Colony Collapse Disorder has been reported on here before.   It’s a recent and disturbing trend that has been seen in numerous places around the world in which honey bee populations abruptly plummet as hive colonies “collapse” and die out.  The implications are worrisome, since bees are important pollinators for food crops.

There have been numerous causes proposed for colony collapse.  Many are fringe or just ridiculous.  The chemtrail/haarp/depleted uranium/fluoride conspiracy theorists seem to love using colony collapse as a way of proving that the government must be spraying something horrible in the skies or transmitting evil energy waves.  Another popular hypothesis is that colony collapse is caused by electromagnetic pollution from cell phones, wifi and other devices.   Of course, there is no evidence at all that this is true, and, in fact incidence of colony collapse seem to have no coloration at all to the prevalence of RF transmitters.   Still others have blamed the use of genetically modified organisms, although, again, the patterns of collapse do not relate to where genetically engineered crops have been used.

More mainstream hypothesis are that it is related to parasites, such as viruses or fungi.  Pesticide use has also been suggested as a contributor, this remains controversial, and, as one might imagine, many will jump on any information about pesticides and make outlandish claims.   It’s possible that insecticides do play some roll in stressing colonies, but they are clearly not the primary factor, though possibly a contributing one.

Despite the consensus that parasites play a major roll in colonies collapse, this does not explain why it has been increasing around the world in recent years.

However, a new hypothesis may explain what is causing the increase in CCD

Via Ars Technica:

Feeding bees corn syrup may leave them vulnerable to colony collapse
Apis mellifera, the western honeybee, is big business; the pollination services the bees provide to US agriculture are valued at roughly $14 billion. Unfortunately, bees the world over are suffering from colony collapse disorder (CCD), in which worker bees go out foraging and then disappear instead of returning to the hive and tending to the queen like they are supposed to. The causes of CCD are not clear, but pathogens, parasites, and pesticides have all been implicated. Neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that have been shown to alter bees’ navigation, foraging, communication, and reproduction, have just been banned in Europe in an attempt to help the bees.

New research suggests yet another potential contributor to CCD. The problem? We’ve been stealing the bees’ honey and instead feeding them high fructose corn syrup. The problem isn’t so much the fructose as the absence of chemicals in the honey.
…

Commercial beekeepers feed bees high fructose corn syrup instead of honey for the same reason that commercial food manufacturers feed it to us: it’s cheaper. But it’s only one of the problems the bees face. In the 1980s the varroa mite, Varroa destructor, started attacking bees in the US, so pesticides were introduced into beehives to kill the mites.

When I first saw the headline for these stories, I was skeptical. After all, HFCS has been blamed for everything from cancer to obesity, despite the science indicating its no more harmful than any other form of sugar. However, in this case, the problem really has nothing to do with High Fructose Corn Syrup, but rather is related to the practice of using a honey substitute to feed bees.

High Fructose corn syrup is the most common feed used for bees in the US, since it is cheap and available. Elsewhere, glucose syrup or other sugar syrups are used. The bees produce honey, which is used to feed larva and as a source of stored food for the colony. In nature, this is what the bees would live on. However, since one of the major reasons for keeping bees is to harvest the honey, bee keepers have routinely been removing honey and replacing it with other sugar syrups, allowing more of the valuable honey to be collected.

While the substitute sugar syrups are not themselves harmful, it’s long been established that honey has antimicrobial properties and contains traces of environmental chemicals from the area it is collected. Both of these features can be important, protecting the larva from microbial pathogens and helping build the immune systems of bees. In some ways, this is analogous to the proven benefits of breast milk.

While this hypothesis still remains unproven, it is very much worth considering.  Despite the claims that it’s HFCS that is causing the problem, it’s really the absence of honey that is at issue, which is a much more reasonable explanation.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s, the United States government undertook a large number of experiments involving radiation, radiotoxicity and nuclear safety.  While most of this research was done within reasonable ethical standards, using animal models, tissue cultures and occasionally human volunteers, it is known that there were some experiments which involved human test subjects and which did not meet even the most basic standards for ethics.

