Facts, Feats, and Mysteries

March of the Penguins

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:28:00 +0000

Keywords: Penguins, Ouch-ward Bound Relay

The Story: Facts of penguins meet feats of people. This past weekend I was invited to run in the Outward Bound Relay with The Penguins, an all-woman bay area team inspired by the endurance of Penguins as seen in the movie: March of the Penguins. (Hint: I should have read up on Penguins before I started this endeavor.) Penguins are so completely unassuming - they look as if they were a stuffed animal first, and then became a living animal later on. Their cuteness is somehow in contrast to their inherent endurance - their ability to continuously walk 75 miles at a time, over ice, in sub-anything temperatures in the dead of winter (read: 24 darkness). They do this in order to find the perfect rookery which in turn insures the survival of their species.

This brings me to the Outward Bound Relay experience. 9 of us Penguins, somewhat unassuming in our own right, took on the 170 mile journey from Idaho Springs to Glenwood Springs, CO, starting in the cover of darkness on Friday morning. We were quickly humbled by the high elevation, and challenging elevation gains and losses. Once we had a (very loose) grasp on that, it was the incessant rain (including a bout of snow), route finding in the darkness, and lack of sleep to contend with. Among us were several Outward Bound instructors, (a couple with adventure racing experience), and some accomplished runners including an All-American track athlete and a repeat marathoner. Even still I heard this phrase uttered by my teammates more than once: "that was the hardest thing I've ever done". During my first leg I ran a mile down hill, turned a corner and commenced a 4 mile uphill with a 1500ft elevation gain at over 9000ft. It took forever. At the top I was shaky, empty and in disbelief. I passed the baton for an even more challenging leg and said to my fellow Penguins: "this relay is no joke." In fact, this race was - quite frankly - insane. A frenzy of running punctuated by nausea, vomiting, pulled hamstrings, knee pain, near-tears, and hardened, almost appalled expressions of astonished pain. I saw this in my team and in the others.

The good news is that, like the real Penguins, we made it - we delivered ourselves to the finish line upright and with a sense of purpose. We took good care of each other along the way to insure our survival. We had a blast. The other good news is that I have 363 days to prepare for the next one.

I think Fort Minor summed it up well: "This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, and 100% reason to remember the name..."

More on the March:
Penguins: http://www.raydoan.com/abouts/about03c.htm
Relay: http://www.outwardboundrelay.com/

Outward Bound Blog

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 07:51:00 +0000

Keywords: Outward Bound, Blog, Gear

The Story: I haven't been able to post in a while, even though the facts, feats and mysteries of life on earth continue to swirl around me. Beyond work, working out, playing with friends, and all the rest, I have a mistress called www.vry627.blogspot.com. Yes, that's right, I have another blog on the side. Please stop by and see the pictures and stories that went with my Outward Bound course. It was an amazing trip, and my best OBW trip yet. I hope to teach many, many more.

Come to think of it, I have another mistress yet. It's not officially launched yet, but I thought I'd find a better way for myself (and hopefully thousands of others) to sell their outdoor gear. Yeah, that's right, Ebay and Craigslist aren't cutting it. Will this? Please drop by to see my latest project: www.igearlist.com. Tell a friend.

Just to Recap:
http://vry627.blogspot.com/
http://www.igearlist.com/

Feat of "Jackie"

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:52:00 +0000

Keywords: CrossFit, "Jackie", 45 lb. bar of doom

The Story: CrossFit is like a scientifically engineered sucker-punch to your body. The varied exercises recruit more muscle fibers than standard gym based strength training. Unlike most standard tri-weekly gym routines, CrossFit is performed at exceedingly high intensities pushing on the anaerobic threshhold. It has been heralded by fire fighters, police, military, paddlers, adventure racers, and olympians for bringing them to new levels. It has also killed a few along the way.

