Samwise rides again

Wine sold in the EU ( and probably elsewhere ) contain high levels of pesticides.

From the AP via Google …

Pesticide Action Network Europe, an umbrella organisation for concerned groups in Austria, France and Germany, said it had “uncovered substantial evidence” of contamination by studying 40 sample bottles of wines.

The wines were of Australian, Austrian, Chilean, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and South African and included six wines produced through organic farming.

The non-organic bottles of wine contained on average traces of four pesticides; one revealed 10 different pesticides.

The group’s analysis found 24 specific pesticide contaminants, including five it said were classified by the European Union as being carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic or endocrine disrupting.

Of the six organic wines tested, only one contained traces of pesticides, at low levels and probably because of such chemicals in neighbouring plots.

“Many grape farmers are abandoning traditional methods of pest control in favour of using hazardous synthetic pesticides,”

Strong link between Pesticides and Parkinson’s

From the Beeb …

There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease, experts believe.

The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people.

Experts said it was now highly likely pesticides played a key role - albeit in combination with other factors.

The disorder, which normally develops later in life and can affect movement and talking, is also influenced by genetic factors.

Several gene defects have been identified, but these are thought to be rare and only account for a small proportion of the 120,000 people affected by the disease in the UK.

The US team, which involved scientists from Duke University, Miami University and the Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Center of Excellence, quizzed 319 patients about their pesticide use.

The answers were compared to over 200 family members and other controls who did not have the disease.

Related individuals were chosen as they would share many environmental and genetic backgrounds in a bid to isolate the impact of the pesticides.

They found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times greater risk of developing the disease.

Heavy use, classed as over 200 days exposure over a lifetime, carried over double the risk.

And the study also revealed herbicides and insecticides were the pesticides most likely to increase risk.

“What we noticed in our research was that recreational pesticide use in the home and garden was more of a source of exposure than occupational use.”

out a survey of 10,000 patients by the charity had revealed only one in 10 had had long-term exposure to pesticides.

Parkinson’s cured using cloned stem cells.

Also from the Beeb …

Therapeutic cloning has been successfully used to treat Parkinson’s disease in mice

In Parkinson’s disease, nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement either die or become impaired.

Normally, these cells produce a vital chemical known as dopamine, which allows smooth, co-ordinated function of the body’s muscles and movement.

In therapeutic cloning, the nucleus of a cell is inserted into an egg with the nucleus removed.

This cell then develops into an embryo from which stem cells can be harvested and used as a treatment.

In this study, stem cells were developed into dopamine-producing neurons the missing nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease.

The mice that received neurons derived from their own clones showed significant signs of improvement.

But when these neurons were grafted into mice that did not genetically match the transplanted cells, the cells did not survive and the mice did not recover.

Scientists are pursuing the use of stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease because it would allow the replacement of the dead dopamine-producing nerve cells with new, healthy cells.

This should restore the supply of dopamine within the brain and allow it to work normally again.

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, an expert in stem cell research at the National Institute of Medical Research, said this was good research which showed using therapeutic cloning could be beneficial.

“There was a very significant level of recovery.

But he added: “They only studied the mice for 11 weeks afterwards, which is not a huge amount of time to see how persistent the repaid would be.”

However, the experts said much more research in both animals and humans was needed before the treatment could be offered to people with Parkinson’s.

From the Beeb …

A minister in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland has expressed regret after a lion from his private zoo killed a woman in the capital.

Civil Aviation Minister Ali Mohammed Waran Addeh says he has shot and killed the lion involved in the incident.

Questions are now being asked about security at the zoo in Hargeisa after it emerged that an employee was injured in a previous lion attack.

From the Honolulu Advertiser …

Small splatters of molten lava were ejected from the new vent at Halema’uma’u Crater Sunday night, marking the first time lava has erupted from anywhere at the crater since 1982.

Some particles were ejected with enough force to land on the rim of the crater, with the largest fragments of splatter or blobs of molten rock measuring about four inches across.

The gas at Halema’uma’u is now thick with ash, causing the plume from the 100-foot-wide vent to look dusty brown.

The eruption of lava wasn’t wholly unexpected given the huge recent increase in gas emissions from the vent, and the lava splatter doesn’t necessarily signal that a large-scale crater eruption is about to begin

All of the other large-scale eruptions at the summit have been preceded by increases in earthquakes and inflation or ground swelling at the summit, and that hasn’t happened yet

a large-scale eruption at the crater in the near term “is not likely, but it’s certainly a possibility,”

Observers looking over the crater at about 7:15 p.m. Sunday saw red-hot fragments scattering from the vents, and yesterday morning geologists reported finding the thin strands of volcanic glass known as “Pele’s hair” along with the small bits of volcanic glass known as “Pele’s tears” in the crater overlook area.

