For those who have pointed out that this edition of Better All the Time is a little late in coming, thanks for noticing. We find your attentive reading of this site to be very good news, indeed!
Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
-- Dorothy Thompson
(from Wisdom Quotes)
Item 1
Russian craft bound for space station
Russia successfully launched a cargo spacecraft Tuesday loaded with fuel, food and mail for the Russian-American crew of the international space station, an official at mission control said.
The good news:
We should be thankful that the Russian space program, as cash-strapped as it is, can mount an service mission to the International Space Station. With the U.S. shuttle fleet grounded, the ISS depends on it.
The downside:
Our country is nowhere near the point where it could mount an emergency space mission with say, a week's notice. We should seek to get to that point. One idea is to have more than one type of space craft available. We don't make do with one type of airplane, why should one shuttle type be all that we have?
Anyway...
More news on space preparedness. Looks like the planned spacewalk will go ahead.
Item 2
Amyloid-Dissolving Protein May be Alzheimer Breakthrough
Amyloid fibers, those clumps of plaque-like proteins that clog up the brains of Alzheimer's patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures. In laboratory experiments, they are able to withstand extreme heat and cold and powerful detergents that cripple most other proteins. The fibers are in fact so tough that researchers now are exploring ways that they can be used in nanoscale industrial applications. While they are not necessarily the cause of Alzheimer's, they are associated with it and with many other neurological conditions, and researchers don't yet have a way to assail these resilient molecules.
A study published this week in the advance online publication of the journal Science suggests that yeast may succeed where scientists have not. The research by a team at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research reports on a natural biological process by which yeast cells dismantle amyloid fibers.
"These proteins are remarkably stable," says Susan Lindquist, director of Whitehead and lead researcher on the project. "This is the first time that anyone has found anything that can catalytically take apart an amyloid fiber."
The good news:
Double good news! Greater understanding of these fibers could lead to effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease AND advance materials technology. Wouldn't it be interesting if the same fibers that have destroyed our minds for generations end up taking us into space?
Item 3
Handheld Nose Odor Sensor Diagnoses Pneumonia
A fairly small device is able to quickly and accurately diagnose pneumonia and may be able to diagnose a large number of other diseases including cancers.
The good news:
Looks like we'll have Dr. McCoy's medical tricorder long before the 23rd century. It probably won't look like a 60's era transistor radio.
The downside:
Obviously this is bad news for any surgically altered Klingon agents trying to live among us under deep cover.
Anyway...
Combine this technology with the CD-based blood test capability we reported on last week, and going to the doctor will soon be an unrecognizable experience. In a good way.
Item 4
Army Reboots GIs' Tired Fatigues
Ever since they tangled with the Red Coats, American generals have been giving their grunts more and more and more gear to lug -- from rations to radios, body armor to batteries. Now, for the first time, the Army has decided to junk the old uniforms and start from scratch.
"We're stripping the soldier down to his skin, and building out from there," said Jean-Louis "Dutch" DeGay, an equipment specialist at the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center, which is supervising the seven-year, $250 million overhaul, dubbed Future Force Warrior, or FFW.
The good news:
Our soldiers don't need to be fumbling with their equipment during a firefight. Integrating equipment directly into a bullet resistant chassis, it will save lives.
The downside:
Military expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan have, according to the article, taken funds away from this program.
Has the Soldier's Systems Center bitten off too much? Perhaps baby steps that could be implemented immediately would be given greater funding. Why not start by producing the bulletproof chassis with integrated holster and equipment pouches?
Anyway...
As the linked article points out, our armed forces have been at the forefront of incredible technological change over the past few decades. It's long past time their uniforms started catching up.
Item 5
If you've ever wondered how big the universe is, you're not alone. Astronomers have long pondered this, too, and they've had a hard time figuring it out. Now an estimate has been made, and it’s a whopper.
The universe is at least 156 billion light-years wide.
The good news:
The universe gives up a few more of its secrets every day.
The downside:
Some would argue that this kind of development isn't really good news because it doesn't have any practical applications. But then, those aren't the people who would figure out how to get to blue roses or space balloons from Alzheimer's research.
Meanwhile...
Our 156-billion-light-year universe is getting bigger all the time. While that might be a great name for a new web feature, it's discouraging for those of us who hope that humanity will one day spread out and see the whole thing. This daunting size may be further evidence that humanity's ultimate destination is inner (not outer) space.
Item 6
Aspirin May Help Prevent Breast Cancer
An effective weapon against many women's most feared disease might be as close as their medicine cabinets, according to new research linking aspirin with a reduced risk of breast cancer.
Women who frequently used aspirin were less likely than nonusers to get the most common type of breast cancer, but faced no reduced risk for developing another form of the disease - a distinction the researchers said may explain why previous studies had conflicting results.
The good news:
The good news here speaks for itself.
The downside:
The report says that the results are too preliminary to recommend that women begin taking aspirin as a means of preventing breast cancer. So stay tuned.
Item 7
Accidental Discovery May Bring Blue Roses
Blue roses could generate a lot of green. Two researchers at Vanderbilt University took a gene from a human liver and placed it into bacteria to better understand how the body metabolizes drugs as part of their research on cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
"The bacteria turned blue," said Peter Guengerich, a professor of biochemistry and director of the Center in Molecular Toxicology at Vanderbilt. "We knew people have been interested in making a blue rose for years so we thought if we could move these human genes into flowers, we might come up with one."
The good news:
Okay, it's not like anyone was dying from the lack of blue roses in this world, but this development (like Item 2, above) exemplifies how improvements build on improvements. Scientists doing very serious research on treating very serious ailments stumble upon the means to add a little more color to the already-resplendent world of flowers. When we say that the world is getting better all the time, this is exactly the kind of thing we're talking about. Humanity today faces daunting challenges, as we have from the beginning. While some would (accurately) point out that every problem we solve brings about new problems, the flip side seems to be that the process of solving problems consistently brings about unexpected benefits and provides unexpected solutions to problems that we weren't even thinking about.
That's how working on curing diseases gives us new space fabrics or new floral options. And it also helps to explain how a drug developed more than a hundred years ago to treat arthritis and migraines can now offer new hope in the fight against breast cancer.
Obscure implications:
Poets now have a pretty good rhyme for the word "neurosis."
Still more benefits:
These researchers have also, quite inadvertently, given the Speculist a new (temporary) motto.
Better All The Time is compiled by Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon. Thanks to John Atkinson. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses...especially the blue ones!
Note to wife:
So that you will forgive
My blogging neurosis
I give you
A dozen blue roses.
You people rock.
Posted by: Kathy at May 27, 2004 09:24 PMStephen --
Let me know how that tactic works out. (I think it's going to take more than a dozen roses on my end.)
Kathy --
Thank you. Takes one to know one!
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster at May 27, 2004 09:36 PM