Science and Mormonism

What's New in the Science and Mormonism Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:20:00 PDT

Most of the activity in this blog is in additions and comments to existing posts.

Aging | Human Skin Cells Converted Into Embryonic Stem Cells
Lifestyle | Getting Fit in Middle Age Can Reduce Heart Failure Risk
Disasters | Breathing Auto Emissions Turns HDL Cholesterol from 'Good' to 'Bad'
Lifestyle | Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Associated With Increased Kidney Stone Risk
Lifestyle | Fish Oil May Stall Effects of Junk Food On Brain
Lifestyle | Studies Support Population-Based Efforts to Lower Excessive Dietary Sodium
Deity | Power of Prayer: Studies Find Prayer Can Lead to Cooperation, Forgiveness
Lifestyle | Cardio and Weight Training Reduces Access to Health Care in Seniors
Before Adam | Fossil Saved from Mule Track Revolutionizes Understanding
Disasters | Bird Flu in Live Poultry Markets Are the Source of Viruses
Disasters | Global Warming Trends Contribute to Spread of West Nile Virus
Other Worlds | New Method of Finding Planets Scores Its First Discovery
Lifestyle | Salt Levels in Food Still Dangerously High
Evolution | Prehistoric Ear Bones Could Lead to Evolutionary Answers

Blood Clots

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Fri, 03 May 2013 06:11:00 PDT

Blood clots or thrombi kill an American about every 5 minutes. Wikipedia says this about blood clots.

A thrombus, or blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. It is achieved via the aggregation of platelets that form a platelet plug, and the activation of the humoral coagulation system (i.e. clotting factors). A thrombus is normal in cases of injury, but pathologic in instances of thrombosis.
Mural thrombi are thrombi adherent to the vessel wall. They are not occlusive and affect large vessels, such as heart and aorta. Grossly they appear grey-red with alternating light and dark lines (lines of Zahn) which represent bands of fibrin (lighter) with entrapped white blood cells and red blood cells (darker).

Scientists are actively studying blood clots, and here are links to some of their research.

In a large, long-term study, researchers followed 30,239 adults who were 45 years or older for 4.6 years. Researchers rated participants' heart health using the seven health indicators from the American Heart Association Life's Simple 7. They include being physically active, avoiding smoking, following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body mass index, and controlling blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol. They then compared the incidence of blood clots among those whose heart health rated as inadequate, average and optimum.

The Scriptures: Literal or Figurative?

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:16:00 PDT

Many years ago, while I was a LDS missionary in West Virginia, I had the opportunity of talking with a Methodist minister. I explained to him the Biblical reasons why I believed there was a falling away (apostasy) from the church that Jesus Christ had formed, and that a restoration of the gospel and church to Joseph Smith had occurred. The minister understood what I was saying, and he commented that ones interpretation of Biblical passages depended on how literal one interprets the verses. In looking back at this event, I've come to realize there is truth in his comment. I grew up in a LDS environment in which stories and teachings from the scriptures were taken literally. It seemed natural to me that the verses from the Bible meant exactly what they said, or at least what I thought they said. However, since that time, I've come to realize that many passages from the Bible aren't meant to be taken literally (other passages are meant to be taken literally, of course).

The manuscripts that were canonized as the Bible were written by ancient people whom we believe were prophets and were inspired by God. We believe these men didn't take dictation as God revealed word for word his message. It is likely these men wrote in the style of their time. This implies that we can study other ancient documents and gain insight into the meaning intended by the prophets.

Model of the Universe Used by Ancient Writers

According to Wikipedia, ancient people considered our universe as having two layers. The lower layer was the earth. Above the earth was the firmament. The sun, stars, and angels existed in the firmament. There was no rotation of planets around the sun. This is depicted in the following image, taken from Wikipedia.

The ancient prophets apparently had no concept of planets orbiting around the sun. To these men, the earth was flat and was the center of the universe, and the sun and stars moved within the firmament above a stationary earth. It was thus a simple thing for God to change the movement of the objects in the firmament.

Creation of the Earth as Viewed by Ancient Writers

For years I've been trying to fit the Biblical description of the creation with our scientific description of how the earth was created. The two descriptions just don't fit. In the Biblical description, there are events that just couldn't have happened that way. Now, that I understand the model of the universe used by ancient writers, I see a good fit between the Biblical description and that model. That model is not an accurate model of how the universe actually exists. This tells me that the Biblical description of the creation can not be taken literally from our viewpoint. It can be taken, though, as a figurative description of the creation that shows the power of God in creating the universe. Let's review the Biblical description of the creation of the earth to see how well it fits with the model of the universe used by ancient writers.

