Stories tagged Human Organism
Nicolas "Sly dog" Copernicus: What's he thinking about? What's he looking at? The stars? Young research assistants? His future as a cyborg?
Courtesy Regional Museum of TurunLost for hundreds of years, the final resting place and remains of the father of modern astronomy, Nicolas Copernicus, have been found in the Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland.
Copernicus was born in 1473 in Torun, Poland, and he was the first European to suggest that the Earth rotated on its own axis once a day, and revolved around the sun once a year. Followers of the Ptolemaic theory, which had the universe revolving around the Earth, were all, “Say what?!” And some of them were even, like, “Oh no you di’n’t” and snapped in Z-formation at him. Copernicus was all “Believe it, y’all.”
But then Master C died in 1543, and seventy-three years later a pope condemned his work as contrary to scripture, and a lot of people were all “Copernicus who?” And we all forgot exactly where he was buried.
The Bishop of Frombork, however, had the notion that DJ N.C. Astronomy might be hiding out in the tombs beneath the cathedral. A few years ago, archaeologists found a body that more or less matched Copernicus’ description (male, about 70 years old, dead), but it was only recently that geneticists were actually able to confirm the identification of the remains—DNA taken from the skeleton matched DNA taken from two strands of hair found in a book known to have belonged to Copernicus.
Debate on the issue has now centered on best way to resurrect Copernicus. German researchers, for the most part, are strongly in favor of the zombie method, while their polish counterparts argue that the strength and processing power of a cyborg frame would better suit the crumbly astronomer. French scientists are dead set on cloning a younger, sexier body for Master C. The Bishop of Frombork, meanwhile, just wants to put something nice together for the tomb.
Any thoughts?
UPDATE 11/21—I just came across this article this morning. It's mostly the same information that was in the other article I linked to, but there's a cool image of the facial reconstruction from Copernicus' skull. The final image really does look like Copernicus as an old man.
Tags : Here in the future, we drink our own pee
in Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Scientific Enterprise, Flow of Matter and Energy, and Human Organism
Woman contemplates a future of urine drinking: As she sips her apple juice.
Courtesy vcalzoneHey, hey, don’t get too excited, Buzzketeers. We’ve been drinking our own pee for a long time. Way back in the past, we drank it for ceremonial purposes. And back in the present we drank it all the time! We drank it to stay alive, we drank it to be on TV (we loved TV back then, didn’t we?), and sometimes we drank it just because we were into that sort of thing.
But here in the future, we’ve really perfected drinking pee. And not just in the Kevin Costner/Waterworld way—that method requires gravity and science fiction, and we’ve figured out how to do it without gravity, with science.
The obvious application here is astronauts. As intriguing as zero gravity and space travel might sound initially, the fact remains that astronauts are trapped in a relatively tiny capsule for great lengths of time with little to occupy their time beyond telling dirty jokes and drinking their own urine. Unfortunately, there are only so many dirty jokes (although mixing and matching punch lines can extend things), and, as wikipedia’s entry on urophagia reminds us, you can only drink your own wiz so many times before problems arise. (Although, as I understand it, the problem with repeatedly drinking pee isn’t that you end up drinking super-pee, but that you get dehydrated, and your body has to reabsorb the toxins from the urine.)
With this new development in urophage tech, however, it looks like astronauts will be able to while away mission hours drinking pee to their hearts’ content.
Now, it should at least be mentioned that the aim of technology here is to turn the pee into something called “water,” and to then drink it. But the principle remains the same. Existing urine-recycling systems rely on gravity, but, again, that’s not an option for astronauts. The new system, soon to be installed on the International Space Station, will take urine, along with water from hand washing, tooth brushing, showering, and space suit sweat, and extract free gas and solid materials from the fluid, before removing remaining contaminants with “a high-temperature chemical reaction.” The result, according to one astronaut, can be “purer than what you drink here on Earth.”
That, ma’am, sounds like a challenge.
Potential efforts to defeat the system through dietary or medical methods aside, the water reclamation process makes a lot of sense. Previously, urine was vented into space, and more water needed to be delivered to the space station. This process should cut about 15,000 pounds from the amount of water and consumables that need to be brought to the station each year, and with the cost of shipping each pint of fresh water into space hovering around $10,000, the savings are nothing to sneeze at. (Considering that “a pint’s a pound the world around,” the system should save something like $150,000,000 a year, if the cost is actually as simple as those figures.)
And no doubt it’ll keep the astronauts happy.
This isn't me: It's some other handsome devil.
