Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Is your Pet’s Health at Risk due to Fluoride in Dog Food?
The Environmental Working Group conducted an independent laboratory test of popular pet foods finding they contain high levels of fluoride. The brands contain meal and animal byproducts which are the likely cause of the contamination. These levels are much higher than those allowed for humans but because this issue has not been studied in pets there is no real knowledge of the safety of these high levels. However, certain diseases like Osteosarcoma ( a rare bone cancer) is occurring at increasing rates in dogs. If you combine the food with flouride found in drinking water your pet may be getting 3.5 times more fluoride than the EPA allows in the water. Large breed puppies may be exposed to even more fluoride. Perhaps the time has come for scientific analysis! To find more information Click Here!
Do you Know What is in Your Bottled Water?
According to the Environmental Working Group we need stricter labeling on our bottled water. Bottled water is now an industry worth about $ 16 billion in sales and consumers are now drinking an average of 29 gallons. Regulations required by municipalities are often not required of bottled water companies. Consumers should know where their water comes from and how it is treated. Researchers from the Government Accountability Office and Environmental Working Group “urged Americans to make bottled water a distant second choice" to filtered tap water because there isn't enough information about bottled water. The working group recommends purifying tap water with a commercial filter. To find more information Click Here!
New Digital Channel to benefit Low Income Families
Nonprofit organization One Economy and cable provider Comcast are forming a partnership in order to offer a broadband digital channel that will provide educational programming to low-income children. Participating children will be trained and expected to do community service in the form of sharing their new digital smarts with others in their community. Great idea!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What is so special about The International Year of Astronomy?
A great deal! The year is passing by so don’t miss out on the beautiful images being sent to earth. Portal To the Universe http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/ gives you live up to date coverage from spectacular international telescopes. The photo at the right shows an image from NASA’s Space Telescope. You see a coiled galaxy with an eye at the center that is located 50 million light years away. The eye at the center is really a large black hole surrounded by stars. It is fascinating to study because new stars are forming at a very fast rate. You may not be able to see this clear formation through your own home telescope but there are many fascinating objects that will be in your view.
Galileo invented the telescope 400 years ago. There have been many celebrations last summer and we continue to honor this great man by expanding on his vision and developing more complex telescopes. So, why not use them..…go observe! NASA presents us with brilliant images that are guides to finding them on your own.
In September, look for Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. 1610 was the year Galileo discovered four of Jupiter’s moons. Can you see them? Modern telescopes have found that there are 63 moons of which four are large.
Andromeda is visible in October and all you need is your eyes or binoculars. This enormous galaxy of stars, gas, and dust is predicted to collide with our own Milky Way galaxy in billions of years.
Watch in November for the Crab Nebula. First seen by Native Americans and Chinese astronomers who recorded a bright star that could be seen during the day in 1054 A.D. What they were seeing was the death of a star which eventually formed the Crab Nebula we see today.
The Orion Nebula which can be seen in December is thought to be disks of material that could be building blocks of future solar systems. You can see it on a dark night with your eyes, but will see so much more with a telescope.
FETTU – From Earth to the Universe – is an exhibit of astronomical images that is at the center of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). It was at the Smithsonian last summer and traveling versions are being seen in 60 countries throughout the world. To find out if it is coming to your city you can visit
Amateur astronomers are helping to celebrate IYA. Consider Mark Sieble of Michigan, builder of Mark’s Tin Shed Observatory (I’d like to see that!) who captured an image on June 12, 2009 that will be used as part of the U.S.’s contribution to a project capturing photographic sections of the moon taken from 40 countries. Moon for All Mankind, a collection of these images is being assembled to honor the first space landing on the moon forty years ago. http://365daysofastronomy.org/ another informative site you might want to bookmark is a daily pod cast produced in honor of IYA.
Are you or someone in your family ready to be an amateur sky watcher? Children can start sky watching with a sky chart in hand, their own eyes, and binoculars. As they get a bit older they will enjoy exploring with an inexpensive telescope, learning how to use and take care of a piece of scientific equipment. Books abound with Greek Mythology that makes finding Orion’s belt or Hercules interesting. Inspirational books show magnificent, color enhanced images, explain how to purchase a telescope, and where to find assistance when you need it. The more serious amateur astronomer will use detailed charts to help in their exploration. Astronomy clubs are fun to join because you meet others like yourself. As a spectator you can take advantage of their free star parties. A visit to the planetarium also helps the novice who wants to understand the local night sky.
Those who get bitten by the astronomy bug will want a more sophisticated telescope with precision optics and perhaps even electronics to help track the object of choice. Imagine yourself on a clear dark night watching the night sky light up in all its beauty. And….imagine that you know what you are looking at and can find and name the images. You can do it…astronomy is a great hobby and can give you hours of fun.
Items that wil stimulate your family's interest in astronomy include: Start Theater, a planetarium for the home; Nightwatch, the reference of choice for backyard astronomers; Starship Earth, a globe of outer space explores the universe; Telescopes at many price points; Crystal Orb paperweights of the solar system. a piece of a real meteorite that that fell in 1947; Clestial Globe shows constellations by night, a Solar System light that orbits in your room; and many more.
Galileo invented the telescope 400 years ago. There have been many celebrations last summer and we continue to honor this great man by expanding on his vision and developing more complex telescopes. So, why not use them..…go observe! NASA presents us with brilliant images that are guides to finding them on your own.