The Biblical description begins with the earth being without form, and everything was dark. The Lord created light and separated the light from the darkness. This light was not light from the sun but was light from an unidentified source. At this point the ancient model of the universe consisted of one layer that was all water. In addition, there was a repeating cycle of light and darkness. Next, God separated the water by creating a firmament in the water.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. (Genesis 1:6)

At this point, the model now had three layers: water above the firmament, the firmament, and water below the firmament. The repeating pattern of light and darkness was still there. God gave a name to the firmament and called it Heaven.

Next, God separated the water below the firmament and caused dry land to appear. This dry land that appeared was called earth, and the water that was separated was called sea.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)

The model now had two layers, the firmament and earth. Earth consisted of dry land and seas. The repeating cycle of light and darkness still existed.

In subsequent verses, God caused plants to grow on the earth. From our viewpoint, these plants would need energy for photosynthesis to occur, and that energy came from the repeating cycle of light and darkness. That energy did not come from the sun, because the sun was not yet created in the firmament.

After creating plants, the Lord created the sun and the moon to control the repeating cycle of light and darkness.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:14,18)

Next, God created fish of the sea and fowl of the air. This was followed by the creation of animals on the dry land.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (Genesis 1:20-21, 24)

As his final act of creation, God created man and later woman and placed them in the dry land.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)

Except for the plants coming before the animals, this description of the creation does not agree at all with our description from science how the earth was actually formed. This description does, however, agree very well with the model of the universe used by ancient writers.

Other Biblical Verses Reflect the Model Used by Ancient Writers

We can see this model of our universe in other writings in the Bible. For example, in Revelations John spoke of the four corners of the earth. I've always thought he was speaking figuratively, but his comment reflects the belief at that time of a flat earth.

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. (Revelation 7:1)

In Joshua we read that the sun stood still while the Israelites "avenged themselves upon their enemies".

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (Joshua 10:3)

That verse makes sense when we realize the author of the book believed the earth was stationary and the sun and moon moved within the firmament, but it makes no sense today when we realize the earth is rotating about its own axis, and in order to give the image of the sun standing still, the earth would have to stop its rotation, and the moon to be stayed would have to stop its rotation about the earth. Objects on the surface of the earth are moving about 1000 miles per hour, and if the earth were to stop its rotation, these objects would continue moving due to their momentum, and the result would be the equivalent of a hurricane with 1000 mph winds.

Of course, there is always the possibility that God caused the rotation of the earth and the moon to stop and then exercised higher laws of physics to prevent high winds from developing. People who believe in literal interpretations (from our viewpoints) apparently believe that God did invoke higher laws to keep undesirable effects from happening. I prefer to believe the statements were literal in the context of a flat earth and a firmament, and that we interpret those statements as figurative in order to understand them in the context of today's universe.

The Story of Noah and the Flood Can't Be Taken Literally

The story of Noah and the flood is another story of the Bible that can't be taken literally. That story might have been given in the context of a flat earth, if we assume the flat earth had low mountains, and in that case the story would be reasonable. However, if the earth that is described in the Bible had high mountains, as we know today it does, the story definitely can't be taken literally. In addition, the size of the ark given in Genesis is way to small to hold all of the animals that would have existed during the time of Noah. I've discussed this story in detail in this blog and won't repeat my reasons for believing the flood was either an allegory or at best a regional flood.

The Scriptures Can't Be Viewed Literally in All Cases

The examples I've given above help me realize that we can't interpret literally many of the stories from the Bible, because they were written in the context of a different model of the universe, a model that does not accurately describe the universe as it really exists. So, if the scriptures aren't to be taken literally in all cases, how do we tell which parts are to be taken literally and which parts are to be taken figuratively? That's a good question, and there is no simple answer to it.

In the case of scriptural verses that pertain to the earth, science is a good "measuring stick" for determining if those verses are to be interpreted literally according to our model of the universe. For example, if Noah were to build a ship that would contain pairs of all the animals and birds in existence, a much larger ship would be needed than the ark as described in Genesis.

In many cases, we need to remember that the ancient prophets were writing from their viewpoint not from ours. For example, when Moses wrote that the flood covered the whole earth, did he mean the whole planet as we think of it today, or did he think of the earth that he knew, his immediate surroundings.

Finally, we have our personal prayers and inspiration from the Holy Ghost to help us understand the scriptures correctly.

