Frankenfish may be your next meal

Will it happen? Will the king of fish, the noble, glamorous salmon become another commercially-available genetically modified (GM) species? And if so, will you eat it?
The GM salmon grows twice as fast as its wild relative. Its genes have been artificially modified to include DNA from the Pacific Chinook and from an eel-like species so that the resulting fish keeps growing all year long. AquaBounty Technologies, the Massachusetts company behind the project, has waited over ten years for this. On Monday, the FDA held a public consultation on how to label the GM salmon so that the public is aware of what kind of fish it will be buying. A detailed scientific review didn’t find anything detrimental to human health or to the environment. It seems to be just a matter of time before we can buy GM salmon in the supermarket.
Critics fear that if the GM salmon escapes the confines of their farms, they may breed with wild salmon causing havoc in the natural food chain. Salmon feeds an enormous variety of animals, from humans to grizzly bears and eagles. Those fears are unfounded. The farms are inland, far from river ways. And even if they do escape or are placed in wild waters (ecoterrorism?), the GM salmon won’t interbreed since its eggs have been designed to develop into sterile females. So, no GM offspring is possible.
Hard not to think of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when reading about what goes on with the popular reaction to any GM species. Sure, scientists are not awakening the dead or piecing together monsters with parts of dead bodies. But we are at the point where we can tweak life into different shapes and forms. The secret turned out to be biochemistry, not electricity. At their core, however, the fears remain the same almost 200 years later. In the gothic novel, the monster asks his creator for a companion. Terrified that he would help create a race of monstrous (and powerful) beings that could end up destroying humanity, Dr. Frankenstein refuses. The moral of the story is simple: some things are better off left for God.
Is that the case with genetic engineering?
  Absolutely not. In our days, the battle is focused on the FDA ruling on GM foods. In the case of GM salmon, the expectation is that they will go ahead and approve it. After all, the FDA allows us to eat cloned cattle, pigs, and goats. The enormous pressure commercial fisheries are suffering, coupled to the increase in global population and its appetite for high quality fish and meat, should be an encouragement to boost the production of salmon through science. Genetically engineered foods are a far cry from a sci-fi nightmare, although of course all possible precautions should be taken before a new product is launched into the marketplace or the environment.
There is, however, a potential problem. GM or not, all fish raised in captivity still need to eat. In the case of salmon, bass, tuna, and cod, all carnivore species, they consume a large amount of fish. So, oceans and rivers keep being overfished in order to feed our “aquatic cattle.” Possibly, as Paul Greenberg suggested in his book Four Fish, we should be changing our eating habits and start consuming more tilapia (a vegetarian fish) and artic char, which has a smaller environmental impact.
In any case, GM foods won’t go away. As with any discovery in science, once you open the box you can’t close it again. Better to be smart about it and make sure the science is solid so as to guarantee that these FDA rulings stand on solid ground. So far, all seems well.

 

[Source NPR]

Yakuza: Of the End - Japanese underworld meets giant monsters and zombies

Take the Japanese Mafia, some giant monsters, and oh yeah, add a bunch of zombies in the mix too, and what do you get?

The popular Sega series Yakuza jumps on the undead bandwagon with its forthcoming addition to the franchise - Yakuza: Of the End for Playstation 3.

Fun little fact for you trivia nerds. 
Chiyaki Kuriyama - she played GoGo in Kill Bill, will play the role of Misuzu Asagi in the game.

I've got a game trailer for you below as well as an extended game play trailer.


So feast your eyes.





Extended Game Play tailer:




And a screenshot:

Release date for this game is TBA.

Drive-In Post-Apocalyptic style

Empire Drive-In (2010) is a large-scale multimedia installation and platform built out of used and salvaged materials. In its simplest description it is a drive-in movie theater made out of wrecked cars. The 01SJ Future Films program will screen in the Drive-In and include short films, features, revivals, and live cinema events. At the center of the project are 25 cars rescued from a San Jose auto wrecker. Audiences will be able to climb into cars to watch film programs throughout the festival. Low-power radio will beam stereo audio direct to each car, just like the real drive-in. Moviegoers will find snacks at the confection stand and amusement in the playground. The installation will be built indoors in San Jose’s massive South Hall. No sunsets, but no mosquitoes either.

Here's a brief vid of the cars being brought in and positioned.

Additional photos:

  [Source 0S1J]

When Lego Zombies Attack!!!

Lego fans and Zombie fans alike - if you like either or both, prepare for nerdvana.
So I was digging around and looking for interesting things to post here and I stumbled across these nifty little stop motion films.

This one is by a couple of guys named Tom and Joe.



