Greenland ice pack is melting

AP-T (AP-T), World Mon 21 Aug 2006 04:04 PM EDT A new study shows that the huge greenland ice pack - is melting three times faster than previously thought - a development that could dramatically raise sea levels around the world.

Meet Your Meat

My newspaper didn't come this morning, so I was checking out some blogs that I subscribe to. I found an interesting posting in Super Vegan about taking an inventory of your diet impact in the planet, see it for yourself clicking on the link above.
What I found most interesting in the posting was the video "Meet Your Meat" put out by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I went to the GoVeg.com site to watch it. While I don't agree with the 'evangelization' approach to vegetarianism, I found the video touching and educational. It reconnects the meat on the table with its 'life' before slaughter house.
I was going to post the video here, however I decided to be more conservative, and post the link for those interested in seeing these 'x-rated' images of animals being treated with no respect. I even had to go through an extra step in the YouTube site accepting a special term that stated that I was requesting to view content that had been signaled as inappropriate by other users. I believe that if I wanted to see graphic images of the current war I wouldn't have to go through so much trouble.

Weird times !

Patterns in the Universe

Click on image to zoom in.

[Source: science, the new york times]

Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

Among them is a systematic review of studies published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded that habitual coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Exactly why is not known, but the authors offered several explanations.

Coffee contains antioxidants that help control the cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease. It is also a source of chlorogenic acid, which has been shown in animal experiments to reduce glucose concentrations.

Caffeine, perhaps coffee’s most famous component, seems to have little to do with it; studies that looked at decaffeinated coffee alone found the same degree of risk reduction.

Larger quantities of coffee seem to be especially helpful in diabetes prevention. In a report that combined statistical data from many studies, researchers found that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduced risk compared with people who drank two or fewer. Those who drank more than six had a 35 percent risk reduction.

Some studies show that cardiovascular risk also decreases with coffee consumption. Using data on more than 27,000 women ages 55 to 69 in the Iowa Women’s Health Study who were followed for 15 years, Norwegian researchers found that women who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent compared with those drinking no coffee at all.

But as the quantity increased, the benefit decreased. At more than six cups a day, the risk was not significantly reduced. Still, after controlling for age, smoking and alcohol consumption, women who drank one to five cups a day — caffeinated or decaffeinated — reduced their risk of death from all causes during the study by 15 to 19 percent compared with those who drank none.

The findings, which appeared in May in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that antioxidants in coffee may dampen inflammation, reducing the risk of disorders related to it, like cardiovascular disease. Several compounds in coffee may contribute to its antioxidant capacity, including phenols, volatile aroma compounds and oxazoles that are efficiently absorbed.

In another analysis, published in July in the same journal, researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries and oranges.

“We were surprised to learn that coffee quantitatively is the major contributor of antioxidants in the diet both in Norway and in the U.S.A.,” said Rune Blomhoff, the senior author of both studies and a professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo.

These same anti-inflammatory properties may explain why coffee appears to decrease the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis and liver cancer. This effect was first observed in 1992. Recent studies,published in June in The Archives of Internal Medicine, confirmed the finding.

Still, some experts believe that coffee drinking, and particularly caffeine consumption, can have negative health consequences. A study published in January in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, for example, suggests that the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee significantly decreases blood flow to the heart, particularly during exercise at high altitude.

Rob van Dam, a Harvard scientist and the lead author of The Journal of the American Medical Association review, acknowledged that caffeine could increase blood pressure and slightly increase levels of the amino acid homocysteine, possibly raising the risk for heart disease.

“I wouldn’t advise people to increase their consumption of coffee in order to lower their risk of disease,” Dr. van Dam said, “but the evidence is that for most people without specific conditions, coffee is not detrimental to health. If people enjoy drinking it, it’s comforting to know that they don’t have to be afraid of negative health effects.”

[source: The New York Times]

Independent Science Panel to EPA: Teflon Chemical is 'Likely' Human Carcinogen

Findings Create Pressure on Bush EPA to Stop Pollution of Americans' Blood With Hyper-persistent Chemical, Level Maximum Fine

WASHINGTON, June 28 - A panel comprised mostly of independent scientists advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found today that DuPont's Teflon chemical, PFOA, is a "likely human carcinogen." The findings are part of a recommendation to EPA that clashes with a go-slow approach Bush EPA officials have so far taken in the face of evidence suggesting the chemical giant knew its chemical would pollute Americans' bloodstreams, was toxic and practically never broke down once released into the environment.

EPA is in the critical final stages of the largest-ever investigation of its kind to determine how the chemical gets into consumers' blood - and whether or not it is safe. The company could face the maximum fine from EPA of $314 million for illegally suppressing birth defect and safety studies. Agency officials, however, have hinted that they are considering a much lower fine of $13 million.

DuPont is also the subject of a federal criminal probe into its suppression of the studies.

