Would you like to remember everything you see forever?

I wonder what it would be like to remember every little thing you see everyday forever? Would there be drawbacks? Would our brain overload with so much stored memory? And what about bad memories? Who wants to retain them? This drug, if ever passed out to humans, could pose some interesting situations.

By Annalee Newitz

Imagine if you could look at something once and remember it forever. You would never have to ask for directions again. Now a group of scientists has isolated a protein that mega-boosts your ability to remember what you see.

A group of Spanish researchers reported today in Science that they may have stumbled upon a substance that could become the ultimate memory-enhancer. The group was studying a poorly-understood region of the visual cortex. They found that if they boosted production of a protein called RGS-14 (pictured) in that area of the visual cortex in mice, it dramatically affected the animals' ability to remember objects they had seen.

Mice with the RGS-14 boost could remember objects they had seen for up to two months. Ordinarily the same mice would only be able to remember these objects for about an hour.

The researchers concluded that this region of the visual cortex, known as layer six of region V2, is responsible for creating visual memories. When the region is removed, mice can no longer remember any object they see.

If this protein boosts visual memory in humans, the implications are staggering. In their paper, the researchers say that it could be used as a memory-enhancer – which seems like an understatement. What's particularly intriguing is the fact that this protein works on visual memory only. So as I mentioned earlier, it would be perfect for mapping. It would also be useful for engineers and architects who need to hold a lot of visual images in their minds at once. And it would also be a great drug for detectives and spies.

Could it also be a way to gain photographic memory? For example, if I look at a page of text will I remember the words perfectly? Or will I simply remember how the page looked?

I can't see much of a downside for this potential drug, unless the act of not forgetting what you see causes problems or trauma.

image and text via io9

Robert McNamara: The man who gave us the Vietnam War

A lot of people will never forgive McNamara for his roll in starting the Vietnam War. At one time I was one of those people.

But as I watched what he did in his later years, I realized he regretted his actions. He said so in his book. With age, I've learned to forgive a lot of people. I feel sorry for the man who thought he was doing the right thing, and the tortured soul he became because of his decisions. He's gone now, but his troubled legacy lives on.

As Secretary of Defense he became the driving force for our involvement in Vietnam...

Although he was a prime architect of the Vietnam War and repeatedly overruled the Joint Chiefs of Staff on strategic matters, McNamara gradually became skeptical about whether the war could be won by deploying more troops to South Vietnam and intensifying the bombing of North Vietnam, a claim he would publish in a book years later. He also stated later that his support of the Vietnam war was given out of loyalty to administration policy

He was born on June 9, 1916 – and died on July 6, 2009. He was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense.

McNamara served as Defense Secretary for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968. Following that he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981. McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which developed into the discipline known today as policy analysis.

image via Truth Dig via caglecartoons.com

The Disappearing Male: From Virility to Sterility

"We are conducting a vast toxicological experiment in which our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects." Dr. Herbert Needleman.

The Disappearing Male is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system.

The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.
At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.

The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world.
Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.

            Factsheet: Male Infertility
* There are more than 20 heavily industrialized nations where the birth of baby boys has declined every year for the past 30 years - amounting to 3 million fewer baby boys.
* The number of boys born with penis abnormalities and genital defects has increased by 200% in the past two decades.
* Boys have a higher incidence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, Tourett's syndrome, cerebral palsy and dyslexia.
* Boys are four times as likely to be autistic.
* The average sperm count of a North American college student today is less than half of what it was 50 years ago.
* The quality of sperm is declining. Eighty-five per cent of the sperm produced by a healthy male is DNA-damaged.
* Damaged sperm have been linked to a 300% increase in testicular cancer - a form of cancer that affects young men in their 20s and 30s.
* The chemical industry has developed more than 90,000 man-made chemicals in the last sixty years. Eighty-five percent of them have never undergone testing for their impact on the human body.
> Backgrounder: Endocrine 101
> Backgrounder: The Chemicals
> Profiles: Scientists

photo and text via Information Liberation

Pee Powered Cars: Producing hydrogen from urine

Nothing like starting off your Monday with weird, but educational, news while you sip that first cup of coffee. I never would have guessed that the term "pissed off" would take on a new meaning...  

(PhysOrg.com) -- You do two things at motorway services: fill up one tank and empty another. US chemists have combined refueling your car and relieving yourself by creating a new catalyst that can extract hydrogen from urine.

Chemistry World reports that the catalyst could not only fuel the hydrogen-powered cars of the future, but could also help clean up municipal wastewater.

Gerardine Botte of Ohio University uses an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine - the most abundant waste on Earth - at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water.

Urine's major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule - importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules.

