Moments of Awareness

We listen to music and talk to people. Watch on cable channel 11 in the Boise area or on-line at TVCTVOnline.org ; we run from 10-11PM MT, but Facebook's time drop-down is a little funky today).Watch previous shows here , and check out the backgrounds here . Join us at MOA's Facebook page  for discussion throughout the week. :) Tonight, Chainsaw Tom makin' our greeting bear, with music from Psychedelic Aire & Four Hillbillies & a Bottle (consisting of Ronnie Long and some of the members of Actual Depiction). Band info at  reverbnation.com   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Metamorphosis Performing Arts Studio  in Boise's Old Historical District Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Ovarian cancer A "fatty apron" in the abdomen helps fuel the spread of ovarian cancer, research suggests. In 80% of cases, it has spread to this apron, called the omentum, by the time it is diagnosed. The Nature Medicine research found once ovarian cancer cells reach the omentum, they take it over. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk The omentum's 'not essential'. Yeah, maybe, but I'll bet it's more important than we're about to start givin' it credit for. I'm guessin' it's gonna be the next hot new plastic surgery, 'cause it can be billed as 'therapeutic'. Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

The Bank of Canada began circulating $100 polymer banknotes this week in an effort to combat counterfeiting and reduce costs. So why don't more countries use plastic cash? On the face of it, plastic banknotes have many advantages. They last a long time, and they don't get dirty so quickly - a great advantage in countries with hot climates, and sweaty pockets. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

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Newborns face sudden starvation Babies survive the period immediately after birth by feeding on the content of their own cells, research suggests. Right after birth babies face sudden and severe starvation as they have lost their nutrient supply from the placenta, but have yet to drink milk. It appears they bridge the gap by breaking down cells, and releasing essential nutrients. The study, by Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, is published in Nature. Existing on internal proteins in this way would only be possible for a limited period. Dr Wolf Reik The Tokyo team studied newborn mice. They found that a cellular process called autophagy ramps up immediately after birth and remains high for several hours. During autophagy, a cell breaks dow...

Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

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The drug-maker says it will undertake further study to establish which patients will benefit from the drug US drug regulators have rescinded approval of a breast cancer drug, saying it is not effective enough to justify the risks of taking it. The drug, Avastin, was approved for US use in 2008, but UK officials have also rejected claims that it prolongs life. Further research showed it did not help patients live longer or improve quality of life, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Margaret Hamburg said. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk Okay, here's me giving credit where it's due. The American consumer tends to want what it wants when it wants it; it gets a whiff of a rumor about some new drug in development and clamors for the FDA to hurry it through approval, then nags it's doctor 'til it gets a prescription, then vilifies both when they fail or cause (usually documented and reported) side effects, or when the doctor and/or pharmacist s...

Becky G. and Becky W. (and me and Rich and Skip) in St. Louis, MO, US, in 1986. April, I think? :) Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Artist's impression of a planet ejected from the early solar system. CREDIT: Southwest Research Institute View full size image Within our solar system, an extra giant planet, or possibly two, might once have accompanied Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Computer models showing how our solar system formed suggested the planets once gravitationally slung one another across space, only settling into their current orbits over the course of billions of years. During more than 6,000 simulations of this planetary scattering phase, planetary scientist David Nesvorny at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., [...] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter   @Spacedotcom   and on   Facebook . Full article at  space.com Huh. Two would mean there was one to replace Pluto as the ninth, and, duhn dun duuuuuuh, a mysterious planet X! (It would be kind of awesome...

This giant magnetic is part of the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. CREDIT: CERN/LHCb View full size image The world's largest atom smasher, designed as a portal to a new view of physics, has produced its first peek at the unexpected: bits of matter that don't mirror the behavior of their antimatter counterparts. The discovery, if confirmed, could rewrite the known laws of particle physics and help explain why our universe is made mostly of matter and not antimatter . Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider , the 17-mile (27 km) circular particle accelerator underground near Geneva, Switzerland, have been colliding protons at high speeds [...] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can follow LiveScience senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ ClaraMoskowitz . For more science news, follow LiveScience on twitter  @livescience .   Full article at  space.com It makes sense that the Universe, ...

The color and shape of a galaxy is largely controlled by gas flowing through an extended halo around it as depicted in this NASA illustration. Modern simulations of galaxy formation cannot explain the observed properties of galaxies without modeling the complex accretion and "feedback" processes by which galaxies acquire gas and later expel it after chemical processing by stars. CREDIT: NASA; ESA; A. Feild, STScI View full size image How a galaxy evolves from an active star-forming spiral into a passive collection of stars has perplexed astronomers, but a series of new studies may have found the answer inside vast clouds of galactic gas. Ejected by dying stars, halos of galactic gas can help fuel the creation of new stellar objects, researchers said. In the new research, one study found that the gas halos dominate the space around spiral galaxies but are significantly smaller around galaxies with little or no star formation. The halos are...

Meet the Dargers individually and they might strike you as your average adults and children. But once you get them all together, you realize what makes this family so different from most in America: Joe Darger is a polygamist with three wives -- Alina and identical twins, Vicki and Valerie. Together, they are raising 24 children. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET. (Donna Svennevik/ABC News) via abcnews.go.com I'd understand arguments against it if monogamy worked, but just because we call ourselves a monogamous nation, keep our polyamory behind closed doors, lie and cheat to hide it 'cause it's so heinous that studies exist saying anywhere from 40-80% of people engage in it adulterously, doesn't mean it's not happening. Polyamory doesn't eliminate cheating - some people do it for the thrill of getting away with something and won't be honest about their romantic and sexual liaisons no matter how openly the rest of soci...

Originally "disgust" was used to express distaste for rotten food or filth. Today it's deployed against looters, phone hackers and others whose actions many find morally murky. So how did the meaning change so much? Shakespeare was never disgusted. This was not a word at the Elizabethan playwright's disposal - it only entered the English language towards the end of his life. He instead wrote of "gorge rising". Same emotion. Different phraseology. Today the word disgust has replaced more visceral descriptions of revulsion and [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Seventeen Revolutionary Guards were killed in the explosion at Bid Ganeh at the weekend Assassinations of nuclear scientists, a sophisticated cyber-attack, and now, last weekend, a mysterious blast at a munitions base that has killed the "godfather" of Iran's ballistic missile programme. The explosion at the Bid Ganeh base was so powerful, it killed 17 Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers and rattled windows in Tehran several miles away. Iran says it was an accident, but few who follow events there are convinced. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk See, this is what we do. We say, "No, you can't do that," and then people are like, "Oh yeah? Watch me," and they learn how to lie and sneak around, 'cause people (and nations) are gonna do what they're gonna do. I don't want people (or nations, or my government) to have to lie and sneak, 'cause then I can't trust 'em and I gotta question everything. If I can a...

Beluga whales come together for the annual moult Related Stories Orcas make waves to prey on seals Underwater video of whale rescue A film crew has captured the remarkable scene of hundreds of beluga whales indulging in a mass "body scrub" to slough off their skin. The mammals come en masse into shallow Arctic estuaries where scrubbing their bodies on the stony seabed helps them moult their skin. "They definitely seem to enjoy it," recalled director Elizabeth White. Filming for the BBC documentary Frozen Planet , she and her team captured the [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Herman Cain: "I've got all this stuff twirling around in my head" - courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's campaign says he had not slept enough when he stumbled on an interview question about Libya. Mr Cain appeared confused as he discussed President Barack Obama's policy on Libya in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He said he had "all this stuff twirling around in my head". The clip has been compared with Texas Governor Rick Perry's memory lapse last [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk I don't care what he said or how he said it, I don't know what he did or who he did it to. His scandals will be untangled, or not, that should really be between him, the person accusing him, and whatever legal entities need to be involved. But the headline itself is what catches my eye. I want transparency in the government. I want these guys to put themselves in front of c...

Some had feared delayed clamping might lead to more cases of jaundice Waiting a few minutes after delivery to cut the umbilical cord is best for a newborn's health, research suggests. Delaying cord clamping reduces the risk that the baby will have iron deficiency anaemia without substantial side effects, the authors told the BMJ . The World Health Organization dropped early clamping from its guidelines some years ago. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Study author Britney Schmidt says life may exist on Europa Scientists have found the best evidence yet for water just beneath the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. Analysis of the moon's surface suggests plumes of warmer water well up beneath its icy shell, melting and fracturing the outer layers. The results, published in the journal Nature , predict that small lakes exist only 3km below the crust. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk It would be so cool to experience somethin' like this. I'm not sure it's a good idea to go drillin' around Europa all willy-nilly, exploitin' it for resources and engaging in all that general ass-hattery, but to go there on a scientific expedition to learn about it and ourselves, and maybe to think about developing it thoughtfully as an outpost and probably eventually another home if it's current inhabitants, however small or unimaginably large, don't object, how cool would that be? ...

The meal was recreated by a chef at the RSC on Wednesday. Britain's 'cheapest' lunchtime meal was unveiled by scientists on Wednesday - the toast sandwich. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is reviving the mid-Victorian dish, which, unsurprisingly, consists of two slices of bread around a slice of toast. The society is so confident in the repast, it will offer £200 to anyone who can create a cheaper alternative. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk Were they usin' Wonder Bread in Victorian England? Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Do our brains make us play more often or does play change our brains? Related Stories Computer games 'do have benefits' Games 'help cystic fibrosis kids' The brains of people who regularly play computer games differ from those of infrequent gamers, research suggests. A study in teenagers showed the "reward hub", which is involved in addiction, was larger in regular players. A report in Translational Psychiatry said it was unknown if games changed the brain or if brain differences made people more likely to play. [...] Full article at  bbc.co.uk Do people with smaller ventral striatum have more trouble deriving pleasure from their choices? Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Mini-Black Holes If a radical new "braneworld" theory of gravity is correct, then scattered throughout our solar system are thousands of tiny black holes, each about the size of an atomic nucleus. Unlike their larger brethren, these mini-black holes are primordial leftovers from the Big Bang and affect space-time differently because of their close association with a fifth dimension. Credit: NASA-MSFC See this and nine other 'space oddities' at  space.com   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Earth pays its annual visit to the Leonid meteor shower Thursday night and Friday morning; this view is at 1 a.m. looking east. CREDIT: Starry Night Software View full size image As the Earth moves around the sun in its annual orbit, it passes through patches of space debris left behind by comets and asteroids. As it moves through these clouds of dust and sand-sized particles, it sweeps them up, and they are heated to incandescence by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, causing bright streaks of light in the night sky known to scientists as meteors, and to skygazers as shooting stars. Meteors can be seen every night; these are known as sporadic meteors. But when the Earth passes through a cloud of debris, it sometimes produces displays known as meteor showers. A famous annual shower known as the Leonids is set to peak [...] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education , the leader in space science curr...

X-ray body scans. CREDIT: TSA.gov View full size image The European Union announced this week that it has banned the use of X-ray body scanners in all European airports "in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens' health and safety." Research shows that the X-ray scanners, which use low-level radiation to screen airline passengers for hidden explosives, slightly increase their risk of getting cancer. The same scanners will continue to be used in the United States, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA's stance is that the scanners meet its safety standards . [...] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This article was provided by Life's Little Mysteries , a sister site to LiveScience. Follow us on Twitter @ llmysteries , then join us on Facebook . Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @ nattyover . Full article at  livescience.com   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness