By Brandon Keim 
December 9, 2009
‘Even as the science of global warming gets stronger, fewer Americans believe it’s real. In some ways, it’s nearly as jarring a disconnect as enduring disbelief in evolution or carbon dating. And according to Kari Marie Norgaard, a Whitman University sociologist who’s studied public attitudes towards climate science, we’re in denial…’
It turns out this virus is highly unusual, a quadruple reassortant. The genes of a flu virus are packaged in eight discrete segments. When two flu viruses infect the same host cell, the segments of each are copied and repackaged, 8 at a time, in new viral particles which then bud off from the infected cell. They then may infect a new host cell. In this repackaging process the segments of the two different viruses may mix and match, so that new virus particle will have segments from two different viruses. The new virus is, in a sense, not just a swine flu virus. It does have viral segments characteristic of two different families of swine flu, one typical of North America, where swine flu is endemic, and one typical of pig flu viruses from Europe and Asia. But we learned today that it also has viral segments seen in North American birds and in human seasonal influenza. Which of the segments is a bird segment and which is humans wasn't discussed in today's briefing, but the fact that the genetic sources comprise widely different geographies and species is highly unusual -- unusual at least as far as we know. We have little systematic information on swine viruses, so how common this really is we don't know for sure, nor do we know how recent. The virus is resistant to the older adamantane antivirals but sensitive to both oselta
mivir (Tamilfu) and zanamivir (Relenza).
Whatever this is, it isn't seasonal influenza. The reported cases range from 9 years old to 54 years old, 3 females, 4 males. All have recovered and only one required hospitalization. The earliest case is from late March, the most recent just days ago. Symptoms are typical for influenza-like illness except that there seems to be a greater prominence of gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) along with the respiratory symptoms and fever. CDC emphasized they were in an active investigation mode and will keep sharing information as it develops. Clearly there is a lot more to learn about this.
Could this be the harbinger of an influenza pandemic? A pandemic is a global sized outbreak from a single strain of influenza. We believe that there are several necessary conditions for this to happen with influenza. One is the ability of the viral strain to infect humans (there are many influenza viruses but most don't infect humans). Another is the ability to be transmitted from person to person. While bird flu can infect humans, it still has not acquired the ability to spread easily from person to person. Yet another is an influenza virus which is sufficiently different that there is little natural immunity in the human population. As far as I can tell, this virus seems to have all of these characteristics.
Two cases of the human swine influenza have been confirmed in Kansas and one more in California, bringing the U.S. total to 11.
Kansas health officials said Saturday they had confirmed swine flu in a married couple living in the central part of the state after the husband visited Mexico. The couple, who live in Dickinson County, were not hospitalized, and the state described their illnesses as mild.
Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, the state health officer, said, "Fortunately, the man and woman understand the gravity of the situation and are very willing to isolate themselves."
The man traveled to Mexico last week for a professional conference and became ill after returning home. His wife became ill later. Their doctor suspected swine flu, but it wasn't confirmed until flu specimens were flown to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A flu viruses, the CDC's Web site says. Human cases of swine flu are uncommon but can happen in people who are around pigs and can be spread from person to person. Symptoms of the flu include a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.
It is not often that we get to combine our passion for music, good design, green technologies, and hot 1950’s classic vehicles. Neil Young recently released his latest album “Fork in the Road”, which is dedicated to the Lincvolt 
project that transformed his classic Lincoln Continental into a hot zero emissions vehicle that gets 100mpg.
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(This article first appeared on the Joint Recon Study Group site.)
Some people who are curious about reports of extraterrestrial and/or extra-dimensional visitors to Earth have recently noted that advanced energy technologies related to the UFO phenomena could be helpful for us now.
Advocates of this view say national security issues associated with certain foreign oil sources, stress on our economies, effects of related pollution, global climate change and other disadvantages of conventional energy-producing methods indicate that we should explore possible exotic technologies associated with UFOs.
An unexpected, thick layer of solar particles inside Earth's magnetic field suggests there are huge breaches in our planet's solar defenses, scientists said.These breaches indicate that during the next period of high solar activity, due to start in 2012, Earth will experience some of the worst solar storms seen in decades.
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March 10, 2006: It's official: Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.
