Category Archives: Misc

Things To Help You Sleep At Night

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I don’t know quite why, but somehow I suddenly feel a lot better reading this:

Scientists trying to develop vaccines against Africa’s deadly Marburg and Ebola viruses are reporting an important milestone, a new type of vaccine that prevents the diseases in monkeys. Successfully immunizing monkeys is an essential step toward the goal of producing vaccines for people.

Two new vaccines, one for Marburg and one for Ebola, were 100 percent effective in a study of 12 macaques being published today in the journal Nature Medicine. Monkeys given just one shot of vaccine and later injected with a high dose of virus did not even get sick. Normally, all the animals would be expected to die.

Apples And Pears

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Why does this kind of news always seem to come from Denmark?

Curvy women are more likely to live longer than their slimmer counterparts, researchers have found. Institute of Preventative Medicine in Copenhagen researchers found those with wider hips also appeared to be protected against heart conditions. Women with a hip measurement smaller than 40 inches, or a size 14 would not have this protection, they said. The researchers say hip fat contains a beneficial natural anti-inflammatory…..

“It has been widely reported that if you are apple-shaped, your risk of developing cardiovascular disease is likely to be greater than if you are pear-shaped. “This study provides additional evidence of the association between hip circumference and cardiovascular protection among women.

The Euro-vision and the Vote

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The referendum battle continues its course. Le Monde notes the importance of the fact that whilst the ‘no’ vote seems to be consolidating its lead in France (see this FT graph), with only one week to go one fifth of the votes still declare themselves to be ‘undecided’.

Meantime the normally sobre EU Observer, lets it hair down for once to suggest that the Dutch No Looks Irrerversible, especially after a row surrounding the Eurovision song contest.
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Xavi Sala i Martin in Beijing

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According to the official version, Columbia University economist and well-known growth theorist Xavi Sala i Martin is in Beijing to give a paper at a meeting sponsored by the IMF. But my confidential sources (OK: I mean the newspaper ‘Sport’) here in Barcelona have another reading: the IMF meeting is a cover. Xavi – who is President of the Economic Commission of FC Barcelona (and a well known cul?) – is there to act as intermediary for Bar?a President Joan Laporta. His mission: sort out the details of the Beijing 2008 sponsorship for Bar?a shirts next season. If they get this the rumours say, then it’s next stop Thierry Henry.
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Bird Flu Early Warning System

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This is no joke. The danger of a mutation of the virus is a real and present risk. The EU decision is a prudent and intelligent one.

The European Union will on Friday take another step towards creating an early warning system to prevent, or at least to limit, an influenza pandemic by the launch of a new continent-wide monitoring system. Establishing a round- the-clock surveillance network to identify any European outbreaks will be the first task for the newly created European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which becomes operational in Solna, nearStockholm, on Friday.
Financial Times

I’m frightened

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This story from a week ago frightens me greatly. The lack of attention it has gotten is remarkable.

?Until recently we would find giant ?chimneys? in the sea where columns of cold, dense water were sinking from the surface to the seabed 3,000 metres below, but now they have almost disappeared,? he said.

?As the water sank it was replaced by warm water flowing in from the south, which kept the circulation going. If that mechanism is slowing, it will mean less heat reaching Europe.?

Such a change could have a severe impact on Britain, which lies on the same latitude as Siberia and ought to be much colder. The Gulf Stream transports 27,000 times more heat to British shores than all the nation?s power supplies could provide, warming Britain by 5-8C.

Obviously, Sweden would be hit even worse. But the consequences could be severe for the whole world.

Metro-Land links to this cover story for the January 1998 issue of The Atlantic Monthly tells why this is so scary, gives you other reasons to be frightened, and mentions possible ways to counteract a catastrophe. Fatalism is the wrong approach.

Also of interest is the recent articles from the New Yorker and the Wikipedia entry.