Though the health ministry declared today that there are no “significant” findings that the bacteria is harmful to one’s health, and a spokesman for the Indian Council of Medical Research stated that it is “totally unscientific” to target New Delhi as the same bacteria is present all around the world, my wife and I have decided to visit the Grand Canyon!

Technorati Tags: NDM-1 gene, New Delhi, super bug

I have found that the fewer pharmaceuticals that a person puts into their body over the years, and the fewer invasive procedures that a person allows their body to sustain in general, the slower the body will age. And, in addition, staying well-adjusted, not as a whim, but as a lifelong health addition to a good diet and exercise is the key to longevity and feeling energetic and vital as a person ages!

Source: medicalnewstoday

Technorati Tags: anti-aging drugs, anti-aging pharmaceuticals, growth hormone, new research

Apparently, though hopefully not on a whim, the condemned man chose firing squad over lethal injection as the way he will die. But, die he will after spending most of his life in prison, including incarceration as a juvenile. The third District Judge Robin Reese signed the warrant, saying, “The defendant has exhausted all his legal remedies,” and “It’s my conclusion not to second-guess the courts or undertake an independent review.”

So, let’s think about this: A child ends up in juvenile hall, troubled and in trouble, and there is little or no intervention to try to help that young person turn his or her life around. Just doing time, without mental/emotional encouragement, has no record of changing the criminal behavior, and there is ample documentation that the death penalty, whether it’s by lethal injection, electric chair, firing squad, or stoning, has ever been a deterrent to murder. What the death penalty does, instead, is bloody the hands of our entire country.

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Beginning with ballroom dancing lessons her husband of 50 years, Arty, Levy literally “re-invented herself” through dance. That’s right. This senior is now a dancing queen! She chronicles her life story in a new book, “It’s Never Too Late To Dance: A Memoir.”

“The book is an inspirational story and a memoir,” Levy said. “The message is we can get through life despite all the problems.”

Life can be whimsical or mundane. It’s never too late to turn it around if it’s heading in the wrong direction. We can choose to dance or we can sit in a rocker. The choice is up to each of us, moment-to-moment, day-by-day.

I’m going to order a dozen copies of Ms. Levy’s book and put them in the waiting room of my clinic. I suggest that you go out and buy a copy or two, as well. There is a healing elixir contained in the concept of “It’s never too late to dance.” Maybe it will turn out to be a part of your personal memoir, too!

Technorati Tags: dance, inspirational story, Rosann Levy, seniors

The Fruitadens haagarorum, a 150-million-year-old creature, was recently identified in Colorado. The largest specimens weigh less than two pounds and measure around 28 inches long, making the Fruitadens the smallest known dinosaur is North America. The smallest known dinosaurs in the word, however, are from China and are just slightly smaller than Fruitadens.

“(The new dinosaur) may look bird-like because of its size, but in fact it isn’t very closely related to birds or Archaeopteryx (the world’s first known bird),” said Luis Chiappe, who is director of the Natural History Museum’s Dinosaur Institute in Los Angeles. He and an international team of experts describe the new species in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The dinosaur’s name was not inspired by edible fruit, either, but instead by the Fruita Paleontological Area, northwest of Grand Junction, Colo., where its remains were discovered.

Fruits were probably on its menu, however, along with eggs and almost anything else it could get in its mouth, according to researchers, which on second thought would not have made a Fruitaden a very good pet after all. I had an Airedale Terrier who did much the same thing and it was a very trying experience.

For more on this Late Jurassic “pet possibility,” as well as a graphic depiction, click on the discovery.com link above.

Technorati Tags: Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, tiny dinosaur

Why did the government of the Maldives choose to make such a whimsical statement? It is attempting to call attention to their nation because rising sea levels, as a result of global warming, threaten to submerge the island within 100 years. The nearly 350,000 citizens of the Maldives are doing their share and are years (maybe decades) ahead of many other countries around the world. President Nasheed has already pledged that his country would be carbon neutral by the end of the decade.