Botte uses electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell - much less than the 1.23V needed to split water.

Her work is described in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal Chemical Communications.

“During the electrochemical process the urea gets adsorbed on to the nickel electrode surface, which passes the electrons needed to break up the molecule,” Botte told Chemistry World.

Botte believes the technology could be easily scaled-up to generate hydrogen while cleaning up the effluent from sewage plants. “We do not need to reinvent the wheel as there are already electrolysers being used in different applications.”

More information: B K Boggs, R L King and G G Botte, Chem. Commun., 2009, DOI: 10.1039/b905974a

Text provided by the Royal Society of Chemistry

 

To see why the bear crossed the road, read this column

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 07/05/2009 01:27:19 AM PDT

I nearly hit a black bear crossing the road on Central Avenue in McKinleyville the other day. The bruin darted out in front of my car and I had to swerve to keep from plowing into him!

My wife thought I was having a seizure or something until she saw the brown blur loping into an empty lot on the far side of the street.

We quickly agreed it was the first time we ever had to dodge a bear -- either on foot or in a car -- despite countless trips to national and state parks over the years. I suspect the bear was foraging through someone's trash when he realized (for whatever reason) it was time to beat paws to a safer place.

I wondered if there might be a more sinister reason why that bear was running around town. Lately, there have been numerous reports of rabid foxes, and a few attacks on humans, during the day.

I checked out The International Association for Bear Research and Management, also known as the International Bear Association (IBA), Web site and discovered it wasn't unusual for a bear to forage for food during the day. That was nice to know.

It's likely the bear we saw was a young male (the full-grown ones can weigh from 350 to 500 pounds and our busy bear didn't look half that size). Relieved, I scanned the Web site and discovered there are eight different bear species. Click here to read the rest.

image via Google Images

American's celebrate freedom and independence today

ON THE SUBJECT OF FREEDOM FOR THIS 4th OF JULY...

Voltaire quotes (French Philosopher and Writer. One of the greatest of all French authors, 1694-1778) : “Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.”

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi quotes (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948) : “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”

 

 

 

Bertrand Russell quotes (English Logician and Philosopher 1872-1970) : “Freedom in general may be defined as the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires”

 

 

 

Albert Camus quotes (French Novelist, Essayist and Playwright, 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature : “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

 

 

photos and text via Think Exist

Racism debate after Russian and Nigerian gas companies combine to form 'Nigaz'

By Mail Foreign Service

When a $2.5billion international venture is being planned you might expect there to be hours of debate over what to call it.

Yet branding is not the forte of some companies, it seems.

Russian Energy giant Gazprom has inadvertently walked into a racism row with the announcement of its joint venture in Nigeria - Nigaz.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Nigerian counterpart Umaru Yar'Adua last week agreed the deal to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Africa's most populous nation.

The name is meant to be an amalgamation of 'Nigeria' and 'Gazprom', pronounced 'nye-gaz', but it can be read phonetically as an offensive term for those of black African origin.

'How more derogatory can it be. Let's join forces in making our government rename this,' said the creator of 'Nigerians No Nigaz', a group on Facebook.

Many comments on the blunder were from white bloggers.

But others mocked the mistake - one African-American suggested a playlist of songs from U.S. hip-hop artists for the Nigaz launch party.

One Nigerian in Lagos said: 'White people are making too much of this.

'As long as the Russians pay us, they can call it what they like.'

image via Daily Mail

Joke of the Day: Tight Skirt, Bus Stop

One day, at a bus stop there was a girl who was wearing a skintight miniskirt. When the bus arrived and it was her turn to get on, she realized that her skirt was so tight she couldn't get her foot high enough to reach to step.

Thinking it would give her enough slack to raise her leg, she reached back and unzipped her skirt a little. She still could not reach the step. Embarrassed, she reached back once again to unzip it a little more. Still, she couldn't reach the step.

So, with her skirt zipper halfway down, she reached back and unzipped her skirt all the way. Thinking that she could get on the step now, she lifted up her leg only to realize that she still couldn't reach the step.

So, seeing how embarrassed the girl was, the man standing behind her put his hands around her waist and lifted her up on to the first step of the bus. The girl turned around furiously and said, "How dare you touch my body that way, I don't even know you!"

Shocked, the man says, "Well, ma'am, after you reached around and unzipped my fly three times, I kinda figured that we were friends!"

 text from Joke Of The Day

Welcome to the world of professional Cheese Racing!

With all of the interesting competitive sports out there, cheese racing has somehow gone (practically) unnoticed. This blog wants to correct that mistake and introduce readers to a good time. All of your questions will be answered from this official cheese racing site! Enjoy! 

