Many African-American women complain of unwanted facial hair. The problem seems to become especially problemsome as they age and hormone fluctations change. Women spend an amazing amount of time tweezing, plucking, waxing, and shaving, plus the cost associated with the activity. It's a serious beauty concern. Very recently scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have identified the gene responsible for congenital generalized hypertrichosis terminalis (CGHT) or the Bearded Lady Syndrome (something more extreme than those irritating hairs most women complain about).
Read more about the discover at Live Science: Genes of 'Bearded Lady' Revealed.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Bearded Lady Genes Identified
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Natural Oil Seeps into the Ocean documented
Repost of NSF Press Release 09-097
Scientists Document Fate of Oil Slicks from Natural Seeps
Twenty years ago, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez was exiting Alaska's Prince William Sound when it struck a reef in the middle of the night.
What happened next is considered one of the nation's worst environmental disasters: 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the pristine Alaskan waters, eventually covering 11,000 square miles of ocean.
Now, imagine 8 to 80 times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez accident.
According to new findings by scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), that's how much oil has made its way into sediments offshore from petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point off Goleta, Calif., in the Santa Barbara Channel.
These natural seeps release some 20 to 25 tons of oil daily, "providing an ideal laboratory to investigate the fate of oil in the coastal ocean," says oceanographer David Valentine of UCSB.
The team's research, reported in a paper published in the May 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, documents how the oil is released by the seeps, carried to the surface along a meandering plume, then deposited on the ocean floor in sediments that stretch for miles northwest of Coal Oil Point.
The findings also reveal that the oil is so degraded by the time it gets buried in the sea bed that it's a mere shell of the petroleum that initially bubbles up from the seeps.
"These were spectacular findings," said Christopher Reddy, a marine chemist at WHOI and, along with Valentine, one of the co-authors of the paper.
Other co-authors include UCSB's Libe Washburn; and Emily Peacock and Robert Nelson, both of WHOI.
"Whether it comes from a natural seep or from human industry, oil entering the ocean has a 'life story,'" says Don Rice, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Ocean Sciences, "one with many chapters after the early ones we all see--the surface slicks, tar balls on the beach and affected marine animals. This team of scientists set about constructing the rest of the story--and succeeded.
"In an energy-hungry world, it's a tale we're going to need to know a lot about."
The lead author is Christopher Farwell, who at the time of the research was an undergraduate studying chemistry at UCSB. Inspired by this project, Farwell has changed his career path and is now a graduate student at UCSB studying marine science and earth science.
"It was a great opportunity," Farwell said. "I was able to cross over into a different discipline that allowed me to make a contribution and understand the process of science as a whole."
Valentine, who supervised Farwell's research, said, "It's unusual to have an undergraduate take the lead in such a significant study, and its success is a testament to Chris's perseverance."
In an earlier paper published in 2008, Valentine and Reddy documented how microbes devour many of the compounds in the oil emanating from the seeps.
The new study examines the final step in the life cycle of the oil.
"One of the natural questions is: What happens to all this oil?" Valentine said. "So much oil seeps up and floats on the sea surface. It's something we've long wondered.
"We know some of it will come ashore as tar balls, but it doesn't stick around. And then there are massive slicks. You can see them, sometimes extending 20 miles from the seeps. But what is really their ultimate fate?"
Based on previous research, Valentine and Reddy surmised that the oil was sinking "because the oil is heavy to begin with," Valentine said.
"It's a good bet that it ends up in the sediments because it's not ending up on land. It's not dissolving in ocean water."
An all-night sampling marathon on the research vessel (R/V) Atlantis, funded by NSF, provided the means to test the hypothesis. With Farwell and Reddy leading the way, the team took 16 sediment samples from the ocean floor, following a carefully calculated path mapped out by Farwell.
The researchers were hoping that their route, described by Farwell as a "rectangle along the coast from Santa Barbara to Point Conception," would match the trail of the plume.
