What fries our brain

About half a year ago the residents of an upscale subdivision were embroiled in a heated argument whether to allow a cell phone tower to be built on their premises or not. The pros contended their neighborhood needed it to boost the weak signal they were experiencing. Those opposed, on the other hand, circulated a 10 or 20-page document alleging that (microwave) radiation emitted by such cell sites cause cancer.

I'm not sure what happened thereafter, but I believe the project pushed through.

I haven't done enough research on this although I'm inclined to be doubtful of the said link between cell sites and cancer. Presuming that transmitters emit microwaves with a higher amplitude than cell phone units, there's still the inverse square law to consider. The intensity of electromagnetic radiation decreases with the square of the distance to the source--doubling your distance to the source doesn't just halve the intensity, it quarters it. How many of us actually stand within a meter of the tower antenna for a couple of hours total per day, 5 days a week? I haven't done the math but it could be that we're not getting much more compared with that cellphone glued to our ears. If people are worried about cell sites, they may as well be concerned about owning a microwave oven.

And this just in. Physicist Bob Park shares the results of a Danish study.

CELL PHONES: FIVE YEARS LATER THEY STILL DON'T CAUSE CANCER.

A study in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found no increased cancer risk from cell phone use over a 20 year period. This is an update of a Danish study in JNCI five years ago. The Danes keep good records. By just going to the computer they could compare cell phone use with the National Cancer Registry. I was invited to write an editorial in the same issue, JNCI, Vol 93, p.166 (Feb 7, 2001). I noted that cancer agents act by breaking chemical bonds, creating mutant strands of DNA. Microwave photons, however, aren't energetic enough to break a bond. Predictably, fear mongers said there must be an induction period. Still waiting. In 1993, a man whose wife died of brain cancer was a guest on Larry King Live. Her cancer, he said, was caused by a cell phone. The evidence? "She held it against her head and talked on it all the time."

If I read him right, given the particular frequency (range) of microwave radiation (regardless of amplitude?) it just doesn't have enough energy to hack the organic molecules in our body. (There's a simple equation--I can't recall it right now--that relates electromagnetic radiation frequency and energy.)

And regarding that lady who succumbed to cancer, I guess it means that the millions of other cell phone users who've been using their units for years and years but still don't have brain cancer doesn't count as confuting evidence. But worse, it means that there is an ominous probability that these cell phone users will sometime in the future develop malignant brain tumors. And those who live and die without cancer? Well, they're just the lucky ones.

This must be one of the most blatant post hoc ergo propter hoc argument I've ever come across.

Harris' romance with woowoo

I love Sam Harris' eloquence, his uncompromising atheism, how he tirelessly defends rationality. But while he's a no-nonsense, dyed-in-the-wool atheist, one who explicitly points out that belief without evidence is irrational, he's got at least some wacky beliefs of his own founded on what I would say are pretty weak evidence.

Back in February I said that I was taken aback by Harris' belief in ESP and associated phenomena. So I was amused that in Session 8 of the Beyond Belief conference (some 24 minutes into the program) he was still clinging to (and defending) this belief of his. And to boot it looked like he's also rather tendential toward accepting reincarnation as true. Duh! He said he's awaiting further evidence for these claims but somehow this show of rationality struck me as disingenuous. I gather that until there's a deluge of confuting evidence he's going to keep believing that there is something to these claims.

I wonder if Harris is ever going to get over his "romance with woo-woo," as Randi puts it.

Shermer on TED Talks

The TED Talks site has a host of audio and video recordings of past guest speakers including Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Julia Sweeney.

I say it's mothman

While riding the ferris wheel in a South Carolina fair a mother and her sons took several photos with their digicam. They noticed the following figure only after they had gone home and reviewed their pictures.



My first reaction was moth, then bird.

But the mother identified it as something else.

"It looks just like an angel," Catherine says. "It even has a ray of light that comes from the bottom toward the body of the angel and it's centered right in the middle of the picture - and I believe in angels. It's just an angel."

Right, an angel. How about Pegasus?

The Bad Astronomer comments:

Look at the picture. It’s a bird! Maybe, just maybe I might be convinced it’s a moth. But I’ll take either one — both of which have heads, bodies, wings, can fly, and (and this is the clincher) are known to exist — over an angel.

