Stem cells: An Introduction

One of the goals of this blog is to increase scientific literacy. After writing the post above, I thought this might be a good opportunity to talk a bit more about stem cells. What are stem cells, anyway? Without stem cells, wounds would never heal, your skin and blood could not continually renew themselves, fertilized eggs would not grow into babies, and babies would not grow into adults. Stem cells are quite unlike the specialized, or differentiated, cells in your body — such as the nerve cells, muscle cells and blood cells that enable you to function. In contrast, stem cells are the body's silent reserves. They spring into action when you need replace cells in your body. For example, due to the acid used to digest food, stem cells are needed to constantly replace the lining of your stomach.

A fertilized egg is the ultimate stem cell, as it is the source of every type of cell in the body (also known as "totipotent"). Within three to six days after a human egg is fertilized, it has grown into a ball of a few hundred cells called a blastocyst (which is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence). Within this ball lie a small number of cells that will go on to develop into the embryo (the rest form the placenta and other supportive tissues). These are known as embryonic stem cells, and they have the potential to produce all the cell types in the human body (what we call "pluripotent"; these cells can form every cell type, but not placenta). This is what makes them so valuable.

Scientists hope to use stem cells to replace or rejuvenate damaged tissue (which is what was done in the post above). Researchers are also exploring ways to use stem cells to treat diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, heart disease and vision and hearing loss, among others. And this would only be the beginning. In the future, many scientists expect that we will be able to use stem cells to grow entire organs. Have heart disease? Let's collect some of your stem cells and grow them into a new heart! Importantly, because the stem cells are your own, they won't be rejected by your body (which is the main problem with transplants today). In a upcoming post, I'll discuss the politics of stem cell research.

The Real Cause of the Economic Crisis

The latest economic news is grim. Most of the world's major industrial countries, including the US, UK, Japan, Russia, and most of Europe are already in or close to recession. GM may fail. Banking giant Citigroup, whose stock is down 68% so far this year, announced today that it would be cutting more than 50,000 jobs. 

An excellent piece in the Daily Kos tells us about one of the root causes of the economic crisis, the credit default swap:

Subprime mortgages (and all mortgages, really) are a fraction of the current problem. The bailout would have been enough to buy out every subprime mortgage in foreclosure across the country. In fact, it was enough to do that several times over. So why not do that?

The reason is that the purpose of the bailout (at least as Treasury Secretary Paulson sees it) isn't to stop mortgage foreclosures, but to save the banks. And the banks have some self-inflicted problems that make those mortgages an afterthought.

For example, the wonderful credit default swap. In essence, credit default swaps are (or were) nothing but insurance policies for loans. And yet in 2007 the total number of credit default swaps traded far exceeded the value of all loans. In fact, it may have touched $70 trillion dollars, which puts it above the gross domestic product of the entire planet.

What role did they play in the financial crisis? Check out this great report by 60 Minutes.

The mastermind? Phil Gramm. If you want to learn more about how we got into this mess, I recommend this article and this one. 

A Master of Disguise

That the octopus evolved to camouflage itself so perfectly is amazing enough (they use specialized skin cells which can change color, opacity, and reflectiveness), but it's even more incredible when you learn that these animals do not possess color vision:

Did you know that an octupus can learn to open screw-on containers? Here are other interesting facts about octopuses (no, the plural is not octopi). Wired Science has some fun animal videos.

President v2.0

During his presidency, FDR occasionally went on the radio, in what came to be called his “fireside chats,” to directly address the nation as he steered it through the Depression and WWII. Every president that followed continued the tradition. President-elect Barack Obama announced that he will be updating the practice for the digital age by converting his weekly radio addresses into four minute-long YouTube videos. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki explained:

"This is just one of many ways that he will communicate directly with the American people and make the White House and the political process more transparent."

President-elect Obama plans to to publish these weekly updates through the Transition and then from the White House. This week's address concerns the current economic crisis:

Obama has also added a transition website, Change.gov, soliciting suggestions from citizens and providing a guide to the people and procedures behind the transfer of executive power. I think this is pretty smart and - hopefully - a sign of a new era of direct involvement for Americans in the government.

Why They Lost

Republican moderates such as former NJ governor Christine Todd Whitman understood the party's problems 4 years ago:

The Republican Party had been taken hostage by "social fundamentalists," the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion, gay rights and stem cell research. Unless the GOP freed itself from their grip, we argued, it would so alienate itself from the broad center of the American electorate that it would become increasingly marginalized and find itself out of power.

Unless the Republican Party ends its self-imposed captivity to social fundamentalists, it will spend a long time in the political wilderness. On Nov. 4, the American people very clearly rejected the politics of demonization and division. It's long past time for the GOP to do the same.

Of course, McCain decided to go in the opposite direction by choosing social fundamentalist (and know-nothing) Sarah Palin as his VP nominee. We know how well that worked out. That doesn't mean that they learned their lesson, however. Apparently, there is a war going on within the Republican party to decide whether it will go towards the right or the center (represented by moderates like Whitman). I'm curious about Palin's political future because I think she'll be a good barometer for the Republican Party, as to which faction will have won out. If Palin runs in 2012, then it means the social fundamentalists have won the internal fight for the soul of the Republican Party, and the GOP will likely continue its slide into well-deserved electoral oblivion.

Hillary for Secretary of State?

The Secretary of State plays a central role in positioning America on the global stage and representing our interests abroad, as well as acting as an adviser to the President. It is the single most powerful and visible role in the Cabinet. I think she would be a great representative of the U.S. to the world and it's a role for which she is definitely qualified. According to an article on Bloomberg.com:

Two Obama advisers confirm the idea has been discussed, though they say they don't know how seriously the president-elect is considering it or whether Clinton would accept it.

If Obama picks her, the Republicans will be quick to claim, “that’s not change!” Of course, they would criticize Obama if he picked a relatively unknown figure, too. 

UPDATE:

The Huffinton Post is reporting:

President-elect Barack Obama offered Sen. Hillary Clinton the position of Secretary of State during their meeting Thursday in Chicago, according to two senior Democratic officials. She requested time to consider the offer, the officials said.

She ain't talking, though:

Googling with your Voice

Good news for iPhone people: 

Google researchers have added sophisticated voice recognition technology to the company’s search software for the Apple iPhone.

Users of the free application, which Apple is expected to make available as soon as Friday through its iTunes store, can place the phone to their ear and ask virtually any question, like “Where’s the nearest Starbucks?” or “How tall is Mount Everest?” The sound is converted to a digital file and sent to Google’s servers, which try to determine the words spoken and pass them along to the Google search engine.

The search results, which may be displayed in just seconds on a fast wireless network, will at times include local information, taking advantage of iPhone features that let it determine its location.

Don't fret, Blackberry users. Google plans to make the software available to other phones. By the way, the iPhone is now an electronic book reader too.

To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before..

The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today:

Yeah, it doesn't look like much to me, either (by the way, the star is in the middle and the planet is a white speck inside the small box--the larger box is a magnification). Regardless, it's an important achievement:

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star.

Estimated to be no more than three times Jupiter's mass, the planet, called Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis, or the "Southern Fish."

Could there be intelligent life there? Probably not:

Fomalhaut is burning hydrogen at such a furious rate through nuclear fusion that it will burn out in only 1 billion years, which is 1/10th the lifespan of our sun. This means there is little opportunity for advanced life to evolve on any habitable worlds the star might possess.

Fightclub

And I thought the Democrats and Republicans had differences..

Conservative Philosophy "lies in ruins"

P.J. O' Rourke (known for his combination of conservative economic views and liberal views on vices such as sex and drugs) admits the conservatives had their chance and blew it:

Let us bend over and kiss our ass goodbye. Our 28-year conservative opportunity to fix the moral and practical boundaries of government is gone--gone with the bear market and the Bear Stearns and the bear that's headed off to do you-know-what in the woods on our philosophy.

An entire generation has been born, grown up, and had families of its own since Ronald Reagan was elected. And where is the world we promised these children of the Conservative Age? Where is this land of freedom and responsibility, knowledge, opportunity, accomplishment, honor, truth, trust, and one boring hour each week spent in itchy clothes at church, synagogue, or mosque? It lies in ruins at our feet, as well it might, since we ourselves kicked the shining city upon a hill into dust and rubble.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Protect marriage, ban divorce..

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Tracking Flu Outbreaks Using Google

Trends in Google search queries can be quite interesting and informative. A new Google site uses the tendency of people to seek online help for health problems, such as flu (which by the way, kills 500,000 people worldwide every year). The New York Times explains:

Turns out a lot of ailing Americans enter phrases like “flu symptoms” into Google and other search engines before they call their doctors. That simple act, multiplied across millions of keyboards in homes around the country, has given rise to a new early warning system for fast-spreading flu outbreaks, called Google Flu Trends.

Tests of the new Web tool from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic unit, suggest that it may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Man, technology is a beautiful thing.

You Don't See This Everyday

Someone on FOX actually makes sense..

Here's to HIGHER Gas Prices

Obviously the economic crisis is hurting a lot of people. Just last week the government announced that nearly 1.2 million Americans have lost their jobs this year alone. Although drivers see falling gas prices as a welcome turn of events, I for one am hoping that gas doesn't get any cheaper (or even goes up again--at least a bit).

Why? Cheap gas will prolong our dependence on foreign sources of oil. As long as gas is cheap, venture capitalists will be reluctant to fund companies developing alternative fuel sources and people will be more tempted to buy SUVs again (you’ve noticed the increasing number of small cars and hybrids on the road, haven’t you?). Not to mention, we will continue to send billions to some of the worst regimes in the world (in effect, funding terrorism). As James Woolsey, the former C.I.A. director, points out, "We are funding the rope for the hanging of ourselves." Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Friedman explains further in his new book, Hot, Flat and Crowded:

$4-a-gallon gasoline is really starting to affect driving behavior and buying behavior – in way that $3-a-gallon gas did not. The first time we got such a strong price signal, after the 1973 oil shock, we responded as a country by demanding and producing more fuel-efficient cars. But as soon as oil prices started falling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we let Detroit get us re-addicted to gas guzzlers, and the price steadily crept back up to where it is today. We must not make that mistake again.