All of the Dead - black and white

And for my next trick. How to stop an asteroid.

I know you've always had that one question nagging you and keeping you from getting a good night's sleep.

What's the meaning of life? Nope, that's not it. (Besides, we all know the meaning of life is 42)

Is there life after death? No, no, not that question either.


How does that guy from Jersey Shore get his hair that way? No, you silly rabbit, that's not it either.

Oh, then it must be How do you stop a killer asteroid? Ding, ding, ding, you get a ration and a first-aid kit for that. Don't use it all at once!


You can sleep well tonight because the answer's all here:

See the larger image here.

Discovering the Doomsday Vault

Have you ever heard of the Doomsday Vault? I haven't until recently. It's actually called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault  and it's been open since February 26, 2008. It's purpose? "To serve as the ultimate safety net for one of the world's most important natural resources."

From the site:

The Seed Vault is an answer to a call from the international community to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the world’s crop diversity, and in fact the idea for such a facility dates back to the 1980s. However, it was only with the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and with it an agreed international legal framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity, that the Vault became a practical possibility.

The Vault is dug into a mountainside near the village of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Svalbard is a group of islands nearly a thousand kilometres north of mainland Norway. Remote by any standards, Svalbard’s airport is in fact the northernmost point in the world to be serviced by scheduled flights – usually one lands a day. For nearly four months a year the islands are enveloped in total darkness. Permafrost and thick rock ensure that, even without electricity, the samples remain frozen.

30 ways the world could end

What is it about "the end" that is so fascinating that we just can't seem to get enough of it?

For me, it's the aftermath and how survivors would cope with whatever is left that's interesting. If there's any human survivor at all. It also makes you appreciate what you have now.

As a self-proclaimed "doom and gloom fictioneer" equipped only with my new-found interest in eschatology, post-apocalyptic aftermath, survival techniques (research for my writing = brain food), the last couple of weeks has been very educational, at times overwhelming but never boring. I'm always finding interesting content such as Discover Magazine's article on 30 ways the world could end - as part of their 30th anniversary.
Here's the list:

1. Information Overload
2. Genetically odified Superhumans
3. Space Colony Uprising
4. Alien Plague
5. Superbomb
6. Weather-Control Mishap
7. Time Travel
8. Strange Matter
9. Dark Matter Clump
10. Solar Shutdown
11. Asteroid Impact
12. Gamma-ray Burst
13. Collapse of the vacuum
14. Rogue Black Holes
15. Giant Solar Flares
16. Reversal of earth's magnetic field
17. Flood-basalt volcanism
18. Global epidemics
19. Global warming
20. Ecosystem collapse
21. Biotech Disaster
22. Particle accelerator mishap
23. Nanotechnology disaster
24. Environmental toxins
25. Global war
26. Robots take over
27. Mass insanity
28. Alien invasion
29. Divine intervention
30. Someone wakes up and realizes it was all a dream

See the expanded explanation here and here.

[Via Discover Magazine]

Captain Planet Day on Sept. 15 (20th anniversary)

Twenty years ago, the environmental movement got a colorful supporter in the heroics of Captain Planet, the world’s “first and only eco hero.” The creation of Ted Turner and Robert Larkin III, the children’s animated show “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” ran from Sept. 15, 1990, to Dec. 15, 1992. And now, the city of Atlanta has decided to honor Captain Planet on this twentieth anniversary of its original air date.

On Sept. 15, the people of Atlanta will watch Mayor Kasim Reed present Captain Planet with the Phoenix Award, the highest award granted by the mayor. Further, Georgia  Gov. Sonny Perdue will give Captain Planet a commendation to celebrate this milestone. In honor of the day, Captain Planet has asked the world to perform a green action like planting a tree, recycling, saving water, and/or volunteering in your community.

Captain Planet tells the story of Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, who awakens to find the planet threatened by human activity. She sends out five magic rings with the power to control nature and the heart, each worn by an industrious teenager around the world.  These are Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Gi from Asia, Linka from Eastern Europe, and Ma-Ti from South America. Gaia sends the five adventurers around the globe to stop various acts of eco-destruction. And together, the five can summons Captain Planet for help. Their collaboration is symbolic of the world’s need to come together to save the Earth.

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” is the brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner. The first series of its kind to merge education and entertainment, the show was developed and co-produced by Turner Program Services and DiC Entertainment. The show ran on 185 stations nationwide and in more than 50 countries until 1992. A sequel, “The New Adventures of Captain Planet,” ran for an additional three years through Turner Broadcasting and Hanna-Barbera Productions. Episodes can still be seen on Cartoon Network’s sister station, Boomerang. You can also watch Captain Planet and his Planeteers save the Earth exclusively on MNN.

