It’s Saturday and time to examine First World Problems!

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s still and cool outside with a promise of sun soon. Grab a chair, stool, or beanbag, and indulge in a cup of hot coffee or tea with me while we look at:

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Finally Friday: Sunshine Depression and bombs go off in Thailand

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Good to see you. Pull up a chair and have a stare. With summer finally here on the coast we’re actually being bathed in sunshine. Surprisingly, not everyone is going to be happy about that. Here’s why:

SAD in the summer? Sunshine depression rare, but real

Many of us can hardly wait for summer to arrive, but a small number of people are much happier when it's over. You've no doubt heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder, the wintertime mood disorder -- but some get SAD in the summer.

As hot weather approaches, those with summer SAD sleep less, eat less, and lose weight. They're extremely irritable and agitated. (It's the reverse for people with winter SAD, who sleep more, gain weight and crave high-carb foods, and tend to slow down and socially hibernate from late fall to early spring.)

  

As bomb expert inspects, explosion rips car apart in Thailand

As a demolition expert in Vietnam I often wondered what it would be like to have a bomb go off while probing for it with my bayonet. I had nightmares about it. This series of photos gave me the chills.

“Three hidden roadside bombs have killed two people and wounded 13 others in southern Thailand, and police believe Islamist militants are responsible.

Police Col. Nitinai Langyanay said the first bomb in Narathiwat province killed two irrigation workers Friday and wounded five others, while a second one about 1 kilometer (one-half mile) away wounded a soldier.

Bomb removal officers then tried to defuse a third bomb only three meters (yards) away from the second one but it exploded, wounding seven policemen. It is a standard practice of the insurgents to plant a second bomb to go off when security officials arrive to investigate an explosion.”

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Time for me to walk on down the road…

The morning awwwwww….Tickled terrier snorts with glee!

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Get those laugh muscles going! Try not to snort while watching…

Reason # 37, why I no longer fly: Man stung by scorpion on flight

All Jeff Ellis could do was wait as he sat terrified 30,000 feet in the air staring at the wriggling scorpion that stung him on a flight to Alaska.

As Ellis monitored himself for signs of a fatal allergic reaction, emergency responders in Anchorage were told to get ready; the flight would be landing soon.

But they had a problem, Ellis said: Scorpions aren't common in Alaska, and the EMTs didn't know what to do.

"They had to Google it," he said.    Story Here   Image source

What fun! A gallery of false advertising….

  

  

 

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Thursday stuff: caffein keeps Alzheimer’s at bay, the biggest span bridge in the world, and US adopts new war doctrine

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s time to grab a cup of Joe and see what’s happening in the world around us. The good news this morning is that your cup of Joe is really good for you!

Coffee buzz protects brain from Alzheimer's

For years we’ve been told that caffeinated coffee was bad for us. It’s unhealthy and addictive, doctors warned. But as vindication for all who stuck by their energizing elixir, a new study shows that guzzling caffeinated coffee may actually be good for our brains. In fact, it may help keep Alzheimer’s at bay.

The study, which was published early online in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, was in mice whose DNA had been tweaked to contain a human Alzheimer’s gene. Just like humans with familial Alzheimer’s, these mice become increasingly forgetful as they age.

 

A marathon span: China opens world's longest bridge over water

China opened the world's longest bridge over water on Thursday.

The Jiaozhou Bay bridge is 26.4 miles long, according to Guinness World Records. It links China's eastern port city of Qingdao to Huangdao island.

State-run CCTV said the 110-foot-wide bridge cost more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). However, the Xinhua news agency put the cost at $2.3 billion and Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported its price tag totaled more than $8.8 billion.

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New plan to defeat al-Qaida: 'Surgical' strikes rather than expensive wars

The day has finally come…the U.S. has wised up about sending troops to other countries!

The United States will push ahead with more targeted drone strikes and special operations raids and fewer costly land battles like Iraq and Afghanistan in the continuing war against al-Qaida, according to a new national counterterrorism strategy unveiled Wednesday.

Two years in the making, the doctrine comes in the wake of the successful special operations raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in May, and a week after President Barack Obama's announcement that U.S. troops will begin leaving Afghanistan this summer.

Photo- White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan predicted that strikes targeting al-Qaida would eventually leave the network unable to "replenish their ranks with the skilled leaders that they need to sustain their operations."