Finally! Cheese racing videos.

Want to see a group of American bikers cheese racing? Of course you do - check out all the action here. (Warning: strong language and lots of facial hair).

Due to popular demand, the Official Cheese Racing gear product range has now been expanded. Now there is something for everyone at the Cheese Racing shop. Kit that no self respecting cheese racer should be without!

Details of the CRASS event in France can be found here. Not that much cheese racing action but some interesting experiments with the local cheese.

Reader's photos - we have been quite literally inundated with photos of cheese racing action from all over the world (well mostly America), some of the best are now on the photos page. Keep them coming!

Get all the latest Cheese Racing news on the news page.

Introduction

Q: What do you think happens when you throw a slice of processed cheese (without removing the plastic wrapping) onto a lit barbeque?

The plastic melts giving off highly toxic fumes and you are left with a pretty grim cheese/plastic mess welded on to your BBQ, right?

WRONG!

Unbelievably what actually happens, as discovered by the pioneers and inventors of the sport way back in 1997 (read their account of that historic night on a campsite in Osmington here), is that the plastic pouch does not melt - even when the cheese inside eventually boils! Even more incredibly, as the cheese melts and the strange chemicals found in processed cheese turn to gas - the plastic pouch inflates until eventually all four corners lift off the BBQ and the pouch is fully inflated! Now under this pressure you might think that the pouch would eventually burst - but no - most of the time the seal remains intact!

Quite why processed cheese manufacturers choose to use such industrial strength, heat proof plastic to encase their products is something of a mystery - as is why NASA don't use this material instead of those expensive heat proof tiles on the space shuttle? Such important questions no doubt occurred to the first observers of this phenomenon on that night in Osmington, but that didn't stop them from coming up with a brilliantly simple sport based on it.

The Game

Each player throws a slice of cheese onto the BBQ.

The player whose cheese fully inflates first wins!

The full official CRASS (Cheese Racing Association) rules can be found here - but that is basically it!

In the rest of the site you will find everything you need to know about this fast growing and exciting sport - you may be sceptical now but believe me, once you have witnessed or taken part in your first cheese racing tournament - you will be hooked!

---

WARNING!! Cheese racing can be dangerous - the makers of this website CAN NOT be held responsible for any accidents or injuries that may occur. Practice safe cheese racing by following these simple guide lines.

• Do NOT attempt 'indoor cheese racing'. This is strictly an outdoor sport. (This includes tents!)

• Be sure to ingest large quantities of alcohol and/or other chemical relaxant before (and during) play. This will relax the body and nervous system, thus minimising the pain of any injury and enabling you to play on.

Having said that, the sport does have an impressive safety record with zero fatalities so far...

photo and text via Cheese Racing

New Ruling: Medical pot users, growers can sue over raids

 This ruling is good news, but just another step towards the final goal of legal pot for patients and those that grow medicinal marijuana.

It sure is a step in the right direction. You know that the county involved in this case is going to take this ruling to the state Supreme Court with hopes of having it overturned. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Medical marijuana patients and growers can sue police for illegally raiding their property and destroying their plants, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The 2-1 decision by the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento was the first in the state to allow a patient or grower to sue claiming that their rights to cultivate and use medical marijuana have been violated. Those rights are protected by state law but banned by federal law.

Officials in Butte County, where the case arose, argued that patients and suppliers can invoke the medical marijuana law only as a defense to criminal charges, not to sue for damages. The court's dissenting justice said no one is entitled to compensation for the destruction of a drug banned under federal law.

But the court's majority said a marijuana patient or member of a collective has the same right as anyone else to sue officers who violate the constitutional ban on illegal searches and seizures.

The plaintiff, David Williams, is relying on "the same constitutional guarantee of due process available to all individuals," Justice Vance Raye said. He said Williams is not required to go through "the expense and stress of criminal proceedings" to assert his rights.

Williams belonged to a seven-member collective near the town of Paradise. When a sheriff's deputy came to his door without a warrant in September 2005, Williams showed doctors' recommendations for all seven patients that allowed them to grow and use marijuana, he said.

He said the officer had questioned the legality of the collective and ordered him to destroy 29 of the 41 plants on his property or face arrest. He complied, then sued the officer and the county for damages. Wednesday's ruling upheld a Superior Court judge's refusal to dismiss the suit.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Fred Morrison said Congress should ease the federal ban on marijuana to accommodate California and 12 other states that allow medical use. But as long as the ban exists, he said, no one has the right to use the drug, and police are entitled to confiscate it.

Brad Stephens, a deputy county counsel, said the county would probably appeal to the state Supreme Court.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle today

cartoon via NORML