Pele’s hair and tears signify that fresh lava is present at the vent along with gas.

The volume of sulphur dioxide gas released at the summit was about 1,300 metric tons per day as of Sunday, which is about 10 times the normal summit emissions. Meanwhile, the emissions at the Pu’u ‘O’o vent have held steady, meaning Kilauea overall is now producing about double its normal volume of sulphur dioxide.

Previous eruptions at the crater included lava that flowed into the crater from fissure eruptions on its southwest rim in 1974 and 1971, and an eight-month eruption in Halema’uma’u in 1967 and 1968 that created a lake of lava that covered the entire crater floor.

http://www.lavainfo.us/

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/

A story of the bears and the bees from the Bee BC …

there was an empty dock in the court in the city of Bitola and no handcuffed bear, which was convicted in its absence.

The case was brought by the exasperated beekeeper after a year of trying vainly to protect his beehives.

For a while, he kept the animal away by buying a generator, lighting up the area, and playing thumping Serbian turbo-folk music.

But when the generator ran out of power and the music fell silent, the bear was back and the honey was gone once more.

Because the animal had no owner and belonged to a protected species, the court ordered the state to pay for the damage to the hives - around $3,500 (£1,750; 2,238 euros).

The bear, meanwhile, remains at large - somewhere in Macedonia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8-lKZb64l4

A commercial produced for the Kona Coffee Farmer’s Association has caught the attention of the Department of Agriculture.

From the Hawaii Reporter …

In Hawaii, the state Department of Agriculture has directed the Kona Farmers Association (fighting for recognition of 100% Kona coffee through the distribution of an educational video) to, “remove the Get Real! DVD from any and all distribution and cease its use in the promotion of 100 percent Kona Coffee”.

UPDATE : So the first couple of minutes are basically trying to drum into you that Kona coffee is “the best”, a phrase that is repeated over and over, the controversy begins around the two minute mark and goes on for around a minute, slamming foreign blends mixed with Kona coffee, and then the last minute is “you deserve 100% Kona coffee”.

UPDATE : I have been asked to point out that Kona is not the only part of Hawai’i that grows coffee, and that many here find the 100% Kona coffee far too bitter. I am not sure if that is too say that 100% Hawai’ian coffee is too bitter, I guess the Kona Farmer’s have better PR ( well maybe not after this YouTube presentation ;) either way, the point of this little update is that I am going to be keeping an eye out for 100% Hawia’ian coffee to see if it is marketed at all. I will let you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfrKqFp0Zg

Aunty …

Actor John Hewer, who was best known for playing Captain Birds Eye in the popular fish finger adverts, has died aged 86.

He played the role of the jovial naval captain from 1967 until 1998.

In 1971, an obituary for the Birds Eye character appeared in the Times newspaper after it was decided to retire him.

However, that was only temporary and he returned to TV screens three years later.

In 1993, Captain Birds Eye was voted as the most recognised captain after Captain Cook in a poll.

From Aunty …

president of the National Secular Society, which represents the interests of atheists and agnostics, said that studies purporting to show a link between happiness and religion were “all meaningless”

… and probably happened quite by chance.

From The Beeb …

Rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to reduce their high risk of heart attacks and strokes with a gluten-free, vegan diet, a study suggests.

Heart attacks and strokes are among the leading causes of death for sufferers, as the inflammation caused by the disease impacts upon the arteries.

But an Arthritis Research and Therapy study found those who pursued a vegan regime had less “bad” cholesterol.

By clogging arteries, this is seen as a key risk factor for heart problems.

researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm say this risk could be reduced through a diet which excludes animal products and gluten - found in wheat, oats, rye and barley.

They placed 38 volunteers on the diet, in which protein accounted for 10% of daily energy intake, carbohydrate 60% and fat for 30%.

It included nuts, sunflower seeds, fruit and vegetables, millet and corn. Sesame milk provided a daily source of calcium.

A further 28 volunteers followed a healthy diet with approximately the same proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat.

Saturated fats were not to make up more than 10% of daily energy intake, and wholegrain products were to be chosen as often as possible.

Those on the vegan diet showed a decrease in the total level of cholesterol and specifically a reduction in the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as “bad cholesterol”.

In contrast, those on the non-vegan diet showed no significant variations in these levels.

The researchers pointed to a “large body of evidence” suggesting that these changes were beneficial when it comes to preventing blockage of the arteries and cardiovascular disease.

The vegan volunteers also had a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) at the end of the 12 month period, while the control group remained the same.

we do know that, for example, eating oily fish can reduce inflammation, and risk factors for developing the condition include high consumption of red meat and low consumption of fruit and vegetables, so diet does play a role - however limited

http://www.google.com/sky/ or http://sky.google.com/ and not to be confused with Google Earth with Sky.