The 2014 film Fed Up is an advocacy documentary. Its message:
- There is a worldwide epidemic of obesity.
- It is endangering our children.
- Increased sugar consumption is responsible.
- The food industry is responsible for our increased sugar consumption because it puts hidden sugar in processed foods, bombards us with advertising, favors profits over health, and lobbies against regulation.
- The government is responsible because it has failed to control the food industry.
The film has received mostly positive reviews and has been called the Inconvenient Truth of the health movement. It was written and directed by Stephanie Soechtig, whose earlier films attacked GMO foods and the bottled water industry, and narrated by Katie Couric, who “gave anti-vaccine ideas a shot” on her talk show in late 2013.
The film shows families struggling with childhood obesity and “experts” expressing their opinions. Their selection of “experts” is heavy on politicians and journalists and light on nutrition scientists.
Is sugar really the cause of the obesity epidemic?
Between 1971 and 2000, the prevalence of obesity in the United States doubled. During that time, fat consumption decreased, carbohydrate consumption rose, and average calorie intake rose (from 2450 to 2618 for men, and from 1542 to 1877 for women); the film blames sugar, but one could argue that total calorie intake was to blame.
Correlation is not causation, even when there is a strong correlation like the one between the rise in autism diagnoses and the rise in the sales of organic food. There is no such strong correlation between sugar consumption and obesity, much less any convincing evidence of causation.
Sugar consumption has actually decreased around the world even as the rate of obesity has continued to climb. Between 1999 and 2008, American consumption of added sugars decreased from 100 g/d to 76 g/d, mainly due to a reduction in soda consumption.
This webpage lists per capita sugar consumption by country, and it clearly does not correlate with rates of obesity in those countries. Countries with higher per capita sugar consumption than the US include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK, and Venezuela. According to this source there are 17 countries with higher rates of obesity than the US. Not a single one of those countries has a higher per capita sugar consumption than the US.
There are other sources with different numbers, and these statistics don’t tell us much, because there are so many possible confounders such as lifestyle, total calorie intake, fiber, the type of sugar, hidden sugar in prepared foods, consumption of an otherwise nutritious diet, etc. The point is that it’s premature to make the kind of definitive pronouncements that the film makes about the role of sugar.
Gary Taubes makes a strong case for low-carb diets both for weight loss and health, but he admits that his hypothesis has not yet been properly tested. Chris Voight did an informal test of its exact opposite, a carbs-only diet: he ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days. According to Taubes’ low-carb theories he should have gained weight and raised his blood sugar, but instead he lost 21 pounds and lowered his blood sugar. His cholesterol and triglyceride levels dropped; he felt well and had plenty of energy.
The sugar/obesity hypothesis has not been properly tested either. There are plenty of examples of people who eat a lot of sugar and processed foods and don’t gain weight. In fact, one obese boy in the film complains that his brother eats the same way he does but doesn’t gain weight. There are plenty of examples of people who have lost weight and kept it off by reducing calorie intake and increasing exercise. We know some of the factors involved in successful weight loss, and eliminating sugar is not on the list.
Restaurants contribute to obesity by providing high-calorie food choices, large servings, and super-sized drinks. Fast food restaurants get a lot of blame, but John Cisna lost 56 pounds in 6 months while eating all his meals at McDonald’s. He counted calories and stuck to a 2000 calorie a day limit.
We don’t know that eliminating sugar from the diet is an effective strategy by itself. A family in the film eliminated sugar from their diet (they said they were “detoxing”!) and lost weight, but that could have been because they ate fewer total calories, and we don’t know that they would have lost any less weight if those fewer calories had included some calories from sugar. And the teenage boy lost weight but then gained it right back. What went wrong?
Colin Campbell of the Center for Nutritional Studies points out that the evidence showing sugar to be a major factor in obesity is relatively weak and is confounded by total calorie intake and other factors. He says:
I know of no evidence that were we to eliminate all sugar from our diets, presumably leaving the rest of the diet the same, we could rid ourselves of disease and restore our health.
