National Geographic video of martial artists

http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/videoPreview.html

In a custom-built dojo filled with the latest scientific equipment, NGC studies deadly moves of the world's greatest martial artists.

Very cool preview. Now I need to find the full version.

Science versus Religion

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2752610&page=2

In a commentary by ABC's Lee Dye...

There are several reasons why. Science is a work in progress during which today's conclusions may be rewritten tomorrow. What was good for us to eat yesterday is bad today. That's because new evidence is developed that builds new understanding and we are better off because of that process. But science takes it on the chin.

If they can't tell us what's right the first time around, why listen?

This, perhaps, is a core issue that seperates laymen and scientists. Scientists accept that theory is a "work in progress", but accept the most logical and well-researched theory as an approximation of Truth, for given values of Truth. Laymen want The Answer, not some theory that is probably going to change. They want constancy, not what can be construed as uncertainty. This is something scientists need to remember when talking with the public.

Eye of Science: Photography

I'm sure this has been posted before... science as art.

Source: http://www.eyeofscience.com/eos2/index2.html

BaSO4 (Barite)

E. coli

Blazing star leaf hairs

Body's response to E. coli.

Restless leg treatments

Source: http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/tweaking-the-treatment-for-restless-legs-12237.html

I have inherited from my father (who apparently inherited from his mother) a condition known as "restless leg" in which the limb experiences creeping sensations, and is found in 10% of the adult population. Mine happen at night, typically when under stress. I was completely unaware that there was a drug (Ropinirole) that can be used to treat it (I just get up and do something until it goes away); however, long-term use can worsen the symptoms. The lastest research says that for those who require medical treatment (not me, fortunately), long-term drug therapy is most effective by rotating through a series of drugs that can be used to treat the condition.

The problem is referred to as "augmentation" and occurs with some migraine suffers. After taking a treatment for an extended period of time, the drug itself begins to trigger the symptoms; in the case of migraine, a dose induces a migraine, and in restless leg it causes the "jittery" feel that leaves you walking the floors at night. It is hoped that a better understanding of augmentation can lead to more effective long-term drug therapies.

Hand holding has benefits

Source: http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/high-quality-marriages-help-to-calm-nerves-12217.html


Quoted from source:

A University of Virginia neuroscientist has found that women under stress who hold their husbands' hands show signs of immediate relief, which can clearly be seen on their brain scans. "This is the first study of the neurological reactions to human touch in a threatening situation, and the first study to measure how the brain facilitates the health-enhancing properties of close social relationships," says Dr. James A. Coan, author of the study, which is published in the December 2006 issue of the journal Psychological Science.

The results showed a large decrease in the brain response to threat as a function of spouse handholding, and a limited decrease in this response as a function of stranger handholding. Moreover, spouse handholding effects varied as a function of marital quality, with women in the very highest quality marriages benefiting from a very powerful decrease in threat-related brain activity, including a strong decrease in the emotional (affective) component of the brain’s pain processing circuits.

Sharks in the St.Lawrence

Source: http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/jaws-under-ice-mysterious-arctic-sharks-found-in-quebec-12146.html

Apparently, Geenland sharks are now living in the St.Lawrence river. The Greenland shark typically inhabits the deep, dark waters between Greenland and the polar ice cap. At over six metres long and weighing up to 2,000 kilograms, it is the largest shark in the North Atlantic and the only shark in the world that lives under Arctic ice. Not only are they big, but may live for hundreds of years. Various historic accounts and anecdotes portray the Greenland shark as a scavenger that dwells in extremely deep water -- one was spotted at a depth of more than 2,100 metres. They favour seal carcasses but will eat almost anything -- one was found with an entire caribou in its stomach. The only age analysis to date, by Norwegian researchers, pegs them growing about half a centimetre a year, which would put a seven metre adult at several hundred years old, easily beating the giant tortoise by decades, even centuries. They apparently began to summer in the St.Lawrence recently, around the Baie-Comeau region.