The most infamous of these were the plutonium injection experiments.  Test subjects were injected with solutions containing trace amounts of plutonium in order to aid in the development of plutonium exposure tests.   Six employees at a Manhattan Project site were given water with small amounts of plutonium in order to determine how it would be absorbed in the digestive tract.   In one case, pregnant women were given what were called “vitamin drinks” in order to study how radioisotopes were transferred to the fetus.

These tests may not have included full disclosure to the test subjects.   It is still important to note that the levels present were bellow those which were supposed to be harmful.  None the less, the potential for harm existed, and today there is no question that the experiments would be considered unethical.

More about these disturbing experiments can be read here.

While we should not deny the existence of experiments of this type, it is also important not to exaggerate them.   Unfortunately, those who see this as some kind of reason to oppose nuclear energy have done just that.   Critical examination of many of the claims put forward show that there is much less to it than has been suggested.

Via City Watch:
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Genetically Modified Organisms may be one of the greatest single achievements of science of the late 20th century.  In addition to providing better crops, they can produce unlimited amounts of human clotting factor, insulin and other compounds needed by medicine.

As far as food crops go, there is absolutely no reason to think they are dangerous or unhealthy and volumes of scientific data to prove they are perfectly safe.   Like conventional crops, genetically modified food crops are made of the same basic materials: water, salt, cellulose, sugars, proteins etc.   The genes may be slightly different but your body certainly doesn’t care.  And while it is possible that introducing new genes and thus proteins could cause allergic reactions, this has been accounted for in all tests and no reports of mass incidents of allergic reactions have occurred.

Most modern farmers purchase their seeds from seed companies, which provide a more consistent product than producing their own seeds.  Hybridized and specially bred varieties are available and may cost more, but also offer benefits.   Genetically modified seeds fit into this business  model as do any other type of seed.

Despite this, activists have gone nuts over this technology.  Many have demanded that the crops are not fit for human consumption, must be banned and blame them for everything from obesity to cancer, despite lack of evidence.   Fields have been burned or mowed down, protests have been held across the world.  Efforts often center around the company Monsanto, which is he single largest producer of genetically modified products.  Monsanto only accounts for about a quarter of products currently available.   It’s the company everyone seems to love to hate, but that does not make its products unhealthy or unsafe.

The extreme activism and political pressure has resulted in a few jurisdictions severely restricting or banning genetically modified crops.  It has even lead to famine-stricken regions refusing food aid on the basis that it might contain genetically modified material.

Yet the tide now seems to be starting to turn, at least slightly.  A few prominent environmentalists and humanitarians are stepping up to the plate to denounce the knee-jerk fear of genetic engineering.

This article from the Daily Kos has recently been getting a great deal of attention:

GMO Truthers need to be kicked out of the Progressive movement

I consider myself to be part of the “far left.” I also have multiple scientific degrees and work in the health care field. I strongly believe that my science background has resulted in my Progressive ideology. The reason being is Progressivism is a fact and science based ideology, whereas Conservatism is a faith based ideology. Conservatives offer religious, faith based solutions to social problems. Moreover, they rely on faith in the “invisible hand” for solutions to the economy, and any free market outcome – whether good or bad – is a moral outcome regardless of its practicality. Hence, wanting to let the economy hit rock bottom after the financial crisis, because that was the “moral”/free market thing to do.

Why do I bring this up? Because a biologist recently wrote a diary criticizing the far left for being a home for GMO truthers. And, unfortunately, Meteor Blades recently promoted GMO nonsense on the front page.

I would probably say that most progressives don’t know much about GMO at all because this topic – especially the science behind it – is not discussed nearly as much as something like climate change or evolution. And this is perfectly all right! It is impossible to know everything about everything. You know GMO has something to do with big corrupt corporations (i.e. Monsanto) and there are a lot of people and groups you inherently trust who say GMO is bad, so you are naturally inclined to think of GMO as a negative thing.

