Sunday, March 29, 2009

Study: Triathlons can pose deadly heart risks on Yahoo! Health

It would be interesting to see if the order was switched...run, swim, bike. Or even bike, swim, run.

Study: Triathlons can pose deadly heart risks on Yahoo! Health:
"Statistics show that for every million participants in these 26.2-mile running races, there will be four to eight deaths.

The rate for triathletes is far higher — 15 out of a million, the new study shows. Almost all occurred during the swim portion, usually the first event.

'Anyone that jumps into freezing cold water knows the stress on the heart,' said Dr. Lori Mosca, preventive cardiology chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and an American Heart Association spokeswoman. She had no role in the study but has competed in more than 100 triathlons, including the granddaddy — Hawaii's Ironman competition....

'It's quite frightening — there are hundreds of people thrashing around. You have to keep going or you're going to drown,' Mosca said."

Leaving computers on overnight = $2.8 billion a year : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

Leaving computers on overnight = $2.8 billion a year : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech:
"...all the power wasted while computers are sitting idle overnight adds up, and one study has finally tried to measure it. The tally: An estimated $2.8 billion wasted on excess energy costs each year in the U.S. alone.

On a CO2 basis, that's 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, about the amount produced by 4 million cars on the road."
for perspective:
"If you run a company with 1,000 PCs left on overnight, you can save about $28,000 a year if they are turned off after hours."

Airborne Dust Reduction Plays Larger Than Expected Role In Determining Atlantic Temperature

Airborne Dust Reduction Plays Larger Than Expected Role In Determining Atlantic Temperature:
"The result suggests that only about 30 percent of the observed Atlantic temperature increases are due to other factors, such as a warming climate. While not discounting the importance of global warming, Evan says this adjustment brings the estimate of global warming impact on Atlantic more into line with the smaller degree of ocean warming seen elsewhere, such as the Pacific."

Friday, March 27, 2009

Social Skills, Extracurricular Activities In High School Pay Off Later In Life

Social Skills, Extracurricular Activities In High School Pay Off Later In Life:
"According to a University of Illinois professor who studies the sociology of education, high school sophomores who were rated by their teachers as having good social skills and work habits, and who participated in extracurricular activities in high school, made more money and completed higher levels of education 10 years later than their classmates who had similar standardized test scores but were less socially adroit and participated in fewer extracurricular activities....Academic achievement is part of the story, but it’s not the whole story. You’ve got to have the social skills and work habits to back those achievements up.”"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Scholars and Rogues » Does the Wilderness need a Walmart?

Written by Chris Mackowski of SBU's JMC school.

Scholars and Rogues » Does the Wilderness need a Walmart?:
"Today, battle still rages in the Wilderness, but this time, the federal government doesn’t face an army of Confederates—it faces the largest corporation in the world. The foot soldiers, if they arrive, will wear blue smocks adorned with yellow smiley faces and a pledge for low prices every day.

I say “if” because there’s still a chance Walmart won’t come to the Wilderness. If the retail giant stays away, it’ll be one of the biggest upsets in preservation history.

“I still think we can pull this one out,” says Jim Campi, policy and communications director of the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), one of the groups leading the opposition to the planned Wal-Mart project."

Monday, March 23, 2009

Is Atlas Shrugging? — Atlas Shrugged

Is Atlas Shrugging? — Atlas Shrugged:
"In this lecture, delivered at Ford Hall Forum in Boston, Miss Rand discusses the relationship of the events presented in Atlas Shrugged to the actual events occurring in the world—and addresses the question: Is Atlas Shrugged a prophetic novel or a historical one?"


Listen to the lecture...while I like much of it, it is funny how even then they were complaining that students/young graduates etc were not as good as in the past. This supposed "brain drain" has been talked about since ancient Greece. Not sure why...Ideas? Best guess is everyone thinks that their generation is the best/smartest/hardest working.

South Africa bars Dalai Lama from peace conference

South Africa bars Dalai Lama from peace conference:
"South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from a peace conference in Johannesburg this week, hoping to keep good relations with trading partner China but instead generating a storm of criticism....

because the Dalai Lama isn't being allowed to attend, it is now being boycotted by fellow Nobel Peace prize winners retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president F.W. de Klerk as well as members of the Nobel Committee.....

..Tutu was quoted Sunday as calling the barring "disgraceful.""

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Traffic Triples Heart Attack Risk

Traffic Triples Heart Attack Risk:
"Whether you drive, take the bus, or bicycle, being in heavy traffic triples your risk of heart attack within one hour.

Air pollution from car fumes is the likely culprit, suggest Annette Peters, PhD, and colleagues at the Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center, Munich, Germany.....Analysis of the data showed that these heart-attack-vulnerable people were 3.2 times more likely to suffer a heart attack if they'd been in heavy traffic in the previous hour.

'One potential factor could be the exhaust and air pollution coming from other cars,' Peters says in a news release. 'But we can't exclude the synergy between stress and air pollution that could tip the balance.'"

Saturday, March 14, 2009

'The Unexpected Outcome' Is A Key To Human Learning

'The Unexpected Outcome' Is A Key To Human Learning:
"Using a computer-based card game and microelectrodes to observe neuronal activity of the brain, the Penn study, published March 13 in the journal Science, suggests that neurons in the human substantia nigra, or SN, play a central role in reward-based learning, modulating learning based on the discrepancy between the expected and the realized outcome....Similar to an economic theory, where efficient markets respond to unexpected events and expected events have no effect, we found that the dopaminergic system of the human brain seems to be wired in a similar rational manner -- tuned to learn whenever anything unexpected happens but not when things are predictable," said Michael J. Kahana, senior author and professor of psychology at Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences."

Physical Fitness Improves Spatial Memory, Increases Size Of Brain Structure

Physical Fitness Improves Spatial Memory, Increases Size Of Brain Structure:
"The study, in the journal Hippocampus.....The hippocampus also is a key player in spatial navigation and other types of relational memory.....Earlier studies found that exercise increases hippocampus size and spatial memory in rodents, but the new study is the first to demonstrate that exercise can affect hippocampus size and memory in humans."

Building Strong Bones: Running May Provide More Benefits Than Resistance Training, Study Finds

Building Strong Bones: Running May Provide More Benefits Than Resistance Training, Study Finds:
"University of Missouri researchers have found that high-impact activities, such as running, might have a greater positive effect on BMD than resistance training.

“The results of the study confirm that both resistance training and high-impact endurance activities increase bone mineral density. However, high-impact sports, like running, appear to have a greater beneficial effect,” said Pam Hinton, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences."

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Collector: Lincoln photo uncovered in Grant album

Collector: Lincoln photo uncovered in Grant album:
"If it is indeed Lincoln, it would be the only known photo of the 16th president in front of the executive mansion and a rare find, as only about 130 photos of him are known to exist. A copy of the image was provided to The Associated Press.

Grant's 38-year-old great-great-grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI, had seen the picture before, but didn't examine it closely until late January. A tall figure in the distance caught his eye, although the man's facial features are obscured."

Monday, March 09, 2009

Paul Harvey - 1918 - 2009

Paul Harvey - 1918 - 2009
Last week I was deeply saddened to here of Paul's death. A true icon.