‘Alone’……..a poem

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were — I have not seen
As others saw — I could not bring
My passions from a common spring —
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow — I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone —
And all I lov'd — I lov'd alone —
Then — in my childhood — in the dawn
Of a most stormy life — was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still —
From the torrent, or the fountain —
From the red cliff of the mountain —
From the sun that 'round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold —
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by —
From the thunder, and the storm —
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view —
Edgar Allan Poe

Report highlights poor water quality at nation's beaches

Before you wade into the water this summer, you may want to consult the beach water report released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The report found that the number of closing and health advisory days at America’s ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches spiked to the second-highest level measured by the NRDC in the past two decades.

Ten beaches with persistently poor water quality are included in the NRDC’s “repeat offender” list. Water samples at these beaches exceeded public health standards more than 25 percent of the time each year between 2006 and 2010:

• California: Avalon Beach in Los Angeles County (3 of 5 monitored sections)
  Avalon Beach – Near Busy B Café
  Avalon Beach – North of GP Pier
  Avalon Beach – South of GP Pier
• California: Cabrillo Beach Station in Los Angeles County
• California: Doheny State Beach in Orange County (2 of 6 monitored sections)
  Doheny State Beach – North of San Juan Creek
  Doheny State Beach – Surf Zone at Outfall
• Florida: Keaton Beach in Taylor County
• bottom photo source

Interactive map: See how 200 popular beaches fared

Swimmers can check the water quality report at their beach on the EPA website. Not all beaches are monitored, and the EPA suggests beachgoers avoid unmonitored spots where the water quality is unknown. The NRDC also has a guide to finding clean beaches on its website.

“Those traveling to beaches from greater distances with beach visitation as their primary purpose may or may not do their research, but those who do will welcome the NRDC and EPA websites," said Michael Blazey, professor of recreation and leisure studies at California State University, Long Beach.

Story source By Harriet Baskas, msnbc.com contributor

Wacky Wednesday: napping at work, painkiller recall, and Russians meeting with aliens in 2031

I was just meditating on your fascinating memo, really

First off, boss, if you are reading this, we NEVER do this.

Secondly, if you are among the more than one-third of the adult U.S. population that gets less than seven hours of sleep a night, you might want to read up.

Lifehacker offers up some tips on how to catch some shuteye at work (and a very pertinent video of George Costanza sleeping under his desk). Among the points covered:

• Use your private office.
• Make use of blinds.
• Wear sunglasses.
• Use your car.
• Use the bathroom.
• What to do if you get caught.
• Ask for permission.                                         image source
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More Tylenol Extra Strength pills recalled

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday announced another Tylenol recall due to a musty moldy odor linked to a trace chemical. The company's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit is recalling one product lot of Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets made in February 2009 and distributed in the U.S. The recall totals 60,912 bottles, each of which has 225 caplets.

The product lot number for the recalled Tylenol Extra Strength product can be found on the side of the bottle label — it is ABA619 300450444271.

Customers should stop using the product from the lot immediately and contact McNeil at www.tylenol.com or by calling 1-888-222-6036 for instructions on receiving a refund or product coupon.

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Russian scientists expect to meet aliens by 2031

Russian scientists expect humanity to encounter alien civilizations within the next two decades, a top Russian astronomer predicted on Monday.

Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Finkelstein said 10 percent of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.

If water can be found there, then so can life, he said, adding that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head.

See ya soon. It’s time for me to head on down the road…

Just in time for the 4th of July! Scientists Growing Test-Tube Burger

Where's the beef?

The answer to that classic question may soon be, "It's growing in a test tube."

Dutch scientists estimate that they are about one year away from developing the world's first "test-tube hamburger" made with ground beef grown from stem cells — and they're looking for someone to try it.

"We are trying prove to the world we can make a product out of this, and we need a courageous person who is willing to be the first to taste it," Mark Post, professor of physiology at Maastricht University, who is spearheading the project, told the Daily Mail. "If no one comes forward then it might be me."

To grow the bionic burger, scientists will extract approximately 10,000 stem cells from the tissue of a healthy cow. These cells will then grow in the lab, multiplying by more than a billion times, eventually producing muscle tissue similar to the sample taken from the original cow. The tissue will then be ground and pressed into hamburger patties.

One of the challenges is to create meat that resembles what today's consumers are accustomed to eating. Post's previous attempts at growing pork yielded a texture that he compared to a squishy scallop, the result of its having less protein content than naturally raised meat.

But if they can accurately reproduce the taste and texture of conventional cuts of meat, Post and his team believe they can get the public on board.

"When we are eating a hamburger we don't think, 'I’m eating a dead cow,'" one of Post's colleagues told the Daily Mail. "And when people are already far from what they eat, it's not too hard to see them accepting cultured meat."

So what do you think? Would you be willing to grill up a test tube burger next July 4th?

story source  by Katie Robbins   image source