"As spring turns to summer, fun in the sun becomes the order of the day. However, the danger of skin cancer can also creep into seasonal plans.
Fortunately, researchers at Northwestern University have made an important discovery about the growth and spread of the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma.
They have learned that a protein that regulates the development of human embryonic stem cells also limits the growth of melanoma. This year an estimated 62,480 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease and about 8,420 are expected to die.
The researchers found the protein also prevents the spread of metastatic breast cancer, an especially aggressive form that claimed more than 40,000 lives last year.
This unique protein is secreted only in human embryonic stem cells, the scientists learned. It was not discovered in adult stem cells or in cells obtained from placentas."
-The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Even Oil Tycoons like Renewables
I found this interview with T. Boone Pickens, oil tycoon, a fascinating one. In it, he talks about his investments in wind and other renewable energy projects in Texas. This is exciting because it means that people, smart people, people who are in it for the money, are turning toward renewables not because they have a higher purpose but because it JUST MAKES SENSE. Rock on.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Social Surplus - a background
Well, here we are with the beginnings of a blog. We'll see if anyone out there wants to hear what I have to say. I thought I would start out with an explanation of where the title, Social Surplus, came from. I think it explains a little about what this blog will be about, and tells you a little about me.
My concept of the Social Surplus comes from an article by Clay Shirky (see below for link). He starts out by theorizing that during the industrial revolution, people were at first so shell-shocked by having to live an entirely new environment (aka. moving to the city) that they didn't know what to do and drank themselves silly on gin. Eventually though, people realized that perhaps the vast amount of interaction and discussion they had (the Social Surplus) could be put to better use than getting drunk - and institutions like public libraries, elections, and free education came out of the era.
Clay then says that a second revolution has recently occured with a higher standard of living and longer lives, resulting in another Social Surplus - free time. And what have we done with this free time? For a while now we have spent it on watching TV, just as our ancestors spent it drinking gin.
Enter the promise of Web 2.0.
Not only has the web allowed us to access information with an incredible speed and ease, but we now have the opportunity to use some of our free time to contribute - to give back. Clay gave two numbers in his article that I want to share:
- The entire Wikipedia project has taken on the order of 100 Million hours of effort to develop.
- The US alone spends about 100 Million hours per weekend watching TV ads.
Those are numbers almost beyond my comprehension - to think that Americans spend over 11,000 years of time watching ads every weekend! But think of what could be done with that surplus of time.
It is so easy today to not have enough time, to not read a newspaper, to not stop and help a neighbor. But if these stats are correct, it seems to me that perhaps the real issues is that we don't make the time. Not to say I'm any better - I spent a few hours today setting up this blog for goodness sake.
But I am hopeful. Because perhaps we, as as society, have reached a point where we too can move on from our distractions and use our Social Surplus to improve the world around us.
For the original article: click here
My concept of the Social Surplus comes from an article by Clay Shirky (see below for link). He starts out by theorizing that during the industrial revolution, people were at first so shell-shocked by having to live an entirely new environment (aka. moving to the city) that they didn't know what to do and drank themselves silly on gin. Eventually though, people realized that perhaps the vast amount of interaction and discussion they had (the Social Surplus) could be put to better use than getting drunk - and institutions like public libraries, elections, and free education came out of the era.
Clay then says that a second revolution has recently occured with a higher standard of living and longer lives, resulting in another Social Surplus - free time. And what have we done with this free time? For a while now we have spent it on watching TV, just as our ancestors spent it drinking gin.
Enter the promise of Web 2.0.
Not only has the web allowed us to access information with an incredible speed and ease, but we now have the opportunity to use some of our free time to contribute - to give back. Clay gave two numbers in his article that I want to share:
- The entire Wikipedia project has taken on the order of 100 Million hours of effort to develop.
- The US alone spends about 100 Million hours per weekend watching TV ads.
Those are numbers almost beyond my comprehension - to think that Americans spend over 11,000 years of time watching ads every weekend! But think of what could be done with that surplus of time.
It is so easy today to not have enough time, to not read a newspaper, to not stop and help a neighbor. But if these stats are correct, it seems to me that perhaps the real issues is that we don't make the time. Not to say I'm any better - I spent a few hours today setting up this blog for goodness sake.
But I am hopeful. Because perhaps we, as as society, have reached a point where we too can move on from our distractions and use our Social Surplus to improve the world around us.
For the original article: click here
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