20 most impressive science fair projects of all time — from onlineuniversities.com
From DSC:
Dog…does this mean my trips to fast food restaurants need to decrease even further now? (I’m sure the answer to that question is a resounding Yes! Oh well, I need to eat better anyway.)
WHO declares cellphones “possibly carcinogenic” — ars technica by John Timmer
Excerpt:
Those who are worried about the possible health risks of cellphones just received some backing from a significant source: the World Health Organization. A group within the organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has announced it is listing the electromagnetic radiation produced by cell phones as “possibly carcinogenic.” The IARC’s use of the term “possibly” is key to the decision, as its expert panel determined that the information available is too limited to say anything with a greater degree of certainty, but is sufficient to warrant careful monitoring.
The designation is the result of a meeting held last week that brought 31 health researchers together to evaluate the conclusions that can be drawn from current research, including unpublished information from the Interphone study. The conclusions will eventually appear in The Lancet Oncology, but the IARC has issued a press release ahead of publication.
As we recently discussed, the wavelengths used for cellular communications are only known to influence human tissue via heating, and the researchers involved with the designation do not propose anything new here. The panel also recognizes that most of the epidemiological research involving human exposure to radio frequencies is ambiguous; for all but two types of cancer, the current state of information is officially deemed “inadequate.”
From DSC:
Though the evidence doesn’t seem to be very threatening, I’d rather be safe than sorry here. For me, a practical application that I take from this is to not use the cell phone if I can use a land line close by.
On 04/22/2011,
in Daniel S. Christian, faith, health, history, relationships, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Easter is coming — from BibleGateway.com
Today is Good Friday, when Christians around the world reflect on the arrest, trial, and execution of Jesus Christ. In the Christian worldview, it’s one of the most important dates in all of history, trumped in significance only by the glorious events of Resurrection Day a few days later.
On the surface, the story of Good Friday describes something historically unremarkable (although certainly terrible): the unjust martyrdom of a visionary. Certainly many religious leaders and idealists have met undeserved death at the hands of brutal establishments throughout history, all the way up to the present day. But as you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ final hours before crucifixion, you cannot escape the sense that this is different. This is injustice on a cosmic scale; this is humanity literally spitting in the face of its loving Creator.
But we can read this story without despairing because we know how it ultimately ends. The God who works all things for the good will bring unimaginable glory and grace out of even the murder of his own son.
Have you read the story of Good Friday recently? So much happened on Good Friday that it’s easier to just read it in its entirety rather than isolate the individual stories. It’s told from four different perspectives in the Bible: Matthew 26:47-27:61, Mark 14:42-15:47, Luke 22:47-23:56, and John 18-19.
It’s a bleak story, but we know a truth that puts even this in perspective: Easter is coming.
From DSC:
I was reading this morning about a pastor (who I’ve heard preach before and is a wonderful person) who had to go through a seriously dark time — brought on by prostate cancer — which led him into a painful journey through his own desert before he was able to reach a deeper level of spirituality with God. Suffering, it seems, is a part of the Christian’s journey — even if it’s unwanted.
I have to admit, that often times, I wish it were not so. I wish I/we all had the ability to listen better and to learn from others; I wish that inclination was more a part of human nature — especially learning from others’ experiences in the past. I wish that we didn’t need 2″ x 4″‘s onside our heads in order for us to wake up and to change our ways. (Brief tangent: People don’t like to hear bad news. We humans have never liked to hear bad news; ever. Think of global warming. Think of the U.S. Federal deficit — and the growing ramifications that astronomical debt brings with it.)
I was reflecting on the story of Jonah the other day…thinking, I’ve missed the whole point of Jonah. Instead of focusing on the large fish and how Jonah at first rebelled/ran away from God and then later obeyed (which is also a valuable part of the story), I should have also focused on the more important lesson. That is, that the people of Nineveh actually listened, heard the message, heeded the warning from the LORD, and then actually changed their ways! What a concept….and one that we Americans need to re-learn before our feet slip even further.
Online Education in the Ivy League — from US News by Brian Burnsed
Dartmouth’s new healthcare delivery program is the first of its kind, but it may not be the last.
On 10/20/2010,
in emerging technologies, health, intelligent tutoring, internet, mobile technologies, virtual tutoring,
by Daniel Christian
Steve mentioned in his emails that we can pass this newsletter along…so that’s what I’m doing here.
Steve Knode’s September 2010 edition is out. Some of [his] favorite links this month include:
- Virtual Tutors being developed at NC State
- Donald Tapscott’s synopsis of his new book (Macrowikinomics)
- Georgia Tech mobile phone app for campus events
- Allosphere stunning video demo
- A health application 4 times more powerful in improving health than drugs
- 3D surgery
- More smartphone apps
- Some neural network applications
- Smart credit cards
- More robots
- the danger of the Internet of Things.
- etc.
Steve also mentioned that all applications are categorized at his website — www.steveknode.com/news_updates.htm — and all prior and current newsletters are available at www.steveknode.com/newsletters.htm.
On 10/20/2010,
in Augmented Reality (AR), biology, dangers of the status quo, economics, emerging technologies, ethics, faith, future, geography / geology, global / globalization, health, internet, morals/values, political science, sociology, surviving, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
From biotech visionaries growing new body parts, to in vitro meat, from a global sensor web that monitors the health of the earth’s biosphere, to a massive effort to reverse-engineer the human brain, Surviving the Future takes a disquieting and astonishing look at some of science’s most radical new technologies.
The film also takes a hard look at the ‘new normal’ of the climate crisis, as we balance our desire to be environmentally responsible—to ‘do the right thing’—and still participate in the consumer economy that is, for better or worse, the basis of our society.
Surviving the future is an unsettling glimpse into the human psyche right now, as our culture staggers between a fervent belief in futuristic utopian technologies on the one hand, and dreams of apocalyptic planetary payback on the other.
Thought provoking and visually stunning, Surviving the Future looks at the stark and extreme choices facing our species as we prepare ourselves for the most challenging and consequential period in our history.
From DSC:
These are some of the things I was alluding to in my post here…I’d be more comfortable with many of these things if the state of the heart were in better condition.
On 09/27/2010,
in creativity, health, innovation, media/film, multimedia, nursing,
by Daniel Christian
USC Brings Together Filmmakers, Engineers, Doctors for Its New Body Computing Center — from FastCompany.com by Allisa Walker
On 07/29/2010,
in health, political science,
by Daniel Christian
President Obama does some Screencasting — from digital inspiration and the Whitehouse
…
172 interactive health tutorials and 32 edugames — from Zaidlearn
Some example links include:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html
http://www.patient-education.com/main.asp?p=aboutxplain&s=xplaintutorials
