Monday, September 04, 2006

When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's A'Monday!

Obviously, the Only Answer is That We All Wear Burqas From Now On.

A research team led by Kerry M. Hanson, a senior research scientist in the Department of Chemistry at UC Riverside, reports that unless people out in the sun apply sunscreen often, the sunscreen itself can become harmful to the skin. The researchers report that three UV filters, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and widely used in sunscreens, generate "reactive oxygen species" in skin when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, damaging skin cells.

Sunscreens can damage skin, researchers find (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Good. Keep the Blasted FBI Out of My Conversations.

A joint collaboration between Northwestern University and BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., has led to the first demonstration of a truly quantum cryptographic data network. By integrating quantum noise protected data encryption with Quantum Key Distribution, the researchers have developed a complete data communication system with extraordinary resilience to eavesdropping. The method makes use of the inherent and irreducible quantum noise in laser light to enhance the security of the system.

First quantum cryptographic data network demonstrated (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Great! All We Have To Do Is Bring a Freshly Washed Car to Mars! It will start Raining Immediately.

Planetary scientists have discovered the highest clouds above any planetary surface. They found them above Mars using the SPICAM instrument on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. The results are a new piece in the puzzle of how the Martian atmosphere works.

Rare high-altitude clouds found on Mars (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Well, I Guess Descartes Was Wrong.

A new study at the Université de Montréal has concluded that there is no single God spot in the brain. In other words, mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions and systems normally implicated in a variety of functions (self-consciousness, emotion, body representation). The study published in the current issue of Neuroscience Letters was conducted by Dr. Mario Beauregard from the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal and his student Vincent Paquette.

Brain scan of nuns finds no single 'God spot' in the brain, Université de Montréal study finds (Via Eurekalert.org)
No 'God Spot' in the Human Brain (Via LiveScience.com)

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The Rich Are Getting Richer and, Well, You Know the Rest.

Since 2000, Americans have been getting poorer, and national rates of severe poverty have climbed sharply, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers reported that the growth in the poverty rate is due largely to a rise in severe poverty and that "moderate" poverty has grown little.

Increase in severe poverty in the US has serious implications for public health (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Wow. I Didn't Even Know It Was a Mystery.

A NASA-sponsored study shows that by using a new technique, scientists can determine what limits the growth of ocean algae, or phytoplankton, and how this affects Earth's climate.

NASA study solves ocean plant mystery (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Why Is It Almost Everything About 9/11 Seems to be Exaggerated or a Lie?

Almost five years ago, when two planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, we were told that our lives had changed forever -- but, as it turns out, not so much, says a professor at the University of Alberta.

9/11 not a signpost in most North Americans' lives, study shows (Via Eurekalert.org)

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The Number of Urban Myths About Kidney Stones is Hilarious. This Juice, That Food. I Bet They're All Wrong and Peanut Butter Is Best.

A daily glass of orange juice can help prevent the recurrence of kidney stones better than other citrus fruit juices such as lemonade, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered.

Orange juice is better than lemonade at keeping kidney stones away (Via UTSouthwestern.edu)
And in related news...
Juices may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Star Go Boom.

Earlier this year, astronomers witnessed for the first time the final death throes of an aged and collapsing star as it spewed high-energy light beams into space before exploding as a supernova.

Strange Exploding Star Unlocks Supernova Secrets (Via Space.com)

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Why Is This Taking So Long?

Northern Iowa could have one of the nation's largest wind farms by 2008. Iowa Winds LLC wants to build a 200- to 300-megawatt farm covering about 40,000 acres in Franklin County.

40,000-Acre Wind Farm Proposed for Iowa (Via LiveScience.com)

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No Shit Sherlock. I Could Tell You This From Ground Observations. We Just Go From 85 Degrees To Snow In a Week.

The lines between seasons are blurring and summer is getting longer in North America, a new study indicates.

Study: Summer is Getting Longer (Via LiveScience.com)

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I'm Glad My Mom Took Vitamins.

Children whose mothers had a low intake of vitamin E during pregnancy are more likely to develop wheezing and asthma by age five.

Low vitamin E intake during pregnancy can lead to childhood asthma (Via Eurekalert.org)

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More About How Much Our Schools Suck.

A study by Cornell University's John Cawley finds that increasing the amount of time spent in physical education classes does not result in a corresponding amount of time in additional exercise.

More time in gym class doesn't mean more exercise, study finds (Via Eurekalert.org)

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Damnit! Why Didn't I Think Of That?!

To make education more accessible, a professor in the University of Georgia Terry College of Business is spearheading an effort to produce free online textbooks using a modified version of the Wiki software that powers the Web site Wikipedia.

Global Text Project aims to create free, Wiki-based textbooks for developing nations (Via Eurekalert.org)

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