tagged w/ Popular Science
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A leatherback turtle has been tracked swimming from the coast of the Papua province in Indonesia to Oregon, researchers said, in what may be the longest trip for marine vertebrae between breeding and feeding sites.
A leatherback turtle has been tracked swimming from the coast of the Papua province in... more
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Healthy mucus, third nipples, male lactation, death by laughter, just to name a few...10 fun facts you may have never heard before. Healthy mucus, third nipples, male lactation, death by laughter, just to name a... more
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Remember this horrifying story?
According to the link below it it hasn't changed.
Where is our outrage?
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FDA and Drug Approval Overview
Vioxx was one of the most widely used prescription drugs in the world and, for many, it may have been a killer. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to guarantee the safety of the medicines we take, but some say it may have disregarded warnings from its own scientists about this looming public health disaster. NOW's BAD MEDICINE explores the drug approval process and talks with FDA whistleblower, Dr. David Graham, who reveals how his FDA managers tried to silence him and quash evidence that indicated Vioxx was unsafe.
Approval Process
The drug approval process overseen by the FDA has been subject to complaints from many sides. In the 1990s it was criticized for being too slow ? keeping potentially life-saving drugs off the market and adding to development costs. The most recent controversies come from another perspective, questioning whether the process is too quick and relies too much on information from the pharmaceutical industry.
Approving prescriptions drugs is the job of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The process begins when a manufacturer has tested a new drug on animals and concluded three phases of testing on humans. The results from this process forms the basis of a "new drug application" (NDA), which the company submits to the CDER.
The NDA is then reviewed by CDER scientists who evaluate both the efficacy and safety of the drug and its risk/benefit ratio. The CDER reviewers may request more information from the developer and seek additional opinions from outside experts. CDER also checks the label information and investigates the manufacturing plant. The CDER director completes a final review and decides if the drug is ready for market. View an interactive graph of the process from CDER.
Some of the criticism Dr. Graham has leveled at the FDA process relates to what happens after a drug is approved. The FDA is also charged with monitoring drug safety of drugs on the market. The FDA tracks "adverse events" or negative "side effects" of drugs through the Office of Drug Safety, also a part of CDER. An adverse effect is a reaction which "results in death, disability, hospitalization, is life-threatening, causes a congenital anomaly, or requires treatment to prevent permanent damage."
Doctors and other healthcare personnel usually report these occurrences to the drug companies which are in turn required to notify the FDA of any serious incidents within 15 days of the original report. If a drug is new, the company must forward all reports quarterly for three years. After that time, all reports are filed annually. In addition, the FDA maintains a system of voluntary reports called MedWatch. Here, consumers and health care workers can submit reports which are then sent on to staff for evaluation.
In his November 2004 testimony before Congress, Dr. Graham suggested that the FDA is reluctant to admit that there are problems with drugs it has already approved. The FDA responded to Dr. Graham's testimony with a public rebuttal. In December 2004, THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) echoed some of Graham's criticism, publishing a series of papers which question the relationship of drug companies to the approval process. According to THE ECONOMIST, the makers of some of the drugs mentioned by Dr. Graham are feeling a financial effect. AstraZeneca's share price fell by 10%. Shares in GlaxoSmithKline fell by 6%. And as for Merck, the maker of Vioxx, traders have made a $40 billion reduction in the company's value. (Read Dr. Graham's testimony and the JAMA articles.)
Remember this horrifying story?
According to the link below it it hasn't... more
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There is exciting news in American Health care today! http://hddrugworks.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=52
At HDDW we believe that Huntington's disease is treatable. And in this section we provide information on prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, healthy lifestyle, and alternative therapies that can be used now by HD patients. All of the listed treatments require direction and supervision by your own doctor. We encourage you to seek out these treatments.
http://hddrugworks.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=66
PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD.
MOST PEOPLE AND DOCTORS DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS ADVANCE...MANY FAMILIES ARE SUFFERING WITHOUT THIS SIMPLE CHEAP TREATMENT WITHOUT DRUGS OR SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS...
ALSO THERE SEEMS TO BE INFO ABOUT ALS AND PARKINSON THAT I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT CLOSELY YET.
