Devil in the details

I need to make a correction for my last blog. At the bottom I wrote that the illustration from a BBC news article showed embryos being made without male donor sperm, and should have included the male sperm. I was wrong. After researching the Korean discovery much closer, I see that it is not the sperm that is missing. It is really not a true embryo. What is missing is the brain of the author who wrote the article.
The discovery was made by Korean scientists and the process used to create these stems cells is called Somatic nucleus cell replacement. What they do is take the nucleus from human skin cells and replace the donor egg cells nucleus and grow them into stem cells. Most scientist argue that these stem cells are not embryos, only embryo like. The Korean scientist say that these stem cells could not become human, there for are not destroying life. Its as if they can basically fertilize eggs without sperm. I don't know where I stand on this type of research. It gets more complicated by each discovery. It will only get far worse. What is very important is that the media use proper terminology. The first story I read about the Koreans discovery combined two story's. First they talked about the bill before the house this week that wants to allow more federally funded stem cell lines, and how president Bush will veto it. Then it talked about the Koreans discovery. So they made it look like Bush is against the research the Koreans did. When this bill has nothing to do with the Koreans discovery, it has to do with using actual human embryos that are not yet made. This is absolutely ridiculous. American scientists could have made the same discovery the Koreans did using federal money if they had thought of it(no embryos were even used, only donor eggs and skin cells). The media is trying to make it look like (because of Bush) our laws are keeping us behind other countries in the stem cell technology.The left wing media is so quick to make Bush look anti-science, that it will totally fuck up a story. Imagine the poor Koreans, who are probably getting calls from all the extreme right wing Idiots telling them that they're killing people. Perhaps they're discovery will be the way that stems cells that are extremely similar to embryos can be made without actually killing life. I am so sick of news articles with an agenda. This subject is so very complicated even if you were given just the facts, and now I have to read through the left wing idiots agenda to find important info. I apologize for the previous articles mistake. I pray to god that he guide our hand through this new technology. I hope that in his eyes this new line of stem cells is not life, and if it is, I hope he gives us the wisdom to see it. The devil could be in the details. As it stands now, I would be inclined to say that it is not life, but I need to learn more about the science of it before deciding.

Where is the dad

The war wages on. Not Star Wars, I'm talking about the stem cell war. There is currently a bill before the house that could allow using tax money for more embryonic stem cell lines, not just the ones previously approved by Bush. This bill would allow federal tax dollars to be spent on researching cells from embryos that would other wise be discarded by fertility clinics.
The temptation here is to say "well....They're going to throw the embryos away anyway, so why not use them for research". There may be some truth to the previous statement. Imagine for a moment that this bill passes. Now fertility clinics can sell embryos to research scientist (given permission by parents of the embryos). Having personal experience with fertility clinics. I understand how the process works. Many eggs are retrieved form the ovaries but not all eggs are used to make embryos due to poor quality, and the minimal statistical value that these low quality eggs present, meaning these eggs may produce embryos, but they will produce what is known as a number 3 quality embryo with a low cell count. If your the owner of a fertility clinic and can sell these low quality embryos (of course permission from the donors is needed), you may be more inclined to produce embryos that have little or no value to the parents, but have great value to researchers. Hence, life will be created for research. Everything I've said here, can already happen, since it is not illegal to do this research. With this bill, you and I will be forced to pay for it, and will increase the embryo market quite considerably.
Check out this story from BBC news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4567253.stm
Notice the picture at the bottom showing you how tailer made cells are made. They show a woman donating an egg, some how it turns to an embrio without any male sperm donar. This is because they forgot that it took both a man and woman to make an embryo (life).