Farwell's calculations were perfect, Valentine said. The 16-point route yielded an unmistakable pattern of oil-saturated sediment all along the ship's path.
The scientists then painstakingly analyzed the samples using Reddy's comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph. "What we saw is that we can link the seep oils to the oils in the sediment," Valentine said.
"We can do that through the composition of molecules that are specific to the oils from the seeps. So, being able to link them, and being able to quantify how much is there, we can see the pattern of the oil. It's coming from the seeps."
Washburn, who has been using radio waves to map ocean currents off Santa Barbara, provided additional evidence. "Libe took a seven-year average of surface current flow in the region, and plotted that out," Valentine said. "It matched perfectly with our plume."
This research proved to be an extension of the 2008 study by Valentine and Reddy: that the oil has indeed been degraded, largely eaten away by microbes, before it settles back to the ocean floor and becomes buried.
"For all these samples, the bacteria seem to hit a common 'wall' where they don't eat anymore," Valentine said. "In the previous study, we were looking at subsurface biodegradation where there is no oxygen.
"You still have thousands of compounds in that oil, but now we're seeing the evaporation and dissolution that happens to the slick, and then the biodegradation that happens in the slick with oxygen present.
"When it finally falls to the sea floor, it continues to be biodegraded. It seems to be biodegraded to the same point--and then it just stops."
"It's dramatic how much the oil loses in this life cycle," Reddy said. "It's almost like someone who has lost 400 pounds."
-NSF-
What happened next is considered one of the nation's worst environmental disasters: 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the pristine Alaskan waters, eventually covering 11,000 square miles of ocean.
Now, imagine 8 to 80 times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez accident.
According to new findings by scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), that's how much oil has made its way into sediments offshore from petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point off Goleta, Calif., in the Santa Barbara Channel.
These natural seeps release some 20 to 25 tons of oil daily, "providing an ideal laboratory to investigate the fate of oil in the coastal ocean," says oceanographer David Valentine of UCSB.
The team's research, reported in a paper published in the May 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, documents how the oil is released by the seeps, carried to the surface along a meandering plume, then deposited on the ocean floor in sediments that stretch for miles northwest of Coal Oil Point.
The findings also reveal that the oil is so degraded by the time it gets buried in the sea bed that it's a mere shell of the petroleum that initially bubbles up from the seeps.
"These were spectacular findings," said Christopher Reddy, a marine chemist at WHOI and, along with Valentine, one of the co-authors of the paper.
Other co-authors include UCSB's Libe Washburn; and Emily Peacock and Robert Nelson, both of WHOI.
"Whether it comes from a natural seep or from human industry, oil entering the ocean has a 'life story,'" says Don Rice, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Ocean Sciences, "one with many chapters after the early ones we all see--the surface slicks, tar balls on the beach and affected marine animals. This team of scientists set about constructing the rest of the story--and succeeded.
"In an energy-hungry world, it's a tale we're going to need to know a lot about."
The lead author is Christopher Farwell, who at the time of the research was an undergraduate studying chemistry at UCSB. Inspired by this project, Farwell has changed his career path and is now a graduate student at UCSB studying marine science and earth science.
"It was a great opportunity," Farwell said. "I was able to cross over into a different discipline that allowed me to make a contribution and understand the process of science as a whole."
Valentine, who supervised Farwell's research, said, "It's unusual to have an undergraduate take the lead in such a significant study, and its success is a testament to Chris's perseverance."
In an earlier paper published in 2008, Valentine and Reddy documented how microbes devour many of the compounds in the oil emanating from the seeps.
The new study examines the final step in the life cycle of the oil.
"One of the natural questions is: What happens to all this oil?" Valentine said. "So much oil seeps up and floats on the sea surface. It's something we've long wondered.
"We know some of it will come ashore as tar balls, but it doesn't stick around. And then there are massive slicks. You can see them, sometimes extending 20 miles from the seeps. But what is really their ultimate fate?"
