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POPSCitrus surprise: Vitamin C boosts the reprogramming of adult cells into stem cells "Our results highlight a simple way to improve iPSC generation and provide additional insight into the mechanistic basis of reprogramming," concludes Dr. Pei. "It is also of interest that a vitamin with long-suspected anti-aging effects has such a potent influence on reprogramming, which can be considered a reversal of the aging process at the cellular level. It is likely that our work may stimulate further research in this area as well." More information: Esteban et al.: “Report: Vitamin C Enhances the Generation of Mouse and Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.” Publishing in Cell Stem Cell, January 8, 2010. http://www.cellstemcell.com Source: Cell Press (new
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POPSGerrymandering: The Two-parties working together! It seems the two parties can co-operate just fine! Unfortunately that only seems to be when it's in the interest of the politicians themselves and, of course, their 'actual' constituents... (This is actually a problem associated with social networks and natural human characteristics. If interested in solutions it's important to understand the source of the problem... see "The Foundations of Authoritarianism" http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2009/05/foundations-of-authoritarianism.html and related posts
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POPSJournalism Schools Journalism is an exciting and fast paced career. Our Journalism (three-year) program is designed for high school graduates and takes you from the classroom, to a newsroom, to a full-time industry field placement preparing you for a new career. Our journalism programs offer a solid foundation in the skills vital to success in journalism. Our graduates work with national and international news outlets including newspapers, magazines, TV and media Industries.
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POPSblistering indictment leveled against obama over his handling of bush-era war crimes yep- no accountability here- seems like- just set the tolerance level a whole lot lower- so we can cover up- hide and presumably get away with all the b.s. we are planning to do and are doing now- charging the past with accountability- opens a window into what the administration is working on now- i imagine.........and if they ok bush's war crimes- well we must really be up to no good.....and no! "i don't feel safer from the threat of terrorism- by means of torture-etc.......not anymore now than i did during the "daze" of bush"
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POPSThe Something Awful/Paypal fiasco
More: I'm not going to tell people to close their Paypal accounts. I'm not going to say all their actions were completely unwarranted. I'm just presenting my experience with them and will allow you to draw your own conclusions. However, I harbor a fundamental disagreement with their business practice of assuming all their clients are filthy criminals who must repeatedly prove their innocence to a series of unmanned servers and computer systems. I do not support their ability to freeze entire accounts, take money from whoever they want at whatever time they want, and impose whatever arbitrary rules and regulations they deem necessary without having to answer to any organization. Every single cent in every single Paypal account is earning their company ungodly amounts of interest in their central bank account. They offer users credit cards and the chance to put your money into interest-generating accounts. So exactly why are they not under banking and FDIC rules again?
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POPSClimategate: Science corrupted Here is an example how scientific collisions spilled out onto unsuspecting public. Excessive public (read journalists and even paparazzi) attention in science is always leading to speculations and manipulations. And usually difficult to say who manipulating by whom: scientists by politicians or vice versa. I believe scientists must carefully follow each rule of scientific ethic and be scrutinized in this matter every time they attracting interest of wide auditorium. The main question here: Is it new trend or ordinary fluctuations? And polar bears soon will not be able to float around on a floes. As is their custom on the North, they said... ;)
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POPSJournalism Schools at Centennial College Journalism is an exciting and fast paced career. Our Journalism (three-year) program is designed for high school graduates and takes you from the classroom, to a newsroom, to a full-time industry field placement preparing you for a new career. Our journalism programs offer a solid foundation in the skills vital to success in journalism. Our graduates work with national and international news outlets including newspapers, magazines, TV and media Industries.
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POPSHere Are Some Important Passages in the 2,000 Page Legislation.
Eviscerating Medicare: In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions. Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home." (The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider.) Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients. • Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in . . . .
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POPSIs Intelligence Sexy? <<<Many traits in many species have evolved through sexual selection specifically to function as fitness indicators that reveal good genes and good health. Sexually selected fitness indicators typically show (1) higher coefficients of phenotypic and genetic variation than survival traits, (2) at least moderate genetic heritabilities and (3) positive correlations with many aspects of an animal's general condition, including body size, body symmetry, parasite resistance, longevity and freedom from deleterious mutations. These diagnostic criteria also appear to describe human intelligence (the g factor).>>> (from abstract). So then, is there some sort of mirror neuron circuitry in the brain that excites a cortical g spot?
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POPSThe value of cord blood—even greater than once imagined! Families who have banked your child’s cord blood (or are considering it) take note -you may have access to “ready-to-use” stem cell therapies that are greater than we imagined. This includes treatments that may help restore, repair and regenerate various tissues and organs that may have been damaged through injury or illness.
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POPSUrge World Leaders: Vote No to Biased Goldstone Report I'm here at the emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, facing a draft resolution by the Arab and Islamic blocs that seeks to endorse the biased Goldstone Report"a 500-page document that falsely accuses Israel of “deliberate attacks” against civilians during its defensive war against Hamas rocket attacks last January. (For details, see www.unwatch.org/goldstone.) Adoption of this dangerous text will trigger proceedings toward the indictment and prosecution of Israeli leaders and officers in the International Criminal Court. What’s at stake is the very survival of democratic societies under the assault of terrorists"enemies of human rights who cynically invoke its protective cover. The debate began yesterday and reaches its climax today. UN Watch will be there to address the assembled delegates. Representing us will be none other than Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan,
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POPSFacts are in fact irrelevant It is often more important how is something said than what is actually said. Probably that's the way the human mind works, the memes that are propagated are not the most factual, but the most appealing, intriguing, amusing or surprising. The problem are the consequences for science if the focus is set on communication at any expense instead of accuracy. However, a perfect accuracy with no communication is pointless. Thus, as with all conflicting goals, the way to go is probably a compromise, as it doesn't look like we are changing human nature anytime soon.
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POPSPlanet Robo: Population Will Exceed 1 Million Worldwide by 2010 "DO NOT TAKE A BATH WITH YOUR ROBOT WHILE JUGGLING CHAINSAWS." Best advice I’ve heard all year. But where are all of these robots? Mostly they are things like those little Roombas and Robomowers that creep in and around tech-savvy homes. The author identifies a looming problem, with military contractors driving the manufacture and spread of Robosapiens, we need to begin focusing on the ethics of their use for civilian applications. Getting a robot to identify the enemy under military situations is quite different from relying on them to patrol civilian streets. It’s no longer a great stretch to imagine robocops in patrol cars in the near future.
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POPS Obama as Dr. Evil Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction. Like all of you, my responsibility is to act in the interest of my nation and my people, and I will never apologize for defending those interests. But it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 " more than at any point in human history " the interests of nations and peoples are shared. It irks me that Obama believes that our interests are shared. Our interests could be shared, if Iran didn’t want to obliterate Israel, for example. However, presently that is not a shared interest of the United States. Obama courts the world, telling them how he appeases them"closing Guantanamo Bay, ending torture, ending weapons systems, ridding the world of nuclear weapons, and so on . .
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POPSBin Laden Message to Europe: Withdraw from Afghanistan I clipped the most intriguing phrases. Go to clip source to read entire message. The closing paragraph: His message seems to be Europe, you still have a chance. Don't go down with the American ship. Happy is whoever learns a lesson from the mistakes committed by others. Modest precautions are better than expensive follow-up care. Returning to truth is better than insisting on falsehood. And peace be upon those who follow the path of righteousness.
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POPSAdministration Will Cut Border Patrol Deployed on U.S-Mexico Border A Department of Homeland Security annual performance review updated by the Obama administration on May 7 said the Border Patrol “plans to move several hundred Agents from the Southwest Border to the Northern Border to meet the FY 2010 staffing requirements, with only a small increase in new agents for the Southwest Border in the same year.” Easterling said on Tuesday that in fiscal 2009, 17,399 Border Patrol agents have been deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border. In fiscal year 2010, the Border Patrol plans to decrease that by 384 agents, leaving 17,015 deployed along the Mexican frontier. At the same time, the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on the U.S.-Canada border will be increased by 414, from a fiscal 2009 total of 1,798 agents to a fiscal 2010 total of 2,212. Read full article: By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief CNS NEWS.COM http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54514
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POPSThe Other Ongoing World Shame: Darfur As the author indicates, when you have lots of "show," there is often very little "go." Take away all the glitter and false starts and Darfur is still one of the leading killing grounds in the world. Is Sudan's oil worth that much?
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