It’s worth a look and I certainly hope it continues to get attention. The comments are predictable, unfortunately. There are a few who are standing up for reason, but many are still in fear of GMO’s.

Politics aside (and I would not consider myself to be part of the fart political left or modern progressivism in general) it is great to see this major segment starting to show some backlash against the GMO fear-mongers.

Political philosophy, after all, is a matter of value judgements and is not fallible. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and there’s no way to prove whether one ideology is right or wrong. But everyone is not entitled to their facts and the safety of GMO’s is an issue of scientific fact. Either you agree with it or you are wrong.

The name probably does not sound familiar, but Dr. Eleanor Adair should be remembered as one of the most important figures in advancing our understanding of the health effects of microwave radiation. She did some of the first controlled large-scale trails on humans, including herself, which helped establish the thermal effects of non-ionizing radiation.

As it turns out, I also live in the same town where she did, but sadly I did not know this until after her passing.

Obituary Via the New York Times:

Eleanor R. Adair, Microwave Proponent, Dies at 86

Eleanor R. Adair, a scientist who spent decades exposing monkeys and eventually people (including herself) to microwave radiation to determine whether it posed serious health risks — she concluded, emphatically and somewhat controversially, that it did not — died on April 20 in Hamden, Conn. She was 86.

The cause was complications of a stroke, her daughter, Margaret Adair Quinn, said.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Adair, who had done her doctoral work in sensory psychology, was pursuing an interesting but not necessarily provocative topic: how people and animals react physiologically to external heat sources. Yet over the next three decades — after her research led her to study heat generated through microwave radiation, which is used in microwave ovens and emitted at low levels by things like cellphones and electrical transmission lines — Dr. Adair became an increasingly prominent and firm voice of assurance that microwave radiation posed no health risk.

“All the emphasis that we need more research on power line fields, cellphones, police radar — this involves billions of dollars that could be much better spent on other health problems,” Dr. Adair said in an interview with The New York Times in 2001. “Because there is really nothing there.”

For some people close to the issue, those were fighting words.

Even as numerous studies have found that microwave ovens are safe and many scientists say there is no evidence that cellphones cause cancer or other health problems, the rising use of cellphones, wireless Internet signals and some medical and military devices has continued to raise questions about their risk. Last year, a panel of the World Health Organization listed microwave radiation as “possibly carcinogenic.” In March, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it would review its standards for cellphone use for the first time since 1996.

Some scientists do not use the term microwave radiation because they are concerned it is misleading and scares people unnecessarily. Microwave radiation is far weaker than the radiation in X-rays or gamma rays.

Advocates for more research count Dr. Adair in to a camp that focuses too much on heat or thermal effects from microwaves and is too quick to dismiss other ways microwaves might affect health.

“There’s something going on, and the question is what that is and whether it’s dangerous,” said Louis Slesin, the editor of Microwave News, a Web site that is often skeptical of the role industry and the military play in influencing health standards related to the issue. “Don’t let anyone tell you they know the answer to that question.”

Although Dr. Adair said she did not receive money from cellphone makers or industries whose products released microwave radiation, she served for five years late in her career as a senior scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory in San Antonio. The Air Force uses radar that emits microwaves.

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Throughout medical history, it was always believed that peptic ulcers were simply the result of gastric acid and inadequate mucus lining within the digestive tract, the primary causes being diet and stress.   Sufferers lived for years with ulcers, with acid blockers, antacids and dietary changes helping to control the severity and symptoms of the ulcer.   More often than not, however, these measures did not result in the ulcer disappearing.

