View 618 April 12 - 18, 2010 (original) (raw)
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Day After Doomsday
The great volcanic cloud covers the North Atlantic and much of northern Europe, shutting down jet traffic. It must be something like the volcanic cloud that Benjamin Franklin witnessed on this voyage to England: that caused Dr. Franklin to speculate that such clouds could cool the Earth by reflecting away the sunlight, and might be responsible for great glaciers, cool summers, and even the return of the ice. Meanwhile, I hear that this was the warmest March in history (history being since the 1880's). Land temperature was a full 1.39 degrees above the average of 54.9 degrees. For the oceans it was 1.01 degree above the 20th century average of 60.7 degrees. How we manage to calculate temperatures to .01 degree is not explained, and one is permitted to question that accuracy, but it sure looks impressive.
I don't want to make light of climate changes, but I do find it hard to believe they're serious when they report an ocean temperature of "1.01 degrees above the average" as if the .01 had any meaning whatever.
We'll see if the volcanic cloud affects April's temperature. In Franklin's time the Hudson still froze over in winter, there were far more glaciers, and Europe was having a colder than usual summer; the results were quite noticeable in terms of growing seasons and crop yields.
Regarding history, clearly it was colder prior to 1880. They just don't know how much colder. Not sure what that means, either, since they don't blush to report temperatures to the nearest hundredth of a degree Fahrenheit from 1880 on.
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Time for my walk.
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Jerry,
Please see the following:http://wepad.mobi/en
This is obviously a much better Linux version of the iPad, which can do most of the things that the iPad should have been able to do. The big question is whether or not this is real, or just dreams?
Joe K
I have never seen a WePad, and I tend to be suspicious of web sites that are a joint venture with "neofonie" but that may be my unduly suspicious nature. Anyone have one of these? I expect that someone will make a Linux version for sale at a reasonable price, but I am not sure it has happened yet.
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"The Case Against Gene Patents" by Nobel in Economics winners Joseph Stiglitz and John Sultson presents its case well. A court recently ruled against the gene patent granted to Myriad Genetics, which had developed tests for a proclivity to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
Under the patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad had total control over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes since the 1990s. No other companies have been able to do research on the genes without Myriad's permission.
The court held that genes and human genetic sequences are naturally occurring things, not inventions. They are a part of all of our bodies and contain the most fundamental information about humanity�information that should be available to everyone. The researchers and private companies that applied for these gene patents did not invent the genes; they only identified what was already there.
This seems to me an obvious finding; it's analogous to the isolation of a new element. Patenting processes using the element, or the process used to isolate it, would be quite appropriate, but to say that any one firm had a monopoly on everything associated with the element seems absurd.
The rest of the article concerns economic incentives and research: how far should patent law reach, and how does that affect the incentive to do necessary research? Stiglitz and Sultson present the case that patenting genes is bad economics as well as bad law. This will be appealed, and we may be sure it will come up again. It's an emotional issue:
Because of this monopoly, Myriad is able to charge more than $3,000 to perform the test, a prohibitively high amount that keeps some women from being tested and making informed health decisions.
Other labs have said they would be willing to perform the test for a few hundred dollars, if only they were allowed, and could also develop new tests in order to provide women with a second opinion about their results. The information provided by the tests is of enormous importance: The lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is as high as 85% for mutation carriers.
Obviously I defend intellectual property and reward for investment in scientific discoveries. I'm also in favor of this court ruling: I don't think the US can grant a monopoly on study of a gene. This hasn't yet come before Congress, but that's one possibility; it would be well to have a rational position on the subject before it gets there.
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And here is great news.
Subject: Anti-Cancer Agent Stops Metastasis In Its Tracks
This looks like a major step in the right direction: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185482.php
And another reason our health dollars represent value...
Lawrence
I'm still thinking about the implications of this. I have a friend at Sloan Kettering with inoperable stomach cancer and about a year; if that could be prevented from mestasizing long enough for chemo to shrink it until it can be operated on, the benefit would be obvious. Of course before the FDA will approve it for use with anyone including those who will die without it, the year will probably be up. More on the FDA and approval another time.
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In Memoriam: Constance Holden--Journalist, Artist
I have not seen her for years, but when I regularly went to AAAS meetings she was there often. We didn't always agree but she was always rational. RIP
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The Sun is spotless again. The Minimum continues.http://www.solarcycle24.com/ Temperatures continue to rise. What it all means isn't clear, at least not to me.
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And more breaking news :
Chemical Warfare
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dc_munitions_dig
B
We once had weapons of mass destruction. Come to that, we still do...
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