-----------------------------------------DOU
There is exciting news in American Health care today!... more
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A particularly appropriate link around Thanksgiving. It's called "Turkey Day Chemistry In the Kitchen," and it's a series of Popular Science articles that you can read here.A particularly appropriate link around Thanksgiving. It's called "Turkey Day... more
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Who uses the most electricity? Which countries, regions, electric companies, produce the most carbon emissions (the pollution linked to global warming)? This website, launched yesterday by a DC thinktank, give the user searchable databases of information. Search results documenting electricity use and carbon emissions are presented graphically.
You can see your daily carbon emissions contribution by looking at the emissions of your own electric company.
From their site: We are pleased to announce the launch of the Carbon Monitoring for Action database at www.carma.org. CARMA provides the world's most detailed and comprehensive information on carbon emissions resulting from the production of electricity. Power sector emissions make up 25% of the global total, 40% of carbon emissions in the United States, and are a primary cause of global warming.Who uses the most electricity? Which countries, regions, electric companies, produce... more
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Fenlon
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added this
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4 years ago
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A microbiologist at Columbia University thinks he has found a way to help cool the effects of Global Warming... by bringing the farm indoors. He outlines how skyscraper farms can produce enough food and water for 50,000 people a year. His theory is that if we can reduce the amount of land being used for agriculture, we would have more room to plat trees, in turn helping to reverse global warming. Prototype skyscraper farms could pop up in as few as 5 years.....funding permitting. Wait for it.... A microbiologist at Columbia University thinks he has found a way to help cool the... more
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With gas and electricity prices getting larger and larger in the United States, more and more residents are switching to green energy at home. A hugely positive step for the country as discussed by Cassandra Sweet of The Wall Street Journal. With gas and electricity prices getting larger and larger in the United States, more... more
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Its been along time coming, but it seems as if petrol is finally on its way out. Honda are launching the first ever hydrogen car. This is an article from The Times newspaper in England describing the great event. Its been along time coming, but it seems as if petrol is finally on its way out. Honda... more
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Carl Zimmer from The New York Times discuss's Dr Iain Couzin's theory about all species ability to move as a collective, as if sharing a collective brain. Very interesting reading. Carl Zimmer from The New York Times discuss's Dr Iain Couzin's theory about... more
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remember that thing you had to memorize for high school science class? well, check out this
stunning presentation of that information. photos of each element are nestled into each little box next to all the heavy scientific info. hover over an element and its info appears magnified front and center (like the hydrogen pictured here).
adobe labs made an interesting periodic table to demonstrate the functionality of spry, the tool they've added to dreamweaver cs3. check it out at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry/demos/periodic_table/periodic_table.htmremember that thing you had to memorize for high school science class? well, check out... more
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Fenlon
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added this
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4 years ago
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These videos are a typical and frustrating example of everything that is both wonderful and terrible about the internet. Confused? I thought so.
The Wonderful Part:
It seems that this scientist is demonstrating what is called an elemental rod generator in which there are two rods, one made of 73 elements and the other of 74. According to the un-named scientist the polarity of the rods means a potential difference builds up due to background radiation hitting the rods. The result is that you can get a current (excuse the pun) to pass from one rod to the other constantly. Which makes this a generator that can run forever, or at least until background radiation stops.....which I'm sure won't be any time soon.
The frustrating part:
The total lack of information on the videos - we have no names, no dates, no locations. But fear not since I am the internet king and have dugg out a few documents discussing the theories of an elemental rod generator. I'm no scientist, and I'm hoping that some of you are, so I'm laying down a challenge to you - show the video and the below documents to your science teacher/professor and lets get to the bottom of this. Try not to dismiss it out of hand, I know you scientists love to do that.
Dare I mention the word hoax? If we dismissed everything a hoax without proving it so, then science would regress back to the stone age. Lets see if we can prove this one way or the other.
The information I found on it is in a PDF called "electrinium" - It's here:
http://chomskyswar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/electrinium.pdf
There is a little more information on it here:
http://www.innovativetech.us/FutureProd-sp.htm
And here (this is an open directory of information):
http://freenrg.fr/JapRod/
Good Luck with your quest current ones.....These videos are a typical and frustrating example of everything that is both... more
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These days, you can outsource almost any jobbut some things you need to know how to do yourself. Study our master list with step-by-step tips from the experts, and test your DIY aptitude each step of the way.These days, you can outsource almost any jobbut some things you need to know how to... more
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