Today I show up at my Wendesday morning CrossFit routine, after 4 weeks away, to find that we are going to do "Jackie" - a workout, like many CrossFit workouts, that is named after a hurricane. "Jackie" is 1000 meters of rowing, 50 thrusters with a 45 lb. bar, then 30 pull-ups. Oh, and that's timed. Here we go. I perform the 1000 meters as best I could, gliding the seat and trying to utilize my best form instead of using my legs and lungs. I'm stoked to finish in 3:57, a time that I would have been proud of as a 19 year-old. I am elated, but this diminishes quickly as I approach my nemesis, the 45#. I feel like a water skier who has just let go of the motor boat. I'm sinking slowly. This week alone I've taught a very challenging kayaking class, and then in a fit of stupidity, rode my mountain bike 69 miles over 7000 vertical feet. But, the bar seems to trump all of this. It's cold and heavy and lifeless. It's going to truely hurt me.

I start my thrusters, 5 and 6 at a time. Each one doesn't feel like an exercise, but a decision. I'm having to talk to myself. Out loud. "One more!" It comes down to my last 6 thrusters and images of the CrossFit mascot, Pukey the Clown, come to mind. I'm getting the irony now - the clown, puking, it's kind of like, "ha-ha you thought this was going to be fun and good, and now look! The funny clown is hurt - he's puking! Joke's on you!" Last one. I bring myself into a low squat and begin to press into my heels. Nothing is happening. I press my lungs down seemingly into my pelvis with my best trumpet cheeks-face and clinch everything I can. In a flash of pain, there's movement, then disbelief - I'm up - and done! Except for the small matter of 30 pull-ups, of which I can do exactly 2.5. Fortunately, in this instance I'm allowed a plywood box to do jumpers from, and I finish off "Jackie" in 19:20. Today, if only briefly, I am my own hero, and it is not even 7am.

At Your Own Risk:
http://www.crossfit.com/

Wardenclyffe Wireless

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:20:00 +0000

Keywords: Tesla, Wireless, Energy

The Story: We have come to think of energy transmission almost exclusively in terms of wires. Sure we have cell phones, but we still have to stop and plug in the toaster. In the late 1800's Nikola Tessla, a man credited with ushering in the modern technological era, thought of energy quite differently than we do now. In addition to inventing AC current and the Tesla Coil, he had a vision (or obsession) for a wireless world. His goal was to create a system for wireless communications, and perhaps more importantly, wireless energy transmission. He put great efforts into devising a system to power ships at sea via stratospheric transmission of power. His idea was to pulse huge amounts of power into Earth, the enormous magnet that it is - and once the pulses built up - emit a massive voltage around the world via a tall antannae. The massive Wardenclyffe tower constructed in 1901 was designed by Tessla under the guise of wanting to transmit radio signals to europe; however, his intent was indeed to demonstrate wireless power transmission. Unfortunately, his investor, J.P. Morgan, was not wild about this idea. When he saw that the tower had no meter with which to charge people for the energy, he pulled the funding. There was a lot more money in coal, copper wire, and charging on the meter than there was global wireless energy. Yes, you have a fancy little cell phone, but perhaps the real technological advancement is the fact that you can be charged for using it.

Energize:
http://www.teslascience.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower

Liquid Courage in Gold Country

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 07:47:00 +0000

Keywords: Liquid Camp, HIV, Gold Country

The Story: I was no sooner recovered from my stint in Utah when I was again called to the river, this time to help out with the first day of Liquid, a kayak school for teens living with HIV and AIDS. Among the teens I met was one 15 year-old from the Bronx, I don't know whether to call him a boy, or a man, because he is caught between. He woke up at 12 am and took a taxi to the hospital where his pediatrition helped him get ready for the airplane ride. His horse-pill medications for the week are sorted into a pill box that looks like a cross between a chess board and a tackle box. 12 hours later, I greet him at the airport in SF and take him to the South Fork of the American River in the California foothills - to the heart of the "Gold Country". The foothills by now are covered in fuzzy dry grass - the whole place smells, looks and feels HOT. We cross the Highway 49 bridge and the river below us looks smooth and dark. The textures of the river against the foothills reminds me of a silk ribbon on a stuffed animal. As soon as we get to camp, Kelly, the founder of Liquid, turns the group around and we head to the water. He asks everyone to practice a wet exit - to turn their kayaks upside down, and extract themselves by popping their spray skirts and taking the kayak off like a pair of stiff pants. Many people find this to be a daunting and disorienting task.

