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Monday, June 30, 2003
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 Howard Bloom writes: In the first nanoseconds of the Big Bang two kinds of forces revealed themselves - attraction and repulsion. The repulser of explosion began a rush apart which hasn't ended to this day. Its aftermath is an "expansionary universe" separating stars and galaxies at breakneck speed. Then there are the forces of attraction - those which pulled together quarks in threesomes, linked atomic shells to produce molecules, then sucked masses of these interlocks into the swirls we see as galaxies, stars, and human beings. Physicists are still debating whether attraction or repulsion will have the final word. But the fact is, repulsion and attraction are not battling to the death, but twining in continuous tango. The success of a society depends on the dance between its repulsers and attractors, its huddle and its squabble, its elements of competition and of cooperation. One of our most powerful attractors is an instinct often overlooked in treatments of human history. It's the principle of reciprocity. (06/30/03)
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 Overheard at a Whitehouse Prayer Meeting: ... Jerry Falwell: Mighty and Gracious God, Omnipotent and Omniscient Lord of All. We give Thee thanks that in this time of great national need, this time of homosexual terrorism, this time of abortionist evildoers, this time of narrow-minded destructive atheists, Thou hast ordained George Bush to implement Thy Holy Word contained in Thy infallibly, eternally true Bible. ... George Bush: Almighty Father, how grateful I am that you have opened my eyes to Thy revealed word. Be rest assured that we shall act as Thy faithful and loving servants to fulfill what Thou hast written. Thank you for delivering me from my early youthful indiscretions so that now I can devote myself with a clear head, a pure mind, and a saved soul to the work of destroying the evil ones who would seek to harm Thy blessed nation. ... Dick Cheney: Lord, Thou knowest, I am a man of few words. I command and my underlings obey. In a sense Lord, I am much like you. I pull the strings and my will is done. By the way, Mr. God, have you ever thought about incorporating heaven? I can cut you a great deal. Heaven would become a subsidiary of Halliburton, incorporated in Grand Cayman. I guarantee you 23.5% of the stock. Your R.O.I. will be better than your present rate. Let our minions work out the details. ... (06/30/03)
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 New York Times: Environment -- Newly released satellite images show that the Amazon rain forest is disappearing at an increasing rate, with about 10,000 square miles lost mainly to pasture land, soybean plantations and illegal logging in the 12-month period that ended last August. The government said on Thursday that the area represented a 40 percent rise in deforestation compared with a year earlier, when about 7,000 square miles of rain forest were lost. It was the fastest acceleration in the loss in the Amazon forest, the world's largest continuous area of rain forest, since the same 12-month period in 1994 and 1995, environmentalists said. "It is terribly serious," said Luis Meneses, coordinator of the World Wildlife Fund's Amazon project in Brasília. "Our fear is that the period for 2002-2003 could be even worse." The environmental group Greenpeace has warned that the rain forest could be wiped out in 80 years if deforestation rates are not slowed. Scientists say about a fifth of the Amazon has already vanished, helping to accelerate global warming. Brazil's new, left-leaning government, which has publicly embraced environmental issues, pledged to act immediately. The environment minister, Marina Silva, called the new data "highly worrying" and promised "emergency action," although no specific proposals were offered. Despite years of lobbying, the World Wildlife Fund says that of the six states with rain forest on their territory, only one, Acre, which contains less than 10 percent of the Amazon area, has put laws into effect to promote sustainable development through controlled logging and modern farming technology. (06/30/03)
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 New York Times: Environment -- Nothing says "lucky" to a Singaporean the way a luohan does. With its preposterously bulbous forehead and garish markings, the luohan, a 6- to 8-inch-long fish, has become so wildly popular among this city's ethnic Chinese majority that in some households there are more luohan than people. "We Chinese believe it will bring us luck," said David Lim, who keeps no fewer than 10 luohan at his apartment. Since its introduction to Singapore from Malaysia in 2001, the luohan, also known as the flowerhorn fish, has become so popular that its image is used to adorn packages during Lunar New Year celebrations. Shops dedicated to selling the fish, their food and their tanks have proliferated. And a brisk resale market for luohan has emerged, complete with fish burglars and black-market luohan, with top fish fetching nearly $40,000. (06/30/03)
