is largely palliative and, idiopathic conditions aside, may mask a serious condition that may be life-threatening.

Dr. Charles F. Barth

From Robbie Hatley:

2010-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Re: Off-kilter planetary system surprises astronomers (May 24): That article says: Scientists had generally assumed that when more than one planet orbit a star, the orbits share one plane.

Not so. Almost, but the word “had” makes a falsity of this, because up until recently (the last few months, actually), the word “planet” was defined a little more broadly, and included Pluto (which was “demoted” a few months back from “planet” to “dwarf planet”). Pluto’s orbit is inclined about 17 degrees from Earth’s orbit. Furthermore, Pluto is not the only major body in our solar system with unusual orbital dynamics. Uranus is even stranger: even though its orbit is close to being coplanar with Earth’s orbit, it’s orbit is extremely eccentric (long, narrow ellipse, not even close to being circular), and it’s spin axis is tilted roughly 90 degrees to the ecliptic, so we’re often looking at its poles rather than its equator as it orbits Sol. So when researchers found that the orbits of these two distant planets were atilt 30 degrees relative to each other, while it was surprising I’m sure, it was certainly not unprecedented. I believe your article overstates the “surprise” factor, and would have been more accurate and informative if local precedents (Pluto, Uranus) had been mentioned.

Robbie Hatley
Stanton, CA, USA

From Larry Coffey:

2010-06-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Re: Study seeks to show how acupuncture really works (May 30): About 17 years ago I had three gall bladder attacks within the space of six months. Each of them was so painful that not only could I not sleep, I couldn’t even sit. I walked the floor twisted in pain. I learned what the conventional treatment was, and didn’t want to have my gaul bladder removed so I didn’t go back to the MD after that first attack. Instead, I finally decided to try acupuncture. I had two sessions, didn’t go back yet I’ve never had another attack.

If the success of acupuncture is as a result of activating pain-suppressing receptors, as this study suggests, then what explination could account for my being sympton free for all of these years. After all, pain supression woud only be addressing a sympton and not a cause, and I never had another treatment for gall bladder or the pain.

Scientific medicine is a very jelous God, and does everything it can to maintain its monopoly. For years they dismissed acupuncture as plecebo

They discount the ancient Chinese explination of how it works as usless because it isn’t their model. They have even concluded in this study that their drugs would make acupuncture work better. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they lean on legislators to require by law, that various drugs be required in future acupuncture sessions.

From Susan Linden:

2010-06-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Re: Study seeks to show how acupuncture really works (May 30): I haven’t read the original study which was the subject of this article, but the way it’s reported on your site impelled a response.

Call me cynical, but it sounds like “Big Pharma” has struck again!

Ex. , last statement: “ ‘Thus, medications that interfere with A1 receptors or adenosine metabolism may improve the clinical benefit of acupuncture, ’ the researchers wrote.”

I’m guessing that perhaps Big Pharma was a contributor to this study, but regardless... why is it always that the end conclusion involves a way to insert the possibility of a new drug?

First, I’d guess that the parameters of the study were too narrow.

As a clinician of thirty years experience, I’ve spent the last ten years including a meridian-based therapy in my practice.

Essentially, it works without needles, by energetically contacting key meridian points through the tissue by the hands of the practitioner.

It has been discovered that needles are fine, but not necessary for results if the meridians can be unblocked in less intrusive ways. My clients and I can testify, as can many other recipients of this technique, that there are startlingly effective changes, shifts, etc. in not only pain perception, but more importantly, healing, with these techniques.

Therefore, my conclusion is that while acupuncture needles might indeed facilitate pain pathways and therefore relieve pain, there is something far more important going on here, and that is freeing up the energy pathways that are blocked, so that they can do their jobs.

The technique involved was not of my making but has been brought from the East and taught in this country for many years.

It’s not relevant to mention the particular one, since there may be others equally effective.

The point is that as a scientifically trained clinician with medical board licensure, I’ve spent my professional life trying to disprove much “holistic” theory and there is no question that unblocking meridians works.