As I've said, being able to say that particular verses are an allegorical description and not a description of real-life is a difficult thing to do. I can see that a description of a flood could be an allegory, or it could be based on a model of the earth being flat with low mountains, or it could be based on a regional flood that happened. I really can't say which, and I don't think it makes a lot of difference. The value to me of the flood-story is a story of faith, obedience, and salvation, and my life can be enriched whether the story is literally true or not.

Conclusion

If scriptural statements agree with our model of the universe, which we think describes the universe as it actually is, we can probably take those statements as being literally true. If, however, those statements don't agree with the universe as it really is, we must take those statements as figurative or allegorical statements.

Many people will disagree with the things I have written in this post, and that is fine. We each have our own viewpoints in our religious life, because we have our agency to believe and accept what we want.

Headaches

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:55:00 PDT

Headaches are common among people and usually present no danger to health or hindrance to normal activities. However, some headaches, especially migraine headaches, can be debilitating to people. Wikipedia says this about headaches.

A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the pain-sensitive structures around the brain. Nine areas of the head and neck have these pain-sensitive structures, which are the cranium (the periosteum of the skull), muscles, nerves, arteries and veins, subcutaneous tissues, eyes, ears, sinuses and mucous membranes.
There are a number of different classification systems for headaches. The most well-recognized is that of the International Headache Society. Headache is a non-specific symptom, which means that it has many possible causes. Treatment of a headache depends on the underlying etiology or cause, but commonly involves analgesics.

Wikipedia goes on to discuss Primary and Secondary headaches.

Here are links to science reports about headaches.

Migraine headaches are a major cause of ill health and a reduced quality of life. Some individuals suffer from a frequent and severe migraine problem which means that they require regular medication to try and prevent them. A new review of the medications, which may help to prevent episodic migraines, appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer. The authors, Tatyana Shamliyan from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and her colleagues, compare published research on the drugs available to find those which offer the best migraine prevention coupled with the fewest adverse side-effects.

In a study including children and adolescents 6 to 18 years of age, those who have experienced migraine headaches were more likely to have had colic as an infant, according to a study in the April 17 issue of JAMA.

Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:33:00 PDT

All of the food we eat and the supplements we take can be considered our diet. In this blog, we are tracking our use of particular aspects of our diet, such as nutrition or meat. There is, however, value in looking at our diet as a single aspect of our lives.

Let's see what scientists say about our diet.

A University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study suggests that the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes consuming foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, chicken and salad dressing, and avoiding saturated fats, meat and dairy foods, may be linked to preserving memory and thinking abilities. However, the same association was not found in people with diabetes. The research is published in the April 30, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

According to a study published in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, a baseline adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia, defined as a serum uric acid (SUA) concentration higher than 7mg/dl in men and higher than 6mg/dl in women.

Data from a new study of British adults suggest that adherence to a "Western-style" diet (fried and sweet food, processed and red meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products) reduces a person's likelihood of achieving older ages in good health and with higher functionality. Study results appear in the May issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in developed countries, and is responsible for 65,000 deaths each year in the UK alone. The new findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that a vegetarian diet could significantly reduce people's risk of heart disease.

Bones

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:10:00 PDT

Osteoporosis and bone fractures are common ailments in adults. Wikipedia says this about the human skeleton.

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue. Bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure, are lightweight yet strong and hard, and serve multiple functions. One of the types of tissue that makes up bone is the mineralized osseous tissue, also called bone tissue, that gives it rigidity and a coral-like three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. At birth, there are over 270 bones in an infant human's body, but many of these fuse together as the child grows, leaving a total of 206 separate bones in an adult. The largest bone in the human body is the femur and the smallest bones are auditory ossicles.

Scientists are investigating the human skeleton, and here are links to some of their research.

Depression, anxiety, and smoking are associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) in adults, but these factors have not previously been studied during adolescence, when more than 50% of bone accrual occurs. This longitudinal preliminary study is the first to demonstrate that smoking and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls have a negative impact on adolescent bone accrual and may become a red flag for a future constrained by low bone mass or osteoporosis and higher fracture rates in postmenopausal years.

Salt

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:39:00 PDT

Salt has been used for centuries in diets, but scientists are learning that too much salt in our diet is unhealthy. Wikipedia says this about salt.

Salt, also known as table salt or rock salt (halite), is a crystalline mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It is absolutely essential for animal life, but can be harmful to animals and plants in excess. Salt is one of the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasonings and salting is an important method of food preservation. The taste of salt (saltiness) is one of the basic human tastes.
Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. It is a crystalline solid, white, pale pink or light gray in color, normally obtained from sea water or rock deposits. Edible rock salts may be slightly grayish in color because of mineral content.
Because of its importance to survival, salt has often been considered a valuable commodity during human history. However, as salt consumption has increased during modern times, scientists have become aware of the health risks associated with high salt intake, including high blood pressure in sensitive individuals. Therefore, some health authorities have recommended limitations of dietary sodium, although others state the risk is minimal for typical western diets.

