6,000-Year-Old Tombs Found Next to Stonehenge

 From SciTech this morning...

A prehistoric complex, including two 6,000-year-old tombs, has been discovered by archaeologists in Hampshire.

The Neolithic tombs, which until now had gone unnoticed under farmland despite being just 15 miles from Stonehenge, are some of the oldest monuments to have been found in Britain.

Archaeologists say they will hold valuable clues about how people lived at the time and what their environment was like.

The discovery is also close to Cranborne Chase, one of the most well researched prehistoric areas in Europe.

Click here to read the rest.

 image via AP/National Graphic

One of my favorite poems by Robert Frost...

The Road Not Taken

 by Robert Frost
 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood 
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
      Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
      Though as for that the passing there
      Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

photo via Read Print

Scientists are working on a fat enzyme that would allow everyone to be skinny

• I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of everyone being skinny someday. I personally don't think skinny is sexy. But, like you, I do associate thinness with health. Right or wrong that's the general impression. So when I stumbled across this article I thought it would be interesting to share and see what you think.

•  From Discover Magazine we have this interesting tidbit...

Remember the guy from Super Size Me who ate about 23,000 Bic Macs and never got fat? Ever wonder how he did it? Turns out he may have been born without the “fat enzyme.”

The enzyme MGAT2 is found in the intestines and determines the fate of our food by regulating how it is metabolized: It either makes fat go straight to your waistline, or converts it into energy. Scientists in California have discovered that when mice are missing the gene for MGAT2, they can eat whatever they want and never have to worry about getting fat.

The University of California at San Francisco knocked out the gene in experimental mice to see how their bodies grew after feeding them different diets. When the normal and experimental mice were fed a diet low in fat, both sets of mice grew the same way. But when the mice were eating a 60 percent fat diet (i.e., a typical American diet), the experimental mice weighed 40 percent less and had 50 percent less fat than the normal mice.

Not only does decreasing MGAT activity in mice reduce their chances of packing on the pounds, it also prevents them from developing other obesity-related problems such as fatty livers and glucose intolerance. While the researchers are unsure of precisely how the experimental mice kept the weight off, they think that when the mice are missing the MGAT2 enzyme, their body ultimately doesn’t store or use the fat.

Still, don’t go on a Big Mac binge just yet: Until scientist can figure out how to manipulate this gene to create the magic skinny pill, we will continue to metabolize food like we did when we were hunters and gathers.

Related Content:
DISCOVER: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Fat
DISCOVER: Killer Fat
DISCOVER: Fat Is Not The Enemy

image via Google Images

Animals made from old computer parts previewed

 

 

Click here to see more of these works of art made from recycled computer parts.

Images via artsdesignblog.com 

Solar powered hatchback van hits the streets in Europe!

I wonder if American manufacturers are going to be turning out vehicles like this in the near future? A worldwide vehicle revolution is currently underway, and the good news is that renewable energies are leading the way! I sure wouldn't mind having this van.

From Inhabitat.com this morning...

Starting this coming spring, a slick new solar-powered electric vehicle will be hitting the streets of Europe. Italian car designer Pininfarina and French battery manufacturer Bolloré have officially announced that the five door Blue Car hatchback is now ready for production. A fully-electric vehicle with solar panels by 2010!

Previously unveiled at last years Geneva Show, the Blue Car is a fully-electric vehicle that comes equipped with solar panels on the rooftop. The vehicle is 3.65 meters long, 1.6 meters high and 1.72 meters wide, and features a 50kW electric motor that provides an acceleration of 0-60mph in around 6 seconds and a top speed of 80mph.

The solar panels on the vehicle’s roof provides some power to the vehicle’s systems. It comes with regenerative brakes and a Lithium Metal Polymer batteries, and has a range of 155 miles per charge. According to the manufacturer, all the materials in the construction have been made to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Photo via Inhabitat

Classic Crime Comic Books of the 1940s and 1950s...

 

From CrimeBoss.com

Welcome to my gallery of crime comic covers. Crime comics from the 1940s and 1950s have some of the best covers ever created. It’s a good thing, too, because oftentimes the interior content (especially the Fox titles) is terrible. 

Check out favorite covers, too. It includes “thumbnail” images of some covers.  Image via Crime Boss.

 

 

I wonder what the Moral majority thinks about this web site?

 

From Ananova this morning...

