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Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Should the Government Pay for Ipilimumab?
How can the state pay for drugs that are shown to be effective against disease but cost far too much? Regularly, someone will be on a current affairs television program and point their finger at the government for not continuing to supply their needed medication. In the long term a government must balance the books. There is simply not enough revenue to provide new expensive drugs.
A new treatment for melanoma called Ipilimumab is very effective, but it costs $120,000 for a three month course. It stops the cancer from spreading beyond the skin. Ipilimumab can also be used to treat some types of lung cancer.
Should the government subsidize this drug? Like all medications there are side effects that can be severe in some patients. Symptoms include constipation, diarrhea, urination complications, bloating, stomach pain, fever and breathing difficulties.
The drug usually extends life by several months. In some cases patients survive for a year. A value judgement is needed to decide whether this treatment is added to the pharmaceutical benefits list. Obviously, there are many new drugs that prolong life for a relatively short period. Personally, if I was to get melanoma I would not worry about extending my life for maybe a year. I would be looking at the quality of my final days of life.
Health
Fame Can Shorten Life
If you want to be famous or are driven to it, there may be a cost. Though, I am still not sure if it is statistically proven, it seems that being well know shortens life. Obituaries were examined and they showed that celebrities lives were shorter by a few years.
It is surmised that having fame at a young age then losing it later in life is a burden that shortens lives. This is questionable because many famous celebrities remain so even when they officially retire. It could be that the drive for fame remains into old age and this destroys life. This is closely aligned with a risk taking personality. Life could be shorter due to self-destruction.
Fame
Japan Steps into Space
Let us wish the Japanese well in their bid to explore space. The US has had great success with their missions. It seems odd why Japan would spend money on space exploration when the economy is in such bad shape. Nonetheless, all people in the world benefit from new knowledge,
After success with its first attempt to retrieve samples from the Itokowa space rock, the second spacecraft Hayabusa2 will be launched in 2014 and closely examine asteroid 1999 JU3. The rendezvous will take place in 2018. Valuable samples will be brought back to Earth in 2020.
Japan is doing the work with assistance from other nations. The probe will be tracked by NASA's Deep Space Network. Like the first project the spacecraft will land in Australia. Powered by ion engines the craft will make a small crater in 1999 JU3. In the past this asteroid may have come into contact with water.
A German made lander called MASCOT will move over the rock's surface. Intense examination will hopefully bring to light new understanding about asteroids. The search for life elsewhere in the cosmos is still paramount.
Space
An Attempt to Get Survivors to Another Planet Is Futile
Australian astronomers are searching for planets in other solar system that could sustain human life. Dr Charley Linweaver says Mankind is reaching the beginning of the end. It's time to look for a way out at least for a small group of people. The number of planets identified orbiting other suns now exceeds 750. Though a few of these could be like the Earth, exact information is lacking.
The objective of getting people to such a distant destination is way "off the planet" at present. We do not have the technology to get people in orbit around other planets in our own solar system, let alone reaching a far away planet and landing safely.
Finding an identical planet to Earth is just not possible. This planet is a freak in regard to the universe. Most planets do not have life because they are regularly hit by asteroids and even other planets. Sending probes to a possible twin planet would be a waste of time. It would literally take a lifetime to get a message back.
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Science
There Is Soil on Mars
NASA scientists are now saying that "soil" on Mars could support vegetable life. Without an atmosphere, though, it seems no life is possible. Scientists are specific enough to say that asparagus and turnips will grow in Mars' soil but strawberries will not. Are they joking? Or are they for real?
The Phoenix Mars Lander found soil that is very much like that in many Earth backyards. Scientists are shocked that they have found soil. It is alkaline - thus, the claim that it is not good for strawberries. Apparently, the soil is rich in trace minerals.
My, how scientists can be wrong. It was thought that Mars "soil" would be salty - with no atmosphere and the sun would bleach it. But they were wrong. At least we know that there is soil and water in the form of ice just beneath the surface. There is evidence that in the past water flowed on the surface because erosion is evident. Rivers, lakes and oceans existed there once. Water reservoirs such as these indicate that the planet did once have an atmosphere.
If life did survive for a time on Mars future exploration will surely find it.
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The Phoenix Mars Lander found soil that is very much like that in many Earth backyards. Scientists are shocked that they have found soil. It is alkaline - thus, the claim that it is not good for strawberries. Apparently, the soil is rich in trace minerals.
My, how scientists can be wrong. It was thought that Mars "soil" would be salty - with no atmosphere and the sun would bleach it. But they were wrong. At least we know that there is soil and water in the form of ice just beneath the surface. There is evidence that in the past water flowed on the surface because erosion is evident. Rivers, lakes and oceans existed there once. Water reservoirs such as these indicate that the planet did once have an atmosphere.
If life did survive for a time on Mars future exploration will surely find it.
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Science
Earliest Lifeforms Were Like Baseballs, Tennis and Soccer Balls
Earliest life on this planet looked like tennis and soccer balls. Images show round ball-like creatures. One type has the curved line around it like a tennis ball. Another has five sides shapes around its surface like a soccer ball.
At first the lifeforms were believed to be giant bacteria. Currently the verdict is they are metazoan embryos. They could ultimately be found to be protists such as fungi, algae and diatoms.
Though they are the earliest kind of life found, the find at this particular site in China is just by chance. Different life could have developed elsewhere. Two animals have also been found at the site that lived during the "Snowball Earth" period. One of the animals could be the first instance of a bilateral, life with a symmetrical body.
China and Australia were once joined together on the supercontinent of Gondwana. Fossils in the Flinders Range of Australia also claim the "ticket" for the oldest known form of life.
At first the lifeforms were believed to be giant bacteria. Currently the verdict is they are metazoan embryos. They could ultimately be found to be protists such as fungi, algae and diatoms.
Though they are the earliest kind of life found, the find at this particular site in China is just by chance. Different life could have developed elsewhere. Two animals have also been found at the site that lived during the "Snowball Earth" period. One of the animals could be the first instance of a bilateral, life with a symmetrical body.
China and Australia were once joined together on the supercontinent of Gondwana. Fossils in the Flinders Range of Australia also claim the "ticket" for the oldest known form of life.
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Paleontology
New Genomes Could Be Dangerous
There is a lot of excitement about synthetic biology. That is the creation of designer organisms. Many people are concerned, however, fearing the making of monsters that cannot be destroyed, but new developments improve health care and reduce the reliance on non-renewable resources.
New body parts are being made from a patient's own stem cells. GM food crops have been accepted after some early resistance. There are clear benefits for society from these scientific achievements. What is not so clear are the possible dangers from creation of completely new genomes to produce fuel, food, polymers and drugs.
Making new life forms that could reproduce is the area which frightens most people. There isn't much doubt that science will progress. At the moment purpose built creations are limited to 10 genes. This barrier will soon be surpassed.
There is always danger that new things will be misused. We will just have to hope that rules and regulations will prevent this. It seems that science will continue to move forward and not much will be done to stop technical advances.
New body parts are being made from a patient's own stem cells. GM food crops have been accepted after some early resistance. There are clear benefits for society from these scientific achievements. What is not so clear are the possible dangers from creation of completely new genomes to produce fuel, food, polymers and drugs.
Making new life forms that could reproduce is the area which frightens most people. There isn't much doubt that science will progress. At the moment purpose built creations are limited to 10 genes. This barrier will soon be surpassed.
There is always danger that new things will be misused. We will just have to hope that rules and regulations will prevent this. It seems that science will continue to move forward and not much will be done to stop technical advances.
http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/
http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/
http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia
http://www.technorati.com/blogs/
http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com
Science
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