Category Archives: Science And Society

“Who Says Nothing Exciting Ever Happens In Canada?”

That’s Joe Katzman’s comment at this interesting post by Donald Sensing on a major asteroid impact in North America thirteen thousand years ago.

…the worst consequence of the cataclysm was the mass extinctions of the late Pleistocene that have heretofore been attributed to overhunting by the Clovis peoples of the continent. The extinctions were additionally blamed on the Younger Dryas. The new impact theory, though, says that the comet’s multiple explosions (caused by its breakup in the high atmosphere) themselves caused the extinctions: “at least 35 genera of the continent’s mammals went extinct

“Who Says Nothing Exciting Ever Happens In Canada?”

That’s Joe Katzman’s comment at this interesting post by Donald Sensing on a major asteroid impact in North America thirteen thousand years ago.

…the worst consequence of the cataclysm was the mass extinctions of the late Pleistocene that have heretofore been attributed to overhunting by the Clovis peoples of the continent. The extinctions were additionally blamed on the Younger Dryas. The new impact theory, though, says that the comet’s multiple explosions (caused by its breakup in the high atmosphere) themselves caused the extinctions: “at least 35 genera of the continent’s mammals went extinct

“Who Says Nothing Exciting Ever Happens In Canada?”

That’s Joe Katzman’s comment at this interesting post by Donald Sensing on a major asteroid impact in North America thirteen thousand years ago.

…the worst consequence of the cataclysm was the mass extinctions of the late Pleistocene that have heretofore been attributed to overhunting by the Clovis peoples of the continent. The extinctions were additionally blamed on the Younger Dryas. The new impact theory, though, says that the comet’s multiple explosions (caused by its breakup in the high atmosphere) themselves caused the extinctions: “at least 35 genera of the continent’s mammals went extinct

Eat Your Salmon

More evidence that Omega-3 is good for you:

Fish oil and its key ingredient, omega-3 fatty acids (found in fatty fish like salmon), have been a mainstay of alternative health practitioners for years and have been endorsed by the American Heart Association to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Fatty acids like DHA are considered “essential” fatty acids because the body cannot make them from other sources and must obtain them through diet. Years of research have shown that DHA is the most abundant essential fatty acid in the brain, Cole said, and that it is critical to fetal and infant brain development. Studies have also linked low levels of DHA in the brain to cognitive impairment and have shown that lower levels may increase oxidative stress in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Based on the positive results, the National Institutes of Health is currently conducting a large-scale clinical trial with DHA in patients with established Alzheimer’s disease. For those patients, Cole said, it may be too late in the disease’s progression for DHA to have much effect. But he is hopeful that the NIH will conduct a large-scale prevention clinical trial using fish oil at the earliest stages of the disease — particularly because it is unlikely that a pharmaceutical company will do so, since fish oil in pill form is readily available and inexpensive.

There are a lot of other reasons to be consuming Omega-3. This is just one more.

Child Abuse

Political correctness is damaging young boys:

Research by Penny Holland, academic leader for early childhood at London Metropolitan University, has also concluded that boys should be allowed to play gun games.

She found boys became dispirited and withdrawn when they are told such play-fighting is wrong.

But you can bet kids will continue to get suspended for as little as drawing pictures of guns.

Remember this the next time someone complains about a Republican war on science. Yet another reason to get the government out of the schools.

This Made Me Laugh

There are three topics that will launch endless threads at Free Republic: evolution, homosexuality and the the War On (Some) Drugs. These are the cleavage lines in the conservative movement.

Anyway, this one, from an evolution/creationism post, made me laugh:

I guess the some apes just refused to stand up in an effort to avoid putting on clothes and going to work. These are probably the apes that want to hold on to their culture. I have a neighbor that appears as though he’s reverting back to an ape. He even put up a tire swing for his kids.

Good News On The Flea Front

There is a non-chemical way to control them:

The lead researcher also examined vacuum bags for toxicity and exposed fleas to churning air in separate tests to further explore potential causes of flea death. He and a colleague believed that the damaging effects of the brushes, fans and powerful air currents in vacuum cleaners combine to kill the fleas. The study used a single model of an upright vacuum, but researchers don’t think the vacuum design has much bearing on the results.

What I don’t get, though, is how you get the cat to lie still while you run the Hoover over her. I know that Jessica wouldn’t stand for it for a microsecond. And it would be tough to do a good job on the tail. Maybe they’ll do some further research.

So Much For The “Consensus”

“Don’t fight, adapt.

Also, is oil production really peaking? Not in Brazil:

Wait a minute. Wasn’t oil supposed to be running out? Wasn’t all the oil out there already discovered? If this new “Sugar Loaf” field in Brazil pans out, the world oil picture won’t be the same.

Brazil will become an even bigger exporter in a decade or so than projected and could put pressure on the club of petrotyrants that now has a monopoly on resources. Best of all, it throws doomsday assumptions about oil “peaking” on its head.

The world produces about 85 million barrels of oil a day, according to the International Energy Agency. Global energy demand is expected to rise 55% from 2005-2030. Peak oil theories abound that new discoveries are not keeping up with oil usage. But it’s significant that the new demand also is fostering big new discoveries, largely from the very countries where demand is growing most.

It’s gloomy times for gloom mongers.