A web site called Christian Nymphos has been set up by a group of wives to encourage young women to embrace intimacy in their marriages.

 The site dispenses advice on how couples can spice up their love life without breaking God's laws, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Suggestions for new sexual positions, scenarios and games are published alongside to links to Bible study websites.

"God wants us to be madly in love with our husbands," wrote the anonymous women behind the site. "He wants us to keep that fire burning in our marriage beds."

Of the web site's provocative name, they add: "The word Nympho has a negative connotation for some. It doesn't have to stay this way."

Although the tone of discussion can be explicit - oral sex, orgasms and sex aides are frequently discussed - the moral message is still strong.

Sex outside of marriage is forbidden, masturbation is frowned upon, and erotica is only acceptable if the characters are married.

Christian Nymphos has had more than 800,000 visits since its launch last year.

"It's good to know that there are Godly women who are not ashamed of the blessing of marital sexual love," wrote one reader.

Image via Ananova

Don't let it bug you if you don't recognize these musicians...

If you do know who is pictured above, than I have a treat for you. There's a whole slew of old photos of these guys that you may never have seen on Targinga!

Massachusetts firefighters rescue kitten stuck in pipe

By KELLY ONANIAN

WAREHAM — Firefighters are known to rescue cats in trees but on Friday, Onset firefighters saved a kitten that was stuck in a PVC pipe for days.

The kitten, named Piper by volunteers at A Helping Paw Animal Shelter, was discovered by Onset resident Myrna Amado as she walked between her properties on Aunt Hannah's Lane.

For several days, she had heard a strange noise coming from one of her garages.

On Friday, she discovered the kitten, its face swollen, stuck in the pipe on the side of the garage.

Click here to see what happened.

Image and story via South Coast Today

Cell Phone controversy heats up: more reader input

Since writing about the dangers of cell phone use for youngsters last Sunday I have received 58 emails on the subject. Here are a few more examples:

The cell phone industry replies:

Dear Dave Stancliff,
Your Sunday story (June 7th) on the “dangers of cell phones” did not adequately address what professional scientists, researchers and U.S. Courts have found on the health impact of cell phone usage.
Since I am not a doctor or scientist, I choose to rely on organizations whose sole mission is to keep us safe.  Leading global heath organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, World Health Organization and the United States Food and Drug Administration have conducted and reviewed scientific research and evidence and have come to a consensus that there is no reason for concern about using your wireless devices. 
CTIA and the wireless industry take the health of our customers very seriously. That is why we work directly with the Federal Communications Commission to comply with the strict safety guidelines that are required for all wireless devices in the US.
Regards,
John Walls
Vice President of Public Affairs
CTIA-The Wireless Association®
(202) 736-3656 (day)
(202) 360-5430 (cell/evening)
JWalls@ctia.org

From the University of Maryland School of Nursing...

Hi Dave,

I just read your article:  http://www.times-standard.com/othervoices/ci_12539875

Do you have citations for the studies you refer to in this article?  I share your concerns and I’d like to have the studies to back these concerns up.’

Thanks

Louise

Louise Mitchell, Sustainable Foods Coordinator
Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (MD H2E) 
University of Maryland School of Nursing
655 West Lombard Street, Room 642
Baltimore, MD  21201
410-706-1924  phone
410-706-0253  fax
lmitc001@son.umaryland.edu
www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org
www.mdh2e.org

From England...

Dear Dave,
I had to reply to your article, because I have known since 2002 that the damage to health is factual. I attach your article plus my comments and the history of activation of the Orange mast in our village in Sept 2001.
No-one has cancer yet *(apart from two pets 20 to 40 meters from the mast who died within a couple of years after suffering symptoms and cancer - their symptoms started as soon as the mast was activated) although one man (Alan Brooks) had a lump removed from his neck about 4 weeks ago.
Best regards,
Yours sincerely,
Gill Lyden

172 Common Road

Kensworth Dunstable Beds.

More Reader Input on this week's cell phone column

UPDATE:

From

Henry Padolsey - UK

Dave,

I agree totally with the comments regarding Cell Phones, but as you probably aware that pulsed microwave emissions also come from your DECT cordless phone (at a similar frequency to cell phones). However, what you may be unaware of is that cordless phone base stations continue to emit this radiation 24/7/365 even if you are not making or receiving a call! This is a design flaw in the majority of cordless DECT phones. Generally people use their cordless phones for longer periods.

