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Tara’s just written a pretty powerful post about smallmindedness in small towns, so I figured I’d chime in, too. (And if you stay with me for a bit, you’ll see why this seemingly political discussion has everything to do with science.)
One of my biggest reservations about voting for Barack Obama is his Christian fundamentalism. You’d think that this would be one of the biggest selling points to my Midwestern family members, who believe—above all else—in Christian religious faith.
Unfortunately, rather than embrace his faith, the right-wing Christians have pegged Obama as a “Muslim extremist.”
I received my first anti-Obama email chain letter on January 8, from one of my closest family members. (Its contents below the fold…)
Yesterday morning, in an adorable backyard patio apartment in Carroll Gardens, I experienced my first coffee cupping. The organizers, coffee consultant Daniel Humphries and dancer-gourmet chef Bobbie Marchand, put out an amazing spread. The coffees—some sweet and citrusy, some spicy and savory—came from Sumatra, Ethiopia, and Panama. They were paired with: orange blossom yogurt over red quinoa; a medium-boiled egg over pea puree; a vanilla-bean encrusted roast beef sandwich; and a sticky citrus-banana bread cake. To quote the uber-annoying Rachael Ray: YUMO!
Distinguishing among the subtle layering of flavor in the coffees was, for me, much more difficult than doing so in wine. I’m not sure if that reflects coffee’s complexity or my insensitivity to it.
Daniel told us about the World Barista Championship, which is happening right now in Copenhagen. Contenders have to make 12 drinks—four cappuccinos, four espressos, and four “signature drinks”—for four judges in just 15 minutes! He said that the Scandinavians always win. (The top finalists so far are from Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia.)
Anyone who’s a coffee snob (or, like me, interested in becoming one) should definitely check out Daniel’s amazing blog. I can’t wait until he and Bobbie host another event!
On December 14, 1994, in the basin of China’s mighty Yangtze River, construction began on what will be the world’s largest dam: the Three Gorges. The Chinese government took on this 17-year, $29 billion-plus building project in the Hubei Province primarily to end thousands of years of disastrous flooding downstream, especially near Wuhan and Shanghai. (In the last century alone, the untamed waters have taken more than 1 million lives.)
But in addition to flood control, the dam’s builders say that its hydroelectric power plant will generate a sizable portion—18.2 million kilowatts, or about as much as 18 nuclear power plants—of the energy needed to fuel China’s growing economy. The 1.5-mile-wide, 607-foot-tall concrete structure, they say, will support a reservoir 400 miles long that holds 10.4 trillion gallons of water.
In almost 14 years since construction began on this high-profile site, spectators across the globe have raised their eyebrows at the touted natural and sociological benefits of the Three Gorges. The reservoir, projected to be 574 feet deep when the dam is finished, has already forced 1.2 million villagers to relocate and has destroyed several archaeological sites. Scientists worry that the steep hills surrounding the dam will lead to erosion and landslides, and that algal blooms popping up downstream will threaten aquatic
species.
At the same time, political leaders fear conflicts over land shortages. Last September, a group of experts in China agreed that the construction of the Three Gorges has had an adverse effect on the environment around the Yangtze River and “if protective measures are not taken, the project could lead to catastrophe.”
The Three Gorges project has met with obstacles since it was first proposed, almost a century ago, by Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen. For now, it’s slated for completion in 2011. In scale, it dwarfs every dam that’s come before. But its ecological and political issues aren’t unique. Controversy inevitably surrounds the construction of each of the 800,000-plus working dams across the world, and especially the 45,000 “large dams” that are more than 50 feet tall.
…read the rest of my latest feature from BOSS Magazine
About 80 percent of adults with autism exhibit restricted or repetitive behaviors, such as hand flapping, teeth grinding, or rocking back and forth. A new fMRI study of 15 autistic people finds that these repetitive behaviors are associated with abnormal activity in the “executive” brain system that’s responsible for attention, planning, and for inhibiting inappropriate behaviors.
Older brain-imaging research on people with autism overwhelmingly focused on social aspects of behavior, such as the processing of faces.
Testing for neural changes during repetitive behaviors is more difficult because of the constraints of an fMRI machine, in which subjects must lie still. “More than three to four millimeters of head motion will invalidate an entire study,” says Hofstra University neuroscientist Keith Shafritz, lead author of the new study.
To jump this hurdle, Shafritz used a novel testing paradigm that forced subjects to activate the cognitive processes behind repetitive behaviors without actually making any motions.
…read the rest of my latest piece at the Simons Foundation website
I was cranky tonight after the evening news mentioned Jenny McCarthy’s crackpot “green the vaccines” rally in DC this weekend. She and Jim Carrey are scheduled to appear on Good Morning America tomorrow. Ugh.
Orac, thankfully, snapped me out of my funk, by posting an (albeit mild) counter-response: an open letter to Congress on immunization policy written by a slew of doctors and public health experts. The money quote (emphasis mine):
Well-designed scientific studies are the only valid method of demonstrating medical cause and effect. In contravention of this fundamental principle, beliefs not based on science have led increasing numbers of parents to choose not to immunize their children. The implications of this choice are profound.
For those who don’t know, McCarthy, whose son is autistic, is now the high-profile spokesperson of those who believe that vaccines are the cause of the rising prevalence of autism in the U.S. On March 9, she distributed a letter online urging parents of children with autism to call the White House and “demand” the resignation of CDC director Julie Gerberding, who has led the CDC, in McCarthy’s words, “during a time when the autism epidemic has only gotten worse.”
Though the idea of an autism “epidemic” originated several years ago, it’s received massive media attention in the last year thanks to celebrities like McCarthy and Don Imus and the 4,800 families who are suing the government in federal “Vaccine Court.”
It’s true that autism diagnoses across the world have skyrocketed in the past few decades. Before 1990, the reported autism prevalence in America was 4.7 out of every 10,000 children; it’s now 60 per 10,000. The anti-vaccination gang says this correlates exactly with the rise in the number of childhood vaccinations, which went from 10 in 1983 to 36 in 2007. But scientists say the rise in autism diagnoses is instead a result of a broadened definition and better awareness of autism spectrum disorders in the medical establishment.
Don’t let their cute children fool you: The Antivaccers are a scary bunch. If Jenny and Jim have their way, the anti-vaccination movement will bankrupt the Vaccine Compensation Fund, start suing the pharmaceutical companies who manufacture the vaccines, and cause a public health disaster. Here’s hoping for rain in D.C. this weekend.
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