Courtesy Max SparberIt’s true! And these facial scars aren’t from chicken pox or acne, no sir. Do you need me to provide a description of each scar and what it’s from? No, it’s no problem at all! Really. Here:
The parallel lines on my left cheek and jaw line: I call them “The Empire Builder” and they’re from the time a tiger bit me in the face. The tiger and I were wrestling, and things got serious when the beast realized that it was losing.
The two small circles on my right cheek: These are from getting shot by the vice-president. Which vice-president? Dan Quayle. He shot me twice in the mouf with a handgun. We were wresting, and things got serious… It was only a .22, though, so I don’t hold it against him. The man has enough problems.
The cheese-grater chin: I don’t know what it’s from, and that’s why I call it “Mr. E.” All I know is that I woke up tied to a snowmobile, underwater, with a sore chin. When I broke the surface, I was surprised to find myself in the Stillwater Junior High School swimming pool.
The lightning bolt running over the right side of my mouth: I call this one “The Harry Potter.” It’s from the other time a tiger bit me in the face.
So… What do y’all think? Pretty attractive, am I right?
Think about your answer carefully—you wouldn’t want to imply that the journal Personality and Individual Differences is a liar.
See, a new study published in the journal seems to indicate that women are attracted to men with facial scars, at least for short-term relationships. The best scars, too, aren’t from surgery or a scarring skin condition; the scars women in the study found the most attractive appeared to have been inflicted through violence of some kind.
The scientists behind the study (and it wasn’t mentioned as it whether or not they had scarred faces) believed that the scars implied that a potential mate was more aggressive, or had a greater risk taking personality. The scars could also suggest “good genes or a strong immune system.” So your scarred guy could have some nice, powerful genetic material, but may not necessarily be the type you want to pair up with for a long-term relationship.
Spectacular night launch: The space shuttle Endeavor blasts off for a trip to the International Space Station.
Courtesy NASALast night, the space shuttle Endeavor blasted off from Cape Canaveral last night on the final scheduled shuttle mission for 2008. It’s headed for the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) where three astronauts are living at the moment. By next spring NASA plans to have six astronauts living there, so some changes are in order.
But like everyone else, it looks like NASA has also been hit by the world’s current economic downturn because instead of just buying or building a bigger space station the agency is going to do some “home improvements” on the existing structure. And they’re not even hiring out – they’re doing all the work themselves. Boy times are really tough.
Along with a crew of seven, Endeavor is hauling up two bedroom additions, a kitchen expansion, and a second bathroom. Okay it’s just a toilet but with plans for more astronauts to be crammed into the ISS, another toilet is a must. And here’s something that’s interesting: the shuttle’s also bringing up a water regeneration system that will be used to convert waste water – including urine – into fresh drinking water. I guess that will save some money, but ewwwww.
Astronaut and St. Paul native Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper
Courtesy NASABesides the new additions, regular maintenance and repairs have to be made, too. Some of Endeavor’s astronauts will be heading outside for those. One of them will be St. Paul native Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper who will space walk the exterior to make repairs to the space station’s solar power panels. While she’s out there she might as well clean the gutters, too.
Well, good luck to them. I know finding a good contractor isn’t easy but doing your own home improvements and repairs can be very trying. It’s time-consuming, cause for frustration and lots of swearing, always ends up costing more than you thought, and if the NASA crew members are anything like me, they better plan on making a whole bunch of extra trips to the hardware store.
More on the Endeavor launch
More about astronaut Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper
For countless centuries, people have attempted to become immortal. Now, we are ever closer to this ancient goal. This is not just like the progress in raising life expectancy that has been continuing since the Industrial Revolution. It is extending the lifespan beyond what is naturally possible, about 120 years (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4003063.stm , from 2004, but still relevant). New medical discoveries and technologies that are leading us to this goal are being developed faster than ever. (http://www.physorg.com/news143392265.html)
Many methods using modern science have been proposed to make people live unnaturally long. Those include genetic engineering, adding physical enhancements which will basically make people cyborgs, cryogenics, and uploading a person's mind onto a computer and abandoning the human body altogether. For now, at least, this is basically science fiction, but the goal is coming closer to realization. Many researchers are working on the scientific problem, and bioethicists are arguing over whether it is actually desirable.
Arguments in support of life extension basically revolve around the fact that they believe death is avoidable and thus is an unnecessary tragedy (see http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html for an explanation of this view in allegory form). Opponents of artificial life extension argue that it would cause overpopulation, drain the world's resources, and very likely be impossible or improbable in the foreseeable future (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4059549.stm). Many private foundations fund research into life extension currently. While this does not seem to be a pressing issue right now, in the future it will come more into the spotlight, along with other speculative technologies such as artificial intelligence and space colonization. What do you think about life extension?
