Mainstream media journalists flunk high school physics when reporting on radiation

(NaturalNews) I’ve seen a lot of lousy, inaccurate reporting from the mainstream media over the years, but some of the reporting we’re seeing now on the Fukushima catastrophe is just astonishing in its ignorance of basic physics. Today, the Boston Globe published a story containing this whopper: Nuclear safety spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama says the air above the leak contains 1,000 millisiverts of radioactivity. Source: http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/04/02/radioactive_water_leaks_from_japan_nuclear_plant/ For starters, even the unit is spelled incorrectly. It’s not “millisiverts” but rather “millisieverts.” But that’s a small issue compared to the bigger one. Millisieverts describe a measured dose of received radiation. Exposure to millisieverts only makes sense in the context of this nuclear catastrophe when it is measured over time . In other words, it makes no sense to say “the air has 500 millisieverts of radiation.” That’s a complete nonsense sentence. The correct statement is that a person standing in that area would be exposed to “500 millisieverts of radiation PER HOUR.” Without the unit of time, the sentence makes no sense. This writer of this article, it seems, must have flunked high school physics. Do they also describe the speed of their car as “55 miles?” Do they describe their gas mileage as “20 miles?” When they buy bulk foods at the grocery store, do they understand what it means to pay dollars per ounce? Or is that just too complicated for these people? Millisieverts are emitted over time Furthermore, the air does not “contain” a fixed quantity of millisieverts. The radioactive particles in the air are EMITTING radiation at a certain rate (millisieverts per unit of time). If the air only “contained” 1000 millisieverts, as explained by the Boston Globe, then once it emitted those 1000 millisieverts, there would be no more radiation, right? But in reality, the radiation being emitted by the particles in the air can continue to emit that radiation for weeks, months, years or even millennia, depending on the half life of the radioactive isotopes contained in the air. The half-life of iodine-131, for example, is much shorter than the half-life of cesium-137. The half life of cesium-137 is roughly thirty years, meaning that air contaminated with cesium-137 that’s releasing 1000 millisieverts of radiation per hour right now would still be emitting 500 millisieverts of radiation per hour 30 years from now . And then 250 millisieverts of radiation per hour 60 years from now . The story was actually written by the Associated Press Now, here’s something else may truly shock you: This story published by the Boston Globe wasn’t even written by the Boston Globe. It was written by the Associated Press (AP). The AP, of course, is the centralized news agency that writes a lot of the news that all the other newspapers just copy and paste onto their own websites. You know how Google says it penalizes websites for copying and pasting identical content onto their own websites? The mainstream media does it every single day, and they get no penalty from Google. In fact, the mainstream media is the largest “news copying” operation in existence today, and Google News strongly favors them by removing smaller, truly independent news sources from its index. And most of these mainstream media news sites just take news written by the AP and slap it onto their own sites, regardless of its accuracy. This particular AP news story containing this blatant error about millisieverts appeared on all the following websites: • The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/world/japanese-waters-highly-radioactive-20110402-1csfe.html) • Yahoo News (http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/9123885/highly-radiactive-water-leaks-into-pacific/) • CTV (Canada) (http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110402/japan-nuclear-crisis-110402/20110402/?hub=CalgaryHome) ABC News gets it right ABC News is one of the few mainstream media sources that actually got this story right. They said, “The air above the radioactive water in the pit is measuring 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour, according to Nishiyama.” (http://abcnews.go.com/International/radioactive-leak-found-japans-fukushima-dai-ichi-nuclear/story?id=13281691) That is the correct description of it, showing that ABC News has writers who are a lot better educated about the laws of physics than the Associated Press writers (who would no doubt flunk high school Physics). So if the Associated Press doesn’t understand radiation, and they’re the news source feeding “canned news” to most of the mainstream media websites that are heavily favored by Google News, did you ever wonder why the masses are so misinformed? It’s obvious: Most of the mainstream news is canned, copied and wildly inaccurate, written by poorly educated people who don’t understand the laws of physics, or economics, or even cause and effect for that matter. So where can you get news that’s truly intelligent? The answer, of course, is the alternative media . Sites like NaturalNews.com, InfoWars.com, Rense.com and many others. This is where you get real news from people who are, by the way, far more intelligent than your typical AP writer. Not only do we understand radiation a lot better than these AP writers, we also understand how dangerous it can be. That’s why we’re all warning you to get prepared while you still can , just in case the media is lying to you about the true status of the Fukushima facility.