The day also honors the Captain Planet Foundation (CPF), started in 1991 by Ted Turner. The purpose of this organization is to help children to experience the world through “learning experiences that engage them in active, hands-on projects to improve the environment in their schools and communities.” The work of those receiving CPF grants in 2009 alone extended across 24 states and even into Costa Rica.  The foundation is currently involved in over 3,000 projects throughout the United States.
WorldShares lets you earn donations for your favorite nonprofit.




[Source MNN]

Human urine can be used as an effective fertilizer

Researchers say our liquid waste not only promotes plant growth as well as industrial mineral fertilizers, but also would save energy used on sewage treatment.

The beets Surendra Pradhan and Helvi Heinonen-Tanski grew were perfectly lovely: round and hefty; with their skin a rich burgundy; their flavor sweet and faintly earthy, like the dirt from which they came. Unless someone told you, you'd never know the beets were fertilized with human urine.

Pradhan and Heinonen-Tanski, environmental scientists at the University of Kuopio in Finland, grew the beets as an experiment in sustainable fertilization. They nourished the root vegetables with a combination of urine and wood ash, which they found worked as well as traditional mineral fertilizer.
"It is totally possible to use human urine as a fertilizer instead of industrial fertilizer," says Heinonen-Tanski, whose research group has also used urine to cultivate cucumbers, cabbage and tomatoes. Recycling urine as fertilizer could not only make agriculture and wastewater treatment more sustainable in industrialized countries, the researchers say, but also bolster food production and improve sanitation in developing countries.
Urine is chock full of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, which are the nutrients plants need to thrive—and the main ingredients in common mineral fertilizers. There is, of course, a steady supply of this man-made plant food: an adult on a typical Western diet urinates about 500 liters a year, enough to fill three standard bathtubs. And despite the gross-out potential, urine is practically sterile when it leaves the body, Heinonen-Tanski pointed out. Unlike feces, which can carry bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, urine poses no health risks—astronauts on the International Space Station even drink the stuff—after it's purified.

The nutrients in urine are also in just the right form for plants to drink them up, says Håkan Jönsson, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala who was not involved in the beet study but has researched urine recycling for over 15 years. Food gives us nutrients like nitrogen as parts of complex organic molecules, but our digestive system strips them down into the basic mineral form that plants need—so "we have done half of the job," Jönsson says.
A small but dedicated contingent of organic gardeners in the U.S. and Europe already fertilize with urine at home, and researchers in Scandinavia have run pilot projects to recycle locally collected urine on small farms. But urine recycling may never become a part of large-scale farming in industrialized countries, because implementing it would mean drastically remodeling sewage systems in order to collect and transport liquid waste.

It would also mean swapping regular flush toilets for separating toilets, where a divided bowl and independent set of pipes separate urine from everything else. This detail is a roadblock, Jönsson says, because many people don't want a toilet that looks strange. "Acceptance is a big problem for this kind of system," he adds.
For the recent experiment with beets, the urine was obtained from specialized toilets in private homes. Heinonen-Tanski's group planted four plots of beets and treated one with mineral fertilizer, one with urine and wood ash, one solely with urine, and one with no fertilizer, as a control.
After 84 days, about 280 beets were harvested. The beetroots from the urine- and urine/ash–fertilized plants were found to be 10 percent and 27 percent larger by mass, respectively, than those grown in mineral fertilizer. By subjecting some of the beets to chemical analysis, the researchers determined that all of them had comparable nutrient contents—and according to a blind taste-testing panel, their beety taste was indistinguishable. The results were published in the February 10 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Effective fertilization is not the only benefit of recycling urine, Heinonen-Tanski suggested in a review paper in the January 2010 issue of Sustainability. The separating toilets that collect urine use less water than flush toilets, she wrote, and the simplified waste stream requires less energy in sewage treatment.
"Agricultural and health organizations should encourage people to use human urine as a fertilizer," Heinonen-Tanski concluded in the paper, especially in areas where wastewater treatment is unavailable or ineffective.
Though Jönsson is skeptical that micturition farming will ever happen on a large scale, his own family does practice urine fertilization: He and his wife use what they collect from their separating toilet to nourish their garden at home in Sweden. The urine that one person produces can fertilize about one square meter of soil a day, Jönsson said—but there's been less to go around since his three children left home.
"It's enough for the vegetables and the flowers," he said, "but I can only fertilize very lightly on the lawn. Otherwise I run out of urine."

