Thursday, August 30, 2007

Speedlinking 8/30/07

Quote of the day:

"There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking."
~ Thomas Edison

Image of the day (Tristan Campbell):


BODY
~ The Real "Core" Exercise -- "Mike Boyle throws a bucket of cold water on the people who don't approve of core training. By the way, in throwing that bucket, he trained the anti-rotator function of the core versus the rotator function."
~ Black Raspberries May Help Prevent Esophageal Cancer -- "Black raspberries are highly effective in preventing the development of cancerous tumors, according to a study published in the October issue of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica published by Wiley-Blackwell. The black raspberries will, however, have no therapeutic value if the tumors have already developed."
~ Understanding How Obese Fat Cells Work -- "In obese individuals, fat cells are bloated and inflamed because they receive too many nutrients, including lipids. In these cells, various components cannot work properly anymore and, instead, they activate new proteins to cope with the situation. One of the most challenged organelles in obese fat cells is a maze-like compartment called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that makes proteins and lipid droplets and senses the amount of nutrients that enter the cell."
~ Flaxseed Shows Potential To Reduce Hot Flashes -- "Data from a new Mayo Clinic (http://mayoclinic.edu) study suggest that dietary therapy using flaxseed can decrease hot flashes in postmenopausal women who do not take estrogen. The findings from the pilot study are published in the summer 2007 issue of the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology."
~ Five diagnoses that call for a second opinion -- "If Marci Smith hadn't gotten a second opinion on her brain tumor, doctors right now would be giving her the wrong drugs. In this week's Empowered Patient, CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen tells you five procedures where you don't want to proceed without getting a second opinion."
~ Estrogen That Protects The Brain Without Increasing Cancer Risk May Treat MS -- "UCLA scientists have found the first evidence that a specific form of estrogen can protect the brain from degeneration yet not increase the risk for estrogen-induced cancers of the breast and uterus. The study took place in mice infected with the animal equivalent of multiple sclerosis."