Fresh spinach too dangerous for children, says microbiologist

(NaturalNews) When in doubt about the safety of your food, just kill it. Well, according to some food safety experts, anyway. A recent Chicago Tribune article suggests that in order to be sure the spinach you eat is free of E. coli , it has to be microwaved for about four minutes. Charles Pavia, a microbiologist from the New York Institute of Technology, recently conducted a study on what it takes to kill dangerous pathogens from spinach. Presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Boston, the study claims that boiling spinach for 30 seconds destroys up to 93 percent of bacteria. When boiled for a minute, spinach becomes 98 percent bacteria-free, and at two minutes, 99 percent of bacteria is destroyed. But according to the study, the best way to make sure practically all bacteria is killed is to nuke spinach for four minutes in the microwave. Anything less, and some bacteria is sure to remain, which can be potentially harmful to those who are susceptible to infection from even low pathogen counts. Of course not everyone will get sick from very low levels of pathogens, especially those with strong immune systems and healthy diets, but Pavia explained that cooking spinach for two minutes will at least significantly reduce pathogen counts, making food safer. So what about fresh spinach? Well, according to Pavia, it is not safe. “I think the take-home message really is, if you don’t want to cook your spinach, don’t give it to a child, based on what we know about who gets sickest the most,” he emphasized. Spinach is not inherently dangerous, though. E. coli is found primarily in cattle feces, which often spreads from conventional cattle lots onto nearby fields, contaminating produce; the bacteria does not occur naturally on produce. In other words, killing living foods to eliminate dangerous bacteria treats the symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. Sources for this story include: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-spinach-20100914,0,5412790.story

Electroshock discpline on students? School successfully lobbies Congress to keep it legal

(NaturalNews) For nearly 20 years, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JREC), a special needs school for children and adults in Canton, Mass., has been utilizing a controversial, “moderately painful” electric shock discipline technique on its students that many say is inhumane. JREC is the only school in the US that uses the technique, and legislation to ban it has repeatedly failed. Last year, JREC spent $100,000 lobbying Congress to block a piece of legislation that may have outlawed the practice, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filings indicate that the school has spent more than a million dollars lobbying for protection at the state level. According to a recent report in The Boston Globe , JREC administrations as well as many of the students’ parents insist that shock therapy is the only way to effectively restrain and discipline the most behaviorally-challenged children that would otherwise hurt themselves or others. Many parents actually went to Capitol Hill to defend the practice in private meetings with senators and staff, and the school hired Bracewell and Giuliani, a law firm headed by former Mayor of New York City and presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, to head up the efforts. The electric shock technique involves attaching electrodes to the arms, legs, or torsos of students and administering two-second shocks of either 60 or 66 volts. The average shock current is between 15 and 41 milliamps, which is up to 20 times more powerful than the electric shock delivered by a police taser. Edward D. Krenik, a top Washington lobbyist who headed the recent lobbying efforts on behalf of JREC, told lawmakers that without electric shock therapy and the other “unorthodox methods” employed by JREC, many children at the center would either be institutionalized or dead. But opponents say that shocking children in this way is torture, and that it should be stopped immediately. “This is an inhumane form of discipline, and I’m particularly troubled by it when positive behavioral supports have been so successful,” said Mass. Sen. John Kerry in a statement. “I understand that there are ongoing state and federal investigations, and I hope they result in an end to this archaic practice.” Sources for this story include: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/02/28/school_lobbied_to_stop_electric_shock_ban

New study proves that drinking soda causes gout

(NaturalNews) Regular soda consumption significantly increases women’s risk of gout, according to a study conducted by researchers from Boston University and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Gout is a painful type of inflammatory arthritis that has become increasingly common in the past few decades, rising in prevalence from 16 cases per 100,000 people in 1977 to 42 cases per 100,000 in 1996. The same time period saw a large increase in soda consumption, the researchers noted. The researchers studied 78,906 women who had taken part in the Nurses’ Health Study between 1984 and 2006 and who had no history of gout at the beginning of the study. They found that over the course of 22 years, women who consumed one serving of soda per day were 74 percent more likely to develop gout than those who had less than one per month. Women who drank two or more servings of soda per day were 240 percent more likely. A connection between soda consumption and gout is not surprising because fructose, a component of sugar, causes the body to produce more uric acid. Uric acid buildup is the immediate cause of gout. Sugary beverages are widely reviled by nutritionists as a source of empty calories that raises the risk of obesity and diabetes. “Data collected from the study of 51,603 nurses in the United States found that women who drank one serving of non-diet soda or fruit punch daily, which was sweetened with either sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, gained more weight, an average of 10.3 pounds, than women who drank less than one per month,” writes Gabriel Cousens in his book There Is a Cure for Diabetes . “In addition, the sugar consumers had an 82 percent increased risk of developing Type-2 diabetes.” To learn more about how to fight disease with a healthy diet, read the free NaturalNews.com report Nutrition Can Save America! at http://www.naturalnews.com/report_Nutrition_Health_America_0.html. Sources for this story include: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/645717.html ; http://www.webmd.com/news/20101109/sugary-soda-oj-raise-gout-risk-in-women.

Era of leaded gasoline still poisoning vegetable gardens across America

(NaturalNews) Vegetable gardens across the United States are contaminated with lead, even those using presumably safe soil from newly made compost, according to a study conducted by researchers from Wellesley College and presented at a meeting of the Geological Society of America. The most common sources of lead contamination in the United States are still leaded paint and gasoline used before those products were banned. Because lead is a chemical element, it never degrades. It is a powerful neurotoxin that can produce behavioral irregularities or permanent mental retardation. “Adverse effects from lead can occur at very low levels,” warns Robert Ivker in his book Sinus Survival . “Early symptoms of lead poisoning — such as nervousness, irritability, headaches, fatigue, muscular problems, constipation, and indigestion — are hard to pinpoint as lead-related.” Prior research by the Wellesley researchers in cooperation with The Food Project found lead levels above 400 micrograms per gram of soil in 81 percent of 144 backyard gardens tested in the Boston communities of Roxbury and Dorchester. Although there is no safe level of lead exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency has set 400 micrograms per gram as the maximum acceptable threshold. To remedy the problem, The Food Project installed raised beds filled with freshly composted soil in community and backyard gardens across the area. Although these raised beds started with lead levels as low as 110 micrograms per gram, monitoring showed that over the course of four years these levels rose to an average of 336 micrograms per gram. In their most recent study, the researchers conducted detailed monitoring and chemical analysis of the raised beds to determine where the lead contamination was coming from. Based on that analysis, the researchers believe that wind and rain are transporting the lead from other contaminated sites. The good news is that the types of lead being found are poorly absorbed by the human body. More importantly, lead exposure can be dramatically reduced simply by discarding the top inch or two of soil from a raised garden bed every year. Sources for this story include: http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/10110216-how-lead-gets-into-urban-vegetable-gardens.html.

