Green and Mean ?!
July 21, 2006
Tesla Motors has gotten a lot of press lately from Wired.com, CNET, Red Herring and others. They have built the first all electric performance roadster. 0-60mph in about 4 seconds, 250 miles per charge a top speed of over 130 mph and a battery that lasts 100 000 miles. No emissions. 135 mpg equivalent. All this on a three -hour charge. For only 80k. Not bad. The development story at Wired.com is fascinating. I will be passing the hat shortly, although they say that a sedan is in the works.
I guess all that tarry goop is good for something….
July 20, 2006
Fetal alcohol exposure is usually determined through self-reported maternal consumption. Self-reported drinking, however, is often an unreliable measure. Researchers have found that the presence of certain fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium may provide a dependable biomarker of fetal alcohol exposure.
The test involves taking small samples of meconium and doing a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. This techniques separates different chemicals based on their mass. The data from the analysis can be interpreted to show how much of a given chemical is present. In this case the FAEE ethyl linoleate (formed when ethanol – alcohol – reacts with the fat linoleaic acid) concentration in the meconium is an accurate indicator of how much alcohol a mother has consumed during pregancy.
Although it is not discussed in the article, I imagine that this technique could be used to determine whether or not there is a “safe” level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women.
That’s why there’s wine at the bris, nudnick
July 20, 2006
ScienceDaily: Doctors Treating Pain From Circumcision More Seriously
One of the first things most little boys in the U.S. experience is something they’ll never remember – circumcision – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a painful experience. The debate over whether infants feel pain has ended, and the positive conclusion is catching up with obstetrical, pediatric and family physician training programs, 97 percent of which now learn effective pain relief techniques for circumcision. Just 10 years ago, only 71 percent learned how to ease pain during the brief surgical procedure.
Ummm, about freakin’ time.
Technorati Tags: circumcision, pain
Doesn’t everyone take naked pictures of their kids?
July 19, 2006
They called me a child pornographer | Salon Life
As someone who loves to take pictures of my son, this is definitely a scary story. Does this sort of thing enter your mind when you are photographing your children?
Technorati Tags: photography, parenting,
families
pornography
The funny smell really does mean it’s bad for you.
July 19, 2006
ScienceDaily: Number Of Indoor Swimming Pools Per Capita Linked To Rise In Childhood Asthma
The prevalence of childhood asthma
and wheeze rises around 2 to 3 per cent for every indoor swimming pool
per 100,000 of the population across Europe, indicates research
published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The researcher are indicating that the important factor here is inadequate ventilation for the pools, which leaves high levels of chlorine and chlorine by-products in the pool air. They are calling for studies of the long-term effects of the compounds on children’s respiratory systems.
Still Smoking Mom?
July 19, 2006
ScienceDaily: Nicotine Exposure During Development Leads To Hearing Problems
Scientists know that children of women who smoke during pregnancy can develop hearing-related cognitive deficits. For the first time, researchers believe they have evidence that not only implicates nicotine as the culprit, but also shows what the substance does to the brain to cause these deficits.
Technorati Tags: pregnancy, smoking, hearing, development
Avoiding Punishment Is Its Own Reward
July 11, 2006
To give your child an incentive to take out the garbage, you might offer to buy her a treat, or you might threaten to withhold her regular allowance. Does the child respond the same way to reward as it does to avoiding punishment? Psychologists have evidence from certain kinds of behavioral experiments to believe that avoiding punishment is itself a reward.
This one is tricky, but it seems as though the same part of the brain is activated when one earns a reward or avoids a punishment.
New Model Of Brain Sheds Light On Triggers Of Autism
July 11, 2006
Approximately 1.5 million children and adults in the U.S. have autism and it is estimated to be the fastest growing developmental disability with a 10 – 17 percent increase each year. While much is known about the symptoms of autism, the exact cause of the condition is not yet defined.
This new model shows that autism spectrum disorders (Wikipedia) result from the breakdown of specific neural pathways that prevent the brain from learning how to recognize and differentiate between concrete things and abstractions. For example, an autistic child might learn to understand that when Mommy smiles she is happy, but will be unable to have an abstract understanding of smiling. When another person smiles, the child will not necessarily be able to interpret the emotion.
ScienceDaily: DDT In Mothers Linked To Developmental Delays In Children, UC Berkeley Study Finds
July 6, 2006
ScienceDaily: DDT In Mothers Linked To Developmental Delays In Children, UC Berkeley Study Finds
Since the 1970s, scientists have known that when DDT accumulates in a woman’s tissues it can be transmitted to her developing fetus across the placenta. Now, a new study led by a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that such in utero exposure is associated with developmental delays in the young child.
The more we learn about how the environement affects our long term health and development, the scarier it gets. In some places, notably heavily industrialized areas and in the far North, the levels of dangerous compounds in some women’s breastmilk is so high that many are being actively discouraged from breastfeeding.
Technorati Tags: DDT, environment, breastfeeding
News For Parents.org – Mercury Emissions
July 6, 2006
16 states are taking the EPA to court over mercury emissions trading.
New Jersey’s attorney general filed a court petition Monday on behalf of 16 states challenging the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s new mercury pollution rules.
The petition asks a federal judge to reactivate a lawsuit filed last year challenging a rule known as ‘cap-and-trade.’
Cap-and-trade allows power plants to buy emissions reduction credits from plants whose emissions fall below target levels, rather than installing their own mercury emissions controls. It is to go into effect in 2010.
The lawsuit was put on hold in October after the EPA agreed to reconsider the rules, but on May 31, the agency’s announced revisions didn’t included cap-and-trade.
‘After six months of stalling, EPA not only failed to address the grave dangers posed to communities and children by its cap-and-trade program for mercury emissions, it made the program worse by further weakening standards,’ New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber said. The petition was filed in federal court in Washington.
At least someone is taking the initiative.
Technorati Tags: Mercury, environment, pollution