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_extension
See the links on the Wikipedia page.
A regular flaming ball: Flaming DEATH balls are on back order, I'm afraid. Also, the Pentagon doesn't really like talking about them for some reason.
Courtesy mynameisharshaImagine being burned to death. Ugh. Just awful. And, sometimes, we soft little human beings with families and goofy favorite foods do it to other soft little human beings with families and gross old pets that they love. On purpose.
Burning each other to death is an old human trick, but it really makes one wonder if we ought to totally re-think what is even remotely acceptable in our conflicts.
That said… check this out.
Weaponized, flaming, rocket, bouncy-balls. Holy cats. The Pentagon has developed what are essentially hollow bouncy balls made of rubberized rocket fuel. They have one little hole that acts as a vent, so when they are ignited they are propelled by a stream of 1000-degree exhaust to ricochet randomly around the inside of a structure.
Did you ever take one of those rubber super balls and just wail it into a room, hoping that your face wasn’t going to be in whatever path it chose in its crazy bouncings*? This would be sort of like that, but way hotter and faster.
You have to admit… it’s kind of cool.
Using explosives to destroy a facility housing or building weapons of mass destruction is a bad idea, because they can cause materials of mass destruction to be scattered everywhere. But filling the same structure with super-hot, flaming bouncy balls would pretty much wreck everything just as well, without blasting radioactive material all over a city.
Flaming death balls. Whoa.
*Are you trying to say you haven’t ever done that? Your loss.
If anything, sir, you're making it worse: You can wring out the sweat, but not the stink.
Courtesy The MichaelYeah. Sorry. I don’t make the rules—y’all just have your own weird odors, and there’s nothing you can do to change them. Frowny face.
But, today of all days, try to get past your own problems (though they are disgusting and abounding) and be grateful to the men and women who have fought for your country. Or think about Armistice Day, and the moment on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918, when the bloodiest war the world had ever seen finally came to an end.
No? That’s not doing it for you? Still stuck on yourself? Fine. We’ll deal with that first.
Oh, by the way, the statement about your having a unique, personal stink is predicated on my assumption that you’re all mice. Not figure-of-speech mice, but actual little rodents. Who have computers and can read. (And, really, what illiterate mice are going to have computers? It just goes to show that you won’t be getting ahead without an education.) Even if you aren’t mice, however, I suppose there’s a decent chance that the personal odor think applies to you (you might not be conscious of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there).
There are all kinds of things that can affect your stank. You should know that by now. Bacteria, for one, love eating your excretions and covering you with effluvia of their own. It smells bad. And your excretions aren’t necessarily a walk in the rose garden in the first place. Depending on what you eat, you can end up smelling like the dumpster behind a German restaurant (I’m thinking onions, garlic, and red meat here) or the dumpster behind a South Asian restaurant (ah, sotolon). Really, you could smell like any number of dumpsters across the globe, depending on your tastes.
But it turns out that no matter what stank you might give yourself with all that coffee and garlic pizza, you’ve got a unique stank that’s all your own, and there’s nothing to be done to change it.
See, scientists have been watching little mousies, and they’ve found that although body odors brought about by diet can be confusing to mice in identifying other individuals by their odor, there remains a unique, identifiable, genetically-influenced smell in each mouse, despite the particulars of its diet.
That was a long and bad sentence. What I meant to say was this: no matter what you eat, it seems that you have an unchangeable, unique smell. It says so here. And in far fewer words here.
What’s the upshot of this? First of all, it’s like I said: you’re hopeless, Oldspice. However, the research also suggests that someday technology could be developed that would identify individuals by their unique odor “fingerprints.” A personal odor database could be developed. Think about that—you put your fist through a bakery window just once, and the fuzz has your stink on file forever. Or maybe you wouldn’t have to show your passport to get on a plane—a robot could just sniff you. Another robot, anyway.
A brave new future, huh?
The world’s oldest bachelor
in Life Science, Heredity, Biological Populations Change Over Time, and Human Organism
Sorry, kid, you're barking up the wrong tree: Otzi ain't yer dad. And, whoever you pops is, I doubt you dressing up like that will make him love you any more.
Courtesy japi14I think this came out a couple weeks ago, so maybe it’s old news to y’all—although, technically, I suppose it’s old news to everyone.
Otzi (Remember? Otzi the Iceman?) died alone.
No, wait, that didn’t come out right. Otzi the Iceman didn’t die alone—he probably died surrounded by his killers, after they had shot him in the chest with an arrow, as one of them likely finished him off by clubbing his skull in. What I meant was Otzi died alone in the genetic sense, with no one to carry on his legacy. (His legacy of being a five-foot-five total badass.)