That all began to change in the late 1990’s.   Evidence for bacterial infections being involved in peptic ulcer disease had existed for many years, but conflicting experimental results lead early researchers to conclude that the bacteria detected in the stomachs of ulcer patients was caused by laboratory contamination.  Indeed, the treatment of ulcers with antibiotics had been established as early as the 1950’s, but failed to gain widespread acceptance.  It was not until the late 1990’s that a number of clinical studies conclusively proved that the overwhelming majority of peptic ulcers are caused by the bacteria Helicobacter pylori and that its treatment with antibiotics can cure upwards of 80-90% of ulcers.  Doctors Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, both of Australia had spearheaded the research that ultimately discovered the role of bacterial infections in ulcers.  They shared the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 2005.

The discovery forever changed how we view and treat peptic ulcers.   It did not entirely invalidate the role of stress in the formation of ulcers, since it likely plays a roll in producing the conditions where a bacterial infection can take root, but it resulted in new tests and protocols and the use of antibiotics in treating and curing peptic ulcers.  Countless lives have thus been improved.

We may now be on the cusp of a breakthrough that will dwarf the discovery of bacterial infections as the root cause of most ulcers

Via the Guardian:

Back pain breakthrough could eliminate need for major operations

The figures make for grim reading. When all costs are considered, the NHS spends more than £1bn each year on back pain. More than half goes on hospital costs. But £140m covers GP consultations, with even more spent on physiotherapy sessions. On any given day, 1% of the national workforce is on leave with a back problem.

Most people recover from acute back pain within six weeks but for a fair portion, around 8%, the problem becomes long-term. In the past, doctors prescribed bed rest for back pain. They now accept that only makes the pain worse, and instead recommend physical exercise, or at least staying active.

In more than 80% of cases, there is no clear cause of back pain. But to the long list of factors, from lifting and posture, to stress and anxiety, scientists in Denmark have now added bacteria.

Microbes should not be lurking in the spine, but Hanne Albert and her team at the University of Southern Denmark found a common bug called Propionibacterium acnes inside the slipped discs of patients who had operations for the problem. The bacteria normally live without oxygen, in hair follicles, or at the bottom of crevices in teeth, but brushing teeth can sweep them into the bloodstream.

The bacteria should pose no threat as they circulate around the body, but when a person has a slipped disc, the body grows fresh blood vessels that reach into the soft disc to repair the tissue. This gives the bacteria a route in, where they can thrive, scientists believe. As the bacteria grow, they cause inflammation around the disc, and release propionic acid, which irritates nerves, and may even cause the painful microfractures seen in vertebrae around the disc.

The Danish researchers found that a long course of common antibiotics, lasting three months, killed off the bacteria, and alleviated pain in most patients who took part in their trial. All had been in pain for more than six months and showed signs of vertebrae damage in MRI scans. They took six to eight weeks to feel better.

The drugs must be taken for so long because the blood supply to spinal discs is very poor. Once the disc is free from infection, the inflammation dies down, and the vertebrae begin to heal.

The discovery could transform the treatment of chronic lower back pain and save health services millions of pounds by doing away with unnecessary operations. When patients have no other options, surgeons can fuse damaged vertebrae, or transplant artificial discs into their spines, but both of these operations might largely be replaced with courses of antibiotics.

WOW!

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This may be old news (about a month) but it is still worth posting.   A poll was recently conducted by Public Policy Polling of Americans on the topic of conspiracy theories.   The number really do not surprise me very much.  If anything, it shows a few conspiracy theories are LESS popular than I might have expected.   Then again, the numbers are still soberingly high.

Via the Atlantic Wire:

Conspiracy	Percent believing	Number of Americans believing
JFK was killed by conspiracy	51 percent	160,096,160
Bush intentionally misled on Iraq WMDs	44 percent	138,122,178
Global warming is a hoax	37 percent	116,148,195
Aliens exist	29 percent	91,035,072
New World Order	28 percent	87,895,931
Hussein was involved in 9/11	28 percent	87,895,931
A UFO crashed at Roswell	21 percent	65,921,948
Vaccines are linked to autism	20 percent	62,782,808
The government controls minds with TV	15 percent	47,087,106
Medical industry invents diseases	15 percent	47,087,106
CIA developed crack	14 percent	43,947,966
Bigfoot exists	14 percent	43,947,966
Obama is the Antichrist	13 percent	40,808,825
The government allowed 9/11	11 percent	34,530,544
Fluoride is dangerous	9 percent	28,252,264
The moon landing was faked	7 percent	21,973,983
Bin Laden is alive	6 percent	18,834,842
Airplane contrails are sinister chemicals	5 percent	15,695,702
McCartney died in 1966	5 percent	15,695,702
Lizard people control politics	4 percent	12,556,562

The margin of error of the poll is 2.8 percent. As with any poll, it’s important to remember that the margin of error may not reflect the true accuracy of the poll, as it can depend on factors like how careful the pollsters were in selecting an appropriate demographic cross-section of the US.  It’s very easy to get skewed results with polling, because telephone surveys tend to get more responses from certain demographics, such as retirees, the unemployed and others who are more likely to be home and willing to answer questions.   Still, the numbers certainly seem plausible and are in line with other polls that have been conducted.

Of course, one also wonders how many people might say yes to certain conspiracy theories while only harboring a slightly sarcastic belief in them.   As with any such numbers, it’s hard to be sure who is a hard-core believer and who has only a passing belief.   One can certainly hope that they might be lower.

You can read more about the poll here. According to Public Policy Polling, the total respondents were 1,247 all of whom were registered voters.   That’s a reasonably good size sample.  The questions were also direct and avoided bias.   The figures also show the breakdown between Republican and Democratic-registered voters.  As one might expect, Republicans tend to be more prone to believing things like Bin Laden is alive, while Democrats are far more likely to think Bush lied about WMD’s.

It’s not surprising that the Kennedy Assassination ranks at the top of the poll.  If anything, it’s surprising it is not higher.   The Kennedy Assassination has always fascinated me, because, despite being a relatively straight-forward shooting, it spawned the single most widespread and enduring conspiracy theory in the US.   There are many reasons for this, including the efforts of those like Oliver Stone and the fact that the events were shocking and the guilt of Lee Harvey Oswald seemed so anti-climactic for such an event.

The Kennedy Assassination is unique in that the conspiracy theories have transcended the normal conspiracy theory subculture and become entirely mainstream.  A large number of Americans did not accept the Warren Commission report as soon as it was published in 1964.  That number continued to climb after a second investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations and with the production of numerous books and documentaries supporting conspiracy theories.

The most dangerous of all these conspiracy theories, however, is likely to be the 20% number for autism being connected to vaccines.   This is directly responsible for a number of outbreaks in the US.  Indeed, this belief is hardly just American.  Fear of vaccines has become a major problem across the industrial world.   It goes to show that more effort still needs to be mounted against these harmful myths.

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Many of my skeptical and pro-science friends are extremely passionate about the issue of autism and vaccines.   The scientific data indicates, very compellingly, that vaccines do not cause autism.  So when a press release came out claiming that a new vaccine could actually reduce autism, many jumped on and posted it all over social media feeds, as if it was vindication of the positive effects of vaccines and science in combating disease and disorders.

But lest be careful, because it’s not quite what it seems.

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As far as scientific achievements go, this really does not mean much, but it falls under the catagory of “really cool,” especially if, like me, you are an Apollo program buff.

Apollo-11, like all the manned lunar missions was carried aloft on a Saturn-V rocket.   The first stage of the rocket, the S-IC was designed to be disposable.  After burning out, it was jettisoned and the next stage, the S-II took over.  By the time it cut off, the rocket was at an altitude of 67,000 meters and more than 90 kilometers down range, out to sea.   Since the stage was intended to only be used once, there was no parachute.  It simply fell from that altitude and smashed into the ocean.  Presumably, never to be seen again.

