Tip: Clean but not "so clean" because Microbial Ecosystems populating our guts, mouths, nose, etc play crucial roles in keeping us healthy

Moreover, researchers are becoming more convinced that modern trends — diet, antibiotics, obsession with cleanliness, Caesarean delivery of babies — are disrupting this delicate balance, contributing to some of the most perplexing ailments, including asthma, allergies, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer and perhaps even autism.

“In terms of potential for human health, I would place it with stem cells as one of the two most promising areas of research at the moment,” said Rob Knight of the University of Colorado. “We’re seeing an unprecedented rate of discovery. Everywhere we look, microbes seem to be involved.”

Equipped with super-fast new DNA decoders, scientists are accelerating the exploration of this realm at a molecular level, yielding provocative insights into how these microbial stowaways may wield far greater powers than previously appreciated in, paradoxically, making us human."
Microbes may play crucial role in human health, researchers discovering - The Washington Post: "
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Ways to Mitigate Climate Change: Alternative Energy: Consider 'Portable Balloon Inflation System" to lift gas requirements in remote areas

How does it work? Alternative energy company that generates hydrogen gas and steam/heat through the chemical reaction of aluminum, water, and proprietary additives. This technology is ideally suited for multiple applications requiring on-site, on-demand fuel sources, serving National Security and commercial customers. API's hydrogen feeds fuel cells for portable and back-up power; fills inflatable devices such as weather balloons; can replace costly, hard-to-handle and high pressure K-Cylinders; and provides fuel for flameless heater applications. Its hydrogen/heat output is also being designed and developed to drive fuel cell-based and turbine-based undersea propulsion systems and auxiliary power systems. API has significant differentiators in performance, adaptability, safety and cost-effectiveness in its target market applications, with no external power required and no toxic chemicals or by-products."

Early production stage hydrogen generation company AlumiFuel Power, Inc. ("API"), the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based wholly owned operating subsidiary of AlumiFuel Power Corporation AFPW +140.74% (the "Company"), revealed today why the PBIS-2000 system can become a global standard following the award of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) contract announced yesterday. Military and meteorological users from the US, NATO, and around the world have been following API's Portable Balloon Inflation System product development with keen interest, and have indicated that the technology embedded in the PBIS-2000 could offer a superior solution to lift gas requirements in remote and inaccessible locations."
AlumiFuel Power, Inc. Provides Rationale for Why the PBIS-2000 Portable Balloon Inflation System Technology Can Become the Worldwide Lift Gas Standard - MarketWatch:
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Climate Change Update: EUROPEANS believe -dangers of climate change represent a more serious problem facing the world, after poverty

Connie Hedegaard, European climate commissioner, said: “This is encouraging news. The survey shows that the citizens of Europe can see that economic challenges are not the only ones we face. A clear majority of Europeans expect their politicians and business leaders to address the serious climate challenge now.” She said it was “striking” that the public were even more concerned about climate change than in the run-up to the landmark Copenhagen summit on climate change in late 2009.

The number of people rating climate change as a very serious problem has risen slightly, from 64 per cent when the poll was last conducted in 2009, to 68 per cent this year. When asked to rank the seriousness of the problem, people put it at 7.4 out of 10, compared with a score of 7.1 out of 10 two years ago. People also said there were economic benefits to tackling climate change, with eight out of 10 people saying that dealing with the problem would provide an economic boost and create jobs. "
Fearing climate change | Opinion | DAWN.COM: "
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Climate Change Update: Ms. Zara Jane Juan, UN Ambassador for the International Day o... on Twitpic

Ms. Zara Jane Juan, UN Ambassador for the International Day o... on Twitpic: "
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CAS UP Manila September 21, 2011

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CAS UP Manila September 21, 2011

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Ms. Zara Jane Juan, UN Ambassador for the International Day of Peace 2011, speaks on "Wellness, Climate Change and Peace.""

Tip: Heal Family Relationships to help ADHD Kids cope up w/ Climate Change (ADHD as a problem of regulation of emotion, behavior and attention)

This is because children learn self-regulation in context of relationships with primary caregivers, and family conflict is clearly associated with increased risk for ADHD. From 2000 to 2009, ADHD was up by 29% , and evidence that medication use for ADHD increased at an average yearly rate of 3.4% from 1996 to 2008. ADHD: The role of diet and sleep - Child In Mind - Boston.com: "Many children with a range of behavior problems crave sweets. Parents describe constant battles around food choices. It is likely that these problems have complex causes: sweets may be used to reduce stress, and food is a place where children can exert absolute control by simply closing their mouths.

Certainly it is important for growth, development, and learning that children eat a healthy diet. Ideally they should have three meals a day with sufficient fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein and a minimum of processed foods. However, if all attention in management of ADHD is focused on diet, to the exclusion of relationships, then the intervention is off the mark. In addition, evidence for more specific food restrictions, such as dairy, wheat or food dyes, is more anecdotal, and some of these diets can be quite restrictive.

Similarly, getting enough sleep is essential to healthy brain function and regulation of behavior, emotions and attention. But, with the exception of obstructive sleep apnea, most sleep problems develop in the context of relationships. "

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Alternative Energy Update: Tens of thousands of people joined 2000 marches and rallies in over 175 countries to call for a move beyond fossil fuels

"Dr. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the speakers at the Moving Planet rally in NYC, has spent his career studying the climatic changes under way on our planet. One of his key points, which unfortunately has not yet entered the popular consciousness, is that we simply cannot afford to extract and burn all the fossil fuels in the earth. Many people worry about when we will run out of oil or coal. But the real worry is what will happen to our climate if emissions from all that oil and coal are released into the atmosphere. Instead of worrying about when we'll run out, we should be talking about how to keep as many fossil fuels in the ground as possible.

Many people profit from selling oil, removing mountaintops to get at coal seams, and extracting crude bitumen from tar sands. Some ignore or belittle scientific research that doesn't conform to business as usual, and use the political system to ensure that no substantive action is taken to alter this unsustainable path. But eventually the obvious will no longer be deniable, even to those who profit from the status quo: we have to move beyond fossil fuels."

Charles Scott: Moving Planet: I believe that when there is more money to be made in alternative energy than fossil fuels, the arguments we hear today against taking action to address climate change will disappear. That's why it is so important for the U.S. to eliminate the massive subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, which stifle innovation and provide an unfair advantage over alternative energy solutions like wind and solar.
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Climate Change Update: Northeast Climate Science Center to study how climate change affects ecosystems, from the Great Lakes to Maine down to Missouri

“The nationwide network of Climate Science Centers will provide the scientific talent and commitment necessary for understanding how climate change and other landscape stressors will change the face of the United States,” said US Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar in a statement.

Last month, the state’s Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committee released a report that suggested temperatures in Massachusetts by end of this century could spike to 90 degrees or more for 30 to 60 days every summer, ocean temperatures could be on average 8 degrees warmer, and winters are likely to have more rain and less snow.

And next month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release a major new study on the effects of climate change in recent years and what the latest evidence shows is likely to happen in coming decades.

UMass-Amherst and its partners will study climate impacts on water resources, agriculture and grazing, fish and wildlife, forest resilience, invasive species, protecting migratory fish and waterfowl, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, flood management, and water quality."
New center to study climate change opens - Metro Desk - Local news updates from The Boston Globe: "
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