Based on previous research, Valentine and Reddy surmised that the oil was sinking "because the oil is heavy to begin with," Valentine said.
"It's a good bet that it ends up in the sediments because it's not ending up on land. It's not dissolving in ocean water."
An all-night sampling marathon on the research vessel (R/V) Atlantis, funded by NSF, provided the means to test the hypothesis. With Farwell and Reddy leading the way, the team took 16 sediment samples from the ocean floor, following a carefully calculated path mapped out by Farwell.
The researchers were hoping that their route, described by Farwell as a "rectangle along the coast from Santa Barbara to Point Conception," would match the trail of the plume.
Farwell's calculations were perfect, Valentine said. The 16-point route yielded an unmistakable pattern of oil-saturated sediment all along the ship's path.
The scientists then painstakingly analyzed the samples using Reddy's comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph. "What we saw is that we can link the seep oils to the oils in the sediment," Valentine said.
"We can do that through the composition of molecules that are specific to the oils from the seeps. So, being able to link them, and being able to quantify how much is there, we can see the pattern of the oil. It's coming from the seeps."
Washburn, who has been using radio waves to map ocean currents off Santa Barbara, provided additional evidence. "Libe took a seven-year average of surface current flow in the region, and plotted that out," Valentine said. "It matched perfectly with our plume."
This research proved to be an extension of the 2008 study by Valentine and Reddy: that the oil has indeed been degraded, largely eaten away by microbes, before it settles back to the ocean floor and becomes buried.
"For all these samples, the bacteria seem to hit a common 'wall' where they don't eat anymore," Valentine said. "In the previous study, we were looking at subsurface biodegradation where there is no oxygen.
"You still have thousands of compounds in that oil, but now we're seeing the evaporation and dissolution that happens to the slick, and then the biodegradation that happens in the slick with oxygen present.
"When it finally falls to the sea floor, it continues to be biodegraded. It seems to be biodegraded to the same point--and then it just stops."
"It's dramatic how much the oil loses in this life cycle," Reddy said. "It's almost like someone who has lost 400 pounds."
-NSF-
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Why I Don't Smoke Pot
I grew up around pot, marijuana. My older relatives, including my parents were very unashamed about smoking refer in front of me. In fact, by the age of six I could separate out sticks and seeds from the bag and roll a joint as well as any adult. As I think back, I probably had contact high most of my life. At adolescence, I tried smoking it. I thought it was cool. I got high, got the munchies and giggles. My interest in it faded quickly. I tried it and and was done the same summer I took my first toke.
The war on drugs is an interesting one. Drugs are bad and marijuana, too; but not as bad as cocaine or heroine. Is is a gateway drug? I don't know. Most of the people I know who smoke weed are perfectly happy just smoking weed. So I don't think it's bad for that. Plus, I know alot of hippie-type scientists, so weed is like an academic muse. So it seems not-so-bad.
However, weed is not so good. It's subtle and subversive. I think of it as the "F it drug" because that's how you feel about life or circumstances when you smoke it.
Lost your job. Take a toke. Blow that ish out!
Got arrested. Take a toke. Blow that ish out!
Kids going crazing. Take a toke. Blow that ish out!
When I was working at the infamous job house, the employees would wander off and get high. Or come to work high. WTH? The drug I had known as a kid as a 'party drug' was now being used more as a coping drug. I need this to get by. ** I Get High, High, High**
I don't smoke weed because it robs you of your innate desire and will to be successful. So many of our kinfolks get high all day, everyday. They laze around complaining about a horrible life and pitfalls and get high to pacify the blues away. That pitiful attitude about self-sufficiency, hard-work, and effort is the bane of Black folk, especially poor Black folk. And I blame this drug for aiding and abetting that poor attitude. That's something I can't use.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Poor, Black, & Undereducated. So what's new?
Nothing, but this is an intriguing book review article I've come across in the New York Times - Why the Poor Stay Poor. Richard Thompson Ford is a professor of law at Stanford University, whose book The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse is being published in paperback this month.
An excerpt from the article:
"Today many ghetto residents have almost no contact with mainstream American society or the normal job market. As a result, they have developed distinctive and often dysfunctional social norms."
I encountered this very phenomenon at the job I had and quit last year. The review discusses both sides of the issue - the conservatives and liberals explanation of 'the problem' with/of poor [black people]. But Wilson makes no friends on either side. He sees the problem as complex and an accumulation of both historical institutional racist and classist policies and changes in economic policy which many poor blacks have not been able to keep pace with.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Weekly Science Update - Your Health and the Health of Your Environment
Your Health
Why Does Hair Go Gray? I wonder that sometimes as I notice newer gray hairs - at my browline - everyday. Some attribute it to stress or age or an indicator of wisdom. It's is actually a tell-tale sign of biochemical process slowing down. Read more here.
At Christmas time, all of the young children I know received at least one present in common - a video game system or related accesories. Though a fan of Sega Genesis and Atari, I was curious how (and why) some parents would spend so much money on this type of plaything in such a precarious economic environment? However, I'm also concerned about the children themselves. For many children, well-off and poor alike, video entertainment (systems and internet) have become their sole entertainment. They seem less interested in going outside to play, reading a book (maybe a graphic that mimics a game), and definitely less interested in homework and interacting with others. Coming across this article that Video games linked to poor relationships with friends, family really seemed to hit the nail on the head for me.
Your Environment
Again this economic crisis has caused me to think more heavily about how I (and we as a society) spend my/our time and resources. Now, more than ever, I think Going Green! has many, many benefits - saving money, stretching a dollar, getting more exercise, stimulating creativity, enjoying the simple things, helping the environment. Plus, I've always been a proponent of green advocacy as a means to improved the lives of our more financially vulnerable citizens. Now, a new study from Scotland provides some empirical evidence to why Going Green! benefits the poor - 'Green' Neighborhoods Reduce Mortality for the Poor.
There may be a new Indicator Species on the block- Wall Lizards. Environmental science researchers from Italy have found that wall lizards may be reliable early detectors for toxins and other pollutants from onshore oil drilling activity. Lizards from towns downwind from the processing plants bloods had very high levels of toxins that negatively affect the lizards and humans. Read more here.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Celebrate Black History, Share your Inspiration Story and earn a Scholarship
Alltel Wireless is sponsoring the
Black History Month Words of Wisdom Essay Contest.
Write an essay based on the previous topic.
The Prize:
Ten winners will be chosen from all essays submitted to the contest. Each winning essayist will receive a $10,000 scholarship to a participating black college or university.
All 10 winners will be honored at an awards luncheon to be held Thursday, March 12th, 2009 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Words of Wisdom spokesperson and esteemed poet and author, Dr. Maya Angelou, will personally present each winner with their scholarship. In addition, there will be a student reception March 11, 2009 featuring R&B sensation Musiq Soulchild..
Eligibility:
All 10 winners will be honored at an awards luncheon to be held Thursday, March 12th, 2009 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Words of Wisdom spokesperson and esteemed poet and author, Dr. Maya Angelou, will personally present each winner with their scholarship. In addition, there will be a student reception March 11, 2009 featuring R&B sensation Musiq Soulchild..
Eligibility:
The Words of Wisdom essay contest is open to current and prospective students* of America's participating black colleges and universities. Click here for a list of participating black colleges and universities.* Fall 2009 full-time enrollment will be verified by Alltel prior to the awarding of scholarship prizes.
Contest Rules:
Essays must be 750-1000 words and must be the original work of the submitting author.
Contest begins January 12th and ends February 14th, 2009.
DEADLINE: Contestants have until midnight on February 14th to submit their essays.
Complete contest rules
Contest begins January 12th and ends February 14th, 2009.
DEADLINE: Contestants have until midnight on February 14th to submit their essays.
Complete contest rules
Best of luck!
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