Feb 28, 2013 - By wearing different colored hats, over 2,600 employees at Genentech (in San Francisco) celebrated the 60th anniversary of the discovery of DNA, which (according to some) occurred in England on Feb 28, 1953, but knowledge of a hypercomplex macromolecule in the nucleus dates back to the 1800s, and perhaps even earlier.
(via bunnybundy)
V-Tent is an eco-friendly parking system designed by Hakan Gürsu that protects and charges vehicles. It is a collapsible canopy that can be used in both personal and public parking areas. Aiming to create a sustainable system for urban environment, V-Tent provides a safe space to store and charge electric cars, either at home or in the city. Functioning as a canopy that prevents weather damage, the design physically protects vehicles from environmental conditions.
(via phroyd)
This asteroid has 1 in 45,000 odds of hitting earth in 2036 and is appropriately named after an evil god in ancient Egyptian religion, the deification of darkness and chaos… Apophis.
Unlike in summer blockbusters we will not want to blow this asteroid into little bits to avoid this go around because it will be back, and next time, if we blow it up, it’ll have lots of little sizable bits to hit us with rather than a big chunk of space.
Science is pretty cool.
It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too: I spoke out about sexual harassment among atheists and scientists. Then came the rape threats.
“When I first started finding a large audience on my skepticism website, on my podcast, and on YouTube, I wasn’t terribly bothered by the occasional rape threat, sexist slur, or insult about my looks. There was something downright amusing about a creationist calling me a cunt while praying that I’d find the love of Jesus. The threats were coming from outside of my community. Outside of my safe space. It wasn’t until I started talking about feminism to skeptics that I realized I didn’t have a safe space.”
(via starmichael)
Jason’s always raging against psudo science and people who believe or rely on it. LOL!
(Source: sebastianpines, via starmichael)
It might be time to get Gattaca-level paranoid about leaving your DNA all over the place, as geneticists are getting closer to being able to determine what your face looks like simply by analyzing your genetic code.
Neil deGrasse Tyson on how unrepresentative our representatives are
Wind turbines can kill bats without impact, they die because their lungs explode from a drop in air pressure. - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14593-wind-turbines-make-bat-lungs-explode.html?feedId=online-news_rss20—
Dr. Mark Craddock an Australian doctor and a member of the Exclusive Brethren Christian Fellowship sect has been banned from practicing medicine after he prescribed an 18-year-old man who was also part of the sect with a chemical castration drug after he came out as gay.
In a letter to the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, the unnamed man, who is now 24, said that when he came out as gay, a church leader told him ”there’s medication you can go on.” He continued, ”He recommended that I speak to Dr Craddock on the matter with a view to my being placed on medication to help me with my ‘problem’,”
The teen went to visit the 75-year-old doctor who prescribed him a “gay cure”: the anti-androgen therapy cyproterone acetate, brand name Cyprostat, along with five repeats, according to ninemsn. He said the doctor did not refer him to a psychologist or discuss the drug’s side effects.
Cyprostat is a form of hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer. Hormone suppressants have been used to “chemically castrate” sex offenders, the Guardian notes.
The Medical Council of the Australian State of New South Wales determined, “Dr Craddock failed to adequately assess the patient and failed to provide appropriate medical management of the patients therapeutic needs,” in an excerpt by Gay Star News. The committee found that Craddock was guilty of “unsatisfactory processional conduct. He was severely reprimanded and practice restrictions were placed on his registration.”
There are more than 40,000 Exclusive Brethren around the world. They “believe strongly in the traditional family unit. Marriage is held in the greatest [honor], as one of God’s original thoughts of blessing for the human race.”
Other doctors have taken dangerous steps in an attempt to “cure” homosexuality. In 2010, Dr. Maria New of New York City’s Mount Sinai was reportedly experimenting with injecting fetuses with steroids to potentially make girls “more feminine” and reduce odds they turn out gay, the Oregonian reported at the time.
The American Psychiatric Association has condemned the “treatment” of homosexuality. So has GLAAD saying, “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.”
Activists have championed against “gay cures” in the United Kingdom, which includes Conversion Therapy. Last year, Apple pulled Exodus International’s “Gay Cure” app from its collection.
nrdc:
What Trees Mean to Communities
In a recent blog post, NRDC’s director of sustainable communities, Kaid Benfield shares a few impressive facts about trees, via the National Arbor Day Foundation and the US Forest Service:
- The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.
- If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3 percent less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12 percent.
- One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen.
- A number of studies have shown that real estate agents and home buyers assign between 10 and 23 percent of the value of a residence to the trees on the property.
- Surgery patients who could see a grove of deciduous trees recuperated faster and required less pain-killing medicine than matched patients who viewed only brick walls.
- In one study, stands of trees reduced particulates by 9 to 13 percent, and the amount of dust reaching the ground was 27 to 42 percent less under a stand of trees than in an open area.
Photo: Kaid Benfield
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
Scientist in Nevada are creating sheep that are part human with the main purpose “to produce a source of organs, especially livers, to transplant someday into humans.” - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7631877/ns/nbcnightlynews/t/need-liver-raise-sheep/#.T_aalnDaHbI
Mark Rober from NASA makes some awesome videos. This science experiment showed that six percent of the drivers will swerve out of their lane to hit animals.
British biotechnology company Oxitec Ltd is trying to convince the locals in Key West to use genetically modified mosquitoes in their fight to eradicate dengue fever in the area. What could possibly go wrong?
The nutrient-rich plant grows so rapidly it can double its mass in a few days. Possible uses include salad, soup, and even burgers. In addition to food, azolla may have uses in sustainable agriculture and biofuel. Currently its being looked at for space travel.
Swedish artist Erik Sjödin
“Though Azolla is nutrient rich, it is a fern that lives in symbiosis with a cyanobacteria and it is still unclear how healthy it for humans to eat it. It could be really healthy but it could also not be. Azolla is commonly used as animal fodder but no studies have been done on humans.”
[It] “has a crisp texture, smells a bit like moss and has a slightly tart taste, that is somehow earthy and reminiscent of forest.”
If you want to try azolla for yourself, check garden centers and aquatic stores but “be careful where you plant it and donʼt let it loose in the wild,” Sjödin cautions. The USDA lists azolla as weedy or invasive in many states.
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