PSYCHE/SELF
~ How to Sleep Less and Stay Healthy -- "How much sleep do we really need? Of course it’s very personal, but “seven to eight hours should be enough” is what we keep hearing from most sources. But is it possible to shorten this time, without hurting your health?"
~ How to Win from a Loss -- "What starts out as a loss can become an exciting win which helps me to power towards later successes. Let me explain how."
~ Communication 101 -- "Why does person-to-person communication fail all the time? Because one of those people has assumed that communication has taken place - when in fact it hasn’t."
~ You: The Science Experiment -- "I don’t expect you’ll be drinking mystery potions or hooking yourself up to a car battery anytime soon. But conducting personal experiments are probably the best way to find answers. By actually testing (instead of assuming) your habits, beliefs, methods and systems you can make real improvements."
~ Married Men Do Less Housework Than Live-In Boyfriends, New Study Finds -- "The age-old stereotype that women do more housework than men has gotten more credibility with a George Mason University study co-written by sociologist Shannon Davis.The study of more than 17,000 people in 28 countries found that married men report doing less housework than men who are live-in boyfriends."
~ How to Change a Bad Mood, Raise Energy and Reduce Tension -- "What strategies to you use to make yourself feel better, increase your energy levels and reduce your tension? That's the question Robert Thayer and colleagues at California State University were motivated by in looking for the strategies people use and find effective (Thayer, Newman & McClain, 1994)."
~ Overcoming Emotional Eating -- "If you eat when you're hurt or sad (or you have an emotional eating disorder), diets & adult boot camps won't help. Get past emotional eating & try these weight loss tips."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Americans Sacrifice Slumber for Leisure -- "Long hours at work and suburban commutes come at the expense of sleep."
~ Why the GOP's Gay Wing Is Forced to Hide in the Bathroom -- "It's time for Republicans to embrace their own gay wing and stop fueling the sickness of suppression that drives men like Larry Craig into airport bathroom stalls."
~ The 30th Anniversary of Punk -- "In 1977, a new form of rock hit the scene led by bands like The Sex Pistols and The Ramones. A multimedia look back."
~ Justice Department Lawyers Refuse Detainee Cases -- "Some lawyers in the civil appeals division object to the government's policies on Guantanamo Bay."
~ White House pushes back on Iraq report (AP) -- "An independent assessment concluding that Iraq has made little political progress in recent months despite an influx of U.S. troops drew fierce pushback from the White House on Thursday and provided fresh ammunition for Democrats who want to bring troops home."
~ Trade unions back Clinton, Huckabee, Edwards -- "One of the biggest U.S. trade unions made an unusual dual presidential endorsement of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mike Huckabee on Thursday, while Democrat John Edwards won the 2008 backing of the carpenters' union."
~ Thompson to announce candidacy -- "Republican Fred Thompson, whose entry into the presidential race has been long anticipated, will officially launch his candidacy Sept. 6 in a webcast on his campaign site, followed by a five-day tour of early primary states, the Associated Press has learned."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Mold and Moods -- "A new study says that mold isn’t just a costly and unsightly blight on homes, it may also be linked to higher rates of depression."
~ Weird 'Engine of The Reef' Revealed -- "A team of coral researchers has taken a major stride towards revealing the workings of the mysterious ‘engine` that drives Australia`s Great Barrier Reef, and corals the world over."
~ Microfluidic chambers advance the science of growing neurons -- "Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a method for culturing mammalian neurons in chambers not much larger than the neurons themselves. The new approach extends the lifespan of the neurons at very low densities, an essential step toward developing a method for studying the growth and behavior of individual brain cells."
~ New research challenges previous knowledge about the origins of urbanization -- "Ancient cities arose not by decree from a centralized political power, as was previously widely believed, but as the outgrowth of decisions made by smaller groups or individuals, according to a new study from researchers at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Edinburgh." See also: Ancient Squatters May Have Been the World's First Suburbanites -- "In fact, rather than an ancient ruler willing a city into existence, the potsherds of Brak tell a story of a metropolis that grew as people, for their own reasons, flocked to it."
~ IBM Brings Single-Atom Data Storage, Molecular Computers Closer to Reality -- "IBM today announced two major scientific achievements in the field of nanotechnology that could one day lead to new kinds of devices and structures built from a few atoms or molecules."
~ MIT unraveling secrets of red tide -- "In work that could one day help prevent millions of dollars in economic losses for seaside communities, MIT chemists have demonstrated how tiny marine organisms likely produce the red tide toxin that periodically shuts down U.S. beaches and shellfish beds."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ "Never Fall Down Without Getting Up" -- "Dear Bodhisattvas, for some time now I’ve wanted to share with you some elements of my life and observations that were first offered to the public in my book Bad Dog! A Memoir of Love, Beauty, and Redemption In Dark Places, Wisdom Publications (2005). So the postings that will follow for some time can be thought of as Bad Dog! postings."
~ God... and Two Teresas -- "So now we learn about Mother Teresa. The news media are shocked, shocked... and are convinced that we must share their alarm. I don't. It seems to me that the "dark night of the soul" is something every human being is given to experience in one way or another, and that the more sensitive among us will suffer it for longer."
~ Artwork by Robert Spellman -- "Below you’ll find artwork from Buddhist teacher and professional artist, Robert Spellman who was our featured interview this week."
~ Feldenkrais and body image -- "I am getting back into the Feldenkrais lessons/explorations again through a friend studying to become a Feldenkrais practitioner and also classes just down the street. These sessions are great opportunities to explore body image and how this mind creates an image of the body and uses it in different ways."
~ Mother Teresa: Whipping Girl of Atheists -- "The recent media coverage of Mother Teresa's crisis of faith, as documented in the book, Come Be My Light, caused a lot of stir (read: publicity) in the religious and, of course, the atheist groups. Case in point: Here are two essays from Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, both are cross posted on RichardDawkins.net."
~ Truth, a Rare Commodity -- "Truth is one of the ten paramitas (perfections) and the Buddha often stressed the importance of adherence to the truth. There are many stories in the commentaries about the power of a "truthful asservation." Telling a lie is really a grievous moral breach in the Buddhist world-view because it is a means of directly implanting delusion in another being's mind-stream, and delusion or ignorance can be called the ultimate root of all suffering."
~ *Disclaimer -- "Integral Praxis blog is just days old - and is currently under construction - and should be viewed as a 'rough draft' only, and then only as a part of a more extensive research venture. This blog is the product of the Integral Research Group. The Integral Research Group operates independently from Integral Institute and Integral Life Inc."


No comments: