Freaky Friday News: June 28, 2013

Plants Do Division

Earlier this week, there were several headlines proclaiming that "Plants Do Maths" because of some recently published research.  Always curious, I read a few articles before getting a bit frustrated because of the lack of explanation.  How do plants perform math?  And what math are they talking about?

I did a bit more research, and found the answer explained in paragraph of text.  Sigh.  Math is not English, folks.  That's why the words look nothing alike.  So without further ado, here's the formula that plants use:

F / T = G
where F = remaining food  
T = remaining time until daylight
G = rate of growth

The really cool thing here is that plants have a biological process that continually and dynamically calculates the rate of growth.  Scientists tried to trick the plants by faking early night and introducing an hour or two of sunlight in the middle of the night.  But the plants adjusted their growth to the conditions.

The implications of this finding is a bit overwhelming.  How many other living creatures uses math in their biological processes to regulate the consumption of food or other important tasks?  And can we use this knowledge to understand human biology better?

Texas Mom Runs Over Would-Be Thief

The kick-butt story of the week comes from Texas.  Dorothy Baker, a mother of six, took two of her kids shopping last week.  After exiting a CVS and driving away, a man pops out from the back of the minivan and demands money.  Here's where the story gets a bit confusing, because the news articles I read state slightly different accounts.  But what everyone agrees on is:

1. Dorothy called 911 on her cell phone.
2. The man threatened the kids, then came to the front of the van.
3. Dorothy wrestled the knife away from the man and punched him in the face.
4. She kicks the man out of her van.
5. She ran him over in an attempt to stop him from hurting anyone else.

Let that soak in a minute - she ran him over with her minivan.

Dude, when I grow up, I want to be like Dorothy Baker.  It doesn't matter that the man is a convicted rapist; in fact who this man is is irrelevant.  What matters is Dorothy Baker protected her kids and those around her.

So here's a huge hat tip to Dorothy Baker.  If you ever make it to Atlanta, I will buy you a cup of coffee.

Wordless Wednesday: Remote-Controlled Cockroach

Credit: Dr. Alper Bozkurt, North Carolina State University
You can read more about this here.

Toyota Still Helping Out Victims of Hurricane Sandy

While most people and corporations stopped donating time and money to the victims of Hurricane Sandy, Toyota is still helping out. Earlier this year, Toyota made a video of how they helped a local food bank streamline their processes of packaging and delivering food to people in Rockaway (a part of Queens). Now, Toyota will pay for one meal for every view of the video, up to one million views.


So far, the video has just under 800,000 views, but I'm certain it will reach the million mark before July 19th, especially with your help.

Freaky Friday: June 21, 2013

Welcome to this Friday's edition of Freaky News!  Today we have:

• Boston School District Hands Out Condoms
• Supreme Court Reject AIDS Funding Law
• North Carolina and Racial Bias 
• HPV Vaccine Works

Credit http://www.illawarraqinfo.com

Boston School District Hands Out Condoms

In a show of common sense, the Boston School Committee voted unanimously to hand out free condoms in their 17 high schools.  A student needs to ask and attend a quick talk about safe sex. Then the condoms will flow!

I love that the school board is trying a logical, practical approach to lowering teenage pregnancy rates as well as the rates of STDs. I know that some people worry that providing condoms will increase teenage sex, but I have never read anything that supports this speculation.  Just the opposite, there is evidence that condom availability only influences whether or not a teen uses one (Guttmacher S, Lieberman L, Ward D, et al. Condom availability in New York City public high schools: relationships to condom use and sexual behavior. Am J Public Health 1997; 87:1427- 1433.)

Supreme Court Rejects AIDS Funding Law

In 2003, the US government attempted to remove funding for organizations that operate overseas but do not have blanket policies against prostitution and sex trafficking.  When I first heard about this law, I naively thought it sounded good.  But organizations such as Pathfinders International objected to the law, and they sued the government.  The case bounced around our court system, with the law never becoming enacted.  Now that the Supreme Court rejected the law, it will never be enacted.

My question was - why?   What's wrong with an organization that objects to sex trafficking?

The answer?  Because these organizations are trying to reach out to everyone and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, and if they are forced to denounce prostitution and sex trafficking they will be limited in the good that they do.  As you can see in this chart, HIV/AIDS is still a worldwide epidemic.  We need to educate people about condoms and safe sex if we want to end this problem once and for all.

North Carolina Repeals Law About Racial Bias

The governor of North Carolina signed a law that repeals the Racial Justice Act.  I've read many articles that presume the governor wants to restart executing people in North Carolina, and that this is the first step towards that goal.

I feel torn about this act.  On one hand, our current criminal justice system is demonstrably biased against non-white people.  The Michigan State University College of Law even did a study on how North  Carolina and the racial bias present in charging, jury selection, and sentencing stages of a trial.  Racial discrimination is a fact in North Carolina's legal system.

But I do not think that the Racial Justice Act truly provided any "justice".  First off, a person had to be on death row.  What about all the people who are serving long sentence terms unjustly?  Second, instead of giving a person a retrial, the act merely changed a death sentence to life in prison.  In the end, I feel the law tried to sweep the problem under the carpet by moving someone from a more visible position to anonymity in the general population.

What North Carolina needs is a new way to deal with racial bias, a way the frees innocent men and women while making it harder for an innocent person to get sent to prison in the first place.  For as Sir William Blackstone said:

HPV Vaccine Works!

Researchers published a study this week finding that the HPV vaccine has cut the number of infected people by 56% in the four short years since its introduction to the general public.  This high number comes even though this vaccine has not been received well.

I find this news encouraging, because the transmission of HPV is preventable.  I know this vaccine will not eradicate cancer in the uterus, mouth, or throat.  But we as a society can greatly reduce these types of cancer.  So here's to science getting it done.

Wordless Wednesday: Spiderman Universe by Eric Guzman

ericguzman.deviantart.com

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Bunny

Here's a picture of the baby bunny, as seen out of my office window.

Monday Madness!

An Anatomically-Correct Gargoyle??!?

A man in Arizona, David Smith, created a stir in his new neighborhood by placing a nine-foot tall metal statue of a gargoyle in his front yard.  The problem is that Mr. Smith attempted to make the gargoyle anatomically correct.  You can read up on the specifics on a variety of news websites, but what I find funny is that no one has asked the important question here.

How does Mr. Smith know what an anatomically correct gargoyle look like?

After all, gargoyles are not real.  A male gargoyle might look like a female until time to procreate.  Then he might suddenly have a violin sprout between his legs, that magically transforms into a bar of dark chocolate that the female eats to get pregnant.  It's all make believe.

Here's a happy dance for you!!!

Arizona Haters Smacked Down by Supreme Court

Today, the Supreme Court rejected the Arizona law requiring people to provide proof of US citizenship to register for federal elections.  I actually did a little happy dance for this one, because that law did not come out of reason or rational thought, but out of hate and fear.

FBI Still Searching for Jimmy Hoffa

Proving they never stop, the FBI is still searching for Jimmy Hoffa's body, this time in a field about 20 miles north of Detroit.  In 2008, a man called Tony Zerilli left prison.  An alleged mobster, Zerilli claimed to know where the body was buried.  The FBI investigated the claims, and now have a court warrant to search a large field for a shallow grave or for other signs of human decomposition.

While these actions might seem like madness, I think it's important for the FBI to continue to work cold cases.  Maybe they can provide any remaining family members with a real answer as to what happened to Mr. Hoffa.  Maybe they can send a message to other criminals out there that no matter how much they try, the FBI will always follow up and will find answers.  Maybe the general public just needs to know that the FBI cares enough to not give up, even on someone like Jimmy Hoffa.