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Acetaldehyde



Acetaldehyde is a product of most hydrocarbon oxidation reac- tions and is a normal intermediate in the respiration of most higher plants. It is found in trace amounts in many plant products, includ- ing apples, broccoli, co ee, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, mushrooms, onions, oranges, peaches, nectarines, pears, pineapples, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, sour cherries, and mango. It has been de- tected in the essential oils of alfalfa, rosemary, balm, clary sage, daf- fodil, bitter orange, camphor, angelica, fennel, mustard, peppermint, and lychee, and in oak and tobacco leaves and cotton leaves and blos- soms  



---Steve

Commentary: Salt and the assault of opinion on evidence

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/02/17/ije.dyw015.full#pq=bFAaRn

I also lament the lack of some pivotal long-term pragmatic randomized trials to answer questions in the contested borderland between believers and non-believers. I hate being a believer or a non-believer, I went into science because I did not want just to have to believe.
---Steve

Trump Will Be the Nominee and the GOP (Unfortunately) Will Be Fine

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/imortal/2016/02/24/trump-will-be-the-nominee-and-the-gop-unfortunately-will-be-fine/

The GOP has been cultivating the Trump electorate for generations now. You can draw a direct line from Nixon's "silent majority," through Reagan's sunny obliviousness, through George W. Bush's flippant swagger, through rabid anti-intellectualism of Sarah Palin, right to the substanceless jingoistic braggadocio of Donald Trump. For decades, the Republican Party has succeeded by intentionally fostering an electorate of fanatical ignoramuses, and now this their harvest. - See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/imortal/2016/02/24/trump-will-be-the-nominee-and-the-gop-unfortunately-will-be-fine/#sthash.je9l3EQj.dpuf

---Steve

Shared from Twitter: www.ehu.eus/aitor/irakas/mes/Reference/mermin.pdf

www.ehu.eus/aitor/irakas/mes/Reference/mermin.pdf from Ruthie Miller's Tweet

Does reality consist of a four-dimensional spacetime at every point of which there is a collection of operators on an infinite- dimensional Hilbert space? 



---Steve

Zika

"the whole question of whether Zika virus is causing microcephaly is complicated. Of course, if there's one thing that attracts answers that are simple and wrong, it's complex epidemiological questions about whether a given putative etiological agent is actually causing the disease or condition that it's suspected of causing."

Of course, that brings the loony tunes out, from anti-vaxers, anti-GMOs, to Monsanto haters.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/02/11/zika-virus-and-microcephaly-antivaccine-warriors-say-its-vaccines-that-did-it/

---Steve

WHO | Naturally occurring hazards

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/naturalhazards/en/index2.html

Fluoride is a desirable substance: it can prevent or reduce dental decay and strengthen bones

---Steve

Is Donald Trump a fascist? An expert on fascism weighs in.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/02/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_an_expert_on_fascism_weighs_in.2.html

this country has the strongest economy in the world and is still the strongest military power in the world without any close rival. The trends are not downward unless you were offended by the presence of a black man in the White House.

---Steve

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested

Put the biggest rancher welfare cheat in jail where he belongs:

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/02/11/nevada-rancher-cliven-bundy-arrested/80219266/


---Steve

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Computerworld: HP plans to continue with Itanium in servers for HP-UX customers


HP plans to continue with Itanium in servers for HP-UX customers
Computerworld

Intel's Itanium has an uncertain future, but Hewlett Packard Enterprise is committed to an upcoming chip, code-named Kittson, that is the next step in the venerable chip line. This could be good news for users who count on running apps on the chip family for some time to come. HPE will offer Kittson in new Integrity and Superdome servers, said Jeff Kyle, director of product management for enterprise servers at HPE. HPE didn't provide a specific release date for the servers. Itanium servers are Read the full story


Shared from Apple News



---Steve

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Jessica Williams shuts down Beyonce Super Bowl critics on The Daily Show | Americas | News | The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jessica-williams-shuts-down-beyonce-super-bowl-critics-on-the-daily-show-a6863696.html

"You're right, the fans deserve more wholesome entertainment," said Ms Williams. "Like watching 300-pound men giving each other concussions while the crowd cheers like we're extras in the movie Gladiator."

---Steve

The Oregon Standoff and the Need for Good Lawyers - The Atlantic

Their program for federal land is dangerous—the end of federal stewardship, or even a radical cutback, would be catastrophic for Western lands. Their constitutional theory, too, is toxic. It has evolved out of the semi-literate, overtly racist theories of Mormon extremist W. Cleon Skousen. In essence, it proclaims the sovereign prerogative of white Christian men to take what they want and justify it in the name of an imaginary "organic Constitution" untainted by equality for women, nonwhites, immigrants, or religious minorities. I despise everything the Malheur occupiers claim to stand for.

---Steve

Shtetl-Optimized

reproductive religiosity theory," which posits that the central purpose of religions is to enforce social norms around mating and reproduction

---Steve

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Calling Steven Novella's bullshit


"it's between people who follow Enlightenment principles (freedom of speech and thought, free discussion of ideas, skepticism, tolerance for different world views) and those who believe in authoritarian principles (ideological purity, a list of topics which are beyond rational discussion, domatism, intolerance for anyone who disagrees)".

---Steve

Ted Cruz Isn't Crazy – He's Much Worse | Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ted-cruz-isnt-crazy-hes-much-worse-20151204?page=5

it's the hemorrhoidal resentment for foreignness and change that leads your granddad to rage at anything that threatens his fantasies of the good old days.

---Steve

Inside the Eye: Nature’s Most Exquisite Creation -- National Geographic Magazine

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/evolution-of-eyes-text

He created a simulation that starts with a small, flat patch of pigmented light-sensitive cells. With each yearlong generation, it becomes a little thicker. It slowly curves from a sheet into a cup. It gains a crude lens, which gradually improves. Even under the most pessimistic conditions, with the eye improving by just 0.005 percent each generation, it takes just 364,000 years for the simple sheet to become a fully functioning camera-like organ. As far as evolution goes, that's a blink of an eye.

---Steve