From mbest at triad.rr.com Tue May 2 09:01:48 2006 From: mbest at triad.rr.com (Michael Best) Date: Tue May 2 09:01:58 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] C&E News cover story on nanotechnology Message-ID: <016001c66e01$b8670620$e4f31c18@mikey> Chance Of A Lifetime As they steward their products into the market, nanomaterial producers have the opportunity to address environmental, health, and safety concerns from the start By Ann M. Thayer, C&E News, May 1, 2006 On March 31, aerosol household sprays that may or may not have contained nanoparticles were pulled off the market in Germany. That unprecedented action was brought about after nearly 100 reports of respiratory problems among people using the Magic Nano sprays. In addition to a propellant, the sprays contain a silicate sol-gel to make glass and ceramic surfaces water- and dirt-repellant, according to the product's distributor, Kleinmann GmbH. The cause of the respiratory problems-even whether any nanomaterials were in the aerosol spray to reach the lungs of those affected-remains unclear. The products have been "tested extensively over prolonged periods and by various agencies," and no associated contraindications have been found, Kleinmann International Sales Manager Bernd Zimmermann told C&EN. The company immediately recalled the product and cooperated with authorities to understand and rectify the problem. "We have taken all possible steps to inform the public about any possible problems," he added. Nanoethics Group, which calls itself a nonpartisan think tank, described the recall as a "wake-up call to regulators, industry, and the public that nanotechnology's risks are not just theoretical, but all too real." Environmental activist ETC Group renewed its call for a ban on nanotech research and products. Likewise, Greenpeace also thinks a moratorium on the environmental release of nanoparticles is warranted until they are found to be safe. Nanoscale particles are nothing new. Not only do they occur naturally, but they are also formed in combustion processes and have been manufactured for decades. What's changed is the capability to control production and make engineered particles of very specific sizes and shapes. These nanomaterials are now appearing in marketed applications. The Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies lists more than 200 nanolabeled consumer products in its database. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/84/8418nanotechnology.html From mbest at triad.rr.com Mon May 8 09:33:16 2006 From: mbest at triad.rr.com (Michael Best) Date: Mon May 8 09:33:32 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] Interesting list of mad inventions Message-ID: <004c01c672bd$1c30e670$c1f31c18@mikey> http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9126-invention-bomb-jammer.h tml or http://snipurl.com/q6sz From sheimyrs at peak.org Tue May 9 00:57:24 2006 From: sheimyrs at peak.org (sheila meyers) Date: Tue May 9 00:57:34 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] RE: Mad-Scientists Digest, Vol 19, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <20060508190002.2DED63B271@kang.vjc.com> Message-ID: <200605090757.k497vLe5054510@mail01.peak.org> I don't think you believe there are ufo's but I've got to tell you, I don't think so, if they were going to " take Over they would have already!!!, Don't you think so! I think people better start thinking about God. Its your soul. Think about it!! Why do you never mention God !!! He's the one who makes this possible for. Edgar Casey is okay, but why don't you think you should make it possible for people to understand the whole story. 1111 . T -----Original Message----- From: mad-scientists-bounces@Mad-Scientists.ORG [mailto:mad-scientists-bounces@Mad-Scientists.ORG] On Behalf Of mad-scientists-request@Mad-Scientists.ORG Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 12:00 PM To: mad-scientists@Mad-Scientists.ORG Subject: Mad-Scientists Digest, Vol 19, Issue 2 Send Mad-Scientists mailing list submissions to mad-scientists@Mad-Scientists.ORG To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.mad-scientists.org/mailman/listinfo/mad-scientists or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to mad-scientists-request@Mad-Scientists.ORG You can reach the person managing the list at mad-scientists-owner@Mad-Scientists.ORG When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Mad-Scientists digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Interesting list of mad inventions (Michael Best) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 12:33:16 -0400 From: "Michael Best" Subject: [Mad-Scientists] Interesting list of mad inventions To: Message-ID: <004c01c672bd$1c30e670$c1f31c18@mikey> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9126-invention-bomb-jammer.h tml or http://snipurl.com/q6sz ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Mad-Scientists mailing list Mad-Scientists@Mad-Scientists.ORG http://www.mad-scientists.org/mailman/listinfo/mad-scientists End of Mad-Scientists Digest, Vol 19, Issue 2 ********************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060509/36811a2e/attachment.html From javilk at mall-net.com Tue May 9 01:23:08 2006 From: javilk at mall-net.com (javilk@mall-net.com) Date: Tue May 9 01:23:17 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] RE: Mad-Scientists Digest, Vol 19, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <200605090757.k497vLe5054510@mail01.peak.org> from "sheila meyers" at May 09, 2006 12:57:24 AM Message-ID: <20060509082308.74760.qmail@mall-net.com> > I don't think you believe there are ufo's but I've got to tell you, I don't > think