Well, that was not to be for the stage that carried Apollo-11 to the moon.   Because of the historical interest, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took it upon himself to start a project to locate and recover the remains of that rocket stage.

Needless to say, it’s not in pristine condition.   The impact shattered the thin, lightweight structure of the stage and 40+ years under salt water did not do the remains any favors either.   Still, the thrust chambers of the rocket engines were solid enough to survive in remarkably good shape.   Although the engine bells seem to have been torn off, parts of the engines are still very recognizable, including the main turbopumps.

The mighty F-1 engine is definitely an impressive site, even broken apart!

Check out this link for a gallery of images of the recovered engines.

It is often claimed by various “alternative medicine” gurus that the diseases currently faced by humanity are largely the result of our civilization and artificial causes.   Common claims are that everything from genetically modified foods to our use of wireless devices are the reason things like cancer and heart disease exist.  (Apparently at one time, people were always in good health and thus never died, either.)

There is some, limited, truth to this, in that some diseases now have the chance to exist more often, simply because less people are killed by something else first.   Heart disease, cancer many other diseases become more common with age and therefore would not be as common in a time when many died at an earlier age, as a result of infectious disease and traumatic injury.  Other diseases exist in the population today because they can be treated, while in centuries past, they would have resulted in death.   Type 1 diabetes, for example, was once a death sentence, but can now be treated.

A few other diseases may be more common today as a result of lifestyle changes.   Yet even these diseases were not unheard of in earlier human history.   Although a sedentary lifestyle and high calorie intake is well known to be associated with heart disease, a recent study has discovered compelling evidence that atherosclerosis – the buildup of plaque in the heart, existed long before modern lifestyles.

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Just because this seems to be a topic that a lot of people have misconceptions about

What a sonic boom is:

Whenever an object moves through air, it will displace some of that air.   This results in a change of pressure.   You can observe this by seeing its effects, such as leaves being dragged behind a bus or being pushed out of the way in front of it.  You can sometimes hear it, too. When something passes by, it may be accompanied with the “woosh” sound of air being moved.

When moving at subsonic speeds, the air in front of an object starts getting pushed out of the way before the object reaches it.   The pressure that builds in front of it is transmitted forward before the object reaches the air.   Thus, instead of a single pressure wave, there is a gradual increase in pressure.  However, there is a limit to how fast the air can transmit pressure changes and that limit is the speed of sound.  Sound, after all, is really just a change in air pressure.   When one molecule in the air is pushed on, it pushes the one next to it, transmitting this change.   The speed at which this occurs depends on altitude, humidity and temperature.  At sea level, it comes out to being about 340 meters per second or about 770 miles per hour.  It is lower at higher altitudes.

Chart From Physics Central

When an object, such as an aircraft, approaches the speed of sound, the waves of pressure become compressed into a smaller area.   This is because the air can not transmit the pressure change very far in front of the aircraft before it reaches that location.  As an aircraft passes about 75% of the speed of sound, this effect becomes noticeable and begins to affect the control of the aircraft.   As it comes even closer to the speed of sound, it enters what is called the “transonic region.“  Early aircraft, such as fighters during the Second World War were not designed to maintain control and stability when faced by this pile up of air pressure.  On occasion they entered the transonic region in dives and when this happened, they often lost control and crashed.

When the moving body, such as an aircraft, reaches the speed of sound, the pressure change can no longer be transmitted ahead of the aircraft at all.  Now it is moving as fast or faster than the gas molecules can be pushed out of the way.   There is no longer a pile-up of pressure waves, but instead, they all merge into one pressure wave, which travels with the aircraft.   The air goes from uncompressed to fully compressed almost instantaneously, as the aircraft passes.

In fact, there are two pressure waves, one from the front of the aircraft and one from the rear.   Depending on the design, there may be other, smaller waves generated by points in the aircraft.   These pressure waves are the sonic boom.   They are close enough together that the double wave may only be perceived as a single boom.

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