From the article:
Dr. Mitalipov explained in an advisory that the stem cells his team produced were able to convert themselves “into several different cell types, including nerve cells, liver cells and heart cells,” just like normal stem cells.
The trick to getting the cells growing, they discovered, was a little bit of electricity and a dab of caffeine. “The Starbucks experiment,” Mitalipov quipped to NPR.
“Furthermore, because these reprogrammed cells can be generated with nuclear genetic material from a patient, there is no concern of transplant rejection,” he added. “While there is much work to be done in developing safe and effective stem cell treatments, we believe this is a significant step forward in developing the cells that could be used in regenerative medicine.”
The use of embryonic stem cells has consistently faced attacks by religious conservatives who believe there’s no difference between an embryo frozen in its earliest stages of mutation and a living, breathing human being. Mindful of the potential for controversy, Mitalipov added that he does not believe his discovery can be used “to advance the possibility of human reproductive cloning.”
Kurt Braunohler raised $6,000 on Kickstarter to “hire a man in a plane to write stupid things in the sky.”Perfect.
New frontiers of skywriting right here.
Patricia Volk tells Terry Gross about how Elsa Schiaparelli changed women’s underwear:
Women’s underwear before World War II was kind of elaborate. It was usually made of silk and it had pleats and it had to be ironed. This was in France. There was no such thing as ‘drip dry’ and when the war started, most of the men went to the front and the women had to take jobs. There was gas rationing and so everybody had bicycles and you had to be licensed to ride a bike in Paris and in one year bike licenses tripled: it went up to 11 million. The way women dressed with these long skirts and this very elaborate underwear didn’t lend itself to riding a bike so Schiap changed panties completely. First of all, there was famine, so she got rid of the buttons and put elastic in the waist so that as you were losing weight, your panties would stay on. Then, she made them out of drip-dry material, so you didn’t need a maid to iron them … and she added a double-slung crotch and suddenly women could ride their bikes with a lot more freedom.
Image via Vintage Everyday
Anyone know what on earth a “double-slung crotch” might be? Tried googling —no help..
pro hiking tip: go off trail and find a waterfall
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I especially love the Cutleaf Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata —1st pic). It’s blooming here right now. Supposedly, a piece of the root held in your mouth will ease a toothache.
I want this!
One of the highlights from our upcoming Catalog 17: A First Edition of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MOTHER JONES (1925), in a stunning example of the rare dustjacket.
Clarence Darrow!
“Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. We found…
Washington, D.C. (Mar. 5) – Leo W. Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers (USW) today joined introduction of ‘The Invest in American Jobs Act of 2013’ (HR909) with Congressman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, other ranking Democrats and Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE TO LIVE AMONG WOLVES
copied from the NAPTA site: http://endteacherabuse.org/people.html
A Poem by James Kavanaugh
There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who prey upon them with IBM eyes
And sell their hearts and guts for martinis at noon.
There are men too gentle for a savage world
Who dream instead of snow and children and Halloween
And wonder if the leaves will change their color soon.
There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who anoint them for burial with greedy claws
And murder then for a merchant’s profit and gain.
There are men too gentle for a corporate world
Who dream instead of candied apples and ferris wheels
And pause to hear the distant whistle of a train.
There are men too gentle to live among wolves.
Who devour them with eager appetite and search
For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry.
There are men too gentle for an accountant’s world
Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass
And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky.
There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who toss them like a lost and wounded dove.
Such gentle men are lonely in a merchant’s world.
Unless they have a gentle one to love.
Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar. Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.