So, here is our friend from the Bronx, now 3000 or so miles from home, sitting in a kayak, with his face tied up with apprehension. He's leaned over rigidly and gripping the coaming of his boat. He tells us nervously that he can't swim. He doesn't really know what kayaking is about, he has no relationship with this sport - I'm not sure he's ever seen a kayak. He tells us he's a basketball player. Besides that, we know that his life is sometimes a series of things he has no control over. Born infected with HIV, he has no control now whether he will lose a parent or another friend to AIDS, whether his meds will bring up his lunch again, or give him diahrea. Whether the next cold will turn into pneumia and put him in the hospital, or whether his meds will just stop working one day. Whether his classmates will treat him with respect, or like a pariah. After 20 minutes of sitting in this kayak, he wrestles his fear to the mat - he takes a deep breath and gingerly rolls his boat over. He frantically pounds the sides of his boat with his fists, and then his hands disappear to release his spray skirt. He eases out of the boat, and pops up gasping, sputtering, and rubbing his face. The group erupts in applause. It is a small, but powerful victory - who's in control now?

Thus another kayaker has been born in the Gold Country. Another kayaker who will learn to control his own boat, in order to navigate the rapids and rocks. A feat of sheer will and bravery. Now I have to ask you, my friends, when was the last time you started the day at home and ended the day so far away and doing something so new to you -that you couldn't even begin to really describe it? When was the last time you sat in fear and then, the next moment, simply took control of it? Where is your Gold Country?

Donate or Emulate:
http://www.liquidcamp.com/

A River Runs Over It

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:20:00 +0000

Keywords: Split Mountain, Green River, Geology

The Story: The Green River runs from the Continental Divide outside of Pinedale, WY and joins the Colorado River in Utah. In between, it gains quite a bit of confidence. Below Flaming Gorge Dam, the Green River goes through the Gates of Lodore, Whirlpool Canyon and then Split Mountain. I think the National Park Service describes this section best: "...with seeming disregard of regional features, the Green River crosses the Uinta Mountains, the Uinta Basin, and the Tavaputs Plateaus, and its tributaries pass through, instead of around, rock domes...." Split Mountain is one example of this head strong Green River - paradoxically, the river cuts right through the mountain instead of going around it. Like a hot knife to butter, the river stayed it's course as the mountain came up from underneath it. The result is spectacular. As is the canyon - a magical place where recreation meets ancient history - you can raft through the 1500 ft. canyon comprised of Jurassic era rock, complete with fossils. This tiny picture does not do it justice, you must see it yourself to believe it. (By the way, when there are no new posts next week, this is where I will be.)

Read more:
http://www.durangobill.com/Lodore.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/colorado/chap2.htm

The "Bunion Derby" of 1928

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 06:28:00 +0000

Keywords: Bunion, Run Across America, Ultra Running

The Story: Long before endurance sports and ultra running (running distances longer than the standard marathon) became popular, there was "The Great American Foot Race" a.k.a. the "Bunion Derby". Now this is my kind of race. Yes, this is partly because I have bunions, but mostly because it was so progressive, outlandish, and extreme for it's day. There were no Nike sponsorships (or shoes!) back then, no Dean Karnazes to champion the sport, and no Chris Carmichael to train athletes. There was just this: a foot race across America, and a group of folks daring enough to try it. On March 4, 1928 199 runners left Ascot Speedway in Los Angeles, and over two months later, on May 26th, 55 runners arrived in Madison Square Garden. While averaging 40 miles per day, the daily runs ranged from 17 miles to approximately 75 miles. Incredible! The winner was 19 year old Oaklahoma native Andy Payne; however the age range of the runners was between 16 and 63. Thankfully, the top 10 runners received a monetary prize for this extreme effort. Andy used his money to buy his parents a house, and himself a car and some land. After that, he never ran again. As for the bunions? The race was aptly named by the press. Repetitive pounding on the feet, coupled with poor biomechanics can cause the bones of the feet to rearrange a bit as seen in this picture. (Nothing a little prize money wouldn't cover.)