The film gets a lot of things wrong
I was going to do some further fact checking, but Google saved me the trouble. I discovered that two writers at Food Insight had already analyzed the claims in Fed Up and shown that the filmmakers got many of their facts wrong. They give these examples:
- “This year for the first time in the history of the world, more people will die from the effects of obesity than from starvation.” Not true: three times as many die of starvation.
- “For the first time in 200 years, the current generation of children are expected to live shorter lives than their parents.” Expected by whom? According to the CDC and the Census Bureau, life expectancies are on an uninterrupted upward trajectory that is expected to continue rising until at least 2020.
- While fitness club memberships more than doubled, the obesity rate also doubled. A meaningless comparison that is intended to suggest that we are helpless to do anything about our weight.
- It rejects the concept of energy balance, but the scientific evidence clearly shows that it is possible to lose weight by decreasing calorie intake and increasing calorie expenditure.
- Dr. Robert Lustig gets a lot of screen time. He says that there is “really good data” that “a calorie is not a calorie,” in that the “toxicity” of sugars is an inherent and unique contributor to obesogenicity. “When your liver gets that big sugar rush… it has no choice but to turn it into fat immediately.” His language is inflammatory, demonizing sugar as toxic and addictive. Lustig’s views are inconsistent with mainstream scientific opinions based on all the available evidence. Dr. David Katz of the Yale Prevention Research Center characterizes Lustig’s theories as “humbug” and explains why.
- “Between 1977 and 2000, Americans have doubled their daily intake of sugar.” Not true: Americans are eating more total calories but have not doubled the calories from sugar.
- “Over 95 percent of all Americans will be overweight or obese in two decades.” No, obesity prevalence has leveled off since 2003 and the forecasted trend-line is virtually flat.
- It claims that consuming a single soda per day increases one’s risk of diabetes by 22 percent. Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes; the film presents a simplistic caricature of the relationship between sugar and diabetes.
- The film says the pledge of food companies to remove 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace amounts to “nothing,” a mere 14 calories a day per person. Actually, they have already removed 6.4 trillion calories, ahead of schedule and more than 400 percent of the original goal. The resulting reduction of 78 calories a day per person is probably more than enough to meet the Healthy People 2020 target for obesity reduction.
This review concludes by saying the central claims of the film are shadings of the truth, sins of omission, and outright fabrication. It says the film’s “obsessive focus on a single nutrient actually could cause more harm than good, in that overconsumption of any macronutrient can lead to overweight and obesity.” It offers credible evidence and provides links to additional resources.
At Reason.com, Baylen Linnekin points out that the film overwhelmingly features supporters of increased food regulation, and non-supporters are treated unfairly. David Allison is asked for his opinion on the contribution of sugar-sweetened beverages to obesity, and when he asks for a moment to collect his thoughts, the editing cuts him off and makes him look foolish.
In the film, Senator Tom Harkin asks how the food industry executives can sleep at night. I find that ironic. He supported farm bills that pay billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers in his home state Iowa, which leads the nation in high fructose corn syrup production. Harkin is a major advocate of alternative medicine who has been instrumental in legislation such as creating the NCCAM, a travesty and a waste of taxpayer dollars. He is so ignorant of how science works that he complained that the NCCAM has been disproving things rather than doing its intended job of “seeking out and approving.” He has been characterized on this blog as “waging a war on science.” I wonder how Harkin can sleep at night.
What can be done to improve the American diet?
I think we can all agree that the typical American diet is not healthy. It provides too much processed food, convenience food, sodas, red meat, salt, sugars, and calories; and it is deficient in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Sugar is only one part of the obesity problem, a part that may be due to its contribution to total calorie intake rather than anything inherently bad about sugar. No one would argue that we shouldn’t try to reduce sugar consumption; the question is how to accomplish that.
The film’s comparison to tobacco is interesting. For a long time, the tobacco industry misled the public about the dangers of smoking. Tobacco advertising dropped when equal time was required for anti-smoking information. Societal attitudes changed rapidly for tobacco thanks to public information campaigns. Legislation has contributed to a decrease in smoking, but I would argue that legislation would not have been possible without a change in public perceptions.
