Scientists compare soda to a ‘ruthlessly efficient bioweapon’:

The health advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest is petitioning the FDA to limit the amount of sugar in soft drinks ”to safe levels consistent with authoritative recommendations.” Its position is that the quantity of sugar manufacturers put in soft drinks has become so large that it’s basically poisoning people.

“As currently formulated, Coke, Pepsi, and other sugar-based drinks are unsafe for regular human consumption,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.  “Like a slow-acting but ruthlessly efficient bioweapon, sugar drinks cause obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  The FDA should require the beverage industry to re-engineer their sugary products over several years, making them safer for people to consume, and less conducive to disease.”

Yes, that sounds extreme when you first read it (and if you’ve seen statements by the CSPI before you’ll notice they like to use a little shock value to draw attention to health issues). However, their point is actually a valid one. As Yale’s Dr. David Katz has pointed out, sugar is one of many substance where the “dose makes the poison.”

The notion that sugar is a “poison” was established when a lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig espousing that view went viral.
…
While the construction of alarming tables and figures demonstrating the calamitous effects of sugar (and specifically, fructose — Dr. Lustig’s particular nemesis) can be defended with legitimate science, it is nonetheless something of a distortion. Even more calamitous pathways could be mapped out for oxygen, which in excess is not just highly toxic, but lethal in rather short order. Oxygen, per se, is not poison of course. The dose makes the poison.
So, too, for sugar — including fructose. Our excessive consumption of it is the poison.

Basically what Katz and the CSPI are saying is that a modest amount of sugar isn’t going to harm anyone, but many people are currently eating (or drinking) way too much of it. The CSPI illustrates this by pointing out that while the American Heart Association recommends that women take in no more than 6 grams of added sugar a day and men no more than 9 grams, one sweetened 20-ounce soda contains 15 grams of sugar, far more than either recommendation. And that’s causing all sorts of health problems.
The bottom line for Weighthackers is that, because food companies are loading up their products with sugar so they can sell more of them and not because they’re good for you, it’s up to you to be aware of what’s in the things you’re eating and drinking. If you like soda, consider getting something like a Sodastream so you, not Coke or Pepsi, can decide what goes in your drink. That way you can keep your sugar intake under bioweapon levels.
The post Scientists compare soda to a ‘ruthlessly efficient bioweapon’ appeared first on Weighthacker.

[Ze Frank being awesome. Thanks, @Ella. -egg]

Ze Frank tells the difference between Shame and Guilt:

Ze Frank tells the difference between Shame and Guilt

[Sweet and funny. -egg]

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http://m.gq.com/news-politics/mens-lives/201302/burning-man-experiences-wells-tower-gq-february-2013

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/quitters-never-win-the-costs-of-leaving-social-media/273139/

[Awesome. IIRC when I lived in Norway, in the late ’70s, there was only one channel, run by the government, and it only broadcast for a few hours a day. -egg]
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Norway enjoys 12-hour TV special of a fireplace, with commetary:
Reuters’ Balazs Koranyi:

Norwegian public television plans to broadcast a burning fireplace for 12 straight hours from Friday evening, with firewood specialists providing color commentary, expert advice and a bit of cultural tutoring.

“It will be very slow but noble television,” said Rune Moeklebust, a producer for state broadcaster NRK, before its commencement.

Frozen Trees on the Shores of Lake Ontario:

Landscape photographer Timothy Corbin recently captured some stunning photos of ice-laden tress on the shore of Lake Ontario. It’s amazing is to see the evidence of what must have been hours of violent waves creating layers of ice that now hover over water or ice that’s now perfectly serene. You can see a couple more shots over on his Flickr stream.

[“The technology could someday lead to improved neuroprosthetics to help blind people see.” Yeah, that veneer is getting thinner every year, huh? -egg]
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Lab rats with brain implants sense invisible infrared light:

Duke University researchers implanted lab rats with a device enabling them to perceive invisible infrared light. Miguel Nicolelis and his colleagues jacked a head-mounted infrared sensor into the rat’s brain. It’s wired into a region of the brain that processes touch, providing the rodents with a “sixth sense” for infrared. They published their research in the science journal Nature Communications. The possibilities aren’t limited to infrared spectrum either. “We could create devices sensitive to any physical energy,” Nicolelis says. “It could be magnetic fields, radio waves, or ultrasound. We chose infrared initially because it didn’t interfere with our electrophysiological recordings.” The technology could someday lead to improved neuroprosthetics to help blind people see.

“Neuroprosthesis Gives Rats the Ability to ‘Touch’ Infrared Light” (Nicolelis Lab)
“Lab rats ‘acquire sixth sense‘” (BBC News)

Robert Sheckley nailed the problem with drones in 1953:

Don sends us, “the Gutenberg Project’s copy of Robert
Sheckley’s 1953 story Watchbird from Galaxy Magazine about one nightmare
scenario arising from the use of armed drones to solve all our
problems. Also made into TV and radio episodes.”

“I have an objection.” Gelsen stood up. His colleagues were glaring coldly at him. Obviously he was delaying the advent of the golden age.

“What is your objection?” the representative asked.

“First, let me say that I am one hundred per cent in favor of a machine to stop murder. It’s been needed for a long time. I object only to the watchbird’s learning circuits. They serve, in effect, to animate the machine and give it a pseudo-consciousness. I can’t approve of that.”

“But, Mr. Gelsen, you yourself testified that the watchbird would not be completely efficient unless such circuits were introduced. Without them, the watchbirds could stop only an estimated seventy per cent of murders.”

“I know that,” Gelsen said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. “I believe there might be a moral danger in allowing a machine to make decisions that are rightfully Man’s,” he declared doggedly.

“Oh, come now, Gelsen,” one of the corporation presidents said. “It’s nothing of the sort. The watchbird will only reinforce the decisions made by honest men from the beginning of time.”

“I think that is true,” the representative agreed. “But I can understand how Mr. Gelsen feels. It is sad that we must put a human problem into the hands of a machine, sadder still that we must have a machine enforce our laws. But I ask you to remember, Mr. Gelsen, that there is no other possible way of stopping a murderer before he strikes. It would be unfair to the many innocent people killed every year if we were to restrict watchbird on philosophical grounds. Don’t you agree that I’m right?”

Watchbird by Robert Sheckley

[This is oddly soothing to watch. -egg]
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Coin rolls on treadmill for an hour:

This dime rolls for a little more than 58 minutes at 3.4 miles an hour. It traveled a little over five miles in that time. Check out 38:30 when the experimenter sticks his head in frame and stick around for the analysis at the end.

Coin rolling on treadmill via burritojustice

mehreenkasana:

Our Pakistani trucks already rule when it comes…:

mehreenkasana:

Our Pakistani trucks already rule when it comes to indigenous art but this Pakistani scooter just won all the awards in the world. You can see Jinnah, a peacock, a duck, a mosque, smokin’ eyes and what not. So random, so Pakistani.
I need this.

Westerners believe a lot of dumb shit about Pakistan, but at least the ornate trucks are pretty famous!