so, if they were going to " take Over they would have already!!!, of course there are UFO's! I've seen plenty of them in my time. (May have had something to do with being a little nearsighted; but I've seen plenty of flying and frying objects I couldn't identify.) > Don't you think so! I think people better start thinking about God. Its > your soul. Think about it!! Why do you never mention We study God's handiwork all the time. She laid down the laws of the Universe. We call it Physics, and study it objectively. From Physics, comes Chemistry and Cosmology, From Chemistry, comes Geology, Biology, etc. (Cosmetology does not come from Cosmology.) And for these, we often use mathematics to describe and predict what happens next; often with far greater accuracy than those who study human behavior and call it Religion. If we postulate that one Grand Creatorial Agency created All, then it must have created all of us. From that, we can logically deduce that the only real difference between religions, is the opinions of the participants, the worshipers. And thus, those who say only they are right and all the other religions are wrong, and thus must be destroyed; are deluded for they are advocating the destruction of God's Creations. -J- (C) 2006, javilk@mall-net.com ------------------ www.mall-net.com/javilk --- Laugh at yourself, Our Creator loves company -- and You! --------------- --- After all, we wouldn't want our Creator to cancel the show, would we? -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright retained. All rights reserved. Copyright (C) 2006, Javilk@mall-net.com http://www.mall-net.com/javilk/ From creolescience at yahoo.com Tue May 9 16:54:25 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Tue May 9 16:54:36 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] Women Get Paternal Clues in Men's Faces Message-ID: <20060509235425.31140.qmail@web36109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Women Get Paternal Clues in Men's Faces By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago Women looking for a long-term relationship like men who like children ? and they can tell which guys might be interested in becoming fathers just by looking at their faces. Those are among the findings of a study of college students published Wednesday in a British scientific journal. "This study suggests that women are picking up on facial cues that are perhaps related to paternal qualities," said James Roney, a University of California at Santa Barbara psychologist and lead author of the study. "The more they perceived the men as liking kids, the more likely they could see having a longer-term relationship." Experts said evolution has apparently programmed women to recognize men who might be interested in propagating the species by raising a family. The study wasn't all bad news for men not interested in settling down. It found that women can look at men's faces and figure out which of them have the highest testosterone levels. Those men ? rated the most masculine by the women ? turn out to be just the kind of guys they would want for a fling. "Women make very good use of any information they get from a man's face," said co-author Dario Maestripieri, an associate professor of comparative human development at the University of Chicago. "Depending on what they want and where they are in their lives, they use this information differently." In the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, researchers looked at a group of 39 men, ages 18 to 33, at the University of Chicago. Each man was shown 10 pairs of photographs and silhouettes, one of an adult and the other of an infant, and asked to rate their preferences. Meanwhile, their saliva was tested to determine testosterone levels. Photographs of the men's faces were then shown to 29 women, ages 18 to 20, at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The women were asked to rate the men on four qualities: "likes children," "masculine," "physically attractive" and "kind." Then they were asked to rate how attractive they found each man for short-term and long-term romance. The study found women did well at rating men on their interest in babies, and those they rated masculine generally had higher testosterone levels than the others. For example, the men who indicated they liked children the most were rated as above average in liking children by 20 of the 29 women. The men who showed no interest in children were correctly rated as below average in that category by 19 of the women. The higher the women rated the men for masculinity, the higher they were rated as potential short-term romantic partners. The higher they rated men for their interest in children, the higher they were rated for long-term romance. The features that research has suggested denote high testosterone levels include a prominent jaw and a heavy beard. The findings came as no surprise to those in the business of studying human behavior ? and love. "What this study illustrates is that there are genetic programs that increase survival of the species because there are hormones in women that are cuing their reactions to the hormones of the men," said Dr. Daniel Alkon, scientific director of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute in Morgantown, W.Va., and Washington. Or as Kristin Kelly, a spokeswoman for the online dating service Match.com, put it: "They call it `love at first sight' for a reason. They don't say `love at first sentence,' `love at first word.'" It is unclear just what about the men's faces tipped the women off about their interest in children. While Maestripieri guessed it might have something to do with "a more rounded face, a gentler face," Roney said the answer might be found in the expressions on the men's faces. He explained that after the study was completed, five graduate students were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 7 whether the men looked angry or happy. Though the men were instructed to have a neutral look on their faces when photographed, some apparently looked happier than others. "It seemed that the men who picked more infants in that test had a happier or more content look on their face," he said. --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060509/9fe09614/attachment.html From creolescience at yahoo.com Wed May 10 19:12:55 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Wed May 10 19:13:06 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] Bear hybrids Message-ID: <20060511021255.55511.qmail@web36105.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Back to Story - Help DNA Tests Confirm Bear Was a Hybrid 57 minutes ago Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years. But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, North West Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly. Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid ? possibly the first documented in the wild. "We've known it's possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen," said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton. Polar bears and grizzlies have been successfully paired in zoos before ? Stirling could not speculate why ? and their offspring are fertile. Breeding seasons for the two species overlap, though polar bear gets started slightly earlier. --------------------------------- New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060510/bd95caaf/attachment.html From mbest at triad.rr.com Sat May 13 20:36:14 2006 From: mbest at triad.rr.com (Michael Best) Date: Sat May 13 20:38:01 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] The Shacktopus Message-ID: <000c01c67707$8d7f89a0$c1f31c18@mikey> As a ham radio operator, I like this gadget! The ultimate do-everything collection of electronic gadgets. http://shacktopus.com/ -Mike From mbest at triad.rr.com Wed May 17 09:06:22 2006 From: mbest at triad.rr.com (Michael Best) Date: Wed May 17 09:06:28 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] FW: HSFNEWS Digest - 13 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 (#2006-53) Message-ID: <00c901c679cb$d7c10130$c1f31c18@mikey> -----Original Message----- From: HSFNEWS automatic digest system [mailto:LISTSERV@JSC-LISTSERV-01.JSC.NASA.GOV] Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 2:00 AM To: HSFNEWS@JSC-LISTSERV-01.JSC.NASA.GOV Subject: HSFNEWS Digest - 13 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 (#2006-53) There is 1 message totalling 83 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. NASA TO HONOR FAR-REACHING INVENTIONS AT MAY 18 LUNCHEON ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 08:56:27 -0500 From: info@JSC.NASA.GOV Subject: NASA TO HONOR FAR-REACHING INVENTIONS AT MAY 18 LUNCHEON May 16, 2006 Lynnette B. Madison Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 Report #J06-058 NASA TO HONOR FAR-REACHING INVENTIONS AT MAY 18 LUNCHEON Special glasses to prevent motion sickness, a portable catapult for small planes, a new treatment for benign tumors -- these are just a few Johnson Space Center inventions to be honored by NASA May 18. The inventors, 35 scientists and engineers from JSC, will be recognized for developing 14 new technologies that will benefit life on Earth as well as in space. Media are invited to attend the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Nassau Bay Hilton. Interested media should contact the JSC newsroom by 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 17. The inventions include a portable catapult that can launch unmanned aircraft from remote areas, a microwave that can zap benign prostate growths without damaging healthy tissue, and a pair of glasses that look like videogame eyewear and prevent motion sickness. Among inventors being honored are G. Dickey Arndt, a well-known JSC inventor, and Robert L. Shuler Jr. Arndt, a 40-year NASA veteran, is named on three patents this year. He has 24 career patents. They include a method that could improve production in oil wells, a passive tracking system for moveable transmitters and a potential treatment method for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Shuler will be recognized for two patents used by NASA to build a human-like robotic hand for the agency's Robonaut, a prototype robotic astronaut assistant. The patents were awarded for a miniaturized data acquisition system that receives, amplifies and filters signals, allowing the hand to be remotely operated. The inventors to be honored include: -- Thomas J. Goodwin, Timothy Grant Hammond, James Howard Kaysen Production of Functional Proteins: Balance of Shear Stress and Gravity -- Eric L. Christiansen and Jeanne L. Crews Flexible Multi-shock Shield -- Andrew W. Chu, Justin A. Dobbins, Patrick W. Fink and Greg Y. Lin Novel Feed Structure for Antennas -- Joseph Gessler, Michael G. Hughes, George E. Petter, and Bernard J. Rosenbaum Portable Catapult Launcher for Small Aircraft -- Robert David Koudelka Wide Bandwidth Phase-Locked Loop Circuit -- G. Dickey Arndt, Brian A. Bourgeois, Henry A. Chen, John Dusl, Brent W. Hill, Phong H. Ngo and Chau T. Phan Passive Tracking System and Method -- George Ford, Millard F. Reschke and Jeffrey T. Somers Motion Sickness Treatment Apparatus and Method -- Damon C. Smith Resistive Exercise Device -- Robert L. Shuler Jr. Auto-routable, Configurable, Daisy Chainable Data Acquisition System -- Robert L. Shuler Jr. Practical Active Capacitor Filter -- Steven R. Gonda, Wenshan Lee and Yow-Min D. Tsao Fluid Bubble Eliminator -- Jean L. Chreiten and Ed Lu System and Method for Dynamic Optical Filtration -- G. Dickey Arndt, James R. Carl, Phong H. Ngo and George W. Raffoul Microwave Ablation of Prostatic Cells Using a Separated Antenna Array -- G. Dickey Arndt, Kent A. Byerly and James R. Carl Method for Controlling a Production Zone of a Well in a Geological Formation. For more information on these inventions and the individuals honored at the Inventors' Luncheon 2006, or on licensing and partnership opportunities, visit the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Web site: http://technology.jsc.nasa.gov/ ### NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver.jsc.