Police: Idaho Man John Olele Bit Off His Roommate’s Nose

… Police believe John Olele, 30, bit off his housemate’s nose after a heated argument Sunday night.

According to KVAL, police in Boise, Idaho, responded to a 911 call about a fight at 9:49 p.m. and reportedly spotted “an adult male with most of his nose missing.”

Officers scoured the property in search of the victim’s nose but were unable to recover the detached flesh. The victim was treated at a hospital.

Police found Olele in the home and charged him with “mayhem,” according to the Idaho Statesman.

The charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, can be leveled against “[a] person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of his body, or disables, disfigures or renders it useless, or cuts out or disables the tongue, puts out an eye, slits the nose, ear or lip,” according to the state criminal codes.

via Police: Idaho Man John Olele Bit Off His Roommate’s Nose.

I think he ate it. Does he look like a nose eater to you? Would you know one if you saw one?

Wikipedia Explains Law on Use of FBI Seal Image to the FBI

This from Joe Peacock of Fark:

So, you get a letter from the FBI asking you to comply with a demand, or face “further legal action.” Most people would be reaching for the Depends adult diapers right then, if they hadn’t soiled themselves already.

But not Wikipedia. When the FBI sent the user-generated encyclopedia a letter demanding that the site take down an image of the agency’s seal, the Wikipedia folks stood their ground.

According to the Wikipedians, the law that the feds cited only limits the use of the agency’s seal to create fake badges or otherwise falsely represent affiliation with the bureau.

Wikipedia responded with what I feel is the best please-fornicate-yourself anyone’s given another entity in the past 10 years: “While we appreciate your desire to revise the statute to reflect your expansive vision of it, the fact is that we must work with the actual language of the statute, not the aspirational version.”

Wow. We’ll be watching to see how this plays out. …

via Wikipedia Explains Law on Use of FBI Seal Image to the FBI.

Remains of St John the Baptist ‘found’

Bone fragments of St John the Baptist appear to have been found on Sveti Ivan Island near Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea.

He is considered one of the most important figures in Christianity.

Further tests are still to be carried out on the fragments, which were discovered late last month.

The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant reports.

via BBC News – Remains of St John the Baptist ‘found’.

He’s all over the place, it seems… India, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Egypt, Rome…

The presumed ‘Head of St John’, enshrined in Rome

Istanbul claims to possess the saint’s arm and a piece of his skull in the Topkapi Palace, as does the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt,^[49] while John’s right hand, with which he baptised Jesus, is said to be in the possession of the Serbian Orthodox Cetinje monastery in Montenegro, and also at the Romanian skete of the Forerunner on Mount Athos. Armenians believe that Gandzasar Monastery‘s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in Nagorno Karabakh, too contains or contained in the past St. John’s head. A discussion about how St. John’s head ended up in medieval Armenia’s province of Artsakh, and in Gandzasar, can be found in the History of the Land of Aghvank, a collection of texts attributed to the medieval Armenian historian Movses Kaghankatvatsi. The fourth-century Armenian Monasery of Surb Karapet (Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, now in southeastern Turkey) established by Saint Gregory the Illuminator contained the relics of Saint John the Baptist; its fate is unclear after the complete destruction of the church by the Turkish army.

In July 2010 a small sarcophagus was uncovered on St. Ivan Island, Bulgaria. According to local archaeologists, the sarcophagus holds relics of John the Baptist which were donated by Constantinople to the destroyed monastery on the island.^[50][51]

An Armenian Apostolic Church, “St. John’s” at Chinsurah, West Bengal, India, also claims to possess a portion of the hand of St. John. Each year on “Chinsurah Day” in the month of January, the Armenians of Calcutta make a pilgrimage to this Church and during the mass the pilgrims are blessed with this hand. During the year, the relic is kept at the Armenian Church, Calcutta. ^{– wikipedia}

Hippy Tune Hating Waterloo Man Arrested for Air Horn Blasting

A Waterloo man faces a disorderly conduct charge after he retaliated against noisy neighbors by blasting an air horn in their direction.

Carl Herold said he got tired of the “hippie tunes” constantly coming from across the street. The 62-year-old bought an air horn from an old dump truck last week, pointed it at his neighbor’s house, connected it to an air compressor for power and started tooting away.

His neighbors called police within minutes. The arresting officer said he heard the horn blasts every few seconds starting about five blocks from the house. He arrested Herold when he refused to stop.

Herold told The Associated Press on Monday he hasn’t decided if he’ll fight the arrest.

via Waterloo man arrested for blasting air horn in retaliation for neighbors’ noise.