The last time we had a solar storm this big (1958), northern lights were seen in Mexico! One expert says 2012, another says 2010 or 2011. It's a three-year old post, but I've found nothing to contradict it. Read on...
Like the quiet before a storm.
This week researchers announced that a storm is coming--the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.
Chile's Llaima volcano, one of South America's most active, spewed a more-than-1,000 meter flow of lava on Saturday, prompting evacuations and landslide warnings.
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The forest service said the blaze near the town of Wheeler destroyed eight homes and 26 outbuildings. The largest fire, an 11,000-acre blaze near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, was about 25 percent contained, but wind gusting to 35 mph made it difficult to maintain fire lines, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Jeanne Eastham said Sunday.
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The Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) recently featured this red sky photo taken by airlines passenger Tyler Blessing. He snapped the picture as his flight came in for a landing in Minneapolis.
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Breathing Earth. Real-time tracker of carbon dioxide emissions in countries all over world; also births/deaths, constantly updating real-time tracking while you're on the site. E.g; US (1000 tons CO2 every 5.4 seconds); China (1000 tons CO2 every 9.2 seconds); Chad (1000 tons CO2 every 66.4 hours). [FYI...click on "Enter" on site to get to map]
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It's time to shift the discussion about Palin to what really matters: her far-right views on the issues. Let's forget for a moment that Sarah Palin likes to kill moose, has lots of children and was once voted the second-prettiest lady in Alaska; that's all part of the gusher of sensationalist, but not particularly substantive, news that has dominated coverage of the Alaska governor's addition to the Republican ticket.
AlterNet has compiled a list of Palin's most shocking beliefs, ranging from her positions on the economy to her views on reproductive rights. This list has nothing to do with her personal life, her looks or her gender. It's the stuff that voters need to know: what Sarah Palin really believes.
1. Despite problems at home, Sarah Palin does not believe in giving teenagers information about sex.
Like John McCain, Palin's approach to the problems of teen pregnancy and STI transmission is abstinence-only education. In a 2006 questionnaire by the conservative group Eagle Forum, Palin stated: "Explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."
2. Sarah Palin believes the U.S. Army is on a mission from God.
In June, Palin gave a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God, her former church, in which she exhorted ministry students to pray for American soldiers in Iraq. "Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she told them.
3. Sarah Palin believes in punishing rape victims.
Palin thinks that rape victims should be forced to bear the child of their rapist. She believes this so strongly that she would oppose abortion even if her own daughter were raped.
4. Who's really not in favor of clean water? Sarah Palin.
Palin said, "Let me take my governor's hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop. 4 -- I vote no on that." And what is that? A state initiative that would have banned metal mines from discharging pollution into salmon streams.
5. Sarah Palin calls herself a reformer, but on earmarks and the "Bridge to Nowhere," she is a hypocrite.
The Associated Press reported, "In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation." While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "Bridge to Nowhere."
6. Sarah Palin believes creationism should be taught in schools.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, Palin stated, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."
7. Sarah Palin supports offshore drilling everywhere, even if it doesn't solve our energy problems.
The Miami Herald reported:
The Alaska governor has said that she has tried to persuade McCain to agree with her on drilling in the wildlife refuge. She also has said that she was happy that he changed his position over the summer and now supports offshore oil drilling.
Aside from her "drill here, drill there, drill everywhere" approach to our energy crisis, the only other things we know about Palin's energy policy, especially given her Bush-like love of avoiding the press, comes from her acceptance speech:
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines, build more nuclear plants, create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources.
If you're not interested in the issue of climate change, fine, but this story is as much about that as it is about a new ruling that further erodes your right to information from your government.
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"The Centers for Disease Control has found two compounds—phthalates, used in polyvinyl chloride (pvc) plastic, & bisphenol A, a building block of polycarbonate plastics—in the urine of a majority of Americans "
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They've Got Wood: Woodfinder Online Lumber Search (TreeHugger): The Woodfinder online database helps you find "sources of lumber, veneer, plywood or laminates -- or local sawmills and sawmill services," and in addition to searching for retail, wholesale or distribution yards near you, you can also narrow it down to sustainable sources like reclaimed, salvaged, submerged and even FSC-certified.
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