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver.jsc.nasa.gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain.com" (no quotes). ------------------------------ End of HSFNEWS Digest - 13 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 (#2006-53) ************************************************************* From creolescience at yahoo.com Mon May 22 14:08:54 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Mon May 22 14:09:24 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] potentially Mad Scientist idea Message-ID: <20060522210854.5201.qmail@web36109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Anyone here familiar with genentically engineering or modifying plants? My question basically is, why can't the most obnxious, annoying weeds simply be modified to bear fruit or some other useful biproduct, therefore making growth of said item easier with the weed's hardiness in most hostile environmentsl, cut down on pesticides in the environment and save many gardeners alot of grief? Just wondering. Jeff --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger?s low PC-to-Phone call rates. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060522/1d94c009/attachment.html From javilk at mall-net.com Mon May 22 17:02:45 2006 From: javilk at mall-net.com (javilk@mall-net.com) Date: Mon May 22 17:03:00 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] potentially Mad Scientist idea In-Reply-To: <20060522210854.5201.qmail@web36109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> from "j s" at May 22, 2006 02:08:54 PM Message-ID: <20060523000245.67131.qmail@mall-net.com> > Anyone here familiar with genentically engineering or modifying plants? > > My question basically is, why can't the most obnxious, annoying weeds > simply be modified to bear fruit or some other useful biproduct, > therefore making growth of said item easier with the weed's hardiness > in most hostile environmentsl, cut down on pesticides in the environment > and save many gardeners alot of grief? Well, most weeds just don't seem to make either seeds or roots that are particularly appealing to us hominids. Which, of course, is why we call them weeds. Now, a good food plant either has to produce some kind of larger fruit, seed, or root that has sugars, proteins, or starches. Altering an existing plant might be similar to grafting a four ton pickup bed onto a Volkswagen. The weeds tend to be the VW's of the plant world, designed cheap, light, and fast -- get from seed to seed maker as fast as possible! The light design means a lot of casualties along the way, a lot of seeds that just don't make it; but the few that do make up for it in numbers. Compare, for example, the dandelion with the turnip. The dandelion is a root plant, and as I recall, an edible one. It may take up a patch of earth a little smaller than a turnip; but the turnip's root has a lot more food value. So basically, your weeds just are not designed (evolved) to be efficient enough to sustaining larger fruit or seed production. Weeds also tend to have some other chemistry to ward off insects and other plants. This chemistry is often not something we tolerate very well. For example, a lot of plants produce toluene. Yes, that nasty solvent we get from petrochemicals. And a host of other natural toxins. We hominids just can't hold a candle to Nature's tendency to produce really nasty chemistry to ward off competitors. -J- (John, Javilk@mall-net.com) CAUTION: I'm no doctor, I only tell computers what to do. Nothing in this document should be construed as medical advice. My opinions are subject to the availability of information. I learn new things each day, and so may change my opinions. For long lasting relief, consult a doctor who practices orthomolecular medicine. Ask, and I'll recommend mine. Today's Art Photo Chem / Fungus allergies Dr. Cathcart / Vit C. Arthritis Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright retained. Copyright (C) 2006, Javilk@mall-net.com . All rights reserverd. From Vesta111 at aol.com Tue May 23 06:09:54 2006 From: Vesta111 at aol.com (Vesta111@aol.com) Date: Tue May 23 06:10:06 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] potentially Mad Scientist idea Message-ID: <465.13bb2be.31a463a2@aol.com> In a message dated 5/22/2006 8:04:54 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, javilk@mall-net.com writes: Compare, for example, the dandelion with the turnip. The dandelion is a root plant, and as I recall, an edible one. It may take up a patch of earth a little smaller than a turnip; but the turnip's root has a lot more food value. Grandma would go out in the early spring and dig up dandelions ,root and all. The roots were cleaned and ground into tea, this tea was like a sedative, used on young and old alike to relax and sooth those with fevers and those who just couldn't get to sleep. The leaves were prepared as you would