It turns out that Otzi, in spite of his many, many admirable qualities, probably had no children. Or, at least, that Otzi’s lineage has died out since the time of his death.
Previous studies had suggested that Otzi may have had living descendants somewhere in Europe, but recent genetic research has shown that this is unlikely. Italian and British scientists have analyzed the iceman’s mitochondrial DNA—which is passed on solely matrilineally—and the results seem to indicate that Otzi was part of a heretofore unknown genetic line, and one that has probably gone extinct.
Oh, fudge. And here I was, still holding out hope.
What gives, caveladies? What was so bad about the little iceman? Too tough, I’m guessing. The same reason women could never get truly close to the Fonz.
*It occurs to me that Otzi could have had a child himself, and his mitochondrial DNA wouldn’t have been passed on. Maybe he just had equally intimidating sisters.
Crestor: :Rosuvastatin
Courtesy Mykhal The drug company, AstraZenca, makes a drug called Crestor and also receives royalties from a particular blood test (hsCRP) which detects C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of infection.
AstraZenca funded a study which found that their product, Crestor, when given to patients identified as having infection via their blood test (hsCRP), "slashed the risk (of heart attack or stroke) of those flagged by the test by about half -- even if their cholesterol was normal".
Infection's role in cardiovascular risk
Why people with normal cholesterol levels suffered heart attacks or strokes has been puzzling. In the study,
either 20 milligrams of the statin Crestor or an inert placebo (was given) daily to 17,802 middle-aged and elderly men and women who had what are considered safe cholesterol levels but high CRP -- 2 milligrams per liter of blood or above.
(They)stopped the trial ... after an average follow-up of less than two years, concluding that the benefit was so striking that it would unethical to continue withholding the real drug from those taking the placebo.
Compared with those getting the placebo, those taking Crestor were 54 percent less likely to have a heart attack, 48 percent less to have a stroke, 46 percent less likely to need angioplasty or bypass surgery to open a clogged artery, 44 percent less likely to suffer any of those events and 20 percent less likely to die from any cause, the researchers reported yesterday. WashingtonPost
Costs, benefits, and alternatives
For every 1000 people in this study who took Crestor, there were about 2 who had heart attacks compared to about 4 in the placebo group (per year).
Some skeptics, however, argued that the actual risk reduction for an individual would be very small, given the relatively low risk for most middle-aged people, so the benefits easily could be outweighed by the costs of thousands more people taking tests and drugs and being monitored by doctors.
The risks from extended use of Crestor by millions of patients is unknown. We do know that lifestyle interventions are effective.
Join the discussion, learn more
Washington Post Staff Writer Rob Stein will be online Monday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss a new study that could transform efforts to prevent heart attacks and strokes. You can discuss whether you think drugs and money or lifestyle changes are best for our future there or in comments below.
Read the research paper: Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein
This just in: mollusks are still creepy
in Life Science, Diversity of Organisms, Interdependence of Life, and Human Organism
Zoological counterstategists are working around the clock: If they discover what would happen if they wrapped themselves around our faces... The war would be over.
Courtesy ccavinessBreaking news from the field of science: mollusks remain strange, unnerving. Chief among their many unsettling attributes are tentacles, highly developed brains, and an inborn desire to mess up the world of men.
A German octopus, name of Otto, has been conducting small-scale trial runs of what is no doubt a plan to disrupt that county’s entire electric infrastructure.
The staff of the Sea Star Aquarium in Colburg, Germany, had been baffled by the facility’s frequent short circuits and subsequent aquarium-wide power failures, until they began taking turns sleeping on the floor to discover the source of the problem. They found that two-foot seven-inch Otto the octopus, apparently irritated by the bright light over his tank, was climbing to the rim of his aquarium to shoot jets of water at the 2000-watt spotlight above him. The electrical havoc that followed allowed Otto to get his beauty sleep (and shut off the pumps in all the other tanks, slowly suffocating the aquarium’s other animals).
Aquarium officials refuse to acknowledge the threatening situation in front of their faces, instead making excuses for the octopus. When the aquarium closes for the winter, they claim, Otto gets bored and causes mischief for attention and stimulation. In addition to the dangerous act of vandalism above, Otto has been seen juggling the hermit crabs that he lives with, damaging the glass of his tank by throwing stones at it, and obsessively rearranging the items in his tank, to “the distress of his fellow tank inhabitants.”
This is a dangerous situation. What’s to be done here?
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