selfish genes, Methane, Bushfire, Sciatica, death squads

So this blog is not quiescent, maybe my paycheck will clear!

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Truly selfish genes

George Williams, who in 1988 wrote,

Perhaps it is just a matter of time before someone discovers (or invents in the lab) an all-male species. It makes diploid sperm that inseminate eggs of related species and give rise to diploid nuclei that exclude the egg pronuclei.

This would seem to be the ultimate in parasitic DNA—an entire eukaryotic genome that has no body of its own, surviving only by stealing the eggs of a related species in each generation. Although it may seem to be the subject matter for a science-fiction novel, this type of system was recently discovered in a clam, a conifer and a stick insect. Very cool!

in a review of Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Elements. Austin Burt and Robert Trivers americanscientist ..And you thought than Males were going redundant!

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Methane not increasing

.. bbc

But because methane is broken down relatively easily, atmospheric concentrations would return to pre-industrial levels within about a decade if the various sources of production linked to human activities could be eliminated.

This has led some scientists and policymakers to suggest that cutting emissions of methane could be a more effective way of curbing climate change than focusing on carbon dioxide.

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Bushfire season Broadcast TV is hopeless at giving precise details of where the fire threats are
The internet has some good sites.



blue mountain fire
rfs
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ga
Geoscience Australia has good graphics of updated bushfire hotspots, which I cant be bothered flogging. Go there if live among the gumtrees..
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nytimes
More than a million babies die across Africa every year in their first month of life..
¶ 300,000 babies who die because they are not breathing at birth could have been saved .. a mask and plastic bag device ..$10.
¶ 70,000 babies die of tetanus .. if mothers had been given two 20-cent tetanus shots..
¶..babies born prematurely who die could have survived if they had been kept warm and snug against their mother’s chests,
USA 4.7 newborns die for every 1,000 born, cf 66 per 1000 in Liberia, ..

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Sciatica:
my lifetime with a fuzzy foot. Because walking is less fun, I ride a bicycle, and am fitter for it.
I only had a few days of extreme pain, during which I scoffed an entire bottle of Librium, and, although I have no recollection of the event, apparently I rang my neurologist and verbally abused his receptionist. Thus greatly reducing my chances of a place in the queue for surgery. Which I've never had. Foot still fuzzy.

..JAMA..compare surgery for sciatica with waiting...Patients who had surgery often reported immediate relief. ..
After two years, 70% of both groups..had a “major improvement” .. No one who waited had serious consequences, and no one who had surgery had a disastrous result.
..The operation is quick and generally effective, Dr. Garfin said. It involves gently pushing the compressed nerve root away from the herniated disk. ..
..“nobody got worse.”

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"the death squads" video
"the death squads"
"the death squads" channel 4
Based on the history of USA training and sponsoring death squads, I suspect the death squads in Iraq are the result of deliberate USA policy. Since Iraq didnt roll over and hand over the oil to a peaceful puppet, USA prefers chaos in Iraq to stability not under their control. I predict that USA troops will remain after 2008 whoever wins USA elections.


selfish genes, Methane, Bushfire, Sciatica, death squads