Archive for November, 2008

Fast Food Could Lead to Alzheimer’s

Posted by: adminin Biology, Chemistry, Extreme, Health, Kitchens, Pop Culture, Unbelievable

Nov

(if you haven’t seen it yet, check out SuperSize Me–the whole video can be watched here on Youtube –, the controversial McDonalds documentary created by Morgan Spurlock)

LONDON (Reuters) – Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.

The findings, which come from a series of published papers by a researcher at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, show how a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

“On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain,” Susanne Akterin, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, who led the study, said in a statement.

“We now suspect that a high intake of fat and cholesterol in combination with genetic factors … can adversely affect several brain substances, which can be a contributory factor in the development of Alzheimer’s.”

Alzheimer’s disease is incurable and is the most common form of dementia among older people. It affects the regions of the brain involving thought, memory and language.

While the most advanced drugs have focused on removing clumps of beta amyloid protein that forms plaques in the brain, researchers are also now looking at therapies to address the toxic tangles caused by an abnormal build-up of the protein tau.

In her research, Akterin focused on a gene variant called apoE4, found in 15 to 20 percent of people and which is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. The gene is involved in the transport of cholesterol.

She studied mice genetically engineered to mimic the effect of the variant gene in humans, and which were fed a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months — meals representing the nutritional content of fast food.

These mice showed chemical changes in their brains, indicating an abnormal build-up of the protein tau as well as signs that cholesterol in food reduced levels of another protein called Arc involved in memory storage, Akterin said.

“All in all, the results give some indication of how Alzheimer’s can be prevented, but more research in this field needs to be done before proper advice can be passed on to the general public,” she said.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Catherine Bosley)

reuters.com

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Yet Another Pretty House

Posted by: adminin Architecture, Gadgets, Images, Technology, Thailand

Nov

It seems that I have been daydreaming about houses and real estate more than usual, what with being closer to college graduation and closer to finally living alone for the first time in my life. I know that, as a teacher, I’ll never live in a house like this, but I do enjoy salivating over the pictures.

Phuket, Thailand

It didn’t take Real Estate Executive John Chadwick long to fall in love with Thailand, and shortly thereafter, he built this magnificent $2.5-million villa on a peninsula, perched 200 ft. above Patong Harbor in Phuket. “I told the architect I wanted to build a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Thailand,” Chadwick told The New York Times. “I want strong horizontals. I want big, broad-shouldered spaces. I said to him, ‘It’s kind of like a Malibu beach house with oceanfront Phuket property.’” With the spectacular view as this modern home’s main lure, it’s fitting that Chadwick’s favorite room in this contemporary villa residence is the patio. But from the inside out, there are countless other spaces that vie for his attention. This two-storey 7500-sq.-ft. house features functional areas on the upper level – a living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom, home office and patio. The luxurious lower level is designed as a resort-style retreat, housing three additional bedrooms, an exercise/games room and massage room, all encircling a courtyard and pool.
via The New York Times. Images courtesy of The New York Times. Photos by Josef Polleross.

trendir.com

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Alien Places on Earth

Posted by: adminin Biology, Eco-friendly, Images, Travel, Unbelievable

Nov

Bolivian Salt Lake

The Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is perhaps one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. A magnificent area with an impressive Salt Desert (the world’s largest), active volcanoes, tall cacti islands and geyser flats, it exists like an alien mirage, something completely out-of-this-world…

(image credit: Yves Dumaresq)

(image credit: desman)

One travelogue goes like this:“…We finally reached the salt flats. Imagine being surrounded by endless white salt covered by a few inches of water. Without any reference points the sky meets the salt and creates an odd illusion that objects in the flats are flying. I had never seen anything like it… The truck drove through the salt flats and stopped at an island full of cacti. We had lunch on a table made of a large salt tablet and eventually stopped at a hotel made completely of salt.”

- here the salts are gathered…

(image credit: calimero74)

The Richat Structure: Eye of the Earth

The Richat Structure, Oudane, Mauritania, is not really a structure but a huge circular formation (50 km in diameter – 30 miles), that resembles an eye when looked upon from space. Originally thought to be a crater, this volcanic dome is most likely a product of erosion, an ancient geological artifact in the middle of featureless Maur Adrar desert, in Africa’s Western Sahara. The earliest space missions used it as a landmark, the adventurous 4×4 enthusiasts consider it to be their playground, and scientists are still debating its origin.

This image was taken by an Expedition 15 crew member on the International Space Station. (via Space.com)

The following picture must have simulated color, for it looks almost like a fantastic lake:

(image credit: United States Geological Survey – USGS)

“Paleozoic quartzites form the resistant beds outlining the structure.” (GSA Journals)

Socotra Island

(images credit: Jan Vandorpe, socotra)

Imagine waking up on the Socotra Island and taking a good look around you (let’s say your buddies pulled a prank on you and delivered you there, and lets also assume that you don’t have any hangover from abuse of any substances). After a yelp of disbelief, you’d be inclined to think you were transported to another planet – or traveled to another era of Earth’s history.

The second would be closer to the truth for this island, which is part of a group of 4 islands, has been geographically isolated from mainland Africa for the last 6 or 7 million years. Like the Galapagos Islands, this island is teeming with 700 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, a full 1/3 of which are endemic, i.e. found nowhere else on Earth.

(image credit: socotra)

The climate is harsh, hot and dry, and yet – the most amazing plant life thrives there. Situated in the Indian Ocean 250 km from Somalia and 340 km from Yemen, the wide sandy beaches rise to limestone plateaus full of caves (some 7 kilometers in length) and mountains up to 1525 meters high.

(image credit: Marco Pavan)

The name Socotra is derived from a Sanscrit name, meaning “The Island of Bliss”… Is it the beaches? The isolation and quiet? or the strange and crazy botanical allure?

H.P. Lovecraft’s secret inspiration?

Was the famous Chtulhu myths creator aware of these forbidding mountains with their hauntingly weird flora (think of plant mutations from his “The Color out of Space”) ? We almost tempted to call Socotra the other “Mountains of Madness” – the trees and plants of this island were preserved thru the long geological isolation, some varieties being 20 million years old…

We begin with the dracena cinnibaris or Dragon’s Blood Tree, the source of valuable resin for varnishes, dyes, and “cure-all” medicine; also (predictably) used in medieval ritual magic and alchemy – The branches spread out into the sky and from below appear to hover over the landscape like so many flying saucers… and from above they have a distinct mushroom look:

(image credit: Jan Vandorpe)

There is also the Desert Rose (adenium obesium) which looks like nothing so much as a blooming elephant leg:

(images credit: Jan Vandorpe)

Also found in Socotra’s landscape is the ever-strange and extremely rare Cucumber Tree (dendrosicyos socotranum) – and yes, it’s related to what’s sitting in a pickle jar in your fridge:

(image credit: Jan Vandorpe)

Al Hajarah, Yemen

Computer game designers take note – this mysterious city in the foggy Yemen’s Haraz Mountains can surely fire up imagination of anybody who decides to explore it:

(image credit: Jan Vandorpe)