Scientists are investigating our use of salt, and here are links to some of their research.

Recent studies that examine links between sodium consumption and health outcomes support recommendations to lower sodium intake from the very high levels some Americans consume now, but evidence from these studies does not support reduction in sodium intake to below 2,300 mg per day, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

The dangerously high salt levels in processed food and fast food remain essentially unchanged, despite numerous calls from public and private health agencies for the food industry to voluntarily reduce sodium levels, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study conducted with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now Timothy L. Cover and colleagues of Vanderbilt University show that high dietary salt combined with infection by the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori greatly increases the risk of cancer.

Much evidence shows that reducing salt intake lowers blood pressure and thereby reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease. Less is known about the potential benefits of increasing potassium intake, but lower potassium consumption has been linked with elevated blood pressure.

Dr. Kotchen cites correlations between blood pressure and salt intake in a number of different studies; typically, the causation between lowering salt intake and decreased levels of blood pressure occur in individuals who have been diagnosed with hypertension. Although not as pronounced, there is also a link between salt intake and blood pressure in non-hypertensive individuals. Additionally, recent studies have demonstrated that a reduced salt intake is associated with decreased cardiovascular disease and decreased mortality.

Seventy-five percent of the world's population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Nearly 75 percent of commercial pre-packaged meals and savory snacks for toddlers are high in sodium, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Eating too much salt contributed to 2.3 million deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other heart-related diseases throughout the world in 2010, representing 15 percent of all deaths due to these causes, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

The Merging of Science and Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:43:00 PDT

As a Latter-day Saint, I believe the restored gospel has truth. I also believe, though, that my understanding of the gospel is incomplete and inaccurate and has non-truth, ideas that are myths and folk-lore. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am always attempting to distinguish truth from error and to refine my religious beliefs to be closer to a true understanding of God.

I also believe in science. I believe that science is a good and proper approach to the universe, to the cosmos. Scientists do not know everything about the cosmos, and they are continually forming hypotheses and conducting tests and making observations about the cosmos, to give them evidence to accept their hypotheses as fact, or to modify or discard their hypotheses when their ideas conflict with truth.

Both religion and science are trying to obtain truth. Scientists have an advantage in that they can observe and test the cosmos to obtain truth, while religionists can only form hypotheses but can not test those hypotheses in the same way that scientists can test their hypotheses. Does this mean that only scientists can gain truth? Not necessarily.

Religion concerns data that is based on faith. Science concerns data that is based on physical elements. The relationships between religion and science can be represented by two circles that intersect, as shown in the following diagram.

Let Set A in the diagram be religion and Set B be science. As the diagram illustrates, the blue area is the domain of religion that can not be observed and tested by science. This is the domain of god and of spirit. Scientists have no instruments that can measure energy that may radiate from this domain. I believe, and this is merely my personal belief, that the domain of religion involves matter, for Joseph Smith said that all spirit is matter but matter that is more refined and pure, that can not be observed by present-day scientists. The brown area represents the domain of science, the domain of the cosmos. The red area represents the domain of religion and science, the domain that can be discussed by both religionists and scientists. This is the domain that is involved in the science vs. religion aspect of our lives. Of course, the size and positions of the two sets is continually changing, such that the red intersection between the two domains is always changing.

I think it is foolish for scientists to speculate about the blue area, the domain of religion, because those scientists can not make measurements about the blue area, and thus are limited to philosophical discussions of that domain. It is fine for scientists to become philosophers in this regard, but they must remember they are not being scientists when they talk about the domain of religion.

I think it is foolish for religionists to speculate about the brown area, the domain of science. Religion is based on faith and on inspiration from God. If God gives no information about the domain of science, then religionists have no basis for their speculations about that domain.

But, the red area is interesting, because it is the domain of both religion and science. This illustrates to me the importance of science in interpreting religious statements about the red area. Science is a "filter" that can be placed on religious statements about the cosmos, including this earth.

Let me illustrate this with comments about the Book of Mormon. I grew up with a belief that the Book of Mormon is scripture, the word of God given to ancient inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere. I was taught and believed that the Nephites and Lamanites were the ancestors of all the native Americans. I believed that the Nephites and Lamanites lived everywhere on the North and South American continents. I believed that all artifacts of ancient peoples in the Western Hemisphere were from Book of Mormon peoples. Because my beliefs about ancient peoples of the Western Hemisphere were beliefs about peoples, customs, languages, and geography of real people, these beliefs were also subject to scientific scrutiny, thus placing these beliefs in the red area of the diagram given above.