In September, look for Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. 1610 was the year Galileo discovered four of Jupiter’s moons. Can you see them? Modern telescopes have found that there are 63 moons of which four are large.Andromeda is visible in October and all you need is your eyes or binoculars. This enormous galaxy of stars, gas, and dust is predicted to collide with our own Milky Way galaxy in billions of years.Watch in November for the Crab Nebula. First seen by Native Americans and Chinese astronomers who recorded a bright star that could be seen during the day in 1054 A.D. What they were seeing was the death of a star which eventually formed the Crab Nebula we see today.The Orion Nebula which can be seen in December is thought to be disks of material that could be building blocks of future solar systems. You can see it on a dark night with your eyes, but will see so much more with a telescope.FETTU – From Earth to the Universe – is an exhibit of astronomical images that is at the center of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). It was at the Smithsonian last summer and traveling versions are being seen in 60 countries throughout the world. To find out if it is coming to your city you can visit
Amateur astronomers are helping to celebrate IYA. Consider Mark Sieble of Michigan, builder of Mark’s Tin Shed Observatory (I’d like to see that!) who captured an image on June 12, 2009 that will be used as part of the U.S.’s contribution to a project capturing photographic sections of the moon taken from 40 countries. Moon for All Mankind, a collection of these images is being assembled to honor the first space landing on the moon forty years ago. http://365daysofastronomy.org/ another informative site you might want to bookmark is a daily pod cast produced in honor of IYA.
Are you or someone in your family ready to be an amateur sky watcher? Children can start sky watching with a sky chart in hand, their own eyes, and binoculars. As they get a bit older they will enjoy exploring with an inexpensive telescope, learning how to use and take care of a piece of scientific equipment. Books abound with Greek Mythology that makes finding Orion’s belt or Hercules interesting. Inspirational books show magnificent, color enhanced images, explain how to purchase a telescope, and where to find assistance when you need it. The more serious amateur astronomer will use detailed charts to help in their exploration. Astronomy clubs are fun to join because you meet others like yourself. As a spectator you can take advantage of their free star parties. A visit to the planetarium also helps the novice who wants to understand the local night sky.
Those who get bitten by the astronomy bug will want a more sophisticated telescope with precision optics and perhaps even electronics to help track the object of choice. Imagine yourself on a clear dark night watching the night sky light up in all its beauty. And….imagine that you know what you are looking at and can find and name the images. You can do it…astronomy is a great hobby and can give you hours of fun.
Items that wil stimulate your family's interest in astronomy include: Start Theater, a planetarium for the home; Nightwatch, the reference of choice for backyard astronomers; Starship Earth, a globe of outer space explores the universe; Telescopes at many price points; Crystal Orb paperweights of the solar system. a piece of a real meteorite that that fell in 1947; Clestial Globe shows constellations by night, a Solar System light that orbits in your room; and many more.
When the Climate Gets Hot Can We Help It Cool Down?
A new field of study is emerging called climate engineering that is discussing whether it is possible to change the weather to cool the planet. They are looking at sun-blocking particles; making clouds become more reflective; and removing large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. There has not been a lot of money for this type of research but Obama’s administration says it will be considered. Some of the ideas being studied include use of aerosol particles to reflect short wave solar radiation back into space. To learn more click here. Another way to cool the globe is to spray seawater mist at low-laying clouds from ships in order to make them brighter. The clouds would then reflect more sunlight away from Earth. For more information see nytimes.com/tierneylab.com
Give Your Kid a Hug!
Researchers, led by Matthew Hertenstein of DePauw University, studied 248 students who were touched by a stranger who tried to communicate specific emotions such as anger, fear, happiness, sadness, disgust, love, gratitude or sympathy. The recipient was blindfolded and not aware of the sex of the touching person who was told to touch appropriate body parts and communicate an emotional message. After each touch the recipient was asked to pick one of nine emotions that were received. The results showed an 50-78% accuracy which is much higher than in studies of verbal and facial emotion. For more information go to Click Here!
Have you ever thought about the Ethics of Space Travel?
According to New York Times interview with Paul Wolpe, an adviser to the chief medical officer for NASA, there are many issues that are being considered. For instance, space travel involves high exposure to radiation. How much space travel can an astronaut do without running risk for cancer? What happens if a person is seriously injured while on the surface of a planet … or even dead? Should the crew rescue this astronaut if it puts the rest of the crew at risk?
There are many experiments done on astronauts and most of these are acceptable. However, astronauts have been leery about experiments that interfere with getting enough sleep. Sleep is difficult in microgravity and astronauts do have the right to opt out of a study even if it does affect the end results. Religion also plays a role in making ethical decisions. When a Jewish man died on the Columbia disaster there was a question about when to return remains. DNA studies would take weeks and Jewish custom demands immediate burial. As we explore space more fully there will be many ethical questions facing NASA that in the past have only been considered in science fiction books.
There are many experiments done on astronauts and most of these are acceptable. However, astronauts have been leery about experiments that interfere with getting enough sleep. Sleep is difficult in microgravity and astronauts do have the right to opt out of a study even if it does affect the end results. Religion also plays a role in making ethical decisions. When a Jewish man died on the Columbia disaster there was a question about when to return remains. DNA studies would take weeks and Jewish custom demands immediate burial. As we explore space more fully there will be many ethical questions facing NASA that in the past have only been considered in science fiction books.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
