Another Reason For Pregnant Women to Take Folic Acid!

                              A precious gift (doriana s/stock.xchng)

Folic acid is an essential vitamin that pregnant women should take to avoid the possibility of numerous birth defects, although since acid is not regulated, you should consult your doctor first to get a suggestion on high quality prenatal vitamins.


Researchers found that female rats who were given folic acid while pregnant and breast-feeding had offspring that were over 60% less likely to get colon cancer.


Awesome, give it up for folic acid!

Folic acid given to mother rats protects offspring from colon cancer

Is Bacteria Trying to Kill Us With Rain?

after a hailstorm in early spring (carterboy/stock.xchng)

Kind of a scary thought, that bacteria can control the weather.  I mean small bacteria actually having a big role in precipitation, causing it to rain, hail and snow; it gives you thoughts of a world domination plan set into motion by E.coli.

I really think this must freak out people who are germ-a-phobes.  Could you imagine, how much bacteria is in a normal rain storm or snow storm?

The article, Live bacteria can bring on rain, snow and hail, describes how bacteria, fungi, and other organic material in the atmosphere can cause a seeding effect, which could result in cloud formation and an eventual storm.

In hail, researchers, found an exceptionally large concentration of bacteria. 

Scary?  Actually I find it pretty cool that the storms around the world are essentially bacterial highways that connect distant points around the globe.

I wonder, in places where big storms are more common such as hurricanes in the Caribbean, is there also a higher level of bacteria?

So Are Santa Clause's Reindeer Tripping in Their Own Surrealistic World?

Snowy Reindeer (jede hoog/stock.xchng)

Check out the EurekAlert! press release Reindeer see a weird and wonderful world of ultraviolet light and find out the answer.

Unlike humans, in which UV rays damage our eyes, UV rays do not damage reindeer eyes, and reindeer are able to utilize UV light to actually see images.  Definitely a stark contrast from us.


I always wanted to see the world through gamma rays.  Not sure why, but it sounds cool.  Infrared would be cool too.

Kids MythBusters--Vote For them!

Check out the article from Knoxnews, Myth-busting students need votes and look at the video, of the Tesla Club Members.  If you are a fan of Mythbusters, you should enjoy this.

Vote for the video by Friday May 27th and give the kids a chance to get Mythbuster merchandise and the chance to come and see the Mythbusters in San Francisco.

Men! Take a Brisk Walk and Maybe Prostate Cancer Won't Catch You!

According to research from scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and the Harvard School of Public Health, men that were disgnosed with early stage prostate cancer, who also reguarly walked at a pace of 3 miles an hour for at least three hours a week, showed less aggressive cancer and less likelihood that of reoccurance.

It is always nice when new non-invasive do it yourself methods can improve the chances of a person to fight a disease.

The scientists, however, wanted to point out, that it is the briskness of the walk that is the most important aspect.  Simply walking nine miles a week is not enough to show a benefit.

Brisk walking slows progression of early stage prostate cancer.