As I've grown older, I've "passed" my beliefs through the "filter" of science, and this has caused my beliefs to drastically change. From science, I've learned that there were many people living in the Western Hemisphere prior to the migrations described in the Book of Mormon. I've learned that many, if not most, of the tribes of Native Americans have DNA that goes back to Siberia not to the near-east. I've learned that the artifacts and languages of ancient Native Americans currently known by scientists appear to have come from non-Book of Mormon people. Does this mean that I now believe the Book of Mormon to be false? No, of course not. My basic belief in the Book of Mormon is based on faith, that is, my belief in the book is in the blue area. I do believe that some of my ideas about the Book of Mormon are being disproved by scientists, and this is OK, because those ideas are in the red area.

I now believe, thanks to science, that the Book of Mormon people were a relatively small group of people, compared with the set of all people who have lived in the Western Hemisphere. Because they were a small group of people, their artifacts are limited in location, and I'm not surprised to learn that scientists have not found any of the artifacts or DNA of those people.

To summarize, I believe that the intersection between religion and science is relatively small and that the science vs. religion argument only applies to a small part of both religion and science. I encourage all of us to learn more of God through our faith and repentance and through obedience to his commandments. I encourage all of us to study science, to not consider science as a threat to religion, for it is through science that we gain most of our knowledge about the cosmos. I encourage all of us to use science as a "filter" on religious ideas that pertain to the physical cosmos so we can identify and remove false ideas from our religious beliefs and thus come closer to finding truth. Truth is truth and can not contradict itself. Truth in religion must agree with truth in science. Eventually, I believe the diagram shown above will be replaced by a diagram having just one circle that is red. When that happens, religionists will know all truth, and scientists will know all truth, and those two paradigms will be the same.

Dairy Products

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:12:00 PDT

Scientists are learning that some dairy products are unhealthy. This is due to the high-fat content of many of the dairy products and possibly to other factors. Here are links to some of their research.

Patients who consume high-fat dairy products following breast cancer diagnosis increase their chances of dying from the disease years later, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente researchers.

Olive Oil

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:35:00 PDT

Olive Oil has been used as a food for thousands of years. Scientists are researching olive oil to better understand it. Some of their research is given in the following links.

Reduced-fat food products are gaining in popularity. More and more people are choosing "light" products in an attempt to lose weight, or at least in the hope that they will not gain any pounds. But whether these products are effective or not is a matter of dispute: While it is true that they contain fewer calories, people tend to overcompensate by eating more if they do not feel full. Now a study has shown how "natural" oils and fats regulate the sensation of feeling full after eating, with olive oil leading the way. So what makes this oil so effective?

Cell Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:50:00 PDT

Cell phones, due primarily to smartphones, have become widely used appliances. In addition to being used for voice communications, they are used for texting, browsing and downloading from the internet, and photography. Because of their wide use, cell phones have become the focus of scientists. Two areas of concern to scientists are the effects on our body of radiation from the phones and the use of cell phones by drivers while they are driving. Here are links to some of their reports.

Scientists from various Australian universities in collaboration with the University of Barcelona have compared the effects of mobile use while driving with the effects of alcohol using a simulation. Their experiment demonstrates that using a handsfree kit or sending text messages is as dangerous as being above the legal alcohol limit.

Robots & Artificial Body Parts

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:32:00 PST

Manufacturing plants have used robots for many years. These robots are machines that are programmed to do one task, and they can do that task over and over again with great precision. In addition, robots are being sold for use in cleaning homes and swimming pools. Scientists are, however, experimenting with techniques that will lead to robots that can multitask, "think", and make decisions in real-time. The end result of this research is to have robots that are "human like" in appearance and performance and are, in fact, good simulations of real people. Some people believe that robots will become identical to real people and that we won't be able to distinguish between them. Robots that simulate real people have been the basis of science fiction stories for many years. Now, it seems that science fiction may become real-life.

Traditionally, scientists have attempted to remove defects that cause illnesses and to develop medicines and treatment that improve our health. However, from another viewpoint, scientists can increase the health and longevity of our bodies through the replacement of natural body-parts with artificially made body-parts. A replacement part is known as a Prosthesis. Wikipedia says this about Prostheses.

