Some New Shirts at Uncomplicated Scientist

Here are a couple designs for T-shirts and other gifts at my cafrepress shop for the uncomplicated scientist.

Hope you enjoy.

Japanese Radiation has Arrived in Seattle! My God!

It's true!

My God!  Oh, the humanity!

Oh did I mention that the radiation levels in Seattle from the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan that are very low, much lower than would do any human harm?

So no worries, unless you are running sensitive physics experiments, in which tiny fluctuations of radiation might skew your results, then you might be screwed.

But beyond that I think we're cool.

Physicists detect low-level radioactivity from Japan arriving in Seattle

Jennifer Aniston to co-direct a new breast cancer documentary

You can read about it in the examiner.com article

Jennifer Aniston is Directing Project 5, A Documentary about Breast Cancer

If you get a transplanted organ, don't be a douchebag and start smoking

For your sake quit smoking if its a habit and don't start if it's not.  Here's another reason why you shouldn't start smoking especially if you have a transplanted organ. 

Received a Donated Organ? Then for God's Sake Don't Smoke!

Sheryl Crow to autograph her cookbook in San Francisco this week

You can read the examiner.com article Sheryl Crow to Sign Cookbook at San Francisco Ferry Building on March 31st 2011.

Restriction of Cancer Medication by Medicaid? Uncool!

You can read my examiner.com article here.

Increased Added Sugar Correlates with Increased Weight Gain?! Who would of thunk it?!

A new novel thought, a great way not to get fat and lose weight!  Cut down on sugar.  Or I guess we can try exercise too :)

But that's no fun!


Not so sweet: Increased added sugars intake parallels trends in weight gain

Damn! I Look Good After Sex. Do you?

A funny little sociological study took aim at body image in men and women after their first full sexual encounter with another person.  Interesting, it was found that during college, women became more satisified with their looks from their freshman to their senior years in college, if they never had sex.  The opposite is true with men, who became less satisfied with their appearance as they go through college, without having sex.

However, if women have sex, their self-body image plummets, while men after they have sex, their body image rises.  Interesting study, not too surprising, but interesting nonetheless. 

First sex linked to better body image in men, not women

In Regards to Libya, Obama is Strictly in His Rights to Order Military Action

Not your normal science rant, but a political one:

I don't care if you hate Obama, hate war, or hate bunnies.

What I do hate is that people in this country no absolutely nothing about this country.  I pretty much know absolutely nothing about the workings of this country, but even I knew that Obama was strictly in his rights to fire upon Libya.

He was acting under the War Powers Act.  Look it up.  This is sixth grade material. 

He has approached congress according to this act and he hasn't been the only one to use this act either.

You can read it here

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga on Libyan attacks: War Powers Act on President Obama's side, but he should consult Congressional leaders

Breaking: Obama Sends Libya War Powers Act Notice To Congress

 

All congress is doing is trying to make controversy. And I guess their feelings were hurt because they weren't consulted.  Like congress has made any wise decisions lately.  Seriously quit crying, and actually speak the truth.  Impeachment shouldn't be taken lightly with any president, and to speak of it based on lies and hurt feelings?

Congress, grow up!

But then again, Obama should grow up too.  Not consulting the other branches of the government is no way to run a country.

So before you get angry about something CNN or Foxnews or some random person on the street, get your facts straight.

I feel we as people can hate the president for many reasons, but let's at least keep them accurate.

Low Cancer Causing Compounds in Processed Meat Products! Awesome

Well there goes one theory why people often tell me I should go vegetarian :)

You can read the press release here, Good news for meat lovers: Most ready-to-eat meat products contain very few cancerous compounds.

Republican's Don't Read This! I don't Want to Give You Any Ideas!

But according to EurekAlert Press Release, garbage waste from our ancient ancestors may have helped in the growth and formation of the Everglades tree islands.

Does this mean our own garbage mounds might one day give rise to a new awesome ecosystem?  Should we not worry about environmentalism then?

Somehow I doubt our ancestors were drinking out of plastic bottles and threw out nearly as much garbage as we do now.

So perhaps environmentalism is still the way to go.

Ancient trash heaps gave rise to Everglades tree islands

Is your Lover a Cheater? Listen to their Voice.

Betty Boop has a squeaky voice.  Does that make her a cheater?

The level of a lover's voice; lower for men and higher for women, can be a strong indicator for the propensity of cheating.  At least that is what people seem to believe.

The EurekAlert! Press Release "Can you predict your mate will cheat by their voice," describes a test with male and female particapants.  They were asked to grade several male and female voices as possible cheaters or not.  Researchers found that participants held a strong belief that females with high pitched voices were likely to stray from a relationship while men with lower voices were likely to cheat.