Also, it might be worth you taking a look at http://tinyurl.com/5ru6e6  similar research to Dr. Neil Cherry?

The problem has been partly solved in Europe with the availability of Low Radiation cordless DECT phones that switch off microwave emissions between calls and adjust their power output levels dependant of distance from base station.

Best regards

Henry Padolsey
Rowtex Limited, UK

image via photobucket

UPDATE:

From: Mastsanity

Dave,

All the research on brain tumors is now listed here
www.wiredchild.org
also see
www.mastsanity.org with more brain surgeons speaking out from Australia on
the front page (scroll down a little way)
and a fun rap song!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJCKgknZoE
Regards
Sarah

UPDATE:

From: Nancy Evans:

Thanks for the op-ed in the Eureka Times-Standard, Dave.

You are right on point to sound the alarm on this issue--and fortunate that the paper published your piece. Wish the SF Chronicle would allow a similar alert to readers here.  You'll find lots more on this issue at www.healthandenvironment.org the website for the Collaborative for Health and the Environment (CHE).  There's a very comprehensive brochure/fact sheet which I helped prepare for the President's Cancer Panel on Radiation. 

I co-facilitate the CHE working group on EMF with Cindy Sage, principal of Sage Associates in Santa Barbara.  The science on EMF/RF exposure and health effects is extensive and compelling--and the news isn't good. When marketing gets ahead of science, people suffer.

Thanks again for your efforts,

Nancy
Nancy Evans
Health Science Consultant
415-285-7267

It's been wonderful getting all of your emails (37 from all around the world thus far) and I'm going to keep sharing some of the best ones with you. This one comes from a reader in Canada.

"Their not only selling their souls, but the souls of another generation"

  By S.A.Joyce

Hello Mr. Stancliff.

And thank you for being courageous enough to speak out about the growing evidence connecting exposure to EMF and microwave radiation to brain tumors, leukemia and various forms of cancer.

As you probably know, the Bioinitiatives group last year did a meta-analysis of all the available scientific studies to date and found a clear correlation of harm, and there are new studies being published almost every day somewhere in the world. 

The telecommunications industry has done a masterful job of obscuring the issue, the same as the tobacco industry did for 50 years after they had the evidence, the same as the energy industry did about global warming 20 or 30 years after they had the evidence. No one in those industries is willing to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, no matter how many people suffer and die.

So far every study done on microwave radiation exposure from cell phones that has been funded by the industry has—surprise!—shown either a negative or inconclusive result. That we still allow such conflict of interest in science to be accepted by our governments is a travesty, and one of the corporation's greatest disinformation weapons.

You have only to read Dr. George Carlo's book 'Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age' and learn of his experience working as a scientific researcher in the industry to realize how the entire game is corrupt and was rigged from the start. The telecom industry bribed government into allowing this product on the market with no pre-market safety testing—quite a political/economic feat in itself!

They then helped write the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which specifically—and tellingly—states that no community may object to the placement of cell phone broadcast towers based on health concerns. In other words, like Big Tobacco, they knew from the beginning.

In Canada we have followed the same pathetic regulatory regime as in the U.S., giving the telecom industry carte blanche to put up broadcast towers in any neighborhood they choose with no consultation and no recourse. In one neighborhood in BC's capital city Victoria (actually a suburb, Colwood) after an FM/cell phone broadcast tower was put up literally right in the midst of a block of houses, pets started dying, insomnia became pandemic and everyone on the block started coming down with various cancers and other illnesses. They have formed a citizens' group and are fighting to have the tower removed or at least the power levels turned down but are getting nowhere.

The simple fact is that government and industry are de facto business partners. This is how industry gets government to look the other way on products that are known to be hazardous before they are ever released. In the case of the telecom industry, the government which regulates and licenses the airwaves gets a billion dollars every time it chops up another slice of the microwave bandwidth to auction off. And the industry itself then makes billions more selling phone plans to its customers.

The fact that telecom corporations are willing to market these dangerous toys to children, knowing they are five times more susceptible to brain tumors and leukemia than adults, confirms that they are completely evil. They are selling not only their souls but the souls of the next generation for money.

Hate to sound like a Jeremiah, but there it is.

Take care.

Sean Arthur (Art) Joyce

image via Revolution 21

Reader suggests conspiracy in cell phone industry

Backround:

Sunday's column:

Are young people facing a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones?