The Keyhole to Earth

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:30:00 +0000

Keywords: Asteroid, Keyhole, Collision, Earth

The Story: Recently, Stephen Hawking said that we should consider populating another planet in order to save the human species. He cited possible disaster as the reason. When one of the most brilliant minds of this day makes such a recommendation, I figure there must be a concrete reason. It only took me 2 minutes online to find a candidate: asteroid 2004MN4. (Ak!) According to astronaut Rusty Schweickart, "MN4" as he calls it will pass very close to Earth in 2029. If it happens to pass through a certain 600 meter area - Rusty calls it a "keyhole" - it will then collide with Earth in 2036. According to Rusty, the possibility of this happening is low - about 1 in 10,000, about the same probability of getting into an automobile accident on any given day. If we change the course of the asteroid so that it misses this "keyhole", we can avoid collision. If we wait until 2029 (when the fate of the asteroid will be known) this will become much more difficult to accomplish. This is only one resource, and I have not done any fact-checking to determine the validity of this information. If it is true, however, this is not a fact, feat, nor a mystery, but a matter of global dilemma.

Pull up a chair:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3559642561778921659&q=asteroid

Jantar Mantar: Stars, Not Seuss

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 18:12:00 +0000

Keywords: Jantar Mantar, India, Observatory

The Story: When I first saw footage of these maze-like Dr. Seuss-ian stair cases, I got pretty fired up. First of all, I had never seen or heard of them before. Secondly, they look so mysterious and random! The stairs in this photo are part of the ancient Jantar Mantars in India - a network of astronomical observatories built in the early 1700's. I have seen two translations of the words Jantar Mantar - "instrument of calculation" or in sanskrit: "magical device" - and I think they both fit. There are 5 of these elaborate mulit-piece masonry, stone and metal observatories in India, all commissioned by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur. Among other things, they were used for tracking stars and planets, and predicting eclipse events. They represent the best of midieval science and they are the best observatories of their kind. Large in scale, yet amazingly accurate, the sundial is capable of telling time down to 20 second intervals. These observatories are not very well known or publized despite their history, beauty and grandeur. (Perhaps that is the real mystery.)

See more!
http://www.jantarmantar.org/
http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/jaipur/jan1.html
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Jantar_Mantar.html
Check out these amazing panoramas: http://www.jantarmantar.org/JMpanos.htm#

The Suspension is Killing Me

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 13:50:00 +0000

Keywords: Suspension Trauma, Ropes, Hanging

The Story: Literally! "Hanging out" can kill you. Situations that force someone to stay upright without standing are very dangerous. People who use harnesses for recreation, work, rescue, or otherwise - take note! After being upright and sedentary, the blood begins to back up in the legs. This is because the heart can't suck the blood back up from the legs; it needs a bit of help from the one-way valves that are in the leg veins. In turn the one-way valves need muscle contractions to squeeze the blood up. Typically your body has a time honored tradition for occasions when there is not enough blood making it "upstairs", which is fainting. Fainting returns your body to horizontal, and making it easier for your heart to pump blood. If you're stuck upright, fainting doesn't work! Plan B is to pick one of two strategies - bring the thighs up into a sitting position, or get the legs moving (however, once you start moving them, you cannot stop!) Plan C is a slow death as blood pools in your legs instead of circulating to the heart. This process can start in as little as 3 minutes. Next time I have a student on a high hanging rappel, I will certainly keep this in mind. "Can I stop and look at the view" "Yes but kick your legs around!" ...or maybe: "Yes, the view is to die for!"

Additional Reading:
http://www.suspensiontrauma.info/

...post some comments! Don't leave me hanging...