My clients confirm it and I have experienced it myself.

The study you’ve covered today is like other studies critiquing acupuncture... they all seem to focus on the pain-relieving qualities of the technique. There is something far greater involved with this theory, which eclipses the actual pain control.

Again, going in the direction of implying that acupuncture and related modalities are primarily pain management practices (1) diminishes the concept; and (2) plays right into the hands of the drug industries that, frankly, would rather see us limp along with a band-aid approach to physical dysfunction.

I welcome the day that science research can stand independently and make its own conclusions out of curiosity and altruism!

From Joy Breeze:

2010-05-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Re: Garden birds found to shun organic (May 18): I found the article interesting but couldn’t help wondering if the birds simply prefered the taste of the food they were used to. Humans brought up on white sugar don’t find brown sweet. Given brown long enough they find they can’t stand white which then tasts unbearably sweet.

From J. Patil:

2010-05-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists report first cell controlled by artificial genome (May 20): The first cell made from artificial gene can potentially be a blessing or a curse to humanity. One must remember that this innovation can help countries who want to develop germ based weapons of mass destruction. In the 1940s it was the atomic fission and in 2010 it is a partially man made bacteria. Fooling around with your girl friend can result in unwanted pregnancy but fooling around with mother nature can be potentially dangerous. We are still not sure where the virus of HIV came from.

From Sharon Ellis:

2010-05-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists report first cell controlled by artificial genome (May 20): The synthetic genome is the 1st step to evolving our human species or destroying it. I hope that care is taken with the several probable outcomes of this work. There are those who wish to advance our species preventing disease and eventually creating immortality but there are those who could use this knowledge to inflict pain and death on all living things. When the power of love overcomes the love of power then we will know harmony and evolve as we should. In my opinion this work is of great value and I only look on the bright side of an ideal outcome.

From Edgardo Maffia:

2010-05-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Re: Mysterious ball lightning may be brain illusion (May 19): Ball lightning are self contained Nitrogen plasma and Rusian scientific Piotr Kapitza reproduced them in laboratory. Could be the brain created some form of illusion; but there are a lot of witnesses and evidences about the real phenomena. A ball lightning can break through a glass window and travel inside chimneys. There are vitctims too. The electronic excitation for common dimension balls lay betwen 300 to 900 Mhz, easily detected with a patch antenna and a diode.

Edgardo Maffia
Buenos Aires – Argentina
maf fia AT ie ee.org

From Danny (dan nyj cris AT engi ne er.co m):

2010-05-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

Re: Can a mother’s voice spur coma recovery? (May 11): I read the subject article and thought that not only mother’s voice can be effective. Other sources may prove to be even better. Older people do not have anymore that close bond with parents. They are more attached to what they currently love to do.

I am a music lover and sometimes my favorite song melody lingers in my mind (brain). A rock guitarist in trauma may be able to distinguish the guitar sound his mind is accustomed to and may react quickly. Similarly, car racer may react to the sound of strong engine revolution or when placed in a machine that simulate G-forces.

How about the smell theraphy? The favorite perfume, coffee aroma (if he is a coffee lover), favorite alcohol drink (and should try to let him sip a little)

Just my thoughts. Thanks.

From Johnny Peacock:

2010-05-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

Re: Mysterious ball lightning may be brain illusion (May 19): Apparently the American Meteor Society hasn’t seen the variety of ball lightning that I have, and as I am woefully behind scientific evidence via observation, I’d like to pull my hair out now for not having a video camera last year when I witnessed it for approximately 30 minutes. Large luminous balls, basically the same color as forked lightning, were exploding about every 5th lightning strike.

Once I got a good look, when it was directly above my home, I noticed something even more unusual. When the balls exploded, numerous miniature forks of lightning exited the explosion. And it wasn’t red or orange, it looked identical, to the white blue color of large forks of lightning. Kendl and Peer may be great physicists, but to be so bold about their assertions, with only a caution that they may be incorrect, is ridiculous to say the least. I can readily appreciate the human mind’s susceptibility to optical illusions, but the phenomena I witnessed at least ten times was no illusion!

