Archive for the 'Science' Category

A Cure For HIV?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science

And as with many potential cures, it appears to have been discovered by chance.
From WSJ:
The startling case of an AIDS patient who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease.
The patient, a 42-year-old American living in [...]

November 8th, 2008 | Permalink| 6 Comments »

A Quick Survey About Political Content

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Media, Science

If you have a little time today, check this out…
I am a graduate student conducting research through the Department of Communication at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. This research is being conducted with Dr. Ken Day at the University.
This survey is intended to collect data for research to determine [...]

November 3rd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

How To Fight A Rumor: Talk About It

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Science

The experts agree. Obama’s approach to rumor after rumor after rumor is working because it’s the right way to combat them. Because instead of not dignifying the rumor with a response, the Obama campaign has talked openly about them and presented the truth as a viable alternative.
Too bad it still isn’t working in some circles.
From [...]

October 13th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Facial Coding of Palin and Biden Debate

By Dan Hill | Related entries in 2008 Election, Biden, Debates, Palin, Science

Editor’s Note: Justin here. I’m very excited to welcome Dan Hill to Donklephant, author of Face Time, a book about the political candidates and how their emotions play a vital role in the campaign. He’ll be penning some editorials about the “facial coding” that went on with each candidate after every debate.
Here’s part of his [...]

October 6th, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Palin On Climate Change: Now And Then

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Environment, Palin, Quotes, Science

Now
“Show me where I have ever said that there’s absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any effect or no effect on climate change. I have not said that.”
Interview with ABC News, 9/11/08
Then
“I’m not an Al Gore, doom-and-gloom environmentalist, blaming the changes in our climate on human activity, [...]

September 12th, 2008 | Permalink| 20 Comments »

MIT Scores Major Solar Energy Storage Breakthrough

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Energy, Science, Technology

Up until now, storing solar energy has been extremely expensive, but the code may have just broken, and by mimicking nature no less.
From MIT:
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for [...]

July 31st, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Gene Editing Promises HIV Immunity For All?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science, Technology

Some exciting news about making it much harder for HIV to grab ahold of your immune system.
From Wired:
Viruses enter cells and take them over, but to get inside, they need a handhold. HIV pulls itself in by grabbing onto a protein called CCR5, which decorates the surface of T-cells, which are one of the two [...]

July 1st, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Charlie Crist On Common Sense

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Energy, Environment, Florida, McCain, Republicans, Science, Veep

After reading this short interview in the NY Times Magazine, I liking this guy’s approach…
Is it fair to describe you as socially progressive?
I think it is fair to describe me as a common-sense Republican.
Which implies that some Republicans lack common sense.
That’s possible.
You have supported stem-cell research, unlike most Republicans.
I do support that. I think it [...]

June 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Ice On Mars?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science, Space, Technology

That’s what NASA is saying, and where there’s water there could be life…however microscopic it may be:
Whitish, dice-sized chunks, which were dug from the rocky red soil and warmed in the sun, vanished four days after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Phoenix probe dug them up June 15. They confirm what NASA satellites have [...]

June 20th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Vatican Gives Belief In Aliens A Thumbs Up

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Religion, Science, Space

Wow. I really never thought I’d see the day.
But how does this square with the Bible?
From the AP:
VATICAN CITY – Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the [...]

May 14th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Plastic Surgeon Publishes Pro-Surgery Children’s Book

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Age, Bad Decisions, Books, Discuss, Health Care, Media, Science, WTF?

To be fair, I haven’t read My Beautiful Mommy, but still…that title is pretty bad.
If this is just a book about the idea that “mommy” is going to have some work done and how to explain it to a kid, that’s one thing. But if it’s more of a story about “transformation” from normal [...]

April 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

Ancient Elephants Lived Mostly In Water

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Animals, History, Republicans, Science

From Fox News:
A recent study found that an ancient elephant ancestor called Moeritherium spent most of its time in rivers and swamps.
Scientists knew that elephants are related to modern aquatic creatures such as manatees, but they had never identified an ancient elephant relative that lived in water.
No wonder they’re wrinkly.

April 15th, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Irony

By Michael Reynolds | Related entries in Abortion, Science

For every time the word “irony” is used correctly, there are approximately three hundred incorrect uses. (No, it is not “ironic” that it rained on the day you had planned a picnic.) The following, on the other hand, is ironic. Read it and giggle nervously:
A new form of cloning has been developed that is easier [...]

April 13th, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Algae As Biofuel

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Energy, Environment, Ideas, Science, The World

Very interesting development that could help address the big bio-fuel scam we’re currently being sold.
From CNN:
ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) — Texas may be best known for “Big Oil.” But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country’s use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is [...]

April 2nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Army To Fund Alternative Treatments For PTSD

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Health Care, Military, Money, Science

Looks like they’re offering $4M in grants to therapies like yoga, Reiki, Qi gong, spiritual ministry and transcendental meditation.
Groovy…
From Wired:
As many as 17 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, one congressional study estimates. Nearly 3,300 troops have suffered traumatic brain injury, or TBI, according to statistics [...]

March 27th, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Don’t Mess With Pluto

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Comedy, Science

Background here.

March 11th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

MIT Maps NYC’s Communications For 2 Months. Here’s What It Looks Like.

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science, Technology, Video

Amazing…

Here’s more background…
The information reveals a trove of interesting population patterns. By looking at the neighborhoods where the data came from, researchers determined that New Yorkers who engage in global gab tend to be on the high end of the socio-economic scale or struggling to make ends meet. Translation: international business and professional people or [...]

March 2nd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

McCain: The Only Viable Green President?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Environment, McCain, Science, Technology

Found over at Sully’s place:
One might even wonder if a McCain presidency, combined with a Democratic Congress, offers the best chance for a bipartisan-yet-still-decent emissions-reduction bill to get enacted and stay enacted. (Think Schwarzenegger and health care in California.) I’m skeptical, but it’s not an outlandish argument.
I think we’re all very well aware that the [...]

January 15th, 2008 | Permalink| 11 Comments »

Later School Start Time Improves Grades?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Education, Good Decisions, Science

I think I speak for all the teenagers in the world when I say, “Let’s do it!”
From NY Times:
Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults. This prevents adolescents from dropping off until around 11 p.m., when they produce the sleep-inducing hormone [...]

January 14th, 2008 | Permalink| 9 Comments »

Why Do We Dream?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science

One theory that’s gaining a lot of steam suggests it has to do with honing our survival instinct by stimulating potential threat scenarios in our subconsciousness.
From Psychology Today:
The dreaming brain [...] scans emotional memories. When it detects a memory trace with a strong negative emotion, it constructs a nightmare around that theme. The more [...]

January 2nd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »