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Eye On The World - Cut through the information clutter with expert commentary from the New Life Station's "Eye" team reporters. Browse the latest transcripts by clicking on one of the items listed above.
STEM CELLS CAN BE DANGEROUS
Stem cells have the potential to yield treatments for a variety of diseases, but a new study indicates they can also cause life-threatening illnesses.
Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles working with an animal model found that a type of adult stem cell can migrate via the bloodstream to the lungs and cause a condition known as pulmonary fibrosis – a fatal disease that causes scar tissue to form in the lungs.
The researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that they also devised a way to block the stem cell from traveling to the lungs. This could be used as a way to treat this devastating disease, which currently is incurable.
More than 80,000 people in the United States suffer from pulmonary fibrosis and about 70 percent will die within fives years of being diagnosed with the condition.
The research also might aid in the development of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and liver cirrhosis, both of which involve the formation of scar tissue.
PAIN COULD BE ALL IN YOUR BRAIN
Scientists have discovered that some types of pain that appear to have no physical cause, such as chronic low back pain, may originate in our brains.
Researchers from the University College in London and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center put volunteers under hypnosis and gave them a suggestion to feel pain. They found that the brain activity associated with the pain suggestion was similar to that seen in subjects who were exposed to real physical pain, such as pulses of heat.
Interestingly, if the subjects were asked to imagine they felt the same pain while not under hypnosis, they showed different brain activity.
The researchers say that the fact that hypnosis was able to induce a genuine painful experience suggests that some pain really can begin in our minds, and people reporting this type of pain are not simply imagining it.
The study appears in the journal NeuroImage.
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Lance Armstrong has won his sixth straight Tour de France bicycle race. Armstrong won the event....despite falling behind other competitors early in the competition. He won over his nearest competitor by six minutes and 19 seconds. Andreas Kloden came in second...and Italian Ivan Basso came in third. Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999...and he has not year decided if he will go for a seventh straight title next year. After his victory.....Armstrong received a call from President Bush.
Ron Mercer has signed a new contract with the New Jersey Nets professional basketball team. Mercer...who is 28 years old...will play for two years and be paid 3-point-3 million dollars. He was released by the San Antonio Spurs earlier this year after suffering ankle problems. Mercer...who is six-foot-seven....has played for seven teams in seven years as a professional basketball player. He became a professional after his college days at the University of Kentucky.
One of the few female race car drivers in the United States is switching driving teams. Deborah Renshaw has signed a deal with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to drive trucks. Renshaw will drive a Ford truck with the number 29. Before switching to trucks...Renshaw drove a race car and earned three top finishes and six top ten starts. Renshaw was the first female driver to lead the points race of a NASCAR series. That's when she competed in the Late Model Stock Cars in Nashville....Tennessee.
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U.S. STAMPS YEARBOOK
Each year, Linn's Stamp News publishes a U-S Stamps Yearbook, with all the details and stats about that year's stamps....and lots of inside information about why some subjects got stamps and others didn't, and why the stamps that WERE issued look the way they do.
The goal, says George Amick <AY-mick>, the author, is to give collectors...
"...the fullest possible story of each year's stamp emissions, uh, try to give them the inside story on the stamp, go behind the press releases..."
For instance, in the Two Thousand Three edition, just released, author George Amick <AY-mick> tells us that actress Audrey Hepburn's son insisted on changes to her portrait...because, he said, it was TOO perfect. The artists had to add a little bump to her nose.
Or that a stamp designer dug up the Nineteen-Oh-Three weather report for Kitty Hawk for the First Flight stamps.
"It revealed that the sky that day was clear, cloudless."
What surprised Amick the most, though, was the number of stamps issued last year.
"That was exactly one half the total of collectable varieties that were issued the year before."
And that was something the Postal Service had promised it would do.
"And they actually did."
You can find the book at many stamp dealers or online at Amos-advantage-dot-com
A RENEWED INTEREST
Think stamp collecting is dying out?
"Profit before tax was up 86% on the same period last year."
Mike Hall is chief executive of Stanley Gibbons in London, one of the biggest stamp dealers in the world.
"We're enjoying a strong philatelic market at this time, and with a renewed interest in stamp collecting worldwide."
For everyone, Hall says, not just his firm. It's partly because so many Baby Boomers are retiring...
"...which is the most-common age for people to rekindle childhood hobbies, one of the main ones being stamp collecting."
While the markets in Britain and the U-S may be graying, that's not true everywhere.
"The Far East is a new market, with a lot of youngsters very keen on the hobby...A typical stamp show in, say, Hong Kong will attract 200,000 visitors."
Another factor, Hall says, is the Internet, which, for the first time, allows truly global trading.
MAKING A CHANGE
Britain's Royal Philatelic Society of London, its most prestigious stamp collecting group, recently voted to allow dealers to be members. A major reason was that it's often hard to tell the difference between dealers and collectors. Is the person selling off a few duplicates a dealer? What if you buy six copies of a stamp, sell five of them but keep one for yourself -- Are you a collector or a dealer?
Is handling money still a taint?
In this country, dealers have always been full members of the American Philatelic Society, although they also have their own organization. They're often valued members of specialist societies, because they know their fields really well.
In Britain, the Royal's narrow decision is being hailed as progress and likely to re-invigorate the society.
But only those physically present for the meeting were allowed to vote, and half its members live outside the United Kingdom. Now if only the Royal can acknowledge the Internet....
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| James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief |
| Midwest Book Review |
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American History Cookbook Mark Zanger Greenwood Press 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 1573563765 $24.95 www.greenwood.com More than just another cookbook, Mark Zanger’s American History Cookbook relies on historical commentary and recipes to trace the history and evolution of American cooking and culinary trends, ranging from the first European contact with Native Americans down to the 1970s. A chronological arrangement to American History Cookbook’s chapters offers general commentary, historical background, and recipes for 3-4 dishes of the times or regions. These American dishes come from a range of historical cookbooks and other historical culinrary sources. Peacekeeping On The Plains Tony R. Mullis University of Missouri Press 2910 LeMone Boulevard, Columbia, MO 65201 0826215351 $44.95 1-800-828-1894 Peacekeeping On The Plains: Army Operations In Bleeding Kansas by Tony R. Mullis (Assistant Professor of History, United States Air Force/Air Command and Staff College, Montgomery, Alabama) deftly examines a violent microcosm of American history that served as a precursor to the civil war. Examining the useage of the army to conduct police and peacekeeping duties in the newly formed Kansas and Nebraska territories, Peacekeeping On The Plains offers a meticulous analysis of facts and records, regarding the true story of human greed, desperation, ruthlessness, and military efforts to contain potential riots with a strictly scholarly tone. Highly recommended reading, especially for American history and library reference shelves. The African American Experience Karen L. T. Ackermann Heritage Books, Inc. 1540 Pointer Ridge Pl, #C, Bowie, MD 20716-1859 0788425102 $25.00 www.HeritageBooks.com The African American Experience: Personal And Social Activism In The 19th And 20th Centuries is compiled and edited by Karen Ackermann offering contemporary readers a series of nine informed and informative historical essays on diverse aspects of the African American experience after the Civil War and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution endowed them with citizenship and equal political rights -- but saw continuing racial discrimination (especially in the South) in the areas of social equity, economic opportunity, education resources, and public access facilities ranging from swimming pools, to hospitals, to restaurants, to community buses. From B. T. Arrington's "Exodus: African American Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction"; to Nasim Moalem's "Leading The Way: African American Women in Baltimore, Maryland, 1900-1950"; to Alphonso Simpson Jr.'s "When Culture sings: The Teaching and Learning Methodologies of Afro-American Children in the Educational and Religious Setting -- A Review of the Literature", The African American Experience is a seminal anthology and very highly recommended for Black Studies supplemental reading lists and American History academic library collections. Rediscovering The South's Celtic Heritage Barry Vann The Overmountain Press PO Box 1261, Johnson City, TN 37605 1570722692 $24.95 1-800-992-2691 Rediscovering The South's Celtic Heritage is a scholarly work by Barry Vann that expertly explores the roots of America's pioneering Celts, and the role they played in settling the nation, particularly along the reaches of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Their culture tended to perpetuate itself in isolated pockets, existing on the edge of the mainstream until the 20th century brought about more homogenization and democratization of information and lifestyles than ever before. An intriguing examination of Southern Celtic religion, folklore, cultural practices, and invaluable contributions to American history. Big Moose Lake In The Adirondacks Jane A. Barlow, editor Syracuse University Press 1600 Jamesville Ave, Syracuse, NY 13210 0815607997 $30.00 1-800-365-8929 Big Moose Lake In The Adirondacks: The Story Of The Lake, The Land, And The People is a local history project under the editorship of Jane Barlow and authorized by the Big Moose Lake History Project Committee. It tells the true story of the growth of an American lakeside community that became famous because of the incident that inspired Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy." Beginning in the 1870's, and following how people's lives changed over the course of 100 years, Big Moose Lake In The Adirondacks uses both extensive, well-documented detail and features black-and-white photographs to paint a revealing picture of humble daily community life across the span of a century. Texas And The Mexican War Charles M. Robinson III Texas State Historical Association The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, D0901, Austin, TX 78712-0332 0876111924 $7.95 1-800-687-8132 In Texas And The Mexican War: A History And Guide, Texas historian Charles M. Robinson III (History Instructor, South Texas Community College, McAllen, Texas) recounts and analyses the essential role played by Texas during the Mexican War -- including battles fought on Texas soil and the contributions (both good and ill) of Texas troops throughout the conflict. Robins draws upon both American and Mexican sources to illustrate conditions in both countries that made the war inevitable. Profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs, sketches, and drawings (many from Robinson's own personal collection), Texas And The Mexican War is an impressive and highly recommended contribution which will prove of immense interest to non-specialist general readers with an interest in Texas history, as well as students of 19th Century American frontier history in general.
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In entertainment news, several new movies have been released recently. "The Bourne Supremacy" is the next installment of "The Bourne Identity." In movie time, it’s been two years since the CIA closed its case on Jason Bourne. One of its operatives reopens the case and once again, Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, has to try to figure out who he is while being hunted by every spy operative on the planet. And, as before, Bourne spends most of the movie on the run. As in the original, we of watch Damon discover clues about him self while finding new "skills" for survival that he didn’t know he had. This makes the movie very comfortable. But "The Bourne Supremacy" has differences which make the movie engaging, such as adding new places that Damon runs through and new camera styles to keep up with him. The style is pretty shaky which has been somewhat of a disappointment for viewers who are bothered by that sort of thing…however, its goal was to give you more of Damon’s perspective, which it does. "The Bourne Supremacy" is an edge-of-your-seat, yet comfortable adventure.
Another recent release is "The Manchurian Candidate." This movie is actually a remake of a movie done in 1962 by the same name. The premise for both movies is the same: There are two political extremist groups who join together to wreck havoc on the larger, more politically moderate group in power. In the 1962 film, which sticks closer to the book, the extremists are foreign Communists and their American opposites. In the new version, the politically moderate group about to come into power is desperate to gain and keep the presidency. To do this, they place a chip under certain people’s skin (specifically their presidential candidate) and then use it to control his mind. Most people in the movie are oblivious to the change in the man, except Denzel Washington, who spends the movie unraveling the conspiracy. "The Manchurian Candidate," which now has nothing to do with China, is star-studded and well done. It’s a very interesting political thriller.
We just found out that "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," the musical based on the 1968 movie of the same name, will open on Broadway in 2005. You may remember that "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is about an eccentric inventor who purchases the car when it was decrepit and restores it. Although the inventor and his family enjoy the magical car for simple things, there are more sinister forces wanting the to use the vehicle for evil. The musical adaptation played this year in London to good reviews. It is an epic show that is thoroughly enjoyable. We anxiously anticipate it’s 2005 open.
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Science\Technology |
HUNGER LEADS TO ELKS DOWNFALL
Researchers have discovered that hunger may explain why male bull elk in Yellowstone National Park are more likely to be killed by wolves than female elk in the winter.
The male bull elks enter winter so famished due to mating season that they can’t afford not to eat in order to make it through the cold weather, Montana State University researchers recently reported. Female elks, on the other hand, have more stored fat and thus are in a better position to bolt when wolves come near.
The males can lose more than 100 pounds from September to November, which is about 20 percent of their body weight. So it’s a real struggle for them to make it through the harsh winter weather.
But the bull elks pay dearly for their need to forage. They are six times more likely to be killed by wolves than the female elk.
"They probably can't afford to be as vigilant as cows," one researcher said. "They simply cannot stop grazing since they are already in such crummy shape."
STUDY SHOWS U.S. POLICIES BLOCK ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCES
Two chemical engineers suggest in a new study that changing the U.S. tax structure could encourage the import of alternative fuel technology and reduce the nation’s reliance on oil.
Galen Suppes and Truman Storvick of the University of Missouri in Columbia found that synthetic fuel sources, such as ethanol from corn, bio-diesel from vegetable oil and oil from coal, are actually much cheaper than importing oil.
These alternative fuel sources would cost about $13 per barrel.
The problem is that existing U.S. corporate taxes, costs related to foreign competition and conflicts of interest in the oil industry drive the price up considerably –to more than $100 per barrel-- so it then becomes more expensive than oil.
The analysis notes that there are nearly zero taxes on imported oil whereas synthetic oil produced domestically is subject to a slew of taxes, including corporate taxes, personal income taxes and federal and state taxes, that can account for half of the price the company pays.
These tax barriers need to be removed to help spur development of alternative fuel sources, the researchers say.
The analysis will appear in the book Energy Disclosed: Abundant Resources and Unused Technology, which is scheduled for publication at the end of August.
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Dermot Cole, a columnist for the Fairbanks, Alaska Daily News-Miner newspaper helps KNLS keep an eye on America's last frontier. Click here to jump to the Daily News-Miner website to review Mr. Cole's latest column or for an update on the latest headlines from Alaska.
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RED STORM SUPERCOMPUTER TO BE FASTER, SMALLER AND CHEAPER THAN OTHER SUPERCOMPUTERS
Red Storm, a supercomputer being developed by the U.S. government, is expected to be faster than previous supercomputers but at the same time smaller and less expensive.
The first quarter of the $90 million computer will be installed at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories by the end of September. At its peak, Red Storm will be capable of 100 teraflops or trillion operations per second.
Japan’s Earth Simulator is currently the world’s fastest supercomputer. But it is four times as expensive to operate and takes up about three times the space of Red Storm.
Performance testing of Red Storm will start early next year and the entire computer should be up and running in early 2005.
It will be used primarily for nuclear research, such as designing new components and conducting virtual tests.
COMPUTERS HELP PRESERVE DYING LANGUAGES
Computers and special software are being used by researchers in Arizona to help preserve two endangered Native American languages.
University of Arizona researchers are using funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to record, preserve and digitally manipulate voice samples of two Native American languages spoken by only 43 people.
In the project, members of the Mohave and Chemehuevi tribes located on the border of Arizona and California are using laptops and software to help preserve their languages before they disappear forever.
Susan Penfield of the University of Arizona English department is helping coordinate the effort, which she calls literally a matter of life and death for these languages. Only 33 people speak Mohave and most of these are 70 or older. Ten or fewer people –all 60 or older—speak Chemehuevi.
One of the first goals is to create language lessons using PowerPoint and Audacity software so that others can learn how to speak these languages. Other software, such as MaxAuthor, are also being employed.
More funding is needed to acquire additional hardware and software to complete the project. Penfield says the incorporation of computers and software to help save indigenous languages is new and largely untapped, but she notes that while the technology can help, only people can really save a dying language.
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In religious news we will highlight the Society of Saint Andrew. This Christian ministry started in1979 in order to find ways to feed the hungry in America. Their goal comes from the Bible, in the book called First John, chapter 3 and verse 18. It says, "Let us love not only in words, but in deed and in truth." They want to meet all the hungers people feel, physically, spiritually and emotionally. The Society of Saint Andrew has come up with an interesting method in order to accomplish this. They use surplus foodstuffs, particularly harvested fruits and vegetables, like potatoes, and relocate them to places of need. They call this "gleaning" and have set up groups throughout the United States who gather produce from the field, if needed, and network with other groups to distribute. They have also partnered with the United Methodist Men’s program called "Meals for Millions" in order to better glean food and get it to those in need. Since their beginning, the Society of Saint Andrew has distributed over 330 million pounds of food to America’s hungry. In 1990 they started the Seed Potato Project to offer poor communities education and seed in order for them to grow their own food. This project, which started to aid the poor in Appalachia, is now producing over 5 million pounds per year among some of the most needy in America. The Society of Saint Andrew is using very creative ways to help those in need.
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In business news, Central America’s and Spain’s largest bank, Banco Santander Central Hispano announced that it will buy Abbey National of Britain. This merger will create the world’s eighth largest bank. Such a financial institution will have a significant presence in Latin America, Spain, Britain, and Northern Ireland and will be the largest cross-border banking merger in Europe since the introduction of the euro in 2002. Initially, introducing the euro brought the expectation of many merger deals, which would ultimately interlace the entire European community. That didn’t happen. Some experts have cited that country-to-country differences, in banking particularly, have stopped such mergers. Other experts claim perceived political power by the buyer and perceived weakness on the part of the seller as another possible reason for mergers to be slow to happen. Interestingly enough, Britain, who has thus far rejected the adoption of the euro as it’s national currency, seems to be more comfortable with out-of-country mergers than any one. This is due to a recent blockade of mergers within the country. Apparently, competition regulators won’t allow any more mergers of banks because they believe it would leave the British consumer without enough choice…so the only way for British banks to grow through acquisitions is to buy, or be bought by, banks outside their borders. Thus Abbey National Bank will be owned by Banco Santander of Spain and hopefully will grow as a result. Other European financial institutions (and the rest of the world) are watching to see what will happen. Banco Santander plans to cut costs and offer multiple financial opportunities as part of Abbey National’s facelift. It will be interesting to see if all this will provide the benefits that big business proponents claim.
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