The end of a three-day weekend can be a little depressing (for some), so it always helps to remember that the difficult "Monday" you face after such a weekend is really Tuesday. The next weekend is closer than you think!
For more good news, just keep reading.
We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
Item 1
German Doctors Say They Create New Stem-Cell Method
German scientists said Friday they had developed a "pioneering" method of extracting stem cells from the human body that could render obsolete the controversial practice of harvesting the cells from embryos.
Researchers at the Frauenhofer Institute and the University of Luebeck succeeded in extracting cells from human and rat glandular tissue that have similar properties to embryonic stem cells, the institute said in a statement. Researchers said they took cells from a 74-year-old person and a rat that were extremely stable, and easily multiplied them and conserved them by freezing.
The good news:
This is fantastic news.
Stem cell research has shown incredible promise for treating injuries, aging, and a variety of degenerative conditions. The potential benefits would be difficult to overstate. In a few years, when we're all living much longer, healthier lives, stem cell reserach will probably have a lot to do with it.
The current controversy surrounding stem cell research derives from the fact that a human embryo is destroyed in in the process of creating a stem cell line. As we have argued extensivley on this sight (look here and here and here for a few examples) the optimum solution to this problem would be to find a way to create new embryonic stem cells from mature cells. If embryonic stem cells (or, more accurately, cells that act just like them) could be produced from mature cells, the ethical concerns would disappear.
Now it looks as if a group of researchers have done exactly that.
If they really have done it, the current restrictions will soon be irrelevent, and we can all look forward to reaping the benefits of stem cell reserach that much sooner.
One note of caution:
A lot hinges on the statement that these cells have "similar properties" to embryonic stem cells. We'll be watching very carefully to see just how similar they really are.
Item 2
Soldiers in Iraq See Texas Graduations
Victor Rogers' father was thousands of miles away in Iraq, but he was still able to see the 18-year-old graduate from high school Saturday. Several schools near Fort Hood worked with the Army post to broadcast this week's graduation ceremonies to soldiers in Iraq through the Internet and a live satellite hookup. Deployed parents also spoke with graduates in private video conferences.
The good news:
The death of distance continues. Serving one's country has always meant long separations from loved ones and often missing out on important milestones. But that's changing fast.
The downside:
A TV broadcast and videoconferencing are awkward subsititutes for being there for your kid's big day.
Anyway...
We'll see much more of this kind of thing in the future. After all, the technology is getting better all the time.
Item 3
Doctors Peer Into Brains to Gauge Antidepressants
Aspect Medical Systems Inc. has developed a system based on the EEG, which records the firing of brain cells, blood flow and other activity, to gauge the effectiveness of antidepressants.
"You can see changes in the brain 48 hours after the patient takes the drug," said Andrew Leuchter, vice chairman at UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Leuchter, who has an advisory role at Aspect, said the monitoring device could cut 80 percent off the time it normally takes to do human clinical trials.
The good news:
The current methods for testing antidepressant effectiveness are intrusive, take a long time, and pose a number of health risks for patients. Plus they aren't very relaible. This development is very good news for those who suffer from depression, as well as those who care about them.
Item 4
Mad Cow-Resistant Bovine Developed
Japanese and U.S. scientists have genetically engineered a bovine embryo that is resistant to the deadly mad cow disease and they plan to breed several of the cows to use them to make medicines to treat human diseases, an official said Monday.
The cows will not be bred to produce mad-cow-free meat. Instead, blood and milk extracted from them will be used in drugs to fight pneumonia, hepatitis C and rheumatic diseases such as arthritis, for the U.S. market by 2013, Nakano said.
The good news:
Mad cow disease is a formidable foe, but in the long run it it doesn't stand a chance against science.
The downside:
Unfortunately, these new mad-cow-resistant cows will not be a solution to the problem of tainted meat. As the linked article explains, meat from genetically engineered cattle is just too expensive a proposition to be practical.
At least for the present.
Anyway...
It's a step in the right direction. And while they're hard at work using the blood and milk of these cows to develop treatments for a variety of human diseases, maybe these scientists (or some of their colleagues) will look into developing a cure for mad cow disease. Just a thought.
Item 5
Mars Rover Survives 'Deep Sleep' Mode
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity endured a martian winter night despite being put into a new energy-saving but risky "deep sleep" mode, a mission flight director said Friday.
The good news:
By saving energy, NASA will be able to lengthen the Opportunity's lifespan. The longer we have it, the more it can teach us.
More Good News:
With all the trouble that NASA has had with its Mars missions over the years, it's pretty good news when routine procedures are carried out as planned. But when they manage to do something that they've come right out and called "risky," it's time to start popping corks.
Item 6
Healthy chip sales forecast
Global chip sales are likely to grow 28.4 percent to a record $213.6bn in 2004, boosted by strong demand for PCs, cellphones, DVD recorders and other electronics products, an industry group said on Tuesday.
The good news:
The forecast, if correct, is more than just good news for the folks who make and sell computer chips. Chip sales can serve as a pretty good economic barometer. Chips are like hot dog buns. If we read a report that shows that hot dog bun sales were at an all-time high over Memorial Day weekend, we can pretty much rest assured that it was also a good weekend for hot dogs and potato salad.
Likewise, if more chips are being sold, then more things that contain chips are being sold. So this is good news for the folks who make and sell PCs, cellphones, DVD recorders, and lots of other stuff — the fact that they're buying more chips indicates that they plan on selling more of the things they build.
Moreover:
This could be very good news for all of us, even those of us who don't benefit directly from the sale of chips or items that contain chips. After all, the forecast is predicated on the idea that we, the general public, will be buying more of these items in the near future. If the forecast is right, it means that we are not only going to have more money, we've also got some nifty new gadgets to look forward to.
Item 7
EHarmony.com Patents Matchmaking Formula
Chemistry? Forget it. Psychology and statistics best determine whether two people will have a happy marriage. At least so claims an online dating service that's patented its matchmaking formula.
EHarmony.com Inc. this month received U.S. Patent No. 6,735,568, which describes a "method and system for identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship."
The good news:
Love is a wonderful thing, and one of our favorite topics. According to the testimonial page, Eharmony.com's patented process seems to be doing an excellent job bringing people together. That's great!
On the other hand:
If compatibility can be reduced to a few hundred answers on a questionnaire, it won't be that difficult — in the near future — to program an artificial person to be your perfect significant other. Don't laugh. Researchers are already trying to figure out how to make computers that care about people. And we observed a while back that some people are apparently a lot more willing to have dalliances with virtual lovers than they would with the real thing. How much more alluring will be a piece of software with which one is likely to have a "successful relationship?"
What have these Eharmony.com people done? Here's hoping they guard their secret love formula very carefully.
Better All The Time is compiled by Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses...especially the blue ones.
So Smoove B the Love Doctor is going to be replaced by Bob Milligan the Love Technician, Love Union Local #1269? "Yeah, so, yer libido numbers are spikin' pretty high, you need someone with a decent nympho rating. And that ain't gonna come cheap--as it were--but hey, you gotta spend the bucks if you want the quality, right?"
No, that's unlikely. A union jobber would never use a phrase like "as it were".
Posted by: DensityDuck at June 3, 2004 09:24 AMNo, that's unlikely. A union jobber would never use a phrase like "as it were."
Excellent point, DD. Thanks for keeping it real.
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster at June 3, 2004 09:27 AM