What's in those "chicken nuggets"?

Reuters wants us to know. Mind you, only two "nuggets" that came from "two national fast food chains in Jackson" were tested. But they both had similar content. If you like chicken nuggets, stop reading this post. On the other hand, here you go:

The first nugget was about half muscle, with the rest a mix of fat, blood vessels and nerves. Close inspection revealed cells that line the skin and internal organs of the bird, the authors write in the American Journal of Medicine.

The second nugget was only 40 percent muscle, and the remainder was fat, cartilage and pieces of bone.

Ick.

London School of Economics censors students

And it's all over Jesus and Mo. Go read Jerry Coyne's article. It amazes me that some countries go out of their way to coddle Muslims. Islam is a religion -- and religion deserves all the mocking we can muster.

A felicitous circumstance for religious people

There's an odd "psychology" article in the Times. It's about jinxes, and knocking on wood to escape the jinx. Here's how it opens:

SUPERSTITIOUS people do all sorts of puzzling things. But it’s not just the superstitious who knock on wood. From time to time, we all rap our knuckles on a nearby table if we happen to let fate-tempting words slip out. “The cancer is in remission, knock on wood,” we might say. 

Uh, no. Doesn't come up. Nor do I know anyone who would do this. Maybe I remember some old people doing it back in the 1950s, but not today. Must be the kind of people I know, huh?

I found myself groaning as I read the article but it left a cheerful thought behind -- the notion that religious people can avoid jinxes with ease. All they have to do is reach up and rap their knuckles on their skulls. This must give them tremendous comfort.

Self-assembling robots are here (sort of)

An MIT senior named John Romanishin came up with an idea for self-assembling robots in the form of little cubes. When he brought the idea to his teacher, she said it couldn't be done. So he proved to her that he can indeed create them. Then she brought the idea to the the attention of a colleague. His response was that this could not be done. So they proved it to him. Now the three have joined forces to create these self-assembling robots -- and they work.

If you like this sort of thing, here's a link. And here's an excerpt from the article:

In ongoing work, the MIT researchers are building an army of 100 cubes, each of which can move in any direction, and designing algorithms to guide them. "We want hundreds of cubes, scattered randomly across the floor, to be able to identify each other, coalesce, and autonomously transform into a chair, or a ladder, or a desk, on demand," Romanishin says.

Coming soon to a reality near you.

In ongoing work, the MIT researchers are building an army of 100 cubes, each of which can move in any direction, and designing algorithms to guide them. "We want hundreds of cubes, scattered randomly across the floor, to be able to identify each other, coalesce, and autonomously transform into a chair, or a ladder, or a desk, on demand," Romanishin says.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-10-surprisingly-simple-scheme-self-assembling-robots.html#jCp

The eternally minor status of Catholic women

If I was a Catholic woman, I'd be hell-bent on making this pope answer a question. Why are Catholic women worth less than Catholic men? Why are they barred from being priests, bishops and popes?

The pope has been forthcoming on many topics. He's said things no pope has said before. But on the topic of ordaining women, he simply states that this door is closed. I'm sorry; that won't do.

Women should surround him wherever he goes, chanting "Why? Why? Why? Why?" When he comes out on the balcony to greet the throng, it should echo with a call: "Why? Why? Why? Why?" Women should demand a clear answer to the question. "Tell us, old man, why can we not be priests?"

"Why? Why? Why? Why?" The pope should hear this wherever he goes. When he finally answers the question, if he does, it will be the resolution to a great mystery.

No reason has ever been given for the status quo. That's what galls. To the church, it's just an incontrovertible fact, one that requires no substantiation. Priests never answer this question. But right now, in this church, it is the perfect time for Catholic women to demand an answer. I'd love to know what excuse the pope offers for denigrating half of all Catholics.

Pisses me off.

Ick

I came upon this in a newspaper story today:

She knows of another victim who had to cut out her favorite raspberry-filled pastries because the artificial flavoring is made with castoreum, a chemical that comes from the anal scent glands of the North American beaver.

Ick.

Uh-huh. But...Obama

Here's a paragraph from Paul Krugman's blog this morning:

In other words, GOP leaders fundamentally misjudged the situation (and Obama’s incentives). And now they have backed themselves into a position where they don’t know how to back down — they have to extract concessions or they’ll have been “disrespected,” in a situation where Obama simply can’t make any concessions without destroying his own credibility and betraying the fundamental norms of governance. 

That sounds so nice. But anyone who's been following Obama's mercurial career knows that, when pressured, he's willing to give the farm away -- even when Republicans haven't asked for it. This means we have no assurance that he'll stand firm.

Yes, Obama wants the Affordable Care Act to stand so that in his old age, he can say: look what I did! But what is he willing to give away in order to keep it? That's a scary question to contemplate. Do I trust Obama's judgement? Of course not.

The wisdom of Coyne

Jerry Coyne said something wonderful on his blog this morning. You can read the full post, if you like. Warning: it's rather dense -- a philosophical fight over religion and the concept of "scientism". What can I say? I'm a fan of scientifically-informed philosophy. But the take-out quote is simple and clear:

It’s the combination of absolutism as expressed in faith, and the notion that you have a handle on what God wants, that causes all the evils of religion in this world.

How's that for hitting the nail on the head? It's downright profound.

Centipede venom = pain killer without side effects

Chronic pain sufferers have been waiting for this -- a drug that relieves pain without dulling the senses or addicting the patient. And it comes from centipede venom.

"A drug which was a selective Nav1.7 blocker would be possibly a 'perfect painkiller', in that it selectively and effectively prevents the generation of pain signals from tissue, while not affecting any other nerve functions," he said.

"There are individuals who are born with non-functional Nav1.7 channels and these people have a complete inability to feel pain, and no other significant problems apart from loss of smell sensation.

"Forget about using opioids to relieve pain, this drug could mean you don't have any pain to relieve. It would be totally new class of drug."

That sounds great. I hate the side effects of opiods. Yes, they kill pain momentarily but you're a wreck afterwards. As a writer who wants his skills and mental acuity available each and every day, the last thing I want to do is take morphine or other heavy drugs for pain. This could be the answer we've all been waiting for. Imagine: no pain and no side effects. It's like magic. Human trials within two years, if all goes well.

A human thing

While reading an AP story about the pope this morning, I couldn't help but smile as I read the segment quoted below.

Such decisiveness comes despite having been "invaded by anxiety" in the moments after he was elected. In the interview with Repubblica, Francis said after the shock of the election, he immediately excused himself from the Sistine Chapel, closed his eyes in a small room off to the side and tried to relax. 

"At a certain point, a great light invaded me, it lasted a moment but it seemed very long to me," he told Repubblica's editor. "Then it disappeared and I got up." 

He went back into the room where he signed the document accepting the job and headed out onto the loggia of St. Peter's Square to be introduced to the world. 

This is an example of a normal human capability. Here's how it works: If you believe you're being helped, you receive help. I once wrote about this on the blog (but can't find the post today). 

It's not a message from god but it feels like one. And if you believe you're getting help, you become stronger, more confident, etc. In the missing post, I wrote about bench pressing. If you imagine someone is helping you lift the bar, it actually seems lighter. This is the same mechanism that enabled the pope's "light" experience and consequent surge of confidence.

This is a normal human capability, something that comes with our flesh-and-blood machinery. It's sort of a scam but it works. If you don't believe me, try it at home or at the gym. Just believe that someone (an elf, an angel, whatever) is helping you and voila -- you will feel stronger.

I continue to approve of this pope, even though he thinks he's in touch with a sky god. As long as this motivates him to do good things, he's all right in my book.