In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb (from Ancient Greek prósthesis, "addition, application, attachment") is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control lost by trauma, disease, or defect. Prostheses are generally used to replace parts lost by injury (traumatic) or missing from birth (congenital) or to supplement defective body parts. Inside the body, artificial heart valves are in common use with artificial hearts and lungs seeing less common use but under active technology development. Other medical devices and aids that can be considered prosthetics include hearing aids, artificial eyes, palatal obturator, gastric bands, and dentures.

This page gives links to some of the current scientific research into robots and into the creation and use of Prostheses.

In a study published online Feb. 20 in PLOS One, Cornell biomedical engineers and Weill Cornell Medical College physicians described how 3-D printing and injectable gels made of living cells can fashion ears that are practically identical to a human ear. Over a three-month period, these flexible ears grew cartilage to replace the collagen that was used to mold them.

Electrodes have been permanently implanted in nerves and muscles of an amputee to directly control an arm prosthesis, for the first time. The result allows natural control of an advanced robotic prosthesis, similarly to the motions of a natural limb.

Humanity came one step closer in January to being able to replicate itself, thanks to the EU's approval of funding for the Human Brain Project. Danica Kragic, a robotics researcher and computer science professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says that while the prospect of living among humanoid robots calls to mind terrifying scenarios from science fiction, the reality of how humans cope with advances in robotics will be more complex, and subtle.

Women appear to have a higher risk of implant failure than men following total hip replacement after considering patient-, surgery-, surgeon-, volume- and implant-specific risk factors, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

At the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Micera reports the results of previous work conducting a four-week clinical trial that improved sensory feed- back in amputees by using intraneural electrodes implanted into the median and ulnar nerves. This interface holds great promise because of its ability to create an intimate and natural connection with the nerves, and because it is less invasive than other methods. It also provides fast, intuitive, bidirectional flow of informa- tion between the nervous system and the prosthetic, resulting in a more realistic experience and ultimately improved function.

The world's first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts is being developed by Chalmers researcher Max Ortiz Catalan. The first operations on patients will take place this winter.

Being Optimistic

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:16:00 PST

There is a saying that a happy person is a wise person. One aspect of being happy is being optimistic about others and about life in general. People who are optimistic tend to be positive and thus have more satisfying relationships with others. Scientists are studying the effects of being optimistic, and this page gives links to some of their research.

Encouraging young people at high-risk of criminal offending and delinquency to see happiness rather than anger in facial expressions results in a decrease in their levels of anger and aggression, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"We tested implicit assumptions that individuals with certain personality dispositions have different metabolic and energetic profiles," Terracciano said. "For example, do those who are assertive and bold expend more energy? Do those who are depressed or emotionally vulnerable have a lower aerobic capacity and less energy? And do conscientious individuals with an active and healthy lifestyle have more energy?"

Nitric Oxide

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:57:00 PST

Scientists are studying the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on our bodies. I've placed this page in the Lifestyle category instead of the Aging category, because certain supplements contain enzymes that produce NO.

Production of this [blood] pressure-reducing compound - called nitric oxide - [due to exposure of UV] is separate from the body's manufacture of vitamin D, which rises after exposure to sunshine. Until now it had been thought to solely explain the sun's benefit to human health, the scientists add.

Nitric oxide, the versatile gas that helps increase blood flow, transmit nerve signals, and regulate immune function, appears to perform one more biological feat -- prolonging the life of an organism and fortifying it against environmental stress, according to a new study.

Nitric oxide, a gaseous molecule produced in the brain, can damage neurons. When the brain produces too much nitric oxide, it contributes to the severity and progression of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute recently discovered that nitric oxide not only damages neurons, it also shuts down the brain's repair mechanisms.

Visual Pollution

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:37:00 PST

When we think of pollution, we usually think of air pollution or water pollution. There is another type of pollution, however, that can affect our health and longevity. This pollution is called visual pollution and concerns things we see or don't see. Examples of visual pollution are billboards along highways and colors of vehicles.

Scientists are beginning to study visual pollution, and here are links to some of their research.

Chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used for decades to reduce fires in everyday products such as baby strollers, carpeting and electronics. A new study to be presented on Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting shows that prenatal exposure to the flame retardants is associated with lower intelligence and hyperactivity in early childhood.

A flame retardant removed from children's pajamas 30 years ago but now used in polyurethane foam is prevalent in office environments, especially in older buildings, where urine testing of workers turned up widespread evidence of its biomarker, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers has found.

One University of Alberta researcher has discovered that language used on billboards can provoke an emotional response that affects our driving abilities. And whether the words have a negative or positive connotation seems to determine whether the attention wanders or the foot gets heavier.