"Scientists independent of chemical industry money looked at the toxicity of this chemical, and the verdict is clear: This Teflon chemical should be considered a likely human carcinogen. If EPA officials needed a reason to level the maximum fine against this $24.6 billion company, they have it now," said EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles. "DuPont might be politically connected with an army of lobbyists, but it should still be held accountable."

On July 6, the scientific panel will discuss its recommendations that the Agency strengthen its health precautions over the Teflon chemical.

EWG staff Toxicologist Dr. Tim Kropp and Wiles are available to brief reporters on the panel's findings.

To set up an interview, please call Lauren Sucher at 202/667-6982.

Excerpts from the panel's report follow:

"In considering the collective evidence the majority of panel members concluded that the experimental weight of evidence with respect to the carcinogenicity of PFOA was stronger than proposed in the draft document, and suggested that PFOA is a 'likely' carcinogen in humans." (p. 2)

"In the evaluation of carcinogenicity, the Panel supports the inclusion of multiple cancer endpoints" (p. 3)

"Immunotoxicity has been reported, and derivations of MOEs for such effects are encouraged. Given the prevalence of PPAR receptors, including PPAR-alpha in brain, effects on nervous system structure and function warrant attention." (pp. 3-4)

###

The Environmental Working Group uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. Their four years' worth of research on Teflon chemicals is available at http://www.ewg.org/issues/siteindex/issues.php?issueid=5014.

The EPA advisory panel's report is available at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/pfoa_rev_panel.htm.

[source: Environmental Working Group]

Demand Global Warming Leadership Now!

Sign the Global Warming Leadership Petition. Send a message to political leaders, and those running for re-election in November, that Americans want energy leadership from their government. We have the technological know-how to turn the tide on global warming and the energy crisis. We as citizens must demand that elected officials act now to develop policies to stop global warming before our environment is irreparably harmed.

Sensible solutions to global warming and our energy problems exist - we can own our energy future and reinvigorate our economy. Sign the petition and demand that politicians and candidates for office make global warming and clean energy a priority in the 2006 elections. Just fill out the form by clicking here.

Of Whales and Mandalas

Subtle Math Turns Songs of Whales Into Kaleidoscopic Images

By GRETCHEN CUDA

[Published: August 1, 2006 in the New York times]

What do whale songs and wavelets have in common? Quite a bit, and the wavelets have nothing to do with water.

In a Northern California studio, Mark Fischer, an engineer by training, uses wavelets -- a technique for processing digital signals -- to transform the haunting calls of ocean mammals into movies that visually represent the songs and still images that look like electronic mandalas. (His art can be found at aguasonic.com.)

Mr. Fischer learned about acoustics by developing software for Navy sonar and the telecommunications industry. Years later, a serendipitous brush with whale researchers in Baja California led him to take a closer look at whales and the diversity of their intricate underwater communication. "I don't think anyone has ever spent even a little time around a whale and not been amazed by it," Mr. Fischer said in an interview.

Mr. Fischer creates visual art from sound using wavelets. Once relatively obscure, wavelets are being used in applications as diverse as JPEG image compression, high definition television and earthquake research, said Gilbert Strang, a math professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an expert on wavelets.

They are popular now in part because they can capture intricate detail without losing the bigger picture, and when presented in circular form (using a cylindrical coordinate system), repeated patterns are even more evident. By stringing successive images together, Mr. Fischer transforms still images into animated audio files that bring the sound to life.

Among whales, certain sounds and patterns are unique to different species, and even individuals in a group -- something like an auditory fingerprint, Mr. Fischer said. "To anyone who doesn’t listen to it on a regular basis it sounds like a bunch of clicks,” he said. “But if you're a whale -- or someone who studies whales -- it becomes clear that they have their own dialects"

Wavelets are capable of picking up those distinctions, Mr. Fischer said, nuances that may be missed by the human ear or less detailed visualization methods. "You can pick out any one of those movies and I'll tell you what it is without hearing a thing," he said. "The differences are that dramatic." He envisions a day when researchers may be able to use images generated using wavelets to identify and track individual whales.

Peter Tyack agrees that the technique has potential not only as art, but as a scientific research tool. A senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dr. Tyack studies the way humpback whales communicate, trying to show that the repetitions in whale songs follow grammatical rules similar to those of human language.

"Looking at those figures, it looked like you could see a lot of repeated units," Dr. Tyack said of the images. "It looks like he's visualizing some of the points that we made in the paper about humpback song."

Despite having analyzed recordings from at least 16 species of whales, Mr. Fischer said he had just scratched the surface. "It's still a wide-open world out there," he said. "You think you’re in the 21st century and we have the means to get anything, but when it concerns the deep ocean there is still quite a bit of mystery."

In the meantime, Mr. Fischer hopes that by merging science and art, he will inspire a greater appreciation of whales among both marine biologists and the public, as he gives many people a glimpse of a world they would otherwise never experience.

"It's a very rare opportunity to be in the water listening to a whale," he said. A picture, on the other hand, is something you can hang on your wall and look at every day.

"When you see what whales are doing with sound, or begin to see what they are capable of, it is clear that humans are not the only artists on the planet," he said.