The reasoning for these assumptions were not entirely clear.  Biological factors such as hormones could play a role.  For example a higher voice is usually a sign of high levels of estrogen in women and lower voices are a sign of higher testosterone.  It can also be likely that these assumptions are socially-based as well.  Years and years of television shows that portray really high pitched women as sex-crazed bimbos could color anyone's judgement about sex. 

The same could be said about a deep voice.  A deep gruff male is always portrayed as a manly man. 

So the question should be what came first the chicken or the egg?

It would also be interesting to repeat these experiments in different cultures.  Will the results differ based on different cultural influences?

The uncomplicated scientist: Let's help our friends in Japan during this terrib...

The uncomplicated scientist: Let's help our friends in Japan during this terrib...: "Check out my Examiner.com article Don't Hoard Potassium Iodide. Radiation from Japan will not Likely Harm US."

Let's help our friends in Japan during this terrible, not dwell on our own silly worries radiation worries

Check out my Examiner.com article Don't Hoard Potassium Iodide.  Radiation from Japan will not Likely Harm US.

New Blood Analysis Device may Revolutionize Disease Diagnosis in Disaster Torn Areas like Japan

A new device has been developed by UC Berkeley and other researchers around the world, which may revolutionize the speed and the price of disease diagnosis, which could prove incredible for doctors in the field in third world countries, in war-torn countries, as well as in countries that have survived a terrible disaster like Japan or Haiti.

You can read more about this cool device in my Examiner.com article New Diagnostic Blood Analysis Tool may Test for Cancer and Disease in Minutes.

Getting Older? Life Dragging you Down? Try Gardening!

Yesterday I blogged about the introduction of Tai-Chi into the lives of elderly can significantly reduce depression.  Now a new study suggests gardening can have similar effects. 

Now if we can get people over the age of 65 to become Tai-chi gardeners, they would be the happiest people in the world.  Just a thought.

You can read about it in the EurekAlert press release Want more zest for life? Consider gardening!

Old? Depressed? We got Something for that...Tai-chi

According to the EurekAlert! press release, Tai chi beats back depression in the elderly, study shows, over 2 million people in the US over the age of 65 suffer from depression.  1 million of these elderly are also living in nursing homes.  Suicide is not uncommon within this age group and white men over the age of 85 have the highest suicide rate of anyone; young or old.  The suicide rate is nearly six times the national average.


UCLA researchers turned to tai chi, an ancient chinese low-impact meditative martial art.  When these exercises were combined with normal depression treatments, a greater improved diagnosis of depression symptoms was observed.  But not only was the drepression better, but the elderly also experienced better qaulity of life, improved memory and higher energy levels.


If it helps, I say let's get moving.

Cross Country Summer Bike Race to Fight Cancer.

You can check out the examiner.com article A Cross Country Cancer Bike Race, Starts in Baltimore and Ends in San Francisco.

Sounds, like fun!

Looking for Aggressive Lung Cancer in Non-smokers? There’s a Test for That.

According to the EurekAlert! press release, Quick, easy test identifies aggressive type of lung cancer in never-smokers, approximately 8-12% of non-smoking patients that are experiencing lung cancer have cells that are expressing the ALK  or anaplastic lymphoma kinase oncogene.  Patients that have lung cancer with a higher expression of ALK, have twice the risk of disease progression and reoccurance.

Scientists have developed a quick and easy test using florescence in situ-hybridization (FISH), a technique that uses florescent probes to bind specific DNA sequences in individual cells.  By combining FISH with immunohistochemistry (IHC), a technique that utilizes antibodies to measure protein levels in tissue, inexpensive, cheap and rapid testing for ALK.  

Experiments have already shown great promise for the combination of FISH and IHC, in the detection of aggressive lung cancer, however, more testing is necessary before these measuring techniques will be fully utilized as an acceptable diagnostic technique. 

Virtual Clinical Trial May Hold Key to Breast Cancer Prevention

Check out my examiner.com article A Virtual Clinical Trial shows Success for Breast Cancer Prevention.

Hope you enjoy.

There was One Time at Band Camp...

So the EurekAlert! press release Is your child's hobby making him sick?, describes another reason why your kids shouldn't be in band.  This is because of poor hygiene and gross, disgusting instruments that can be contaminated with fungus and bacteria.  This could lead to mild to minor infections.  It may actually lead to or at the very least exacerbate a child's asthma.

Come on kids, clean your instruments before and after you use them, especially if they are loner instruments.  No one want's to see you get sick. 

Think your Children are Safe? Read this!

This is a pretty scary study that came out of Australia.  Researchers found that 78% of children between the ages of 5-15 completely slept through a 30 second fire alarm drill.  The younger the kid, the more likely they would sleep through an alarm. 

Yeah, that's not good, unless of course we want our kids well-done. 

It is also not surprising, when I was that age, I remember sleeping through everything.  I even slept through a reasonably strong earthquake once. 