Send Them Back To The Drawing Board!

From William Silvert:

2010-05-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

Re: Study: Fishing fleet works 17 times harder than in 1880s for same catch (May 4): It is unfortunate that you bolster the story with reference to Boris Worm’s 2006 paper which has been widely repudiated, even by some of his co-authors. This unfortunate reference really negates the impact of the study.

William Silvert, PhD
Portugal

From Paul Stancioff:

2010-05-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists explore whether some apes shake heads for “no” (May 5): Implicit in this article is the assumption that head shaking by humans universally denotes negation, further implying that it is somehow instinctive or evolutionary. This assumption is certainly wrong, as a simple counterexample will show. In Bulgaria for example a head shake always means yes, while a nod is a definite “NO”.

From David Robson:

2010-05-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

Re: Mice show pain in their faces, study finds (May 9): So we can conclude that mice do, indeed, feel pain.

I am not a Scientist but am a Chartered Engineer usually dealing with all things electrical. Without any science at all, I concluded, (probably when I was around the age of 5 or 6 since this is my earliest memory of anything), that animals are not that far removed from humans, (although I have to say I have a far greater respect for animals).

It staggers me to think that scientists are often paid large salaries and are awarded huge amounts of money by way of a grant to draw such conclusions.

It’s high time we were using the lower end of the human scale for experimentation. I hasten to add that I am NOT associated with any animal liberation group.

From Jim P. (jam bo 315 9 AT ea rt hli nk.net)

2010-05-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists explore whether some apes shake heads for “no” (May 5): So from the last sentence of this article, the most recent “edition” I received, most of the head shaking is not “negatory” (my neologism), but some scientists want to speculate that it might be, anyway, connected to “no no no!”

Very odd. But then, everything in my memory and surrounding world seems to be against logic and odds. So, I am just a befuddled or addle-pated old man of 60.

From Catherine Vosper:

2010-05-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Re: Mice show pain in their faces, study finds (May 9): The only surprise here is that anyone should be surprised by this news. Anyone who has loved an animal knows their faces express many things including pain but not exclusively pain. You can read confusion, excitement, fear, anger etc. in an animal’s face whether it be mouse, cat, dog, ferret or whatever. I think reptiles and snakes may be a little difficult.

From Charles Douglas Wehner:

2010-05-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Re: Scientists explore whether some apes shake heads for “no” (May 5): The story that Bonobos might mean “No” when they shake their heads is dubious. The reason is that the behaviour of shaking the head to say “No” is cultural, not genetic.

Eastwards of eastern Europe, it is usual to lift the chin to say “No”. This is like a reversed western “Yes”. To say “Yes”, the person repeatedly tilts the head from left to right - almost like the western “No”. These behaviours are common in Bulgaria, Albania, the Arabic countries, India and China.

My father went into a Turkish Bath in Bulgaria. After the heat, he had cold water thrown over him. The assistant offered more cold water. He shook his head and got another dousing. This went on until he understood that the “body language” had a reversed meaning in Bulgaria.

From J. L. Briem:

2010-05-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

Re: Frosty asteroid hints at origin of oceans: scientists (April 28): We should give credit where it is due. Published 1990; The Big Splash, by Dr. Louis A. Frank. ISBN 1-55972-033-6. Or maybe a newspaper article in the Orange County Register, Thursday May 29, 1997, page 1, and news page 9. P1 title “House-size comets quench Earth’s thirst”. P9 news title, “Years of ridicule yield to astral vindication”.

From Will Leong:

2010-05-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Re: Can’t go paperless here: demand for soft toilet paper getting (April 22): The cause of the shortage of office paper to recycle - e-mail - is questionable. It may be more a consequence of the recession. I’ve seen a report that the prices paid for newsprint & cardboard to recycle has dropped significantly. The reason given was that there is less demand for cardboard containers for consumer goods due to the drop in demand for those goods.