More Swine Flu...

Evidence that swine flu is going away...

Why there won't be a global flu pandemic- Interesting Theory on what Makes us Sick

Paul Ewald is a scientist who has a very different way of thinking about disease than the majority of the medical community. Specifically, he focuses on a virus's ability to mutate rather than the genes that humans have to protect themselves against said virus. Moreover, he says a global pandemic cannot happen because it takes the perfect flu that both spreads rapidly without killing its hosts too quickly but still kills them enough to make it extremely dangerous.

He goes on to make some other unpopular, if not interesting insights into medicine.

This is an easy to read article. I can't read medical jargon either. Read it here.

Brain Gain- Adderall(SP?) and what Not

Interesting article in the New Yorker a little while ago about the effects of neuro-enhancing drugs. Definitely worth a look, and maybe some thoughts as to what our future could look like if this stuff becomes even more widespread.

Read it here.

Are you serious?

Had to post this link... blew my mind.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/content/expedition-grizzly-3909/brutus-and-me/album-01.html

Jesse Byrd- Matt Tabbibi, look out

I Got Hoes- Jesse Byrd's first blog post.

Wow. You need to read this now.

The Slow Beach

Some amazing beach photography from Stuart Gibson. Check out more here.

Stuff White People, Like- #125- Bob Marley

If you don't like Bob Marley, somethin's wrong with YOU.

Read the Article Here.

MLK Auto-Tuned

T Pain, what hath thou wrought?

64 Things Every Geek Should Know

I am obviously not a geek because I do not know how to do any of these things, but there are a few here, like hacking wireless networks and soda machines, that could be useful to anyone.

Check it out.

Relapse

Will it pop or flop?

Thugz- The Wire 2.0

Apparently David Simon, creator of The Wire, is going to be creating a similar show based in New Orleans. Here are some details from the NYTimes website.

David Simon, creator of The Wire and Homicide, announced plans to shoot an HBO pilot of Treme, about the New Orleans neighborhood of that name. New Orleans is unfortunately rife with material for a crime drama. As Simon tells the Times-Picayune, the show would explore “political corruption, the public housing controversy, the crippled criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.” If HBO picks up the series, will New Orleaneans respond to its depiction of their city’s often shocking post-Katrina underbelly as negatively as many Indians did to Slumdog Millionaire, or will the accompanying economy boost help smooth things over? Maybe the Thugz will weigh in on this one as well.

Oh I see what your doing...

Asher Roth is clever. As Fuck.

Coachella: The iPhone App.

So the brilliant people behind coachella created a free iphone application that gives up to date set times, maps, and even friend locaters (for others with the app).

Learn more HERE.

Giggin'

In middle school, this kid is gonna give chaperones nightmares.

The Creationist Science Fair

Just when you think you've seen all the paradoxes the world has to offer... Something else is just around the bend to make your jaw drop.

Case in point, the creationist science fair.

I can't even describe how absolutely mind-blowing this website is. Here's a preview of some of the winners.

Elementary School Level
1st Place: "My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)"

Cassidy Turnbull (grade 5) presented her uncle, Steve. She also showed photographs of monkeys and invited fairgoers to note the differences between her uncle and the monkeys. She tried to feed her uncle bananas, but he declined to eat them. Cassidy has conclusively shown that her uncle is no monkey.

Middle School Level
1st Place: "Life Doesn't Come From Non-Life"

Patricia Lewis (grade 8) did an experiment to see if life can evolve from non-life. Patricia placed all the non-living ingredients of life - carbon (a charcoal briquet), purified water, and assorted minerals (a multi-vitamin) - into a sealed glass jar. The jar was left undisturbed, being exposed only to sunlight, for three weeks. (Patricia also prayed to God not to do anything miraculous during the course of the experiment, so as not to disqualify the findings.) No life evolved. This shows that life cannot come from non-life through natural processes.

1st Place: "Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria"

Eileen Hyde and Lynda Morgan (grades 10 & 11) did a project showing how the power of prayer can unlock the latent genes in bacteria, allowing them to microevolve antibiotic resistance. Escherichia coli bacteria cultured in agar filled petri dishes were subjected to the antibiotics tetracycline and chlorotetracycline. The bacteria cultures were divided into two groups, one group (A) received prayer while the other (B) didn't. The prayer was as follows: "Dear Lord, please allow the bacteria in Group A to unlock the antibiotic-resistant genes that You saw fit to give them at the time of Creation. Amen." The process was repeated for five generations, with the prayer being given at the start of each generation. In the end, Group A was significantly more resistant than Group B to both antibiotics.

View the actual website here. Amazing.

The Forbidden Railway- A Trip through Forbidden Parts of North Korea

For my entire adult life, North Korea has been viewed with a great deal of suspicion: Because most people are not allowed to enter, and because the country is run by a dictator with the most expensive Hennessey habit in the world, the country has always been viewed with a good deal of horror, with a dash of wonder thrown in for good measure.

No more.

Two European tourists recently took a trip on a section of train tourists have not been allowed to use since 1994. I have posted the intro to their trip below: You can read even more HERE.

OUR STORY


In september I made a trip to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, better known as North Korea.

Not only that North Korea is quite an unusual touristic destination, my route to North Korea was even more unusual – I travelled the whole way from Vienna (Austria) to Pyongyang by train via Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia. And I used a route into North Korea, which is said to be impossible for tourists.
Together with a friend from Switzerland, who joined me in Irkutsk (Russia), we entered North Korea from Russia via the border at Hasan/Tumangan, whereas usually tourists can only use the railway line from the Chinese-Korean border at Dandong/Sinuiju to Pyongyang.
This route was open for tourist traffic only untill about 1994. It's likely that we were the first tourists who travelled this line since then.


Our trip was an experiment, we just wanted to try this route. Long planning and debates whether we should really try it or not preceeded the trip.

The state North Korean tourist company KITC did not know in advance about our route. And we did not know what would really happen to us after arrival at Tumangan.

But finally everything went well.

read even more HERE.

Grand Central Market- Food Review #3

Got a little extra time on your hands? Low on money? Want some good produce?

Then Grand Central Market miiiiight just be for you.

Located on 3rd and Broadway in Downtown LA, this place is an indoor, open-air farmers market, unlike anything you will see north of the big black fence that seperates San Diego and Mexico.

Defined by fruit stands that sell delicious produce at killer prices, tasty ethnic food (Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, you name it), and English as a second language for most of its customers, its a delicious, cheap experience.

Beat that.

Beautiful Hubris- Palazzo Chupi

The Palazzo Chupi, designed by filmmaker/painter/designer/renaissance man Julian Schnabel is one of the most breahtaking apartments in NYC. And recently the price was slashed from 32 to 22 million! Get yours now!



For more info about this building, read this article.

Futbol

Say what you will about the beautiful game, but this kind of shit is undeniably ridiculous.

Young Bob- Skinny Jeans

Up and comer from the bay... thoughts?


Skinny Jeans from Aris Jerome on Vimeo.

Asher Roth- Does the D'Angelo

LOL.

La patere Rose- Pacemaker

Ah, the French. So much artsier then we Americans.

Peep.

The Ultimate Masup: Higher Learning

You think Radiohead and Jay-z Mashups were difficult and intricate? How about taking a bunch of youtube clips and composing a song using all of them?

As always, the sum is greater than the whole of its parts.

The Different Kinds of People There Are

Two really sick links: One simple and introspective, one clever and admirable.