Catherine's son Frederick had this to say: "It's got a head, wings, legs, and if that doesn't look like an angel, I don't know what does." Obviously, his teachers have been remiss in edifying him all about those organisms in nature that have heads, wings and legs, and that (surprise, surprise!) do occasionally make their abode in South Carolina.

Seriously, I'd like to work with more data. Why is the background so dark? Has this photo been enhanced? Has it been cropped and magnified? Can we please see the others photos they took? How about the various info their digicam recorded about this photo of theirs? Was it the onboard flash that illuminated this object?

Again, it's all in the brain

I remember in my teens till early adulthood I often had dreams of flying and hovering above the terrain. Whilst dreaming I felt this tremendous excitement and exhilaration at having this ability to just float up and to exercise some steering control, going where I wanted. If only it were real.

No one (well, I guess practically no one) doubts that dreaming is all in the mind. It's just another neurological phenomenon. We all dream. We all know in the morning that it was just our brain shoving us into its Holodeck. But what about those so-called out of body experiences? Have there actually been cases where people left their bodies and traveled above themselves or elsewhere?

I most certainly doubt it. What part of a human could separate from the body and remain a viable entity (with energy to run its processes) that can sense and make sense of what it is perceiving? Uh, the soul? This invisible, incorporeal, nonphysical, undetectable soul or what have you has eyes and ears and a CPU with memory to record what it's perceived during the flight? And can reintegrate and interface with the body thereafter? The following heads-up by Dr. Massimo Pigliucci sheds light on what these experiences really are.

Blanke and colleagues have shown that small electrical currents in certain areas of the brain involved with multi-sensorial perception, such as the angular gyrus, cause the distinct sensation of out-of-body experience or of a strange presence in the room. One patient had the feeling of hanging from the ceiling, another was sure that there was a presence behind her, and a third one felt a “shadow” next to her, attempting to interfere with her activities. These experiences are repeatable under laboratory conditions, which means that a hallmark of parapsychology – out of body experiences – can actually be turned on or off at will by the experimenter, has been traced to perturbations of specific circuits in the brain, and of course has absolutely nothing supernatural about it. [emphasis added]

Strictly speaking, however, this doesn't mean that out of body experiences, astral travel, and the like have been disproved, that they aren't real. But now whenever paranormalists point to OBEs it's incumbent upon them to first rule out the possibility that it was just another illusion courtesy of the brain. Then again some of these woowoos are pretty deluded to begin with.

Strike two for Mercola

From this week's Consumer Health Digest:

The FDA has ordered Joseph Mercola, DO and his Optimal Wellness Center to stop making illegal claims for four products. The order was based on product labels collected during an inspection at his facility and on claims made on the Optimum Wellness Center Web site. The objectionable claims include:

**Vibrant Health Research Chlorella XP, claimed to "help to virtually eliminate your risk of developing cancer in the future."

**Fresh Shores Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, claimed to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and degenerative diseases.

**Momentum Health Products Vitamin K2, possibly useful in treating certain kinds of cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

**Momentum Health Products Cardio Essentials Nattokinase NSK-SD, claimed to be "a much safer and effective option than aspirin and other pharmaceutical agents to treating heart disease."

In 2005, the agency warned Mercola about claims for chlorella, coconut oil, and another product. Mercola.com is one of the Internet's largest and busiest health information sites. Mercola states that his site has over 50,000 pages and is visited by "millions of people each day," and that his three-times-a-week electronic newsletter has over 850,000 subscribers. Many of his articles make unsubstantiated claims and clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations. For example, he opposes immunization and fluoridation, claims that amalgam fillings are toxic, and makes many unsubstantiated recommendations for dietary supplements. Much of his support comes from chiropractors who promote his newsletter from their Web sites. For further information and links to the warning letters, see http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/mercola.html

Well, it looks like he's busted, albeit for now he's just getting a (second) slap on the wrist.