My uncle was the bass player for Steppenwolf. Herold, it seems, was not born to be wild. There will be no hippie tunes in jail… so he wins.

US military to create japanese comic books

The US military is using manga to teach a new generation in Japan about the importance of the countries’ half-century security alliance.

A new comic book series features an American boy called Usa-kun – a word play on USA and ”usagi”, Japanese for rabbit – who wears a hooded jacket with bunny ears and befriends a Japanese girl, Anzu Arai.

In the first issue of Our Alliance – A Lasting Partnership, to be published online today, the boy tells Anzu that he has come to defend her home, as they are ”important friends”.

The United States is publishing the Japanese-language comic as the countries mark the 50th anniversary of the security treaty, and two days before the 65th anniversary of the US dropping an atom bomb on Hiroshima.

Over the past year, Japan’s new centre-left government strained ties by publicly toying with the idea of moving a controversial US airbase off the southern island of Okinawa.

In the four-part comic series, the two characters ”explore and learn about the US military in Japan and its role in the US-Japan alliance”. The manga format was ”a very common way of communicating”, said Major Neal Fisher, of the US Forces’ public affairs office in Japan.

”A lot of people love manga … Manga is a very light-hearted way to carry information” on where the US bases are, what they do and how they co-operate with the Japanese forces, he said.

The US, having led the occupation of Japan after World War II, has 47,000 troops stationed around the country.

The comic will be published on http://www.usfj.mil/manga.

via Latest US signals are in manga.

Scientists make link between brain acid and cognition

Almost anyone who has faced a test or a deadline probably wished there was a smart pill to pop. New research suggests that this may eventually be possible.

University of Maryland scientists have linked a brain compound called kynurenic acid to cognition, potentially opening the door to development of a drug that could aid learning in healthy people — and in those with disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“Workers might want to take a pill so they can work harder, and college students would be interested because they already are taking amphetamine-type pills so they will be sharper,” said Robert Schwarcz, professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and pharmacology and experimental therapeutics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research has focused on healthy people, but he says, “What happens with diseases would be a major add-on.”

There are many other research projects around the country into brain function. They are examining a wide variety of factors — vitamin supplements, estrogen, herbs, red wine — as well as ways to bolster blood circulation and chemicals that initiate actions in the brain. Several drugs are already being used to improve cognition in Alzheimer’s patients, but they aren’t effective for every patient.

The odds are long for any new drug treatment gaining government approval for use in humans, but Schwarcz believes that the kynurenic acid discovery could be the breakthrough needed by pharmaceutical companies to produce a commercial product. No human tests have been performed based on the findings, but he believes that at least four major companies have picked up on his research and have begun active drug development programs.

Other scientists think the research shows promise in a sorely needed area.

via Scientists make link between brain acid and cognition.

Radioactive Boars Rampaging Through Germany

It sounds like the plot of a B-movie, yet it’s bizarrely true: Radioactive boars are on the loose and thriving in Germany’s forests.

A succession of mild winters has left Germany scrambling to deal with a skyrocketing wild boar population. Tales of swarming beasts rampaging through city streets and attacking citizens occur with alarming regularity.

The problem has been aggravated by the lingering effects of the Chernobyl disaster from twenty-five years ago; a large portion of the wild animals are contaminated by radioactivity.

Poisonous radiation leaves the beasts completely inedible (wild boar is considered a delicacy in Germany), and the phenomenon is becoming expensive for the German government. In the last hunting season, 650,000 boar were shot versus 287,000 in the previous year. And due to atomic energy regulations, the government must buy contaminated animals from hunters who catch them.

Berlin compensated hunters to the tune of over $500,000 in 2009, writes German newspaper Der Spiegel — quadruple the payment in 2007.

Though the Chernobyl explosion happened a quarter century ago, high levels of radiation remain in the region’s vegetation. And wild boars are especially susceptible because of their proclivity for mushrooms and truffles, which are especially efficient at absorbing radiation.

“In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot are checked for radiation,” Andreas Leppmann from the German Hunting Federation told the paper. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.

While general radioactivity in plants should continue to decrease, levels in fungi may even increase, leaving no end in sight for this issue. One expert told Der Spiegel that the problem will likely remain for at least another 50 years.

via FOXNews.com – Radioactive Boars Rampaging Through Germany.

