Science Says: Lungs Love Weed Breathe easy, tokers. Smoking marijuana in moderate amounts may not be so bad for your lungs, after all. A new study, published in this month's Journal of the American Medical Association, tested the lung function of over 5,000 young adults between 18 and 30 to determine marijuana's effect on lungs. In fact, researchers were surprised to find marijuana smokers performed slightly better than both smokers and non-smokers on the lung performance test. MORE: 5 Reasons Not to Smoke Synthetic Weed For most of human existence, cannabis has been considered a medicine. "What's interesting is if you look at origins of the marijuana prohibition in this country, it coincides with a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. . . really since the early years of this century, the war on marijuana has been much more a war on the sort of people who smoke it, be they Mexicans or blacks or jazz musicians or beatniks or hippies or hip-hop artists. Attitudes are changing, however.
United States presidential pets This is a list of pets belonging to United States Presidents and their families, while serving their term(s) in office.[1] History of White House dogs[edit] Richard Nixon was accused of hiding a secret slush fund during his candidacy for vice president under Dwight D. Pets also featured on presidential elections. On the other hand, many believe that President Lyndon B. List of Presidential pets[edit] Notes[edit] Jump up ^ Most sources say "possibly", and don't qualify "Wolfhound" any further; perhaps Morrow's extensive work draws on evidence beyond the source used by the 51 Google-distinguished versions (out "of about 2,640") for ‘Kennedy "wolf mutt, possibly part schnauzer and wolfhound"’, in contrast to ‘No results found for Kennedy "wolf mutt, possibly part schnauzer and wolfhound"’. References[edit] Jump up ^ "Presidential Pet Museum". External links[edit]
Frog Photos "I'd kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs." ~ Cameron Diaz Funny Frogs by Sean Crane Smoking Pot Doesn't Cause Lung Cancer The largest study ever conducted on marijuana’s relevance to lung cancer has come up with some somewhat surprising results. The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the University of California at Los Angeles study, which found that smoking marijuana does not cause lung cancer, and it doesn’t seem to matter how much or how often it is smoked. Donald Tashkin, a pulmonologist at UCLA, has studied marijuana for 30 years. Furthermore, Tashkin’s work has previously established a tenuous link between marijuana smoking and negative health effects. For example, he found that marijuana tar contained higher concentrations of cancer-causing substances, and because of that and the fact that marijuana smokers hold smoke deep in their lungs for an extended period of time, it previously seemed likely that the health effects of prolonged exposure would become increasingly damaging:
Pumapard Pumapard, c.1900 Pumapard, Rothschild Museum, Tring A pumapard is a hybrid of a puma and a leopard. Both male puma with female leopard and male leopard with female puma pairings have produced offspring. In general, these hybrids have exhibited a tendency to dwarfism. Reported puma/leopard hybrids[edit] In the late 1890s/early 1900s, two hybrids were born in Chicago, USA, followed 2 years later by three sets of twin cubs born at a zoo in Hamburg, Germany from a puma father and leopard mother. Hagenbeck's puma/leopard hybrids may have been inspired by a pair of leopard x puma hybrid cubs born in Chicago on 24 April 1896 at Tattersalls indoor arena where Ringling Brothers Circus opened its season. A similar hybrid was reported by Helmut Hemmer. In The Field No 2887, April 25, 1908, Henry Scherren wrote "There was, and probably is now, in the Berlin Garden an Indian leopard and puma male hybrid, purchased of Carl Hagenbeck in 1898. The hybrids were additionally reported by CJ Cornish et al.
25 Pictures of Frogs and Toads RED-EYED TREE FROG – Photograph by MARCUS LIM To deny the awesomeness of frogs would be foolish. They are colourful, they are diverse, and if they were the size of humans, they could leap over buildings! Below you will find 10 facts and 25 pictures about our amphibious friends, the mighty Frog! All hail! Photograph by ANGI NELSON Photograph by DIABLOMAKO The distribution of frogs ranges from tropic to subarctic regions, but most species are found in tropical rainforests. Photograph by ANGI NELSON Photograph by DARK-RAPTOR The use of the common names “frog” and “toad” has no taxonomic justification. Photograph by MY LIVING PHOTOGRAPHY Photograph by AIMISHBOY The morphology of frogs is unique among amphibians. Photograph by SNIC320 Photograph by ARCYNUM Frogs range in size from 10 mm (0.39 in) (Brachycephalus didactylus of Brazil and Eleutherodactylus iberia of Cuba) to 300 mm (12 in) (goliath frog, Conraua goliath, of Cameroon). Photograph by HILDE VAN HOVE Photograph by YOSHIAKI OIKAWA
Cannabis seeds species genetic origins and history of marijuana strains Although thousands of hybridized cannabis seeds varieties have been created by enthusiastic home and professional seed breeders, the fundamental genetic stock of traditional cannabis seeds strains is well-known and respected. Consider strains presented here the basic colour palette from which breeders mix and combine to create limitless diversity of new cannabis strains. Base origins and history of cannabis strains: Columbian aka Gold: It was one of the original sativa strains imported, that fueled the sixties marijuana renaissance in North America. Thai: sometimes called Thai Sticks by the Vietnam veterans, this Asian sativa variety produces loose clusters which are often woven onto sticks of bamboo or cannabis stems. Jamaican: these mostly sativa plants are fast-growing, known to produce a stimulating, up high. Mexican: Some of the best cannabis used to come from Mexico, but these days "Mexican Brickweed" has become synonymous with "schwag", the lowest quality smoke. Price: € 35.00