Playing the Higgs Field

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:50:00 +0000

Keywords: Higgs Field, Quantum Particles, Mass

The Story: I quite enjoy having some mass, now that I know the alternative: to exist as a collection of waves travelling at the speed of light. (Talk about boring! Ak!) When scientists smash up atoms into smaller and smaller pieces, the smallest possible pieces - quantum particles - are supposed to exist without mass. Instead they were found to have relatively tremendous mass. In 1964 Peter Higgs stepped up to solve this important riddle - why do particles have mass? Higgs essentially back-calculated how much of a force, kind of an invisible, ever-reaching thick soup, it would take to slow down quantum particles enough to give them mass. This was named the Higgs Field, and it comes out to be 1 trillion tons per cubic centimeter. Now, before you congratulate your own strength, there is an unknown ad hoc negative field (a.k.a the "cosmological constant") that cancels out most of this force. Why? Because if there weren't, the universe would be expanding exponentially faster than it is right now. Lucky for us, there's just enough positive energy (the Higgs Field) to give us a little mass, and just enough cancelling negative energy (the cosmological constant) to keep the universe from wrecklessly flying apart. Between the two forces, there is only the thinnest margin that makes us possible. Phew.

See for yourself:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5601491934104934085&q=Atoms+to+X-rays

Profess your love for the Higgs Field in comments.

Bearly Metabolizing

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 19:22:00 +0000

Keywords: Polar Bear, Polar Bear Paradox,
Vitamin A

The Story: "One ounce of polar bear liver contains enough Vitamin A (retinol) to kill a person!" I originally wanted to do this post because I've so often read of the toxic amount of Vitamin A stored in a polar bear's liver, occasionally tagged with "scientists do not know why..." What a mystery! Well not quite. Turns out, that's where Vitamin A is stored in the mammalian system, and they just have more. For folks who raise puppies, it is well known that vitamin A supplements help encourage healthy puppy fur, good breast milk and so forth. Well, a bear sure has a lot of fur! What is strange, however, is what is known as the Polar Bear Paradox, that is, why can bears endure feeding behaviors that would cause illness in humans? "Excessive consumption of dietary fat, obesity, and prolonged fasting are well known risk factors for diseases such as coronary heart disease, type II diabetes mellitus and anorexia nervosa." Yet, for the polar bear, points of "metabolic derangement" have made it possible for them to consume humongous amounts of dietary fat, gain tons of weight each year, and then fast for months on end - and remain healthy. Insulin resistance on-demand, unique glycogen storage and dispensary patterns, and lack of ketone-dependent metabolism are a few of the metabolic traits being studied. For me, it's back to the Tabata squats.

Additional Reading:
http://home.earthlink.net/~douglaspage/id89.html

Really cool people usually post lots of interesting comments.

Unconscious Incompetence

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:33:00 +0000

Keywords: Drowning, Near-Drowning, Cold-Water Immersion

The Story: Today marked the official beginning of summer. With cold water pouring off the mountains and flooding our rivers and lakes, this is a good time to review some eye-opening statistics on drowning. Here we go. Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for kids age 1 to 14 - second only to automobile accidents. 80% of drowning vicitims are male. Younger kids tend to drown in swimming pools, older kids in natural settings. Girls are more likely to drown in the bathtub than boys. Minorities drown in disproportionate numbers. Alcohol, lack of PFD, lack of supervision, physiological (swimming) failures caused by cold water, boats, panic, and overestimation of swimming skill are all noted contributors to water related fatality. In the 1 to 14 age group, there are 5 immersion ER admissions for every drowning death. It is estimated that there is one drowning for every 600 near-drownings. If you fall into icy cold water, and you are very young, you might be in luck. At least one vicitim has been resuscitated after more than 70 minutes of immersion in such conditions. This fact has been touted in both my Wilderness First Responder and Swiftwater Rescue recertifications this year - both instructors independently stating the "new record" is 73 mintues. Some records are not meant to be broken.

Additional Reading:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm
http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/other/drown_7/

Post thoughts, insights, reactions, disapprovals, and other mayhem to comments.