To see the photo and read the article in its entirety, click on the discovery link above.

Technorati Tags: global warming, the Maldives, U.N. conference on climate change

The good news is that Cody’s unplanned trip to Woodstock took only 48 hours, and fortunately he was shipped UPS ground delivery and not by air. And, since the 10-pound cat was accessorized with a collar bearing his name and a phone number, he returned promptly to his owner, Marie Webster. “He’s a little skinny, but we’ll fatten him up again in no time.”

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, traction devices, UPS

So, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I read in a nationalgeographic.com article today that the length of day and night were not, in fact, equal on this autumnal equinox or any other for that matter. There are reasons for this, which I won’t go into here, but you can read about them later if you like.  I am writing this because I discovered, upon further reading, several other things of which I was unaware  that seemed to make the first day of Fall or Spring special nonetheless. I share this bit of whimsy with you, just in case the imbalance of the equinoxes set you off-kilter a bit, too.

For instance, did you know that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west? It’s true, according to Alan MacRobert, a senior editor with Sky & Telescope magazine. The equinoxes are also the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead. Yesterday, on the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, signaling the start of six months of darkness. And, on the very same day, a person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight.

I feel better. I hope that you do, too!

For an explanation for the imbalance of the equinoxes and further information, go to nationalgeographic.com

Technorati Tags: autumn, autumnal equinox

Meditation can not only help us to relax in the moment, but it can help us alter our reaction to the world around us. A meditation of relaxation begins with our consciously breathing, slowly and evenly, the same deep “belly breathing” we did when we were a baby and life seemed pretty darn good. Even as adults, our body continues to have this body memory, and as we breathe in this way, we begin to feel peaceful, safe, and happy, the way we did when our diapers were dry and our tummies were satiated.

Breathing slowly and deeply clears our mind, opens our awareness to our deeper nature, and we become more receptive to the possibilities of life. This way of breathing allows our mind, emotions, and body to relax. Though it is similar to the centered mind/emotions/body state we can achieve through meditation, this can be done with our eyes open. We can breathe slowly and deeply while driving in traffic, while sitting in a business meeting, while listening to our children explain a misbehavior. Really, this type of breathing brings such peace of mind that we are capable of seeing any situation in a new way. And, it will definitely get rid of the whim-whams.

Technorati Tags: breathe, jitters, meditate, meditation, nervousness

I was filled with amazement as I read that scientists from Texas and around the world  created a material that, by density, is lighter than air yet, when it’s electrified, it instantly and powerfully contracts. In other words, the lightest material on our planet is capable of providing quite a powerful punch! Wow, a material that is both strong and flexible and can contract like a muscle.

“These artificial muscles are very lightweight and can do wonderful things,” said Ray Baughman, the study author from the University of Texas at Dallas.  And, while these artificial muscle is unlikely to be used in humans or prosthetic limbs (yet), Baughman says “these sheets of carbon nanotubes … are of great practical interest for LEDs, solar cells, and other applications.” The scientists’ work was detailed in the journal Science.

Aerogels (so called because 99.8 percent of the material is air) and artificial muscles have apparently been around for decades, but only recently astronomers have launched spacecraft containing aerogelsto that gently capture space dust and keep it safe for the return journey to Earth.  Meanwhile, material scientists have created a variety of different artificial muscles, or materials that expand and contract when an electrical charge is applied.

Science, once again, has expanded beyond the whimsy of science-fiction to create a substance that has real unlimited potential.

The article is wonderfully informative and well-worth a trip to http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/19/aerogel-nanotube-muscle.html to read it in its entirety.  And, while you’re on the Discovery website, browse around, but make sure you’re not scheduled to be anywhere, anytime soon. I know, from experience, that it’s easy to get lost in the wonderful of science.

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, scientific discovery, whimsy