Weightless vacation

Fasten your seat belts, because the real space race is here. Through the cold war our elders watched the United States compete against Russia for space superiority. We all know that nothing more than a show of power fueled this exploration. Now, times have changed. And for the better. This race is fueled by the private sector, mainly by Bigelow aerospace. Last October Spaceship One won the first X-prize for ten million bucks by putting the first non-NASA American into sub-orbit. As impressive as this was, in my opinion it wasn't really putting a man into space, although technically it was, since he was 71 miles above sea level. He did not actually go into orbit. The beauty of this is that no government money was used. This was financed by the possibility that you or I may want to spend some money to take a ride. The real excitement comes with the next prize being offered by Bigelow. 50 million buckaroos! The stakes are much higher. This is the real McCoy. This time 5 people must make two complete orbits around Earth. Without expending more than 20% of the hardware used. Then they must do it again within 60 days. There are other fine points that must be accomplished, such as the vehicle used must show the ability to dock with an inflatable space station. Oh yeah, best of all is that it must be accomplished by Americans and on American soil, with no government moneys whatsoever. Although they can use government test facilities. There are a few privately owned company's that are well 0n the way. Its not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN! This will happen, and it will happen before 2010 (or else prize is not valid).
The bottom line here is, in my life time, I get to go to space. Yup, the demand is huge, and the private sector is responding. Of course it will be some time before it will be affordable for guys like me, but when it is, I'll be willing to take a couple of bucks out of the old 401k. If your interested in seeing the specifics to the next X-prize or want to find links to see where some of the company's involved are check out Space news web site
http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_bigelow_041108.html

Joe, you can live......Lisa,you can live......Sorry Lindsy,your gonna be an ear

The argument to use stem cells for research has been a topic of great controversy. What surprises me is how most people feel very strongly one way or the other, without actually understanding the real issues of stem cell research. At the heart of the argument is weather or not embryonic stem cells should be used. What most people don't realize is that stem cells don't just come from embryos. Most stems cells used in research today come from bone marrow and blood from umbilical cords. Some scientist argue that the stem cells that come from embryos can be easier to work with, or grown into a larger variety of different cells. The fact is this has not actually been proven. What I cant argue with is that embryonic stems cells is an additional resource and could possibly further or speed up the research. That doesn't mean that they must be used or that the same goal can't be achieved using other stem cells. I will say this. . . . If you say that an embryo is not life and should be used for research, than you must have a definition of when life begins after the embryonic stage. If you do not have any such definition, than you must acknowledge that an embryo could be life. If you say life begins at birth, than you should have no problem with a mother getting pregnant, carrying her baby for 8 months, having an abortion and using her unborn fetus for research. Point being, if you want to weigh in on the argument, you should first decide for yourself where life begins.
One of the poorest arguments I hear is that other countries don't have the same moral dilemma as the United States so they are already using embryonic stem cells, so if we don't start using them, we will be so far behind on the technology, we won't be able to keep up. If ten years from now you get a new kidney as a result of the research that went on in France, do you really care? I'm not gonna turn away a French kidney if my daughter is dying. Even if it makes her yell "I surrender" every time someone sneaks up behind her.
I'm excited to see what stem cell research will bring, but lets not kill anyone to save anyone, it kinda defeats the purpose. Using bone marrow and umbilical cord blood stems cells will eventually yield the desired results. Any scientist that spends time trying to make embryonic stem cell research ethical, is wasting time that could be used researching the stem cells that are ethical.

Deep Space Two

In 1998 NASA launched a ship called DEEP SPACE ONE. This ship used a lot of new technology. The most important being the ION engine. I know, sounds like something from Star Trek. This engine has been around since the 1950's but was put on the shelf many times over the years, it has only recently been perfected. The engine uses xenon gas (similar to helium) and sends it through an electrical charge. The result is an engine that has a very fast output push, but with very low power. This engine could not lift a rocket off earth, it doesn't have the power. In fact even out in space the engine can take months to get to top speed. The best way to think of an Ion engine is to think of a car with no first or second gear, but one gear that would be like 193rd gear. it would take off very slow but eventually would could do super speeds.
Deep Space one was designed to test a whole range of new technologys by chasing down a comet (comet Borrelly) and taking pictures. If you want to check out the other technologys (12 in all) or see pictures of the comet go to -http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/
Although this mission had a lot of bugs (when they got Deep Space One up in orbit over earth, the engine would not start. It took almost two weeks to get the engine started) The Ion engine needs to be pushed to see what it is capable of. NASA needs to start the next ion mission. This engine would be ideal to return a man from Mars. It is exreemly fuel efficent. So c'mon NASA lets get to it.