collard, kale, or mustard greens. I remember they used a bit of white vinegar for seasoning. The tops were placed in big pickle jars and fermented into dandelion wine for the fall. State and Federal parks allow people to gather Fiddle Head ferns in the spring. They taste like asparagus and are in the stores for only a week or so each year. I wonder where the giant sunflower plant came from, was it a weed or brought here from Europe ? Corn-maze was once a weed until domesticated. Wild onions and wild rice that is a actually a nut ,I believe, were all here as is the seaweed on the coasts that was and is still used as a salt substitute. Then there is the government controlled weeds, Pot, mushrooms, cacti root, hemp, tobacco, poppy seeds, etc. Wild blueberries, raspberries, blackberry's, chukka berries. Most anything a bear will eat is ok for humans too. If we were to look long and hard enough we would find that there is a use for all plants on our planet, what we call weeds are just plants we have not found a use for yet. Regards Vesta The greatest gift I was given as a child, was the love of the written word. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060523/c0e2fcc7/attachment.html From javilk at mall-net.com Tue May 23 07:31:35 2006 From: javilk at mall-net.com (javilk@mall-net.com) Date: Tue May 23 07:31:41 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] potentially Mad Scientist idea In-Reply-To: <465.13bb2be.31a463a2@aol.com> from "Vesta111@aol.com" at May 23, 2006 09:09:54 AM Message-ID: <20060523143135.89481.qmail@mall-net.com> >> Compare, for example, the dandelion with the turnip. The >> dandelion is a root plant, and as I recall, an edible one. It may take >> up a patch of earth a little smaller than a turnip; but the turnip's >> root has a lot more food value. > Grandma would go out in the early spring and dig up dandelions ,root and all. > > The roots were cleaned and ground into tea, this tea was like a sedative, > used on young and old alike to relax and sooth those with fevers and those who > just couldn't get to sleep. Yes; but the food value per square inch of ground is substantially lower than most of our food crops. > Wild blueberries, raspberries, blackberry's, chukka berries. Most anything a > bear will eat is ok for humans too. Those are not generally considered weeds; though some may call them that when they take over their front lawn. > If we were to look long and hard enough we would find that there is a use > for all plants on our planet, what we call weeds are just plants we have not > found a use for yet. And many abandoned native food sources which gave way to more productive ones. e.g. Amrath and some other grains, which were Indian staples till Corn came up from Central America. My point was that what we tend to call crops are generally more productive in terms of calories per acre (or dollars per acre for tobacco, cotton, flax, hemp, etc.) than what we call weeds. And that this productivity requires a better tuned biological engine and frame, so to speak, than is found on most weed-weeds. Thus the potential for bio-engineering weeds into crops is a bit more limited than some might expect. More likely, is the bio-engineering of weed-like attributes into some food crops. -J- (John, Javilk@mall-net.com) CAUTION: I'm no doctor, I only tell computers what to do. Nothing in this document should be construed as medical advice. My opinions are subject to the availability of information. I learn new things each day, and so may change my opinions. For long lasting relief, consult a doctor who practices orthomolecular medicine. Ask, and I'll recommend mine. Today's Art Photo Chem / Fungus allergies Dr. Cathcart / Vit C. Arthritis Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright retained. Copyright (C) 2006, Javilk@mall-net.com . All rights reserverd. From creolescience at yahoo.com Tue May 23 14:14:55 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Tue May 23 14:15:13 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] help for the blind Message-ID: <20060523211455.98602.qmail@web36106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Machine Offers Sight to Some Blind People Bjorn Carey LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.comTue May 23, 2:00 PM ET With her weak eye, Elizabeth Goldring can distinguish between light and dark and see hand movement, but not individual fingers. She cannot recognize faces or read. Goldring is a painter, a poet, and a senior fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Advanced Visual Studies. Her vision loss doesn't make any of these activities easier. Now Goldring and a team of eye doctors, fellow researchers, and students have produced a "seeing machine" that allows the visually challenged to view the face of a friend, access the Internet, and "previsit" unfamiliar buildings [example]. Starting from scratch The project started 10 years ago, when, to determine if Goldring had any healthy retina left, her doctors sent her to the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard. Technicians there used a diagnostic device called the scanning laser opthamaloscope, or SLO, to look into her eyes. The SLO projected a simple image of a stick-figure turtle past the hemorrhages inside her eye that contributed to her blindness and directly onto the retina of one eye. She could see the turtle, but wanted more, and asked the technicians to project the word "sun." "And I could see it," Goldring said. "That was the first time in several months that I'd seen a word, and for a poet that's an incredible feeling." Since then, Goldring has been working with other vision researchers and engineers to transform the $100,000 SLO into a more affordable machine. So far, by dumping some of the diagnostic equipment and replacing expensive lasers with cheaper light emitting diodes (LEDs), she and her colleagues have knocked the price down to $4,000. The once bulky SLO now fits on a desktop while still being able to project images, video, and more onto a person's retina. "We essentially made the new machine from scratch," Goldring said. Seeing is believing After miniaturizing the SLO and developing her own "visual language"?consisting of short words that incorporate graphics and symbols to convey meaning and make the image easier to see and read?the next step was to offer the experience to others who could benefit. The pilot clinical trial included 10 participants with 20/70 vision or worse in their good eye. Most were clinically blind, meaning they can only make out the largest "E" on a standard eye chart, and had lost their vision from a variety of causes, including diabetes, muscular degeneration, and visual field loss. Using the modified machine, six of the participants interpreted all 10 "word-images" correctly. Several commented that even in its early stages, it was by far the best visual aid they had used. "They responded really well to the visual language," Goldring said. "One woman told me she would love to see recipes written that way." The results from the study, announced today, were reported earlier this year in Optometry, the Journal of the American Optometric Association. Mass appeal A device such as this could open doors to new, unfamiliar places, which the visually challenged are often terrified of visiting, Goldring said. "There's a fear of missing simple visual cues, steps, and not being able to decipher elevator buttons," she said. Less than 10 percent of the blind read Braille, making it difficult to find their way in unfamiliar places, and directions from well-meaning bystanders are often inaccurate. Just a peek at the layout of the new building could be enough to help the blind find their way. "If you are visually challenged, if you see something once using the machine, you remember," Goldring said. The current model allows the user to travel through a virtual building using a joystick to move forward, backward, and sideways to get the lay of the land. The researchers are currently working on developing a color version of the machine for a large-scale clinical trial. The new version will allow the participants to stroll through a gallery containing artwork by Goldring. --------------------------------- Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2?/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060523/accb92e8/attachment.html From creolescience at yahoo.com Thu May 25 14:33:16 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Thu May 25 14:35:14 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] finally the source of AIDS discovered Message-ID: <20060525213316.68793.qmail@web36106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ( now if people can frind out what stops the disease from destroying chimps we should have the source of a real cure ) HIV's ancestry traced to wild chimps By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer1 hour, 9 minutes ago Twenty-five years after the first AIDS cases emerged, scientists have confirmed that the HIV virus plaguing humans really did originate in wild chimpanzees, in a corner of Cameroon. Solving the mystery of HIV's ancestry was dirty work. Scientists employed trackers to plunge through dense jungle and collect the fresh feces of wild apes ? more than 1,300 samples in all. Before that, it took seven years of research just to develop the testing methods to genetically trace the primate version of the virus in living wild chimps without hurting the endangered species. Until now, "no one was able to look. No one had the tools," said Dr. Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She led the team of international researchers that reported the success in Friday's edition of the journal Science. "We're 25 years into this pandemic," Hahn said. "We don't have a cure. We don't have a vaccine. But we know where it came from. At least we can make a check mark on one of those." Scientists long have known that nonhuman primates carry their own version of the AIDS virus, called SIV or simian immunodeficiency virus. But with one exception, it had been found only in captive chimpanzees, particularly a subspecies that in the wild populates mostly West Africa. It was not known how prevalent the virus was in chimps in the wild, or how genetically or geographically diverse it was, complicating efforts to pin down the jump from animal to man. Hahn's team tested chimp feces for SIV antibodies, finding them in a subspecies called Pan troglodytes troglodytes in southern Cameroon. Chimps tend to form geographically distinct communities. By genetically analyzing the feces, researchers could trace individual infected chimps. The team found some chimp communities with infection rates as high as 35 percent, while others had no infection at all. Every single infected chimp had a common base genetic pattern that indicated a common ancestor, Hahn said. There are three types of HIV-1, the strain of the human virus responsible for most of the worldwide epidemic. Genetic analysis let Hahn identify chimp communities near Cameroon's Sanaga River whose viral strains are most closely related to the most common of those HIV-1 subtypes. "The genetic similarity was striking," Hahn said. The first human known to be infected with HIV was a man from Kinshasa in the nearby country of Congo who had his blood stored in 1959 as part of a medical study, decades before