Irukandji jellyfish Irukandji jellyfish (/ˌɪrəˈkændʒi/ IRR-ə-KAN-jee) are small and extremely venomous box jellyfish that inhabit marine waters of Australia and which are able to fire their stingers into their victim, causing symptoms collectively known as Irukandji syndrome. Their size is roughly a cubic centimetre (1 cm3). There are four known species of Irukandji: Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, Alatina alata and the recently discovered Malo maximus.[1][2] The symptoms of Irukandji syndrome were first documented by Hugo Flecker in 1952.[3] They were named after the Irukandji people whose country stretches along the coastal strip north of Cairns, Queensland.[4] The first of these jellyfish, Carukia barnesi, was identified in 1964 by Jack Barnes; in order to prove it was the cause of Irukandji syndrome, he captured the tiny jelly and allowed it to sting him while his son and a lifeguard observed the effects.[5][6] Range[edit] Biology[edit] Sting[edit] Irukandji syndrome[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Extinct frog hops back into the gene pool In what may be considered an early Easter miracle, an extinct species of native frog has begun its rise from the dead. Australian scientists have grown embryos containing the revived DNA of the extinct gastric-brooding frog, the crucial first step in their attempt to bring a species back to life. The team from the aptly named Lazarus project inserted the dead genetic material of the extinct amphibian into the donor eggs of another species of living frog, a process similar to the technique used to create the cloned sheep Dolly. The eggs continued to grow into three-day-old embryos, known as blastulas. Extict since 1983: The bizarre gastric-brooding frog. "This is the first time this technique has been achieved for an extinct species," said one of the project scientists, conservation biologist Michael Mahony. Advertisement Frozen for 40 years In the beginning, the single cell eggs "just sat there", said Professor Archer. The egg donor frog. But the team's success so far did not come easily.
How Hemp Got High If Genome Biology had been launched today, instead of 11 years ago, it might well have been given the alternative title of "Transcriptome Biology". While Genome Biology captured the millennial zeitgeist of genomics brought about by the project(s) to sequence the human genome, the breathtaking progress of this field in the intervening decade has brought us to a new frontier: the transcriptome. The development of RNA-seq, which applies high-throughput next-generation sequencing technology to cDNA generated from RNA samples, has resulted in an explosion of transcriptome sequences. Not only does RNA-seq benefit from higher sensitivity than microarrays, it also does not require the a priori knowledge needed for constructing chips; this flexibility has infused the transcriptome explosion with a biologically diverse character and encompassed many species not well covered by commercially available microarrays.
Foster's rule Foster's rule, also known as the island rule or the island effect, is an ecogeographical rule in evolutionary biology stating that members of a species get smaller or bigger depending on the resources available in the environment. For example, it is known that pygmy mammoths evolved from normal mammoths on small islands. Similar evolutionary paths have been observed in elephants, hippopotamuses, boas, sloths (such as Pygmy three-toed sloth), deer (such as Key deer) and humans.[1][2] The rule was first stated by the mammologist J. Bristol Foster in 1964.[3][4] In it, he compared 116 island species to their mainland varieties. He proposed that certain island creatures evolved into larger versions of themselves (insular gigantism) while others became smaller versions of themselves (insular dwarfism). Further, recent literature has applied the Island Rule to plants.[7] References[edit] External links[edit] "Why Do Islands Breed Giants (And Sometimes Dwarfs)?"
Cannabis Cures Cancer Researchers have now found that the compound, called cannabidiol, has the ability to ‘switch off’ the gene responsible for metastasis in an aggressive form of breast cancer. Importantly, this substance does not produce the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant. A team from the California Pacific Medical Center, in San Francisco, first spotted its potential five years ago, after it stopped the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in the lab. Another Spanish team, led by Dr Manuel Guzmon, wanted to see whether they could prevent a form of cancer (glioblastoma multiforme) from growing by cutting off its blood supply. The mice were given a cancer similar to the human brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme). Cannabinoids halt VEGF production by producing Ceramide. Dr Guzmon said: “As far as we know, this is the first report showing that ceramide depresses VEGF pathway by interfering with VEGF production.” They then wanted to see if this would also happen with humans. Related Posts
Jimmy Carter rabbit incident 1979 incident in which Jimmy Carter was attacked by a swamp rabbit April 20, 1979 White House photo of Carter and rabbit from the Carter Library The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, sensationalized as a "killer rabbit attack" by the press, involved a swamp rabbit that swam toward then–U.S. President Jimmy Carter's fishing boat on April 20, 1979. The incident caught the imagination of the media after Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, mentioned the event to a correspondent months later. Background[edit] President Carter was fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia on April 20, 1979, alone in a flat-bottomed boat while staff were on land nearby. When Carter returned to his office, his staff did not believe his story, saying rabbits could not swim, or that one would never approach a person threateningly.[2] A White House photographer took a picture of the incident, which was released by a later administration.[3] Media accounts and public perception[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]