Monday, May 10, 2010

WEB BOHEMIAN (Monday, May 10, 2010)
(1)- FOOD, DUH! -- Food is elite Western preoccupation. And, just as the best ways to address hunger in poor nations are out of fashion. The "sustainable" mantra of organic, local, and slow saves not the world's hungry millions.

(2)- DRINKING – Women with degrees are twice as likely to drink daily and more likely to a drinking problem. A similar link between educational attainment and alcohol consumption is seen among men, but the correlation is less strong.

(3)- MORE ON MARS -- Trace amounts of laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, in Mars's atmosphere could aid the search for life on the Red Planet.

(4)- MODIFICATION -- The battle over genetically modified crops is before the U.S. Supreme Court. It's the first time the nation’s highest court is specifically weighing in on genetically modified organisms and the federal approval process.

(5)- VOTE -- The Kansas House of Representatives passes a proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee people with mental illness the right to vote. The approval came on an overwhelming vote and changes the state Constitution.

(6)- ADVANCE -- A team of Boston researchers has developed an artificial pancreas that prevented blood sugar from falling perilously low in a trial. The team plans longer trials seeking approval by the FDA in as little as seven years.

(7)- NEW LANGUAGE -- Today, a different future language presents itself in startlingly specific form, thanks to Apple, the patent office and Apple. It’s a system of symbols, pinches, swipes, hand flexes and a touchscreen glass.

(8)- UNDER THE RADAR – Disappearing in the UK, once a bastion of freedom and civil liberties, is done by someone showing how Britain is now one of the most advanced surveillance societies in the world, ranked after Russia and China.

(9)- WHAT HAPPENS? -- Take a cup of water and put it inside a thick, stainless steel pipe? Let’s say it’s a pipe with massive screw-on caps able to withstand huge pressures. Add liquid nitrogen. Since the water can’t expand, what happens?

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

ENDIT