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POPSLess (Information) Is More When Benjamin Franklin's nephew Joseph Priestley found himself stumped by a complex life decision, he wrote his sage uncle for advice. In his 1772 letter of reply, Franklin described his own method for reasoning out complex problems, which he called "moral algebra." Divide a sheet of paper in half, he counseled his nephew, and make an exhaustive list of pros and cons. Then, over a couple days, weigh the pros and cons, and when a pro and a con seem of equal weight, strike them both out. What is left in the balance is the best answer. Such "balance sheet" calculation is still taught today as the most logical and systematic method for dealing with many of life's complexities. Kids are counseled to choose colleges and careers this way, and managers similarly deliberate the pros and cons in important business decisions; some people are even methodical in matters of the heart. But is moral algebra really the best method for decision making in today's ?
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POPSEnding Moderate Drinking Tied To Depression The mice were tested for depression-like behavior using a widely recognized method called the Porsolt Swim Test. The mice are placed inside a beaker filled with water and allowed to swim for six minutes. Mice are good swimmers and have no problem completing this task. The amount of time they spend immobile (floating and not swimming) is measured as an index of despair or depression-like behavior. The more time a mouse spends immobile, the more "depressed" it is thought to be. "This research provides the first evidence that long-term abstinence from moderate alcohol drinking -- rather than drinking per se -- leads to a negative mood state, depression," Hodge said.
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POPSRed wine's resveratrol may help battle obesity In the cell-based study, they found that resveratrol inhibited the pre-fat cells from increasing and prevented them from converting into mature fat cells. Also, resveratrol hindered fat storage. Most interesting, according to Fischer-Posovszky, was that resveratrol reduced production of certain cytokines (interleukins 6 and 8), substances that may be linked to the development of obesity-related disorders, such as diabetes and clogged coronary arteries. Also, resveratrol stimulated formation of a protein known to decrease the risk of heart attack. Obesity decreases this substance, called adiponectin.
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POPSScience Never Stops :-) This is an entertaining and fairly level headed “what the future will bring” piece. It covers the promise and perils of a pretty diverse set of topics: nuclear power, space travel, power transmission, aviation, food production, urban growth, race relations and even (sort-of) outsourcing.
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POPSThe side effects of Ritilin "How many future Beethovens, Thomas Jeffersons, Ernest Hemingways, Martin Luther Kings and Maya Angelous are we currently drugging into stupors in our schools and nation? Men and women of greatness are probably the least likely to sit still and do the normal schoolwork directed at the average student. How many non-drugged kids would have never become famous, but would have been able to hold a job at Wal-Mart, get married, have kids, go bowling, collect the next Beanie Babies, attend church, and enjoy life but are now doomed to become drug addicts, felons, and just plain psychotic?"
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POPS 'Pre-crime' detector shows promise That sounds incredibly high at such an early stage in the research - but only tests on vast quantities of real people, rather than eager volunteers, will present any real test. Questions remain, however, as to how secure the system is. The machines could reveal health conditions like heart murmurs and breathing problems as well as stress levels - which would be an invasion of privacy.
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POPSextra symptons to heart attacks, Women should read this I am clipping this because I just had a heart attack. I thought I hurt my back, it turned out it was a heart attack! I never had any chest pains, just an almighty back pain and nausia. Please be warned, sometimes you DO NOT get chest pains or tightening of chest in a heart attack. I wish you all well.
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POPSThe father of Sociology suggests it is not a science From article: That’s it! That is basis for the whole sociological dictatorship. Suggest problems for emotional involvement and demand the intellect devise social solutions. It can turn any personal problem into a social problem, a social problem into a national problem, and a national problem into an international problem belonging to all humanity. Social science treats life as a series of problems for ‘society’ or united ‘Humanity’ to solve. When all the problems the social scientists can concoct from any part of the world become social problems for the WORld Management System (WORMS) to solve, the sociological dictatorship will be complete. The basic tactic for turning personal problems into social problems is to promote otherism. To be otheristic one must abandon all thought of self and think constantly of the problems of others.
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POPSThe BIG STUPID In Cambridge "But he took offense and decided he had the right to arrest a man for getting angry, for calling this special cop, this holier than anyone cop, names. That was stupid. That was worse than stupid. it was emotional. It was abuse of police power. It is exactly the kind of thing that happens to blacks, to latinos, to teenagers all over America. A cop uses his power to arrest in a way that goes beyond the situation. He arrests someone for an attitude, for cross words, for a glare or dirty look. "
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POPSGeorge Carlin irreverent comedian dies Now he's probably working on a new routine with Richard Pryor, and Lenny Bruce. He was Honest, and hit some nerves that needed hitting. Sometimes the truth hurts, until you work out it's generally the same for everyone else. We're all in this together warts and all. Too many people wont talk about the Elephant in the living room. (but they're all worried that the elephant might want to use the bathroom.) George liked to tickle the elephant
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POPS"Obesity caught like common cold" continues (through link): It is increasingly clear, several experts say, that viruses might play a role in some obesity cases. There are 49 known human adenoviruses. They cause everything from the common cold to gastrointestinal problems and eye inflammation, pneumonia, croup, and bronchitis. AD-36 was first fingered as being possibly linked to obesity more than a decade ago. Nikhil Dhurandhar, of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, and a colleague made the connection in 1997 in research presented at an annual Experimental Biology meeting. That preliminary study of 199 people found that up to 15 percent of them carried antibodies to the virus, which provided indirect evidence that they once were exposed to the virus itself.
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POPSWorking night shifts raises cancer risk The report refers specifically to individuals who work nights in the fields of health care, security, transportation, media and the military. Some 10 percent of the population consistently works night shifts, according to the report, and 25 percent work such shifts occasionally.
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POPSCholesterol Drug Has No Benefit in Trial, Makers Say more in the article : " In the United States, Zetia and Vytorin combined account for about 20 percent of the overall cholesterol-lowering market. More than 100 million prescriptions have been filled in the United States for Zetia and Vytorin since the Food and Drug Administration approved them in November 2002 and August 2004 respectively. Both drugs cost about $3 a day. "
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POPSOlder men told to 'use it or lose it' Other factors that contribute to erectile dysfunction that were taken into account include include age diabetes, and heart disease. Blood is retained by a muscle that stops blood from being returned to the body during arousal. Perhaps without regular exercise it is more inclined to lose its grip on the blood vessels. How being caught by surprise affected function, was not mentioned
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