Articles Concerning Pollution

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:33:00 PST

Pollution is a consequence of human intervention on nature. None of the processes that humans manage are 100% efficient, and they all leave residues that change or pollute our natural world.

Mormonism: Social Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:21:00 PST

Social Relationships can affect the length and quality of ones life, and scientists are learning that insufficient sleep contributes to poor relationships.

In the first study, people who experienced a poor night's sleep were less grateful after listing five things in life for which they were appreciative than were people who had slept well the night before. The researchers adapted the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which measures sleep quality and number of hours slept, among other variables, to evaluate the previous night's sleep.
In the second study, participants recorded their sleep from the previous night for two weeks and their feelings of gratitude. The researchers found a decline in gratitude associated with poor sleep, and those participants reported feeling more selfish those days.

In addition, scientists are learning that people who are married tend to have greater happiness in their lives and to live longer. The reasons for this, of course, may vary among cultural groups. Single people are often lonely, and scientists are learning that loneliness affects our health.

Researchers found that people who were more lonely showed signs of elevated latent herpes virus reactivation and produced more inflammation-related proteins in response to acute stress than did people who felt more socially connected.
These proteins signal the presence of inflammation, and chronic inflammation is linked to numerous conditions, including coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease, as well as the frailty and functional decline that can accompany aging.

In addition, some people become obsessed with revenge toward persons thought to have offended or harmed them. Other people become obsessed with themselves and withdraw from society by becoming recluses or hermits. Still others attempt to control people to benefit themselves. All of these examples are harmful to the people involved and to society in general.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that we should show friendship, kindness, and empathy towards others. In other words, we should have charity be the basis of our lives. The Book of Mormon defines charity as the pure love that Christ has for all people.

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. (Moroni 7:47)

The Apostle Paul said charity is the greatest of all.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Unfortunately, some people have negative relationships because they do not have charity in their lives. Here are links to scientific reports about negative relationships.

This page gives links to scientific articles about other factors that concern relationships between people.

Giving back through volunteering is good for your heart, even at a young age, according to University of British Columbia researchers.

Sibona found that 40 percent of people surveyed said they would avoid in real life anyone who unfriended them on Facebook. Some 50 percent said they would not avoid the person and the remaining 10 percent were unsure. Women said they would avoid contact more than men.

Aspirin

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:48:00 PST

Doctors prescribe aspirin for a variety of ailments. Aspirin has been used for many decades and has a long history of relatively safe usage. However, scientists are learning that all is not well with aspirin.

Regular aspirin use appears to be associated with an increased risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of blindness in older people, and it appears to be independent of a history of cardiovascular disease and smoking, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Scarcity of Food

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:35:00 PST

The population of the world is increasing, but in some areas the production of food is decreasing. If this decrease in food production continues, a world-wide disaster could occur as food becomes scarce. Here are links to scientific articles about the decrease of food-production.

"Many analysts expect the 2013 numbers [in the United States] to be followed by a 2014 decrease of 4.5 percent or more," he said. "These two years would represent the largest percentage decrease since the late 1970s."

Astronauts and Space Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:46:00 PST

Scientists are concerned about the effects of space travel on astronauts. Here are links to some of their reports.

In the first study of its kind, a team of researchers led by faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Baylor College of Medicine, has analyzed data on the impact of prolonged operational confinement on sleep, performance, and mood in astronauts from a groundbreaking international effort to simulate a 520-day space mission to Mars.

Internal Bleeding

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:12:00 PST

I have an Aunt who died from falling in a bathtub. I don't know how she died, but it's possible that she suffered internal bleeding from hitting her head on the bathtub and died from that bleeding.

Wikipedia says this about internal bleeding.

Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. It can be a serious medical emergency depending on where it occurs (e.g. brain, stomach, lungs), and can potentially cause death and cardiac arrest if proper medical treatment is not received quickly.
Internal bleeding can occur by traumatic injury such as high speed deceleration in an automobile accident, or by blood vessel rupture from high blood pressure. Also, internal bleeding can be caused by hitting or running against a sharp object in that area. Some diseases may also cause internal bleeding, such as the Filovirus Ebola. This infection, together with similar infections such as the Marburg virus, is rare. The most common cause of internal bleeding is carcinoma (cancer), either of the gastro-intestinal tract or of the lung, or more rarely of other organs such as the prostate, pancreas or kidney. Other diseases linked to internal bleeding include scurvy, hepatoma, liver cancer, Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia, ectopic pregnancy, malignant hypothermia, ovarian cysts, Vitamin K Deficiency, and hemophilia. Some medication interactions may also cause internal bleeding.

Scientists and engineers are developing new techniques for the identifying and treatment of internal bleeding. Here are links to some of their research.