Omega-3 fatty acids prevent and may reverse gum disease naturally

(NaturalNews) Periodontitis is an extremely common, and often painful, inflammatory disease of the gums. It causes tissue to separate from teeth, resulting in the accumulation of bacteria and potential bone and tooth loss. Mainstream medicine typically treats the chronic disease with strong antibiotics, vigorous mechanical scraping of the teeth and even surgically cutting away diseased gum tissue. But a new study just published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows there’s a natural way to not only prevent and also treat periodontitis — consume polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially the omega-3s found in cold water fish like salmon and certain nuts. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center pointed out that PUFAs such as those found in fish oil and some nuts are known to have anti-inflammatory properties and that could explain some of their power in fighting gum disease. Bottom line: the scientists discovered that the higher the intake of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly those known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the lower the incidence of periodontitis in the US population. “To date, the treatment of periodontitis has primarily involved mechanical cleaning and local antibiotic application. Thus, a dietary therapy, if effective, might be a less expensive and safer method for the prevention and treatment of periodontitis,” Asghar Z. Naqvi, MPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Department of Medicine said in a press statement. “Given the evidence indicating a role for omega-3 fatty acids in other chronic inflammatory conditions, it is possible that treating periodontitis with omega-3 fatty acids could have the added benefit of preventing other chronic diseases associated with inflammation, including stroke as well.” Naqvi and his team studied data from over 9,000 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The research participants all received dental examinations between 1999 and 2004 and also kept track of their diets and use of supplements such as fish oil. The NHANES study collected extensive demographic, ethnic, educational and socioeconomic data, as well. That permitted the researchers to see if there were any other factors that might cloud the results. Overall, about 8.2 percent of the research subjects had periodontitis — but for those with the highest consumption of DHA, there was a 20 percent reduction in gum disease. Participants with a higher consumption of EPA had a slightly smaller reduction in gum disease. According to Elizabeth Krall Kaye, PhD, a professor in Boston University’s Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, who wrote an editorial which accompanied the periodontitis study, a major finding of the new research is the fact significantly reduced odds of periodontal disease were achieved in people who only consumed very modest amounts DHA and EPA. That raises the question of whether higher, optimal doses of omega-3s might have an even more dramatic protective and therapeutic effect. The new study backs up similar findings in animals. For example, earlier this year, University of Kentucky scientists also found that relatively low doses of omega-3s put the brakes on the growth of gum disease-causing bacteria in mice. That was the first study that clearly showed omega-3s appear to have a direct anti-bacterial effect on oral pathogens. For more information: http://www.naturalnews.com/fish_oils.html http://www.adajournal.org/

What can country of birth tell us about childhood asthma?

Researchers have pooled data from five epidemiological studies to investigate the prevalence of asthma in children in two Boston neighborhoods. Among children born in the United States, low socioeconomic status and exposure to mice and cockroaches were both associated with increased risk of asthma. Neither association was present in children born outside of the US.

Carrots and cruciferous vegetables prevent breast cancer

(NaturalNews) It is safe to assume that most people are aware of breast cancer’s existence, but many lack practical knowledge about how to go about preventing it through nutrition. However, a new study out of Boston University adds to the growing body of literature about the anti-cancer properties of vegetables, particularly cruciferous ones like carrots, collard greens, cabbage and broccoli. As part of the ongoing Black Women’s Health Study, the recent research was particularly focused on foods that help lower the risk of estrogen receptor-negative (ER-negative) breast cancer, a type of breast cancer common among African-American women. But what they found was that many vegetables fight all forms of breast cancer, and even cancer in general. The team tracked more than 50,000 African-American women for 12 years. Roughly 1,300 of these women developed breast cancer during that time, and 35 percent of those cancers were the ER-negative type. But those that ate at least two servings of vegetables a day were 43 percent less likely to develop ER-negative breast cancer than women who ate less than four servings of vegetables per week. Additionally, women who ate three or more servings of just carrots a week were 17 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women who ate carrots less that once a month. And cruciferous vegetables in general exhibited anti-cancer effects for all forms of cancer. There are many practical ways by which women can help avoid getting breast cancer. Instead of celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month, NaturalNews would rather turn it into Breast Cancer Prevention Month by informing readers about the foods and herbs they can eat right now to stay healthy and avoid the disease. To learn more about breast cancer prevention, visit: http://www.naturalnews.com/breast_cancer.html Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69K4WT20101021

No more formaldehyde fumes: researchers create a toxin-free wood adhesive from soy