From an alert reader today, we have the following email.

Please note I didn't use the reader's name or address (as they requested), due to the sensitivity of the information. I've heard many things about cell phones, and I know for sure they are a powerful lobby with enough power to submerge scientific facts. Some links to more information on this subject are: www.wirechild.org and www.mastsanity.org .

"There is, in fact a direct association between brain cancer and cell phone usage since way back when. The cell phone industry almost lost their product under a lawsuit brought on to Ameritech Cellular by a consumer. 

This lawsuit was quickly resolved, and pushed under the rug by the courts, Ameritech Cellular, the FCC, Cellular Phone company scientists, and the Federal Government.

The Federal Government took the Cell Phone company scientist's findings, instead of asking the FCC and the Cell Phone companies to run an independent test.

I have been in the cell phone business for quite some time, and have seen severe brain cancers of my own colleagues, at quite a young age, caused by radio frequency waves, and taking their lives. 

The government and our Skunk Testing Sites constantly are trying to find out ways to improve and use these radio frequencies, they call harmless, and get them implemented into our arsenal of fighting equipment and to the battlefield for use. 

It shall be extremely hard for you to dig this information back up, and you possibly may want to use the "Disclosure of Information Act" to do so BUT, I caution you, you will be stepping on some very big toes.

The Telecommunications Industries, Cell Phone Companies at the top of the list, spend billions of dollars a year for lobbyist at the White House, so that anything that comes up negative about the cellular industry, will be spun off for the president, our senators, legislators, and of course the public.

I had worked in the Cellular communication field for about 15 years prior to being fired for telling the CEO of Verizon Wireless, that AT&T has the most cellular coverage, which was very true at the time.  His name, Lowell McFadden, the most scrupulous person in the Cellular Communication Corporation.
If you still want to push this subject, and it is not just a news article to you, I wish you lots of luck.
I will ask that my name and e-mail address remain anonymous, for reasons you now know." 

Image via MotherJones.com

Are young people facing a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones?

 AS IT STANDS 

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 06/07/2009 01:27:20 AM PDT

It always troubles me when people get sick, or even die, from a product that hasn't been thoroughly tested.

You see that kind of thing often in the pharmaceutical market. Big companies are more concerned about releasing new products to make a profit than they are about the long-term effects these products may have.

Despite the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) efforts, the practice of releasing products to the public before their long-term effects have been thoroughly studied, continues to this day.

Take cell phones for example. The FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is supposed to make sure that radiation-emitting products, such as microwave ovens, TV sets, cell phones, and laser products meet radiation standards.

According to the CDRH Web site (www.fda.gov) “the center monitors devices throughout the product life cycle, including a nationwide post-market surveillance system.” If that's the case, why are the FDA's only mobile phone studies relatively short term, with absolutely no data available on the consequences of childhood exposure to cell phones? Click here to read the rest.

photo via www.cafemom.com/.

One in seven scientists make up fake results, say peers

From Times Online...

By Hannah Devlin

 Faking scientific data and failing to report commercial conflicts of interest are far more prevalent than previously thought, a study suggests.

One in seven scientists says that they are aware of colleagues having seriously breached acceptable conduct by inventing results. And around 46 per cent say that they have observed fellow scientists engage in “questionable practices”, such as presenting data selectively or changing the conclusions of a study in response to pressure from a funding source.

However, when scientists were asked about their own behavior only 2 per cent admitted to having faked results.

Click here to read the rest.

Image via www.biojobblog.com

The safest play to live in the world is New Zealand

 From Ynet  Israel News

Far, far away: New Zealand is the safest place in the world, while Israel is almost at the bottom of the new Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of 144 of the world's nations based of how peaceful they are, which was published Wednesday by British newspaper The Guardian.

The top of the list saw an overthrow, after Iceland lost its title as the safest place in the world and fell to the fourth place, following the financial collapse in the northern European island.

 Israel ranked fourth from the end, falling one place compared to last year. Even Sudan and Congo are considered safer. The Jewish state is followed by only Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, which is still defined as the most dangerous country in the world despite the improvement in its security following the US activity there.

To find out where the United States ranks and more world statistics click here.

image via Google Images

How long do you plan on living? Find out you life expectancy here...

From the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network...

