Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Speedlinking 4/18/07

Quote of the day:

"We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?"
~ Ray Bradbury

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Physical Activity Reduces Risk Of Hypertension In Young Adults -- "Young adults who spend more time participating in physical activity have a reduced risk of developing high blood pressure within the next 15 years, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota."
~ Inflammation Can Cause Heart Attacks and Strokes -- "So inflammation is good because it helps to protect you from infection. However, if you allow the inflammation to continue, or if your produce inflammation when you don't need it, swelling damages your tissues and you may suffer heart attacks, strokes, cancers, Crohn's disease, psoriasis, different types of arthritis, or even Alzheimer's disease."
~ Eating Bacon And Hot Dogs Linked To Higher Risk Of Lung Disease -- "A US study has linked eating cured meat like bacon and hot dogs with increased risk of lung disease.The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and examines the link between frequent consumption of cured meats and impaired lung function in terms of the increased odds of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)."
~ Omega-3 Fatty Acid May Thwart Alzheimer's Disease (HealthDay) -- "A type of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may help slow the growth of two kinds of brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests." Another reason to use fish oil supplements.
~ ‘Liver holiday’ may do drinkers some good -- "For men who drink regularly and heavily, taking a break from alcohol for a couple days each week may benefit their health, according to Japanese researchers."
~ I'm shaped liked SpongeBob! -- "What are the best exercises if you're shaped like SpongeBob SquarePants? Or have scrawny chicken legs? Or are a woman with "man shoulders"? Smart Fitness answers your workout queries."
~ 5 fixes to help you stand up to back pain -- "Are you sitting up straight? Super -- because if you slump, slouch, or hunch through the day, you may join the 80 percent of Americans who will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives."


PSYCHE
~ Your Teen and Depression -- "What to Look for, When to Worry and How to Help."
~ Intensive psychotherapy benefits bipolar patients -- "Patients treated with drugs for bipolar disorder benefit greatly from the addition of intensive psychotherapy, according to findings published in the Archives of General Psychiatry."
~ Fatty acid tied to depression and inflammation -- "The imbalance of fatty acids in the typical American diet could be associated with the sharp increase in heart disease and depression seen over the past century, a new study suggests."
~ For Students, Post-Traumatic Stress May Live On -- "Psychological Impact of Shootings Can Last Long After Shots Are Silenced."
~ Why PASSION is so critically important to happiness -- "I’ve become convinced that one of the greatest supports to a person’s happiness is passion – whether for musical theater, video games, constitutional history, camping, stamps, shoe-shopping, teaching English as a second language, or whatever." Or cats?
~ Consciousness in the Single Neuron -- "Are the contents of conscious perception tied to individual brain cells? Can we use single neurons to determine someone’s subjective experience? A recent studies published in PNAS suggests otherwise: there are no specialized neurons that carry information about what enters awareness and what not."
~ Bad Breakups and the Blues -- "How bad breakups can lead to depression."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ White House threatens veto of drug price bill -- "The White House threatened on Tuesday to veto a Senate bill proposing to allow the U.S. government to negotiate prices for prescription drugs under the Medicare program." Imagine that.
~ Conservative Government Increases Suicide Rate [Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)] -- "Wow, a new study by a group of Australian scientists has found that the national suicide rate increases when political conservatives are in power. They found that middle-aged and older people were most at risk, and that when Conservatives ruled both state and federal governments, men were 17% more likely to commit suicide and women were 40% more likely to kill themselves. Why is there such a powerful and significant effect?"
~ Do good poets make good warriors? -- "The following essay is adapted from Clive James' Cultural Amnesia, a re-examination of intellectuals, artists, and thinkers who helped shape the 20th century. Slate is publishing an exclusive selection of these essays, going roughly from A to Z. (Note: There is no "X" in the Clive's Lives series.)"
~ Paul Wolfowitz's woman trouble -- "Paul Wolfowitz was never a popular choice for president of the World Bank. When President Bush gave him the job in 2005—a longstanding "gentleman's agreement" permits the United States government to make the selection—the Bank's staff and member nations resented being led by a major architect of the Iraq war."
~ The Bible's sexiest book -- David Plotz blogs on The Song of Songs.
~ BBC, Geldof join forces to draw up a map of mankind -- Who still says, Mankind? -- "Geldolf said the web-based Dictionary would be a limitless repository of content: an immense, digital catalogue of all current human existence and an enormous resource for the exchange of ideas and information."
~ Israel and Hamas Just Say No To Peace -- "Over the past 40 years, the Arab League’s position on Israel has radically shifted. It’s time for Israel to recognize the change."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Photo Gallery: Poison Snakes Swarm Florida Island -- "Hundreds of venomous cottonmouth snakes thrive on the small, waterless island of Seahorse Key. A biologist thinks he knows the secret to the snakes' success."
~ Nanoparticles can damage DNA, increase cancer risk -- "Tissue studies indicate that nanoparticles, engineered materials about a billionth of a meter in size, could damage DNA and lead to cancer, according to research presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research."
~ Study: BPA research might have been bias -- "Among government and industry experiments on lab animals and tissues, 153 found adverse effects and 14 did not. The majority of those reporting no harm were funded by chemical corporations, the journal Chemical & Engineering News reported."
~ Study: Earth's 4th largest lake shrinking -- "British scientists have determined the Aral Sea is drying so rapidly it has shrunk by two-thirds in fewer than 50 years."
~ What's in the water? Estrogenic activity documented in fish caught in Pittsburgh's rivers -- "A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology suggests that fish caught in Pittsburgh rivers contain substances that mimic the actions of estrogen, the female hormone. Since fish are sentinels of the environment, and can concentrate chemicals from their habitat within their bodies, these results suggest that feminizing chemicals may be making their way into the region's waterways."
~ FDA: Irradiated Food Won't Be Labeled as Such -- "How to ease concerns about food irradiation? Just don't tell anyone it's being done."
~ Malaria-infected mice cured by 1 dose of new drug -- "Johns Hopkins University researchers have cured malaria-infected mice with single shots of a new series of potent, long lasting synthetic drugs modeled on an ancient Chinese herbal folk remedy."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Collective Emergence at Indistinct Union -- "A beautiful summary of the teaching of collective intersubjective nonduality from Andrew Cohen."
~ From I to me, mine and it: a gentle disidentification at Mystery of Existence -- "As Ken Wilber explains so clearly (and others do as well), a natural part of our development process is a shift in identity… that used to be an I, first person, perceived as the subject, becomes me, it and an object, and then something else is an I and a subject… generally moving through the bodies as described in different traditions… physical, emotional, mental, soul, causal (witness) and then finally nondual when the perceived I -Other falls away."
~ Integral Idols -- Frank Visser thinks that I-I's call for papers reduces it to the level of American Idol.
~ Temenos, sub-phases and integral from Ed Berge at Open Integral.
~ Towards an Integral & Pluralistic Spirituality -- "Whereas in many ways the Internet has provided ways and means to transcend and surmount ‘verticality’ and promotes a co-creative, participatory and pluralistic approach to all kinds of matters and processes (P2P, Wikipedia, open source programming, sharing economy, conscious capitalism, distributed research, Web 2.0 & 3.0 etc.) this approach seems to be missing very much in spirituality and religion."
~ Holons: The World of Wilbergral Poseurs -- Tom at Thoughts Chase Thoughts isn't impressed with I-I's Holons newsletter.
~ Integral Spirituality -- an appreciation from Frozen Truth.
~ How to talk about altitude or stations of life in the blogosphere -- From Joe Perez at Until.


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