(NaturalNews) Although many products widely used today — including furniture, flooring and cabinets — look as if they are made of solid wood, they are actually manufactured from composites consisting of wood pieces bonded together with petroleum-based adhesives. Unfortunately, these adhesives are usually loaded with the toxic chemical formaldehyde. In fact, if you’ve ever walked into a new house or furniture store and felt your eyes and throat burn, your discomfort was most likely due to formaldehyde vapors emitted from composite wood materials. And not only can exposure to the formaldehyde fumes in these products cause respiratory, eye, nose and throat irritation, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns it may cause lung, nasopharyngeal and other cancers, too. However, here’s good news: toxic, indoor air polluting composite wood products may soon be a thing of the past. At the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) currently underway in Boston, researchers have just announced they’ve come up with a breakthrough that should have consumers breathing easier. By using a natural compound found in tofu and soy milk to make a safe wood adhesive, they’ve found a way to make composite products without toxic formaldehyde. A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, told the ACS meeting how they’ve developed a soy-based green alternative to current wood adhesives which are made from petroleum. The natural plant-based glue works just as well as conventional formaldehyde-loaded adhesives for interior products, but without toxic vapors. That means plywood, particleboard, and other composite products made with soy adhesives could usher in a new era of eco-friendly furniture, cabinets, flooring, and other products. Charles Frihart, Ph.D., a USDA research chemist who participated in the soy adhesive project, noted that in the early 20th century, composite wood products such as plywood were originally made with natural protein glues. “Petrochemical-based adhesives replaced proteins in most applications based upon cost, production efficiencies, and better durability. However, several technologies and environmental factors have led to a resurgence of protein, especially soy flour, as an important adhesive for interior plywood and wood flooring,” he said in a statement to the media. Dr. Frihart explained there are many compelling reasons for manufacturers to turn to soy adhesives. First are the health risks — ranging from headaches, water eyes and burning sensations to cancer — associated with breathing formaldehyde. In addition, soy is also far cheaper and more sustainable than petroleum-based glues. Dr. Frihart said that researchers have developed a host of new soy adhesives in an effort to improve on old protein glue formulas. In laboratory experiments, the USDA researchers tried a variety of these soy glues on wood samples under harsh conditions, including exposure to water and extremely high temperatures. They identified a soy-based glue composed primarily of soy flour with a water-resistant additive and other modifiers that performed as well as the existing formaldehyde-containing petroleum adhesives. Dr. Frihart’s team plans to develop even stronger soy adhesives in the future. For more information: http://www.naturalnews.com/formaldehyde.html http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/formalde.html

Raising soda prices reduces consumption better than educating the public

(NaturalNews) Raising soda prices appears to reduce consumption significantly, but nutrition education campaigns have little impact, according to a study conducted by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and published in the American Journal of Public Health . Growing concern over the nation’s obesity epidemic has led to suggestions among U.S. lawmakers and policy analysts that a tax on sugary beverages might function to reduce consumption, much as alcohol and cigarette taxes have been shown to reduce consumption of those products. In the new study, researchers artificially modified prices on sweetened soda at the cafeteria of Brigham and Women’s Hospital while holding them constant at the cafeteria of neighboring Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In the first part of the experiment, they raised the price of a 20-ounce bottle of sweetened soda from $1.30 to $1.75, while leaving the prices of diet soda and fruit drinks unchanged. Sales of sweetened drinks decreased by 26 percent, and diet soda sales correspondingly increased 20 percent. Sales of fruit drinks did not change. “It could be people just aren’t responding to the health message or it could be we need better health messages,” researcher Jason Block said. The researchers then restored prices to their original levels for a “washout period,” then initiated an educational campaign consisting of signs promoting soda consumption as a way to lose weight. Consumption of soda showed no change in response. Researchers then once again increased prices of sugary sodas again, which led to an 18 percent drop in sales. No changes in consumption were observed at the cafeteria where prices were left unchanged. This suggests that no external forces were responsible for the changes in consumption at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Block noted that to confirm the applicability of the study’s findings for policy making, the experiments should be repeated for different populations of consumers. “We need to know what works,” Block said. Sources for this story include: http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/06/raising_soda_pr.html.

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