How long can you expect to live? We developed the Longevity Game to give you a peek into your future by identifying the factors that can lead to a healthier, more productive life.

At Northwestern Mutual, we know a thing or two about longevity because we’ve been tracking statistics that impact life since 1857. And that wealth of knowledge helped us shape the Longevity Game.

Through the game, we hope to give you insight into your daily lifestyle—plus tips on how you can make some positive changes.

 Click here to find out your expected life span.

Image via Google Images

Trolls Exposed: what kind of troll is disrupting your online community?

I've encountered Satanists - The Wren's Nest who ran my July 20, 2008 column IRS Recognized The Church of Satan as a Religion

and now I've strolled into a troll's cave....

UPDATE JUNE 3rd

Check out The Joe Blow Report blog.

What's really interesting about "Joe Blow" is that he's threatening me -

to paraphrase:

"If he (Dave) honestly thought I, or any of us, were actually paranoid and hostile as he claimed, I doubt he would have the termerity, let alone the courage to say it directly to me."

What does a coward afraid to use his own name think he's doing by questioning my courage?

I made the mistake of making a comment on his (their) little hate-filled blog because he (they) devoted a post to attacking my column on trolls. Please read his (their) blog and see what you think. I probably should have realized he (they) are a paranoid lot of losers and just let them be. The thinly veiled threats warning me that I didn't have a clue who I was talking to is just further proof of the hate that is spewing out from The Joe Blow Report blog.

-Dave

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 05/31/2009 01:27:12 AM PDT

Don't feed the trolls.

You know the ones I'm talking about. They prey on news forums, chat rooms, and other online communities. Their purpose: to disrupt any conversation or thread, and to get an emotional response from some unwary person. Ignoring them and not responding to their posts is your best option.

What kind of people are trolls? They're cowards. Lonely cowards. Their posts seldom show any real imagination and often resort to childish name-calling.

Click here to read the rest.

image via Google Images

Savant Art: A window into their formidable brains

Click here to see a collection of art created by various prodigious savant artists from around the world. Each piece of art has been chosen because it shines some light on the way the mind of a savant works.

The above image

Pi Landscape, by Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet shot to fame when he set a European record for the number of digits of pi he recited from memory (22,514). He has also learned Icelandic in a week and made up his own language. How does he do it?
He attributes his ability to remember numbers to his mixture of autism and synaesthesia. The autism focused his mind on numbers at a very young age, while the synaesthesia allows him to visualize each number as having a particular shape, color and texture.
This leads him to a number landscape that is easier to remember than a simple string of numbers.
See Inside the mind of an autistic savant
(Image: Daniel Tammet)

Grin and Bear It: Ancient Death-Smile Potion Decoded?

 From National Geographic...

By James Owen

Thousands of years before the Joker gassed comic book victims into a grinning death, Phoenician colonists on the island of Sardinia (map) were forcing smiles on the faces of the dead.

Now scientists say they know just how the ancient seafaring traders created the gruesome smiles some 2,800 years ago—not with a toxic gas like Batman's nemesis but with a plant-based potion.

And someday that plant might be used to Botox-like effect, perhaps reducing rather than adding smile lines, the researchers speculate.

(Related: "Phoenician Blood Endures 3,000 Years, DNA Study Shows.")

Ancient Death Grins

By the eighth century B.C., Homer had coined the term "sardonic grin"—"sardonic" having its roots in "Sardinia"—in writings referring to the island's ritual killings via grimace-inducing potion.

Click here to read the rest.

Image via National Geographic Online

Are urban villages in store for the city of Detroit?

Planners say Detroit could one day resemble the English countryside

From The Detroit Free Press...

BY JOHN GALLAGHER •

In a new vision of Detroit's future, a team of visiting urban planners suggests the city might one day resemble the English countryside, with distinct urban villages surrounded by farms, fields and meadows.

The idea may sound improbable, but Alan Mallach, a New Jersey-based planner who led the visiting team, said Detroit is evolving in that direction anyway, with large chunks of the city now largely abandoned.

"In a way, think of it as a 21st-Century version of a traditional country pattern," Mallach said. "You have high-density development on one side of the street and cows on the other, quite literally."

The team's recommendations, contained in a draft report by a committee of the American Institute of Architects, are the latest in a flurry of ideas for dealing with Detroit's growing vacancy.

Click here to read the rest.

Image via The Detroit Free Press Online