scientists knew the AIDS virus existed. Presumably, someone in rural Cameroon was bitten by a chimp or was cut while butchering one and became infected with the ape virus. That person passed it to someone else. The Sanaga River long has been a commercial waterway, for transporting hardwood, ivory and other items to more urban areas. Eventually, someone infected made it to Kinshasa. "How many different transmission events occurred between that initial hunter and this virus making it to Kinshasa, I don't know. It could have been one, it could have been 10, it could have been 100," Hahn said. "Eventually, it ended up in an urban area, and that's where it really got going." Somewhere in all that spread, the virus became more deadly to people than it is to chimps, who seldom are bothered much by SIV. The research seems to settle any question of HIV's origin, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's AIDS chief. When tracing a virus' evolution, "it's important to get as close to the source as you can," he said. "It's of historic interest." --------------------------------- Feel free to call! Free PC-to-PC calls. Low rates on PC-to-Phone. Get Yahoo! Messenger with Voice -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060525/33e5ddb5/attachment.html From javilk at mall-net.com Thu May 25 17:33:01 2006 From: javilk at mall-net.com (javilk@mall-net.com) Date: Thu May 25 17:33:23 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] finally the source of AIDS discovered In-Reply-To: <20060525213316.68793.qmail@web36106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> from "j s" at May 25, 2006 02:33:16 PM Message-ID: <20060526003301.81048.qmail@mall-net.com> > ( now if people can frind out what stops the disease from destroying > chimps we should have the source of a real cure ) It appears to be their genetics. Some people seem strangely immune to AIDS. Also, please don't quote the majority of the article. no more than 20%. That's copyright violation, which DOES show up on the rather public logs for this site. Could get Igor and you into a bit of trouble with some publishers. Igor might wish to remove the bulk of your post for his and our safety. -javilk- mall-net.com ------------------- IMAGINEERING -------------------- --------------- Every click, a vote. ---------------- ----- Do people vote for, or against your pages? ---- -- What people want: http://www.SitePsych.com/free -- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- Advice, Analysis, Strategies, Development ----- Serving the World for three generations, since 1933 ----------------------------------------------------- Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright (C) 2006, Copyright retained. All rights reserverd. From Vesta111 at aol.com Thu May 25 18:49:26 2006 From: Vesta111 at aol.com (Vesta111@aol.com) Date: Thu May 25 18:49:40 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] finally the source of AIDS discovered Message-ID: <48d.e05f0f.31a7b8a6@aol.com> In a message dated 5/25/2006 5:35:50 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, creolescience@yahoo.com writes: The team found some chimp communities with infection rates as high as 35 percent, while others had no infection at all. There are three types of HIV-1, the strain of the human virus responsible for most of the worldwide epidemic. Genetic analysis let Hahn identify chimp communities near Cameroon's Sanaga River whose viral strains are most closely related to the most common of those HIV-1 subtypes. "The genetic similarity was striking," Hahn said. The first human known to be infected with HIV was a man from Kinshasa in the nearby country of Congo who had his blood stored in 1959 as part of a medical study, decades before scientists knew the AIDS virus existed. Presumably, someone in rural Cameroon was bitten by a chimp or was cut while butchering one and became infected with the ape virus. That person passed it to someone else. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------- I am still trying to figure this out. Where did the chimps get this virus in the first place ? How come some chimps get it and others don't ? How did the virus mutate to humans ? This virus had to come from somewhere to effect the chimps in the first place, This virus, is it related to any other virus known to man? This blood sample in 1959 of the first known human to contact aids, seems to be guessing as to how he contacted the disease, or how he passed it on to others. Seems to me that if a hunter in that area of the world got the virus, so would all the hunters that got cut or had the blood come in contact with their skin, ie, bug bites, scrapes open sores etc Why not before that ,say 10 years before ,or 20 years. Would not there be people falling over from this virus way back then?? Why on earth is this virus carried mostly by sex contact ?? Unless you get blood into your body from needles or sex contact it is very hard to get this virus . I remember when this thing started out, there were horrible story's about 17 year old girls being raped by the infected .They lived 18 months and died. Now it seems with drugs, some infected live 20 or so years. Then there are the people most likely to get the virus, and they don't. Seems they are immune from the disease. Why are they immune, are they like the chimp colony that just don't get it ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------- The team found some chimp communities with infection rates as high as 35 percent, while others had no infection --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why no infection ??? Regards Vesta The greatest gift I was given as a child, was the love of the written word. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060525/dd239dfe/attachment.html From creolescience at yahoo.com Fri May 26 12:39:51 2006 From: creolescience at yahoo.com (j s) Date: Fri May 26 12:40:03 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] chimp - aids connection Message-ID: <20060526193951.78123.qmail@web36101.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "I am still trying to figure this out. Where did the chimps get this virus in the first place ? How come some chimps get it and others don't ? How did the virus mutate to humans ? This virus had to come from somewhere to effect the chimps in the first place, This virus, is it related to any other virus known to man? This blood sample in 1959 of the first known human to contact aids, seems to be guessing as to how he contacted the disease, or how he passed it on to others." my guess is the consumption of bushmeat allowed it to pass into humans. Perhaps it was around since the 60's but the populace thought it was tuberculosis or something else. The disease incubated in a few people but took that long, like a generation, to be spread through polygamy and perhaps prostitution or promiscuity. The original source could be anything, and since it isn't fatal to chimps it could have been a virus like toxoplasmosis in cats which lives but isn't fatal to the host. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://Mad-Scientists.ORG/pipermail/mad-scientists/attachments/20060526/98d946f7/attachment.html From mbest at triad.rr.com Sat May 27 12:48:02 2006 From: mbest at triad.rr.com (Michael Best) Date: Sat May 27 12:48:09 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] chimp - aids connection In-Reply-To: <20060527190001.EA2223BAED@kang.vjc.com> Message-ID: <00be01c681c6$7765dd30$c1f31c18@mikey> Well, the conspiracy theorists believe that SIV crossed into humans from the Sabin polio vaccine, which was cultured on monkey tissue. Sabin adamantly refuses to allow the retained samples of his cultures be examined for SIV, claiming that his vaccine saved far more lives than HIV has taken. And the religious zealots claim it came from zoosexual practices of the natives. But the issue isn't how it came to humans, but why humans cannot keep their pants zipped, preventing its spread. -MB From javilk at mall-net.com Sat May 27 16:11:25 2006 From: javilk at mall-net.com (javilk@mall-net.com) Date: Sat May 27 16:11:42 2006 Subject: [Mad-Scientists] chimp - aids connection In-Reply-To: <00be01c681c6$7765dd30$c1f31c18@mikey> from "Michael Best" at May 27, 2006 03:48:02 PM Message-ID: <20060527231125.33401.qmail@mall-net.com> > Well, the conspiracy theorists believe that SIV crossed into humans > from the Sabin polio vaccine, which was cultured on monkey tissue. Then we would have seen a heck of a lot more cases sooner. > And the religious zealots claim it came from zoosexual practices of > the natives. This, I doubt. Monkeys tend to be a bit violent at times. pacifying a female to have sex with her would be a bit of a challenge. I think such a pervert would find children comparatively easier and safer targets, _Even_ _If_ their parents own firearms, have many powerful relatives and friends, etc.! There is just something about us humans that makes us physically weaker than chimps. I think it's that we don't produce as much adrenaline; which is one of the reasons we are less excitable and more thoughtful. And with that, more likely to live longer. Butchering and eating chimps is a far, far more likely transmission route. > But the issue isn't how it came to humans, but why humans cannot keep > their pants zipped, preventing its spread. Mike, we are of the European culture group, which includes most Caucasians. (Simply becaue those with darker skin tended to be less prolific due to vitamin D deficiencies, rickets and such, as they went into regions of less sunlight.) Summarizing a Scientific American article I read some years back... In Europe, the death rates from large predators, etc. soon fell. With that inheritance of arable lands soon became a problem -- divide the land to many times, and no one can survive. So we developed a culture of restraint. In contrast, the land in Africa was more fertile and was not owned by families; but more or less held by communities. (Similar in the North American Indian culture.) In that type of community, the more kids you had in a family, whether they be yours or not, the more land you could work to get more food. With that, and a higher death rate due to the nature of the fauna, cyclical famines, intertribal warfare, etc., this restraint business didn't get started till much, much later. And since the guys usually take it on the chin when something capable of fighting and eating a human... polygamy was far more acceptable in those parts. Indeed, that kind of loss rate may have been a factor in the formation of animal-centric religions in Africa, vs human centric religions in other locations. It is somewhat interesting to contrast the more benign environment in Africa with the earthquakes, ice dam busts and other takers of life in Europe, which prompted a lot of rather bloody sacrificial religions as a way of showing that we were masters of life, not just the victims of it. It was a kind of post traumatic stress syndrome therapy, according to some things I've read. -javilk- mall-net.com ------------------- IMAGINEERING -------------------- ----- Advice, Analysis, Strategies, Development ----- Serving the World for three generations, since 1933 ----------------------------------------------------- Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright (C) 2006, Copyright retained. All rights reserverd.