Hegaion E

Jan 2, 2007

Media Campaigns

Broadly shared concern of all media in the world sometimes mobilizes the public opinion to a certain direction, pushing certain agenda ahead, while only few people are aware of the manipulation that occurs. The media campaigns may concern suffering of Arab people caused by Israel, alleged genocide of Muslims in hands of Serbian Christians, suffering of princess Diana

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No Need to Panic About Energy Need

Thermonuclear fusion will provide a nearly unlimited amount of energy for the world; ITER will be the first fusion experiment to produce net power by 2040 (www.iter.org).
Methane hydrates (methane/water clathrate) form massive deposits on the seafloor surrounding all continents and may hold more energy than all known reserves of oil, coal and natural gas worldwide (Sci. Am. October 2014, p. 71).
Shale oil can be environmentally safely extracted, and in the U.S. it can provide more energy than normal oil for decades (Sci. Am. November 2011, p. 62).
Known oil sources will provide more oil than predicted due to advanced technologies, increasing the predicted reserves by at least another century; however, the estimated reserves may still increase as they have been increasing throughout the history (Sci. Am. October 2009, p. 36).
Uranium reserves can provide world energy for at least 2,000 years (Vesmír 2008/11, p. 796).

Fragments from Science and Life

Male homosexuality is correlated with maternal immune responsivity to the Y-linked protein NLGN4Y. Mothers form an antibody against a protein important in male fetal brain development, neuroligin 4, located on sex chromosomes, the effect becomes increasingly likely with each male gestation, altering brain structures underlying sexual orientation in their later-born sons. One of the most reliable correlates of male homosexuality – older brothers – is thus explained (PNAS, December 2017). This is the first case of a clear correlation between the sexual orientation and a biochemical factor.
Placebo effect is significant also for operations. A British study has now showed that there was no difference between 100 patients getting a stent in their blocked artery and 100 patients getting a sham surgery (Lancet, November 2017; SciAm, February 2018). The real and fake surgeries included snaking a catheter through an artery in the groin to the blockage with or without a step of widening the narrowed vessel and keeping it open with wire mesh stent. This operation is widely popular, but now it turns out that dugs with lifestyle changes are preferable to the operation. In a meta-analysis of placebo effects in migraine prevention, sugar pills reduced headache frequency for 22% patients, acupuncture for 38% and sham surgery for 58%.
Humans can hold underwater for more than 12 minutes due to mammalian diving reflex, which is common to many vertebrates like dolphins and penguins (see deep diving). The reflex is triggered by cold water and results in drop in heart rate and blood redistribution towards vital organs by means of vasoconstriction; it can override a breathing reflex. This potential we acquired long ago in the evolution can be utilized by practicing, and probably can explain stories about children fallen into a cold well and surviving “a near drowning” for a long time under water.