(no subject)

Anyone want to come to The Farm with me? It's not terribly expensive. And I'm sure it'll be lots of fun. :)

I'm even going to tolerate taking the Greyhound. Provided that it'll get me somewhere near there.

(no subject)

John Ritter is dead.

A lot of people know about Johnny Cash passing away today. But not a lot have heard about John Ritter.

Yes, I am sad. I liked nearly everything he acted in. I even liked his drama in the 90s, despite the fact that I can't think of the name of it right now.

Read more here.

weight contributes to cervical cancer

Study Links Obesity to Cervical Cancer

A new study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute suggests being overweight could double a woman's risk of developing one type of cervical cancer, known as cervical adenocarcinoma. Although infection with certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary risk factor for cervical cancer, the latest research could help shed light on why some women with HPV develop cervical cancer while others don't.

[...] Lacey and colleagues compared 124 women with cervical adenocarcinoma to 139 similar women with squamous cell cervical cancer, and 307 similar women without cervical cancer. The researchers calculated their body mass index, or BMI, a ratio of height to weight. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal weight; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Women with a BMI of 25 or higher had about twice the risk of getting cervical adenocarcinoma as women of normal weight. Weight did not seem to influence whether women developed squamous cell carcinoma.

The researchers weren't certain why only adenocarcinoma seemed to be influenced by obesity. It could be that hormonal factors play a greater role in this type of cervical cancer, as they are thought to do in endometrial cancer. However, more research would be needed to make that determination.

Another theory is that screening differences play a role, Lacey said.

This speaks for itself.

U.S. Fire Mistakenly Kills 8 Iraqi Police

... however, upon reading the article, I question the word choice of "mistakenly".

Interesting article (stolen from renwick)

"What is the guarantee that our minds are naturally designed to sense the "true reality"? Perhaps there is no guarantee. If this concept seems weird, consider a far-fetched example. Imagine a creature or phenomena that has been lurking among us since the dawn of evolution. If our ancient ancestors died every time they perceived the phenomena, evolution would favor creatures who did not perceive the creatures or phenomena. One might counter this argument by saying that our modern instruments, such as X-ray machines and cameras, should be able to make the creatures apparent to us, even if our unaided sensorium is not up to the task. Reasoning further, because our instruments have not made these realms apparent to us, the realms must not be real. However, perhaps our traditional instruments and theories are also not up to the task. Or perhaps our interpretation of the instruments' results is incomplete."

DMT, Moses, and the Quest for Transcendence

odd art

Weirdo Leonardo [da Vinci]