This is a vindication of sorts. When virgin coconut oil really became a fad here and I started checking this substance out I came across Mercola's site. That was about two years ago. He's one of the more avid promoters of VCO. I scoured PubMed and couldn't find VCO clinical trials that went beyond dermatological studies. Finding little to support the claims I had been hearing and reading I emailed the American Heart Association in October 2004 to get more info. I received this reply:

I am unaware of any credible studies that have been done on the health benefits of virgin coconut oil. I have even checked the National Library of Medicine and there are no scientific studies listed. Coconut oil is very high in saturated fat and we have a great deal of evidence to show that saturated fatty acids raise blood cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease.

Going loco over coco. Lots of testimonials out there. But what a dearth of controlled, double-blind studies.

Mercola might as well be advertizing PrayER^™ as an effective cure for every disease and malady the world has ever known (with the exception of amputated limbs--for some mysteriously unknown reason).

What's worse than chain letters?

A certain James del Rosario spammed my egroup with this crap:

ALL NATURAL PRODCUT THAT HELPS CURE ANY DISEASE!!!

If you are interested, please reply to tutzdel@yahoo.com , I get lots of email, I may accidentally delete your inquiry. You could also contact me at 09162237863. If not interested, please refer to a friend in need, thanks mucho!

Hello my friends, (THIS IS SYSTEMIC ENZYME THERAPY!)

I recently stumbled upon a very good Filipino made product called bio enzyme plus made from fruit enzymes, all organically grown, naturally fermented without any chemical additives and gosh, it is very effective! I have been trying out so many herbal products and this one is just stunningly miraculous! Enzymes have the ability to catalyze any toxins inside your body and convert it into water so you could get rid of them through your stool, perspiration and urination thus freeing you of any disease that you are suffering from.

I have seen so many people suffering from stroke who after intaking enzymes you wouldn't even have the slightest idea they suffered from it. Diabetes patients totally cured from it, even regaining their eyesight, there was even one who actually was cured from gangrene avoiding amputation of her foot. Stage 4 breast cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer being totally free and cured from it. People about to go for a triple bypass cancelled after drinking enzymes, hypertension sufferer's blood pressure dropping to normal. Impotent men getting back their manhood from enzymes (a whole lot better than viagra!). Goiter (hypo or hyper thyroidism) and arthritis cured in less than 2 weeks.Would you believe that kids who are not able to speak any words could now do so because of bio enzymes. Lupus sufferers totally cured, psoriasis totally cured, even comatose patients whom doctors said would not live normally being able to walk and live normally as if nothing happened and so many other cases that you would normally think incurable, even AIDS!!!

Wow, if only we would turn back to mother nature, any disease known to man is actually curable. The science of it is so simple, backed by 15 years of research by top Russian, Japanese and Filipino scientists, they discovered that by just eliminating the root cause of the disease which are the toxins present in our bodies that we have accumulated through years of eating, drinking, inhaling toxins we would be totally free of any kind of disease we could be suffering from!!! This could not be achieved by herbal supplements, vitamins or any medicines, only enzymes have the ability to detoxify our bodies. Being catalysts, enzymes convert any toxins in your body into water so you could eliminate them through stool, sweat and pee. By cleansing yourself of these harmful toxins, the damage that was done in your body will be repaired as our cells have the natural ability to repair themselves, thus healing us of any disease.

You just might know of people who are sick and have nowhere else to turn to, people who just want to feel better, people sick and tired of drinking medicines etc etc. I could conduct a scientific health seminar (only 15 minutes) for them to further explain the benefits. It could be one on one or big group type. You could contact me thru my landline, I am from Quezon city 4356430 or globe 09162237863.


Sincerely yours,

Tutz del Rosario
(02) 4356430 09162237863

Dear Tutz,

Look out your window. Have the guys from the NBI arrived?

Muslim skepticism

An example of how religionists themselves are skeptical of various supernatural claims.

A hard-line Muslim youth group chopped up a 100-year-old banyan tree in central Jakarta to prove it did not have mystical powers, as rumors had led some locals to believe, officials said Tuesday.

...

Earlier, rumors had spread that cutting down the tree would bring bad luck because it was spared during a tree-felling drive to make way for a new bus lane in central Jakarta, she said. The rumors gained strength after people left offerings at the tree’s base

Having proved that the banyan tree lacks supernatural powers, can this youth group now turn and focus its skepticism and debunking skills on the entity they worship and adore? I certainly am not holding my breath. On the other hand, I'm expecting to see these machete-wielding fanatics gunning for me.