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 BBC Science -- A key committee of the Japanese government has given its approval for a space mission to the planet Mercury. The mission, scheduled for launch in about seven years' time, will be a joint venture between the Japanese and European Space Agencies and will be the first to attempt a landing on the planet. Only one probe has so far visited Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system. Nasa sent the Mariner Ten probe in mid-1970s and received a series of tantalising photographs Mercury is a rocky planet and appears very dense but beyond that, little is known about it. Scientists believe it could hold the key to understanding how the solar system formed - hence the proposed Japanese-European mission. (06/30/03)
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 British Medical Journal -- Today's BMJ contains one of the boldest claims for a new intervention—"a greater impact on the prevention of disease in the Western world than any other known intervention."1 Is it a new magic bullet for cancer or a new gene therapy? No, it is a new strategy to deliver some of our most well known medicines. Wald and Law propose that a single pill containing aspirin, a statin, three blood pressure lowering agents in half dose, and folic acid is provided to people with vascular disease and those aged over 55 years. They synthesise an enormous amount of information (including over 750 trials with 400 000 participants) to estimate that the pill would reduce heart disease and risk of stroke by over 80%, while causing symptoms warranting withdrawal of the pill in one to two per 100 and fatal side effects in less than one in 10 000 users. If this were correct the benefits would substantially outweigh hazards in people with vascular disease (who have more than a one in five chance of a major event over five years without treatment) and many others at higher risk. ... The formulation which met our objectives was: a statin (for example, atorvastatin (daily dose 10 mg) or simvastatin (40 mg)); three blood pressure lowering drugs (for example, a thiazide, a  blocker, and an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor), each at half standard dose; folic acid (0.8 mg); and aspirin (75 mg). We estimate that the combination (which we call the Polypill) reduces IHD events by 88% (95% confidence interval 84% to 91%) and stroke by 80% (71% to 87%). One third of people taking this pill from age 55 would benefit, gaining on average about 11 years of life free from an IHD event or stroke. Summing the adverse effects of the components observed in randomised trials shows that the Polypill would cause symptoms in 8-15% of people (depending on the precise formulation). (06/29/03)
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 BBC Science -- The Taikong Corporation took DNA from a jellyfish and inserted it into a zebra fish to make it shine a yellow-green colour. GM animals are frequently used in labs and flocks of GM sheep make valuable proteins in their milk, but the "Night Pearl" zebra fish is the first gene-altered pet to go on sale to the public. For some, the animal will be a fascinating novelty; for others, it will raise fears of a trend for bio-engineered "Frankenstein pets". The Taikong Corporation reports strong interest in its creation from the UK, where the aquatic industry is worth millions. Taikong insists the GM fish, designated TK-1, is safe, sterile and that its additional fluorescent gene is harmless. The fish was unveiled in 2001, but it took another year and a half to develop a technique to render the animal sterile. It cannot cross-breed with natural fish. TK-1 was developed using the work of HJ Tsai of the National Taiwan University. Initially, Taikong plans to sell 30,000 glowing fish at US $17 each and then increase production to more than 100,000 in three months. (06/30/03)
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 CNN Health -- An estimated 900,000 Americans are HIV-positive, but almost one in four don't even know it, according to health officials. In an effort to cut those numbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling on the public to get tested Friday as part of National HIV Testing Day. To identify those who are HIV-positive, the CDC is advocating the use of a rapid HIV test, which the Food and Drug Administration approved last year. The procedure, which involves the pricking of a finger for a drop of blood, can deliver results in minutes. "It's critical to know your HIV status," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director. "If you're infected, you can get treatment, and that is absolutely life-saving." This test can provide answers in less than 30 minutes, while the patient is present. Many health officials abandoned a previous rapid test because they said it was difficult to use. Traditional lab tests took about a week, and patients didn't always come back to get the results. (06/30/03)
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5:35:52 AM 
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© TrustMark
2003
Timothy Wilken.
Last update:
7/1/2003; 5:51:13 AM.
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