Category: Science, Engineering & Technology
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As I noted in an earlier post, there is widespread speculation in the media about the link between rising food prices and diverting food grains for the manufacture of biofuels. The Washington Post has begun a series to examine the various posssible causes that have triggered the recent world food crisis. Wednesday’s featured article takes…
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In recent days we have repeatedly heard news reports of the rising cost of food and food shortage. The effects have been mild to moderate in wealthy, developed nations like the US, more worrisome in Asia and severe in some poorer parts of the world. Namibia and Haiti have already seen food riots. The cause…
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When a car company like G.M. is in the art business, every company in any other industry is, too. Rather than extend a discussion in which I’ve been a vociferous—maybe even loudmouth—participant below the comment line of Ruchira’s post regarding poet-doctor Fady Joudah, I thought I’d take her and Joe’s suggestions to address in a…
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Based on computer modeling studies, University of Colorado scientists predict that a limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan will not only cause havoc in the vicinity of the Indian subcontinent; it will also have far reaching effects on human (and animal) health and the environment worldwide. A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and…
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(Thanks to Ruchira for the idea and links) ‘Give us this day our daily meds’ has become the new grace all over the U.S. thanks to the agressive approach to sales and marketing of designer drugs by Big Pharma. While a huge amount of money has gone into finding cures for obscure conditions, the pharmaceutical…
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What would Easter Sunday be without a suitable Peep Show? Check out the prize-winning entries in the WaPo’s contest. ————————————- NASA goes gaga over goo – now there’s a headline that practically wrote itself! The goo was good. NASA mission managers were ebullient over a test late on Thursday of techniques to repair delicate tiles…
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"Need a friend? Get a dog." This morning a newspaper article and a friend’s pictorial email got me thinking of dogs. The companionship of animals has therapeutic effects on us – easing of loneliness, lowering of blood pressure are known benefits. Those of us who spend time with animals know that very well. Nursing homes…
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Here are some news items that caught my attention in the last couple of days. They all relate to disease – of the body and the mind. Mosquito borne diseases like malaria, dengue, West Nile fever etc. are becoming widely prevalent again. Should we rethink the ban on DDT? Anna Manzanarez was a picture of…
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"Very few artists have painted sunsets before, during and following major volcanic eruptions." —C. S. Zerefos, V. T. Gerogiannis, D. Balis, S. C. Zerefos, and A. Kazantzidis, Atmospheric effects of volcanic eruptions as seen by famous artists and depicted in their paintings, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, v.7, pp.4027-42, 4029 (2007) My scattered contributions to AB…
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