What a waste of space

I would like to weigh in on a topic that has been debated in the astronomy field for some time. Is there life in or beyond our solar system? This topic is becoming one of the main debates in astronomy, mainly because of our increasing capability to search the universe. The bigger question is really "could there be intelligent life?". I will never say that anything is impossible. Through out history, most scientist that say something is impossible end up getting proved wrong. I will however say that it is quite improbable that we will have the ability to detect intelligent life.
Take a look at our own planet. Humans being the only animal intelligent enough to detect other intelligent life, have been around this planet for 2 million to 10 million years (depending on which scientist you talk to). Lets say for the sake of argument we have been here for 10 million years. We have only had the ability to search and for other intelligent life for about 200 years. Our planet has been here for about 4 billion years, but the universe has been here for about 12 to 15 billion years. Lets say that humans will be around for 10 million years more before we wipe ourselves out or use up all our resources. 10 million years is pretty conservative, it will probably be much less. Lets use the number 10 million to describe the length of time that an intelligent race survives. 10 million years relative to the 12 to 15 billion that the universe has been here is just a blip. So the chances that our 10 million years will coincide with another intelligent races 10 million years is highly unlikely. Even if the universe is full of different intelligent races the chances of an overlap happening are very unlikely. Picture your back yard at night being the complete universe. There are firefly's that represent solar systems. Each time a fire fly lights up, it represents the 10 million years that a intelligent life has existed. Were hoping that two fly's light up at the same time and have all the technology to communicate with each other, and happen to be looking in the right direction. Even if two fly's light up at the same time the chances that one sees the other is pretty slim. I do in fact believe that there is a good chance that life can and does exist else where in the universe. Unfortunately we will never meet them. I will however say, if we can somehow lengthen our stay without going extinct. If we can survive for a billion years. Or another race could survive for a billion years. The chances of meeting them greatly increase. The only way this can happen is to explore space and to use the resources outside our solar system. This probably sounds crazy to most people. Most people feel that the space program is a huge waste of money. At one time the earth was flat and people thought that the early explorers were a waste of resources. I will leave you with a quote from the movie Contact, "If were the only ones here. . . . . It seems like an awful waste of space"

I can See the light !

Last week something amazing happened in the field of astronomy. For the first time ever, man has directly detected an extrasolar planet. Although we have been able to detect these planets for some time now, we have only been able to do this indirectly through two methods. The first is known as the "Wobble" method. Picture yourself holding hands with another person and spinning each other around. You both would spin around equally. Now picture yourself holding a very small child and spinning him or her around. The small child would spin around in a big circle but you would only wobble slightly. This is the same with our sun, Jupiter which is our largest planet, makes out sun wobble, ever so slightly. So they use this method to look at other stars. If the star has a consistent wobble, they can measure that wobble and tell the mass of the planet as well as orbit without actually seeing the planet. The other method is the "Transit" method. This method measures the amount of light emitted by a star. As the planet passes in front of the star. The amount of light that the star emits is ever so slightly decreased, so if they see the star light decrease with a regular pattern, then they know there is a planet rotating around it. Using the transit method is only good for seeing planets that orbit extremely quickly (like every 15 days or less). Imagine trying to detect an earth like planet this way. The light would only decrease every 365 days, so it would be pretty much impossible. Both methods are only good for detecting very large planets (Gas giants such as Jupiter)
Anyway NASA has focused the Spitzer telescope (infared), on two known planets and actually detected the heat emitted from the actual planet. The actual pictures are not very impressive to look at but are very exciting non-the-less. If you would like to check out and artist rendering with animation, go to the Spitzer web sitehttp://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/index.shtml
There are telescopes in the works that will be able to detect the actual light from these planets very soon, so stay tuned.