Progress toward a new emergency treatment for internal bleeding ― counterpart to the tourniquets, pressure bandages and Quick Clot products that keep people from bleeding to death from external wounds ― was reported in Philadelphia on August 20 at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Crime

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:17:00 PST

We don't normally think of crime as a disaster, but the effects of crime are similar to those of local disasters, and, because crime rates seem to be increasing, I'm listing crime as a disaster. Scientists are studying the causes and frequency of crime. Here are links to some of their research.

Since the early 1970s school shootings at American elementary, secondary and higher education institutions have been a painful reality for American society. After each incident -- like the recent attack in Newtown, CT -- there is voluminous dialogue about what can be done to prevent the next, such tragedy. But can anything realistically be done to prevent these horrific crimes? A new article by Dr. Daniel J. Flannery at Case Western Reserve University, and colleagues, scheduled to appear in the January issue of Springer's Current Psychiatry Reports, attempts to parse out what we have learned from past events, and what we can do about stopping the next attack.

Abuse

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 08:27:00 PST

Abuse is a common negative aspect of life. Children and adults are abused by relatives, friends, and strangers. Wikipedia says this about abuse and then discusses various types of abuse.

Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise verbal aggression.

Scientists are studying abuse and its causes, and here are links to some of their research.

According to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University, African-American women who reported suffering abuse before age 11 had a greater likelihood of adult-onset asthma compared to women whose childhood and adolescence were free of abuse.

Hellenistic Ports

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 22:29:00 PST

One of the criticisms of the Book of Mormon concerns the claim that Nephi built a ship and sailed to the American continents. The critics claim the Jewish people in 600 BC didn't have the knowledge or skills to build ocean-going ships.

Archeologists recently discovered ancient ports dating to the Hellenistic period (300 BC). These ports are on the coast of Israel. This shows the ancient people of that era did have sophistic knowledge of ships and shipping. Critics ignore these discoveries by noting the ports are dated to the Hellenistic period and not to 600 BC. It is important that believers in the Book of Mormon know that this discrepancy in dates exists, but the fact that the knowledge of these ports was recently discovered shows that not all knowledge of ancient peoples is currently known by archeologists, and that our argument is valid that additional knowledge will come forth that will strengthen our belief in the Book of Mormon.

The critics say that even if ancients ports and ships are discovered that date back to 600 BC, those artifacts won't prove the ancient Israelites had the knowledge and skills for transocean migrations, because peoples of that era sailed and traded in the Mediterranean area. These critics ignore the statement that Nephi was instructed by the Lord in ship building. Certainly, the Lord had sufficient knowledge and skills to build ships capable of crossing oceans.

Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men (1 Nephi 18:2).

I believe in the Book of Mormon and am content to wait for the Lord to bring forth additional knowledge about peoples in 600 BC and later.

Deteriorating Infrastructures

noreply@blogger.com (Allen) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:12:00 PST

With the advent of the industrial revolution, cities have been developing complex infrastructures. Cities have streets, bridges, long electrical cables, vast networks of water and natural gas pipelines, and long canals. States and nations have complex highway systems, bridges, dams, and canals. These networks are expensive to install and even more expensive to maintain and replace. The collapse of an I35 bridge across the Mississippi River in 2007 that killed 13 people and injured an additional 135 people is an example of an infrastructure failure. That collapse is described by Wikipedia as follows.

At 6:05 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, with rush hour bridge traffic moving slowly through the limited number of lanes, the central span of the bridge suddenly gave way, followed by the adjoining spans. The structure and deck collapsed into the river and onto the riverbanks below, the south part toppling 81 feet (25 m) eastward in the process. Approximately 100 vehicles were involved, sending their occupants and 18 construction workers up to 115 feet (35 m) down to the river or onto its banks. Northern sections fell into a rail yard, landing on three unoccupied and stationary freight train cars.

The cost to taxpayers for this bridge-collapse was $234 million for a replacement bridge, over $50 million in penalties paid by the company that constructed the bridge, and untold dollars in disrupted business and other costs by people affected by the collapse.

As infrastructures throughout the world age, similar failures may occur, and the potential cost to taxpayers could be in the trillions of dollars. I am considering deteriorating infrastructures as disasters, because old infrastructures exist in every nation of the world, and failures could potentially affect almost all persons on the earth.

Scientists and politicians are studying the effects of deteriorating infrastructures. Here are links to some of their reports.

The City of Boston is riddled with more than 3,000 leaks from its aging natural-gas pipeline system, according to a new study by researchers at Boston (BU) and Duke Universities.