Archive for September, 2007

Bio-briefcase

Monday, September 24th, 2007
In January 2003, the US Department of Homeland Security began deploying a national system of monitors capable of detecting airborne pathogens such as anthrax and sarin gas.

The large devices, developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, US, were the size of filing cabinets, which limited their portability and the areas in which they could be placed.

Now John Dzenitis and colleagues at the Livermore labs have developed a similarly capable device the size of a briefcase, containing a microfluidic laboratory that looks for the telltale signs of airborne pathogens.

The size of the bio-briefcase makes it far more portable – it can even be carried as hand luggage aboard a plane. It also means detectors can be placed in other important places, such as inside air ducts in buildings. An important feature of the new device is that it can automatically carry out its analysis within about an hour of taking a sample, so it gives as early a warning as possible in the event of an attack.

Read the full bio-briefcase patent application.
Justin Mullins

Top Secrets to Achieve Success, make Money or Whatever you Wish in Life, Part 1

Monday, September 24th, 2007
These days that I have been working like crazy in all my projects and achieving all my goals in an unprecedented kind of way for me I was asking myself: What is that I do that makes me so successful in every goal that I try to reach? The answer lies within myself, success lies in me… [...]

Playing Video Games Reduces Sex Differences In Spatial Skills

Monday, September 24th, 2007
Researchers have discovered that differences between men and women on some tasks that require spatial skills are largely eliminated after both groups play a video game for only a few hours.

Brain atrophy in elderly leads to unintended racism, depression, and problem gambling

Monday, September 24th, 2007
As we age, our brains slowly shrink in volume and weight. This includes significant atrophy within the frontal lobes, the seat of executive functioning. Executive functions include planning, controlling, and inhibiting thought and behavior. In the aging population, an inability to inhibit unwanted thoughts and behavior causes several social behaviors and cognitions to go awry.

Revolution Health Podcast

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

A conference call focusing on bipolar disorder was held during the week, hosted by Tim McCann from Revolution Health. It is available as a podcast from the Revolution Health website.

It is an interesting, wide-ranging discussion on bipolar disorder, that touches on many subjects that are worth pursuing. There is a small section at about the 45 minute mark, on being a carer of someone with a mental illness, which ties in nicely with our current series of posts.

In response to a question by Therese Borchard about being a carer, Stephen Propst from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance made some excellent points.

  • There is no substitute for education about the illness. This is critical for the carer, in order for their subjectivity about the person to be replaced by objectivity about the illness. Understanding the illness and the behavior it causes helps the carer to separate it from the person.
  • Mental illnesses are not solved in the short term; they present a long term problem. A carer has to have patience to stay with it over the long term.
  • Carers need to look after their own well-being, to remain effective and minimize their own difficulties. They need to set boundaries with the ill person, and enforce them.
  • Carers should never give up hope.

Anna’s next post is on recognizing and reducing the triggers that affect the person you are caring for.

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What chimpanzees can teach us about economics

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Chimpanzees make irrational choices, in the same way that humans do, suggesting a common evolutionary origin rather than quirks unique to humans.

The Launch of Language

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Scientist uncovering secrets of how the brain learned language.

How can you heal depression naturally?

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

This is a question that was asked on Yahoo Answers. [The name of the person asking the question has been omitted.] My answer to this question appears below.

Question:

i’m a firm believer in prayer. i pray to God that he heals my wounds of all the pain and abuse i’ve been thru this past 7 years.
there are times when i get into a zone about my pass and i feel stuck in that moment. any ideas on how to stop thinking of my ex striking me?

Answer:

Johnny
Best Answer – Chosen By Voters

There are several ways of overcoming depression. The first is to take medication prescribed by doctors to counter a shortfall in a substance called seratonin that occurs naturally within our bodies and helps to maintain good moods.

Another way is to use a naturally occuring substance found in a herb called St Johns Wort. However, there are some concerns that using this may result in some unpleasant side effects and also that it may not work as well as some people say.

In many cases, people will come out of depression over time without medication of any sort. The old adage that “Time heals all wounds,” appears to hold true. I believe that this is often very true but also feel that it is best to beat depression as soon as practical so that we can enjoy life to the fullest as it is meant to be.

What I have found personally, is that taking active steps, just as you are by praying, to program my mind to look for positives, certainly helps a lot in beating depression.

I also put on soothing, pleasant, music and watch comedy TV shows or DVDs to encourage my body to produce another hormone called endorphin. Endorphins produce good moods and natural “highs”.

Depression can be the result of a poor self image and so I look in the mirror in the mornings when doing my ablutions and tell myself, with a smile on my face, that I love myself. I then sing a small, 2 verse, ditty that brightens up my day and gets me off to a good start.

I would like to make a short comment on the manner in which you indulge in self talk. Always ensure that, even when you pray, you do so by focusing on positive outcomes rather than avoiding negative outcomes. I am a great believer in the Law of Attraction and that what you put out into the universe, either good or bad, manifests itself just as you think or talk about.

The easiest way to stop thinking about your ex striking you is EXACTLY that. Do not think about it! Think about more pleasant thoughts instead whenever the unpleasant thoughts start to creep in, as they will from time to time, until you become so adept at blocking them out that they will seldom bother you.

I cannot go on much longer here and so I suggest that you look at the post on “choices” on the blog listed below. http://www.beatyourdepression.com/blog

You can learn how to overcome negative self-talk, as I did, together with many positive tips, from the package entitled Rapid Manifestation

A fitter filter

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Conventional water and air filters work in a number of ways - by acting like a sieve to catch particles larger than a certain size and by relying on electrostatic forces to trap particles, for example. Ideally, they can also filter water under the force of gravity and at high throughput rates. But few, if any, achieve all these goals.

Now Fred Tepper at Florida water filtration company Argonide Corporation says he has a filter that achieves all this and more. Funded by the US Air Force, Tepper and his colleague Leonid Kaledin have produced a filter made of aluminium oxide fibres embedded in a larger tangle of cellulose fibres. The celluose matrix (pictured) traps larger particles while holding the aluminium oxide nanofibres in place, preventing them from being washed away or forming into clumps that would block the filter. The nanofibres trap smaller particles using electrostatic forces and conventional sieving. Tepper says the nanofibres can even be coated with biological molecules designed to latch onto the specific pathogens used in biological weapons. And to top it all, the filter can produce a decent volume of water working only under the force of gravity.

Read the next generation filter patent application

Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor

Blog Carnival for Success Edition #4

Friday, September 21st, 2007
Welcome to Edition #4 of Blog Carnival for Success, I am really happy to see so much activity around the world of Personal Growth which is in some way indicating a change in consciousness which should at some point in life generate a shift in life. Success-is-in-you.com’s featured post for this Carnival: 7 Lessons to Increase [...]