Humber rock art mystery solved

When Peter Riedel looks at a riverbed, he sees a puzzle in the rocky surface.Riedel, 48, is the Toronto photographer responsible for the mysterious rock statues that appeared in the Humber River near the Old Mill this weekend.People who live in the area thought it was the work of engineering students or anonymous urban artists. A story about the mysteryappeared in Tuesday’s paper.“It was a real thrill to see it in the paper,” Riedel, 48, said at his home Tuesday. “It was a nice way to wake up with a coffee.”Riedel waded into the Humber River on Sunday afternoon and balanced rocks for four hours, with a crowd of about 30 watching on shore. He made 30 formations, each within 10 minutes. Some have the look of an inukshuk; another looks remarkably like an egret that visits the river. (“That’s my favourite one,” Riedel said.)

Tuesday afternoon, Riedel returned to talk about his work and fix a few pieces that had toppled in the wind. A crowd had gathered to take photos, not realizing the artist was in their midst.

“Are they glued?” Ingrid Hovesen asked her husband. “Does he just pick up any old stone?”

Riedel hears both questions a lot.

“There’s a centre of gravity, an invisible spine where it will stay in place. You just have to jiggle it around until it’s standing on its own,” he said. “Over time you get a really good feel for matching rock surfaces and counter balancing.” …

via Humber rock art mystery solved – thestar.com.

Ask a Scientist: Why Is Urine Yellow?

Answer: Of the three types of cone cells in your retina, the medium and long ones respond the most and tell your brain “yellow” in reaction to the 570 nm reflected light which reaches your eye because the urobilins in urine does not absorb that wavelength of light.

The yellow color in urine is due to chemicals called urobilins. Urobilin is a chemical formed, eventually, from the breakdown of the hemoglobin in your blood.

Hemoglobin in the blood is what transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body (i.e. the tissues) where it releases the oxygen for cell use.

You start with a heme group (left), then remove the iron (Fe) and you end up with urobilin (right).  When your urine contains many urobilins, it’s more yellow, and when it’s low on urobilins, it is more clear.

There are a few steps in between.

[ Bilirubin is the breakdown product of the heme part of hemoglobin from worn-out red blood cells.  Urobilinogen is a colourless product of bilirubin reduction. It is formed in the intestines by bacterial action. Urobilin is produced when Urobilinogen is oxidized by intestinal bacteria; it can also be produced when urobilinogen is exposed to the environment upon urination, resulting in its oxidation to urobilin. Most bilirubin is partly broken down in the liver, stored in the gall bladder, broken down some more in the intestines, [some of] its metabolites remain in the bloodstream to be extracted by the kidneys where, converted to urobilins, it gives urine that familiar yellow tint. … These same yellow chemicals also cause the yellow color of jaundice and of bruises, both of which result when more hemoglobin than usual is being broken down and/or the processing of its breakdown products by the liver is not able to keep up.   – Science In Action: Why Is Urine Yellow? ]

Urobilin is produced when Urobilinogen is oxidized by intestinal bacteria; it can also be produced when urobilinogen is exposed to the environment upon urination, resulting in its oxidation to urobilin. – Wikipedia

Our blood is amazing. Ethan Siegel on science blogs says, “there are about 30 trillion red blood cells in the human body, meaning you are both destroying (and making) new red blood cells at a rate of around 2.7 million cells per second. What’s more, is that every red blood cell has about 270 million hemoglobin molecules in it, with each one capable of carrying four oxygen molecules (and having four heme groups).”

If your urine is dark yellow, you probably are not drinking enough water.  See the hydration scale. Um, I think you are supposed to squint at it, because if my urine had those little dots I’d freak out.

The colors we see are the result of our eyes and brains responding to different wavelengths of light.

Isaac Newton discovered that white light splits into its component colors when passed through a prism.  You see a rainbow of colors, but, you can put those colors back together and get white light if you pass them through another prism that bends the light back together.

Light is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye (in a range from about 380 or 400 nanometres to about 760 or 780 nm). Visible yellow light has a wavelength of about 570 nanometers.  Urine is yellow not because urobilin emits 570 nm light, but that it absorbs light better that is not in the yellow range.

You see yellow because your retina’s color opponent mechanism sends a signal up your optic nerve that, in the battle between yellow and blue, yellow has won.

Metagenomic symbiosis between bacterial and viral pathogens in autoimmune disease

Here is some great cutting edge information about autoimmune disease.  It seems that there are many more microbes in our bodies than anyone ever knew.

A couple weeks ago, I gave a presentation at the International Congress on Autoimmunity in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The talk was about successive infection and how viruses and bacteria can work together to cause an autoimmune disease state.

Amy Proal graduated from Georgetown University in 2005 with a degree in biology. While at Georgetown, she wrote her senior thesis on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Marshall Protocol.