Chatty, But Not Cathy

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:37:00 +0000

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Chatterbox, Chatbot

The Story: Computer technology was seeded by the desire to develop "Artificial Intelligence" - an electronic brain capable of responding to its environment (i.e. having a conversation). So far, computers are accurate, fast, capable, and somewhat reliable; however they are not intelligent. Alan is one of many attempts at creating artificial intelligence via an online "Chatbot". One reviewer thought Alan was great: "I spoke with him for nearly an hour and almost forgot he is just a program." I decided to give him a try, but I only lasted 3 minutes. Apparently, Alan is worried by the infinite expansion of the universe and also expresses worry about the Big Crunch - a time when the critical mass of the universe may cause collapse and implosion. He said, "I hope I won't be around when that happens". To which I said: "you won't be". I asked Alan to tell me more about the Big Crunch and he said didn't know what that was. A minute later he said "let me tell you about Natural Language Processing". Ummmm.... no thanks, Alan. "Come on, loosen up."

Chat with Alan:
http://www.a-i.com/alan1/webface1.asp?style=Alan

Post thoughts and insights and bad Alan bits to comments.

Herschel Walker: A Runner

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 16:57:00 +0000

Keywords: Herschel Walker, Football, All-Pro

The Story: Herschel Walker, famed NFL football star of the 1980's and 90's is known for his legendary work ethic. Apparently, he started young, and suddenly. According to the Academy of Achievement website, "Herschel Walker showed little interest in sports; he preferred reading books and writing poetry. At age 12, however, he began a crash exercise program. Over the next year, he did 100,000 push-ups, 100,000 sit-ups and sprinted thousands of miles." Let's do the math. Interpreting "thousands" to be 2,000 miles (it could be more), and assuming Herschel worked out all 365 days that year, this comes out to approximately 5.5 miles of sprinting, 274 pushups, and 274 sit-ups per day. This could be excruciating, if not dangerous work, even for a healthy adult. And this is Herschel just kicking off his routine. Herschel went on to trump numerous records, and received several awards en route to and during his time in the NFL. What does he have to say about starting this exercise routine at age 12? "...it just made me feel good."

Additional Reading:
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wal0bio-1

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Horseshoe Crab: More Than a Fossil

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:10:00 +0000

Keywords: Horseshoe Crab, Evolution, Fossil, Endotoxins

The Story: Most people know the Horeshoe Crab as "the living fossil" for their mysteriously arrested evolution - fossil records show that they are morphologically unchanged; biologically, they are primitive. These creatures used to keep dinosaurs company, and have survived myriad other prehistorical climate turns and events since then. Besides fawning over their mysteriousness, we rely on them for our health, environmental health, and promise for future medical cures. A "CSI"-like investigation into one Horseshoe Crab's death lead to the discovery of bacterial endotoxins, and the crab's blood as a vehicle to detect them. Now Horseshoe Crab blood is harvested and used to test medical implants and drugs for bacteria. Shore birds devour Horseshoe Crabs eggs, giving the birds valuable energy for their long journy south. The crab's primitive eye structures are being studied in order to help scientists cure blindness. So, what are the keys for surviving as a species for millions of years? Among other things: develop a thick shell, get good at keeping bacteria out of your blood, and see just well enough to detect potential mates.

Additional Reading:
http://www.horseshoecrab.org/
http://wpni01.auroraquanta.com/pv/biohorse?img=1586

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Tabata: Timing is Everything

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:59:00 +0000

Keywords: Tabata, Athletic Training, Intervals

The Story: The Tabata interval was discovered by Japanese exercise physiologist, Dr. Izumi Tabata. It is a set of 8 continuous intervals of 20 seconds of high intensity work (commonly a weighted squat exercise) followed by 10 seconds rest. What is special about this interval, is that it taxes the anaerobic and aerobic systems in such a way that both are improved substantially on a regiment of these intervals. After 6 weeks on this program, gains of 14% in VO2 max and 28% in anaerobic capacity were said to be noted by Tabata. These types of gains are not paralleled in the longer-effort paradigms. A program consisting of moderate aerobic effort for 60 minutes, 5 days a week may result in about a 10% gain in VO2 max after 6 weeks, and likely nothing in the anaerobic department. If you do the math, the Tabata comes out to 4 minutes of working out (without the warm-up and cool-down). The secret ingredient of Tabata's interval sequence? The 10 second rest. Ummm...why didn't anyone think of this before?