For this reason, Friedman and others are advocating an increase in the gasoline tax or setting a minimum price of $3-$4 for gas (which is still half the going rate in Europe today). 

Would you be willing to pay more for gas?

Analysts Believe GM May Fail

Apparently, the economy couldn't care less about our little election:

Analysts said only federal aid can prevent a collapse for GM, and reorganizing in bankruptcy may not be possible because the credit crunch has dried up financing.

GM reiterated yesterday that bankruptcy is ``not an option'' even as the stock plunged to the lowest since 1946 and Deutsche Bank AG said the shares may be worthless in a year. 

Investors may be concluding that GM will fail. The shares slid 44 cents, or 13 percent, to $2.92 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, chopping their value almost in half in a week. It was the lowest closing price since 1943.

Nancy Pelosi urged lawmakers to take ``immediate action'' before their new session begins in January. A GM failure that stops production would cost 2.5 million jobs in the U.S. in the first year, according to the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research.

I guess the decision to move away from electric cars and hybrids is looking pretty stupid right about now, huh GM? 

Do You Know This Man?

The Telegraph (UK) outlines 50 things you might not know about Barack Obama. Some of my favorites:

 • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 Hart Schaffner Marx suits

Aha! My Republican family members in South Florida were right..he is a Marxist! For the complete list, click here.

A New Day

Will.i.am's new video..

A Bright Idea

As everyone knows, there were no WMDs in Iraq and Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. We invaded Iraq to secure our energy future (at a cost of $650B and climbing). Considering that the Earth receives more energy from the Sun in one hour than the entire human population uses in one  year, if we had used even a fraction of the money we've wasted in Iraq to invest in solar power, perhaps we would have one less bill to worry about during this economic crisis:

Superhuman Vision: A Look into the Future?

The Terminator and the Bionic Woman both used bionic eyes to zoom in on distant objects, have useful information pop into their field of view, or create virtual crosshairs. In real life, researchers at the University of Washington are developing contact lenses that may allow virtual displays for more practical purposes: visual aids to help vision-impaired people, virtual displays for pilots and drivers, video-game projections, telescopic vision for soldiers, and even as a way to surf the Web on the go.

 

"There is a large area outside of the transparent part of the eye that we can use for placing instrumentation," said Babak Parviz, a UW assistant professor of electrical engineering. "This is a very small step toward that goal, but I think it's extremely promising."

 The circuitry is made of metal strands less than 10 nanometers wide -- thinner than a hair strand. Pretty cool, huh?

With Liberty and Justice for Some

We took two steps forward and one step back last Tuesday. As you probably heard, Proposition 8, the initiative to amend the CA constitution to ban same-sex marriage, passed on Election Day. Without a doubt, this was a victory for bigots. Undeterred, gay activists continued to protest the passage of Prop 8 over the weekend:

About 2,500 people gathered on the Capitol steps Sunday afternoon after a noisy, three-hour rally against the marriage ban. About 400 assembled outside Oakland's Mormon Temple, forcing Highway Patrol officers to temporarily close two Highway 13 ramps to protect the marchers.

"I didn't see it coming," said Joe West, who traveled from San Francisco for the Sacramento demonstration. "It was like a punch in the gut. We worked so hard to bring change in this election, and then this happens."

Indeed. Marriage has certainly changed over the years as society has evolved. For example, until 1967, interracial marriage was against the law. Just like interracial marriage has not destroyed the institution (you know, the one with a 50% failure rate), it makes zero sense to me that gay marriage is illegal in most places. As Martin Luther King wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The Courage Campaign is circulating a petition to repeal Prop 8. Please sign it in support of our gay friends and family members: http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/repealprop8

 

Election Day in Two Minutes

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Coming Soon: Mini Nuclear Reactors in Your Backyard

Climate change. Dependence on foreign oil. Pollution. Undrinkable water, poverty, disease, social unrest. Along with solar, geothermal, and wind, an important part of the mix of energy technologies that will be needed to solve these problems is nuclear power. However, nuclear power plants are expensive and take about 10 years to build. Until now:

"Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.

The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. 'Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world,' said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. 'They will cost approximately $25M each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.'"

Ok, maybe not in your backyard, but you know what I mean..

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog! I have everything to learn about blogging, but the best way to learn is by doing. As the title implies, this blog will focus on mainly on politics and their impact on our lives. Although I’m by no means an expert on the subject, I hope that this can become a creative outlet and a forum for discussion. I'm a "science guy" so I’ll occasionally try to pique your interest with posts on important scientific discoveries and new technologies. I think science education is important, especially when you consider that, according to polls, Americans are as likely to believe in UFOs as in evolution, and one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth (yikes!). When we look at looming challenges like climate change, disease, and diminishing natural resources, as well as opportunities on the horizon such as stem cells, genomic sequencing, and personalized medicine, it’s clear that dealing thoughtfully with these issues will require a knowledge of both science and politics. I hope we can learn from each other.