Postponing Death

Many people are focusing on ways to extend life, but one scientist may have found a way to stop the process of death completely - for a short while at least.

Biologist Mark Roth has discovered that breathing a mild concentration of sulfur hydroxide (a poisonous gas) causes laboratory mice to go into a kind of suspended animation. Their cellular processes shut down due to a lack of oxygen, but the cells don't degrade as they normally would - also due to a lack of oxygen. Sulfur hydroxide so completely replaces the oxygen in the animal's cells that biological processes - including death - simply don't occur. The cells go into a sort of chemical stasis. They can be held in that condition for several hours, then when the oxygen is restored the animal snaps out of its stupor and goes about its normal life, no the worse for the experience.

This process is being developed as a potential way to keep accident and trauma victims alive longer while doctors search for ways to correct their maladies. So far research for larger animals has been disappointing, but Roth and several other researchers are diligently seeking for ways to expand the effect to humans.

Maybe it won't let you live forever, but it just might keep you alive after that heart attack long enough for doctors to get your condition under control. Pretty amazing science!

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DaVinci Lives!

Or at least he seems to keep on producing! Locked away in a Swiss bank vault is a painting formerly thought to be painted by an unknown German artist in the 19th century. Now through advanced forensic techniques, experts have determined that it's actually an original work by none other than legendary Italian master Leonardo DaVinci. Apparently created as the cover for a book of poetry, the work is now valued at $160 million. That's serious cover art!

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This is Just Too Cool!

An animated fountain (or more like a waterfall) in Japan!



This is definitely a serious tourist-catcher! Just the thing to twist a few neurons, huh?

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The Whole World on One Site?

Well, not the world itself but a mind-blowing amount of information about the world. Population, poverty, income, birth and death rates, economic growth, health, you name it. Hans Rosling's incredible software brings together more information about the world and humanity than you (or I) ever even new existed! And it's all available for free in a fully interactive and highly innovative charting application.

I couldn't possibly cover what's in this killer app or what you can do with it - you would be much better served to go see it for yourself. You may never browse to another site - after all, 'he's got the whole world in his app!'

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When Baseball Becomes Cheese-Ball

Of all the cheesy tactics for a (very wealthy) baseball team and its (very wealthy) star player to pull on a (small and defenseless) little girl:

The Philadelphia Phillies confiscated a home run ball caught by 12 year old Jennifer Valdivia last July under the pretext that she could meet the slugger who hit it after the game. That slugger was Ryan Howard and the home run was his 200th. However, once the game was over, Howard never appeared and the team cheesily offered a bait-and-switch ball to Jennifer as a consolation.

Jennifer and her mother were not pleased. Feeling that her daughter had been intimidated out of a valuable souvenir, Jen's mom, Delfa Vanegas began a campaign to get the Phillies to give back the ball. Not until a lawsuit was filed did Ryan Howard finally do the right thing and give the ball back to the otherwise lucky little girl who had caught it at first first ever Major League ball game.

That game really needs an infusion of class, like the kind it once had.

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Credit Card Companies Rush to Beat Protections

I just read this morning that some credit card issuers are jacking up rates and minimum payments in a hurry because a new law passed in congress would prevent it from doing so. That's a perfect example of the American way of doing business. It's all about the profit and has nothing to do with what's good for people.

In truth, we should neither be surprised nor should we be angered by this. It's what businesses are supposed to do (make money, as much as they legally can) and we should never expect businesses to be concerned about out well-being. We the people need to use the rights and powers given to us by the Constitution to ensure that commerce, like Government, works for our benefit.

We created Government to give us the ability to set rules that protect us from abuse by private businesses. If the rules are set correctly, businesses are free to do whatever they want (within the law) to make money and we won't need to worry about being unfairly abused.

An effective and accountable Government should heed our needs and take action when abuses occur. To their credit, that's what Congress has done in passing this new legislation, but until it goes into effect we need to be ready for whatever the credit card companies decide to throw at us.

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Bananas are More Important Than You Think

Bananas are tasty, great for splits and very good for making slippery booby traps, but did you know that they are also a very important food source? We in the industrialized world think of bananas as only a tasty sweet snack fruit, but the fact is that the bananas we eat are only of one specific variety - called Cavendish - and there are dozens if not hundreds of varieties we never even see or hear about.

Bananas around the world have very different shapes, sizes, colors, tastes and textures. Most varieties of bananas aren't even sweet. Many kinds are called plantains (you may occasionally see some in the fancier grocery stores) and are cooked with spices, onions and meat in savory dishes.

Most often, though, bananas are used as staple food for civilizations around the world. An excellent starchy source of energy, they are one of the four most important food crops on Earth, along with rice, wheat and corn. In some parts of the world millions would starve if they ran out of bananas.

Unfortunately, our modern supply is threatened by a virulent plague that specifically targets the Cavendish variety. Many experts feel that in just a few years our favorite banana will become essentially extinct, and banana growers are frantically working to identify or develop a new strain that is resistant to this blight, and yet retains the shape, color, flavor and aroma characteristics we're used to. It's quite possible that the bananas our grandchildren eat will be quite different than the ones we grew up with.

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Happy BrainDay!!

It's your lucky day! Today we begin the lifelong process of messing with the collective brain of the human race. You may think your birthday is a very important day, but your brain will be much more interested in a BrainDay present than any old tie or cheap perfume.

The best part is that BrainDay is every day for everybody, so dust off that brain, take it out and let's play with it!