[Source: Scientific American Maria Grunbaum]
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Side note: But wait!!! There's more! Since we're on the topic of urine - here's another post on things we can do with pee besides flush it down. I can see it now. Bumper sickers that say "This car runs on piss"

Heat your house or fuel your car with urine

It's a renewable resource, and approximately 10 billion litres are flushed away every single day around the world. But scientists say everyday urine should be conserved and used to heat buildings or even run cars.
If only we could find a way to harness it.
Gerardine Botte, an engineer at Ohio University, said in an interview with New Scientist magazine that harnessing the power of urine could mean that an office building of 200-300 people would produce about 2Kw of power.
“One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses,” Botte told the New York Daily News in 2009. “Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel.”
The key is from urea, which is the key ingredient in urine and forms roughly 2% of human urine. Each molecule of urea includes four hydrogen atoms - twice the number as in a water molecule. This makes it easier to process and an easier target for synthesizing hydrogen gas.
Hydrogen gas is the base fuel for most eco-friendly fuel cell technologies.
Botte believes hydrogen prices could drop as low as $1/kg, less than half the current valuation.
The idea isn't new. Ways to process urea using electrolysis or even microbial fuel cells have been described in various academic journals for years.
But in the latest issue of Energy and Environmental Science, Shanwen Tao from Heriot-Watt University in the U.K. describes how a fuel cell could work exclusively on urine, without any other energy input.
Just throw urine into the engine, and watch it go. No 'on' button required.
Tao hopes to market his idea by producing small portable sources of energy that could power radios or phones on the go, he told New Scientist.
"You could carry a small fuel cell for low-power mobile communications without having to carry the fuel," he said.

[Via CNews ]

Zombie curriculum in University

Arnold Blumberg plops the zombie head on a table at the front of the small theater.

"I brought a friend," says the University of Baltimore professor, clad in an unbuttoned black shirt adorned with red skulls.

Blumberg is meeting his class for the first time and it seems appropriate that he greet them beside "old Worm Eye," undead star of the 1979 Italian cult film "Zombi 2."

It was Worm Eye's decaying visage that called to a young Blumberg from the shelf of a Randallstown video store in the 1980s. Without him, maybe Blumberg wouldn't be here today, teaching a new generation about his favorite movie monster.

Zombies are everywhere these days. Last year they hit the best-seller list in a bizarre mash-up with Jane Austen called "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." They have inspired math professors to devise statistical models for surviving a "zombie apocalypse." This fall, they'll star in the AMC TV series "The Walking Dead."

And now, they're the subject of a new course, otherwise known as English 333, at the University of Baltimore.

"Zombies are one of the most potent, direct reflections of what we're thinking moment to moment in our culture," Blumberg tells the class in explaining why they're all here.

Students will watch 16 classic zombie films (including "Zombi 2," in which a zombie fights a shark), read zombie comics and, as an alternative to a final research paper, have the chance to write scripts or draw storyboards for their ideal zombie flicks.

Jonathan Shorr, chair of the university's school of communications design, wanted a rotation of "interesting, off-the-wall" courses for a new minor in pop culture. But when Blumberg pitched him a course about the walking dead, he says, "I hit the side of my monitor a couple times thinking, 'Do I have this right? Did he say zombies?' "

The more he thought about it, however, the more intrigued Shorr became. Zombies have shown great resilience as a storytelling device and in this era of gloom and dread, their popularity is cresting. Maybe they would be a perfect hook to get students talking about sociology, literature and a bevy of other disciplines that can sound stuffy.

"It's a back door into a lot of subjects," Shorr says. "They think they're taking this wacko zombie course, and they are. But on the way, they learn how literature and mass media work, and how they come to reflect our times."

The university isn't the first to jump in line with the lumbering undead. Columbia College in Chicago has offered Zombies in Popular Media for years, making several lists of the country's most bizarre courses in the process. At Iowa's Simpson College, students spent the spring semester collectively writing a book on "The History of the Great Zombie War."

Blumberg, curator of Geppi's Entertainment Museum at Camden Yards, takes zombies seriously enough that he wrote a book about them. But he's not above tongue-in-cheek remarks about his decidedly nontraditional course.

"This hopefully is as dry and historical as we'll get for the rest for the semester," he says during a discourse on the misguided interpretation of West Indian rituals that allowed zombies into popular culture in the 1930s. "We'll get the blood and guts flying up on the screen soon enough."


Among the official course objectives, he lists "get you ready for a zombie apocalypse."

"Well, not really," Blumberg says. "But pay attention, and you'll pick up a few tips along the way."

For you doomed souls who aren't taking his class, here's rule No. 1: If zombies have you cornered and you have to shoot, aim for the head.

Blumberg starts class with a deceptively complicated question: What is a zombie?

"I know that lately, a lot of zombies have been created by viruses," one student volunteers. "Is that a zombie?"

"Absolutely!" Blumberg says merrily. One of his key beliefs is that we use zombies to reflect contemporary dreads, such as our current fear of pandemics. He seems thrilled that a student has tapped this theme so quickly.

"It's a computer used to attack other computers," says another.

"Yes!" Blumberg says. He'll be talking a lot about how zombies have invaded everyday language — so again, he's excited that a student has anticipated his message.

"It's pretty much anyone who doesn't have free will," the same student says.

"That's an excellent way to look at it," Blumberg replies.

Though he's an all-inclusive zombie guy who makes fun of the geeks who'd fight you over rigid definitions, Blumberg does have a few prejudices. Frankenstein and other monsters constructed of human parts aren't zombies, for one. And the hugely successful Marvel Comics series that turned favorite superheroes into zombies? Well, that really bothered him.

"As I get older, I have my restrictions," he says.

Before plunging ahead, Blumberg offers a warning. "If you've come in with just a general sense or just saw 'zombie' in the catalog and thought 'cool,' I want to reinforce the degree to which this material can be found offensive by a lot of people," he says. "We're going to be dealing with some of the truly disgusting stuff that's been done in horror over the years."

No one leaves.

"This is not fluffy bunny cartoon stuff," Blumberg adds. "Bunnies might show up, but they'd probably be torn to pieces."

It becomes obvious that a healthy minority of the 40 students are already steeped in zombie culture. Mike Ziegler, the student who wowed Blumberg with his initial reflections on zombiedom, says that when he saw the course description, "I didn't care how many papers I'd have to write; I was taking it."

"I think the breakdown of human society has a great pull on people as an idea," says Ziegler, a part-time student who also teaches computer science at Archbishop Curley High School. "People like to think about how they'd do if zombies took over."

Darin Malfi, a corporate communications major from Severna Park, asks Blumberg to autograph his book, "Zombiemania," after class. "I was freaking out when I saw this class," Malfi says. "The required books were books I already owned. I'm gonna kill this course!"

That kind of enthusiasm is part of the reason Blumberg wanted to teach the course. If we're so enthralled with zombies, he figures, that's worth serious academic examination.

"These are the things we seek out on an emotional level," he says of popular culture. "In many ways, it says more about us than anything we do in our day jobs."

[Via Baltimore Sun, Childs Walker]
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Sidenotes:
Brain cupcakes for lunch anyone?

Essential Zombie recommended reading:

The indestructible meal.

With the Happy Meal Art Project, Artist Sally Davies took a burger and fries, put it on her living room table and left it there just to see what happens. She took photographs of it every day and by the 137th day, there was hardly any changes at all.

Of course there's also this 12 year old McDonald's cheeseburger (back in 2008 - it should be in it's 14th year now) that looks about the same as a fresh one.

And in the end, there can only be one. I'd like mine with a large vanilla shake please.

You should know these 35 life hacks- illustrated

 Click here to view larger image.

Not exactly a survival tips poster but still has some interesting info. Who doesn't want to lean how to do things better? Or maybe just annoy some people. (see credit card and elevator hack).

[Via 9GAG]

Have your ashes pressed in vinyl records

In keeping the theme of doom and gloom, here's a weird one for you.
There's a company in the UK that allows people to leave their legacy in a unique manner. They are in the business of pressing ashes of the recently deceased into a vinyl record.
The process pretty much follows that of a usual record pressing only with ashes added into the mix. Creepy but unique concept.

The Basic package, which costs around $3,000 includes the RIV (rest in vinyl) cover with name, date of birth and date of death. You have to supply audio (or you can choose complete silence if you wish). This is for 30 vinyl records.

There's a whole slew of options that can be added to that such as:
custom portrait
custom soundtrack
worldwide distribution at various vinyl stores (remind me to wear gloves next time I visit record store)
organized event (yes, like a funeral for your musical send off)

Pet ashes allowed.
Body parts are allowed (same price as a full body)

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Sidenote: If I were to do this I think side A will have me tell you a condensed version of the story of my life followed with the Dr. Who theme. But the B-side will include jokes, revelations and a backwards recording of a secret message. (i. e. always remember to drink your ovaltine)

I'll probably say something like this in addition
"Anytime you listen to this record, please keep in mind that the needle is probably scratching what was once my eyeball. I will miss you all."
 
But that's just me.
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You can visit the site here AndVinyly