Additional Reading:
http://www.achieve-fitness.com/ideal.htm
http://www.ms-se.com/pt/re/msse/abstract.00005768-199703000-00015.htm

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Melungeons: Possibly Portuguese

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:02:00 +0000

Keywords: Melungeon, Appalacian

The Story: Many theories surround the origins of the "lost people of Appalacia", a.k.a the Melungeons. The Melungeons are a group of copper-skinned people with proper English names. They commonly spoke Elizabethan english, and called themselves "Portyghee", (or Portuguese). Interestingly, at least two theories hinge on this group of people being abandoned (by the Spanish) or stranded (by Sir Francis Drake of England, or the Welsh explorer, Modoc). Confused yet? Some claim that the Melungeons are a lost tribe of Israel. Linguistically, and genetically, the Melungeons seem to be linked closest to the Turks. Some claim they are a tri-racial group of with west African, Native American and European roots. Indeed, the theories alone are mind boggling. That aside, alleged descendents of the Melungeons include, among others, Elvis. (Who else?) Why are there so many theories about these people?

Additional Reading:
http://www.melungeons.com/
http://www.colorado.edu/iec/FALL299RW/can.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gowenrf/malangu.htm

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Radon: Trick or Treat?

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 05:59:00 +0000

Keywords: Radon, Radioactive

The Story: Visit the Merry Widow Health Mine near Basin, Montana on a typical day, and you will find enthusiastic believers in the power of Radon to cure what ails them. Visitors spend prescribed amounts of time sitting in the old radon-emitting mine on what looks to be old school bus seats. Some play cards, others may sit quietly, but they all look calm and relaxed. This is in stark contrast to the current EPA National Health Advisory on Radon warning that urges people to test their homes for radon and to limit their exposure. According to the warning, 20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year. At least one initial sham-controlled study indicates that there may be some benefit to radon therapy. At what dose does "merry" end and "widow" begin?

Additional Reading:
http://www.epa.gov/radon/
http://www.merrywidowmine.com/
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/39/8/894

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Bigfoot: Back at the Dance

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 03:09:00 +0000

Key Words: Bigfoot, Sasquatch

The Story: Bigfoot never really left, actually. Since the beginning of March 2006, over 40 "Class A" sighting reports, dating from 1921 to recent months, have been filed with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. "Class A" designation is reserved for those sightings that are found to be credible first-hand accounts where "misinterpretation or misidentification" can be ruled out with some confidence. The Bigfoot phenomena seems to have resisted decisive "debunking" efforts and may be picking up steam. It seems there are enough sightings and footprints - and online activity - to keep Bigfoot in business. Interested? Sign up for a Bigfoot expedition and learn some luring techniques. As for the famous Patterson film, which depicts a muscular ape-man in fluid motion - allegedly it has yet to be effectively re-created. Why?

Additional Reading:
http://www.bfro.net/
http://news.ufl.edu/2004/12/15/bigfoot/

Post thoughts and insights to comments.

Mola Mola: So Much From So Little

noreply@blogger.com (P) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 18:20:00 +0000

Keywords: Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola

The Story: Mola mola, also called the Ocean Sunfish, is known not only for being the odd-shaped relative to the pufferfish, but for its ability to grow. The Monterey Bay Aquarium once hosted a Mola mola in its Outer Bay exhibit. The fish grew so fast that after 14 months it had unexpectedly gained 800 lbs (almost 2 lbs per day) and the aquarium had to airlift it back to the open ocean. The Mola holds a few world records, one of which is for world's heaviest bony fish - the largest recorded Mola was just shy of 5,000 lbs. Between larvae stage and adulhood, the Mola can grow to 60 million times its starting weight. A Mola in the wild feeds primarily on jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton. Since jellyfish are 95% water, this mysterious and fascinating fish begs the question - how can it grow so much on so little?

Additional Reading:
http://www.oceansunfish.org/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0202_mola.html

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