So, not only should new alarms be invented that will also wake up kids...I mean what grabs kid's attention?  A loud monster growl from the closet?  Sponge-Bob Square Pants?  A taped sound of their parents yelling at them?

But I digress, not only should new alarms be invented, but parents must put this idea in the back of their mind.  Their kids may not wake up, so run out and get them and pull them out of the hose before it is too late.

Less than one-third of children ages 5-15 will wake up to home smoke alarms

After this Terrible Earthquake We Must Pray and Send Our Love and Support to Japan,

A terrible 8.9 Earthquake hit Japan at about 11 pm PST. 

This is a terrible event.

Please find ways to send support and I shall do the same.

We must stop our petty differences and start caring for each other.

Remember, I may not know you, but I love you.

Does Heat Equate to Revenge? At Least in Regards to Baseball.

Apparently, Yes.

If playing in 90 degree weather or hotter, baseball pitchers are far more likely to hit a batter, if earlier in the game on their teammates got hurt.

One way to look at it is that Heat = Jerk.

Another way to look at it is Heat = Entertaining game.

Pitchers bean more batters in the heat of the summer.

Think Lowly of Yourself? Then You’re More Likely to Think Lowly of Others

According to the EurekAlert! press release “People with low self-esteem show more signs of prejudice,” from the Association for Psychological Sciences, people that feel badly about themselves are more likely to exhibit negative feeling toward people or groups of people that are different from themselves. 

In this research, scientists gave participants a 12 question test that required a creative thought process to reach an accurate answer for each of the questions.  None of the participants did well on the test.  By telling half of the participants their scores, which were rarely over two-points, in relationship to a “made-up” test average of nine, the researchers were able to experimentally induce a sense of lower self-esteem in these participants.  By relating their scores to the false test average, these participants began to feel bad about themselves. 

The other half of the participants were simply told that their tests would be graded later, and thus without an indication how badly or well they performed on the test, their self-esteem should not be affected.  

All participants were then required to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT).  The IAT is a test that was created to specifically measure the reflexive or automatic response of people toward random words and images.  The IAT can quantitatively measure prejudice in an individual, at least inb regards to this specific test.  The results showed that participants that felt bad about themselves, after realizing they did terribly on the initial test, exhibited increased amounts of prejudice.

So does this mean, if we are to end racism, homophobism, and religionism, then perhaps we should just send every pathetic ignorant jerk to a self-help seminar?  I say give it a shot.

The truth comes out about the T-Rex. My childhood dreams are shattered

Here’s a quickie for you…

This cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex is on display in UC Berkeley's Valley Life Sciences Building. The original fossil skeleton from Montana's Hell Creek Formation is in the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.  Picture taken by Randy Irmis

Apparently, the T-Rex wasn’t as bad-ass as previously thought.  It was not a top predator but more like an annoying scavenger like a hyena.  Haven’t you seen the Lion King?  There you can see how annoying hyenas can be.  They kind of act like jerks too.  

T-Rex = hyena?  There went my childhood. 

You can read the whole story in the EurekAlert! Press Release T. rex more hyena than lion.

Another Reason to Buy your Girl a Diamond. Or to buy your Boy a diamond

Thank you for checking out my article.  It has been moved to my new website Uncomplicated Scientist

Jillian Costello, Lost her Life to Lung Cancer, but her Legacy Lives on

Whoever said the younger generation does nothing?  Check out my new examiner.com article here.  It is about a new army that has waged war on lung cancer.

Growth Hormone Connected to Fatty Liver and Liver Cancer?

You can check out the article, Growth Hormone Connected to Fatty Liver and Liver Cancer, at Examiner.com.

Don’t tease the dinosaurs. Don’t start calling them names. It’s rude!

This just made made me laugh. 

It definitely shows that scientists can and do have a sense of humor. 

Recently a new dinosaur, Brontomerus Mcintoshi, has been discovered in Utah and has been nicknamed “Thunder Thighs.”  The dinosaur did not achieve this nickname due to gross obesity, although dinosaur obesity is nothing to laugh at, but it was labeled “thunder thighs” due to its exceptionally powerful thigh muscles and likely largest legs of any known dinosaur. 

I’m just waiting until we get the discovery of a dinosaur call “Four eyes”

You can read more about it at the EurekAlert! press release New 'thunder-thighs' dinosaur discovered.

Older than 75? Maybe you should start drinking

According to a study involving over 3000 German elderly participants, dementia was inversely proportional with moderate alcohol consumption in people 75 or older. 

Who says there is nothing to look forward to, when you get older?

Check out the EurekAlert! press release Alcohol consumption after age 75 associated with lower risk of developing dementia.

A Protein that Prevents Cancer Development?

Check out my article on Examiner.com A Protein that Prevents Cancer Development?  Maybe.

Hope you enjoy.