I think the general public is well aware of the need to control weight, and instead of trying to control their eating habits by passing laws to control the food industry, we might do better to educate them about how to eat a healthier diet. There is so much they don’t understand. The film shows tearful families unable to lose weight and trying so hard — but their efforts include things like switching from regular Hot Pockets to a low-fat version. There are many flavors of Lean Pockets, but the very first one I looked up contained the equivalent of 3-4 tsp of sugar and a whopping 655 calories. Obese teenagers are shown lamenting their inability to lose weight while gorging on cereal, finishing large bags of potato chips to “savor the flavor,” and choosing hamburgers and fries for lunch at school. One is shown making what he thinks is a “healthy lunch” to take to school: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! These people desperately want to adopt healthier eating habits, but they have no idea how to go about it. How can we best help them?
People complain that they weren’t able to lose weight by reducing calories, but some of them don’t realize that they never actually reduced calories enough to get results. I once had an overweight 13-year-old boy as a patient. I asked what he usually ate for lunch, and we calculated that his daily cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake added up to over 1000 calories. I asked if he would consider bringing a lower calorie sack lunch from home, and he enthusiastically agreed. He had never even thought of that option. I had an adult patient who couldn’t understand why she hadn’t lost weight when she was eating mostly yogurt. She thought yogurt was “diet food” so she could eat as much of it as she wanted. When I asked her to read the label, she was astounded to learn that each container of yogurt had 240 calories.
Efforts are already underway to improve school lunches and remove junk food vending machines from schools. That’s a step in the right direction. Agatha Raisin, a character in a delicious series of mystery novels by M. C. Beaton, brags that she loves to cook, but her idea of cooking is sticking a TV dinner in the microwave. A lot of our young people grow up with similar ideas about what it means to cook. Why not require Home Ec. classes in our schools? They could teach nutrition, menu planning, and meal preparation from scratch with fresh ingredients. Students might learn to think of healthier options when it comes to planning what to do for dinner.
To my mind, it’s not just a matter of educating children, but of educating the parents who buy and serve the food their children eat at home, educating the parents who think you can lose weight by switching from Hot Pockets to Lean Pockets. Just as information campaigns educated the public about smoking, they could educate the public about healthy food choices, hidden sugars, and calorie content of various foods. Even without legislation, a public outcry and grass roots movements would be enough to change food manufacturing. The food industry exists to please its customers and has provided us with easy, timesaving, attractive options that are hard to resist. What if the general public learned to buy less processed food, to read labels, to avoid hidden sugars, to be aware of how many calories they are ingesting, and to enjoy cooking at home? If they did that, market forces would make the food industry adapt. If companies wanted to keep profits up, they would have to be creative about providing healthier products. Just think how quickly they responded to public enthusiasms like gluten-free and low-carb.
People naturally tend to eat the way their parents ate, the way their culture eats. It can be hard for them to even imagine other ways of eating. My parents grew up on farms and ate the way their own parents and grandparents had always eaten. I grew up thinking the ideal meal was meat, potatoes, a green vegetable, a yellow vegetable, bread and butter, a sugary dessert, and milk for a beverage. Last night I cooked dinner from scratch, using several ingredients that never crossed the threshold of my mother’s kitchen, including red quinoa, chickpeas, collard greens, olive oil, yogurt, and limes. I used to see items like those in the grocery store and pass them by; it never would have occurred to me to cook with them because I had no experience with them and wouldn’t have known what to do with them. We can’t expect people to think outside the box of the traditional American family dinner table and the fast food restaurant without some help. My horizons have been hugely expanded by subscribing to the Blue Apron program, which has me cooking from scratch with a variety of ingredients like heirloom vegetables and exotic foods from other cultures (many of which I had never even heard of) and trying out new cooking techniques. Blue Apron is expensive and is not something that could be recommended for everyone, but I can see how school programs and media campaigns might be able to accomplish something similar.
I favor education over regulation. I’m not against regulating the food industry, but I would like to see proposals tested before they are widely implemented. Providing nutrition information on menus seemed like a great idea, but it has had minimal impact on food choices in real-world settings. Many thousands of young people were put through abstinence-only sex education programs before we realized they were ineffective and might even be doing more harm than good. We can’t just assume that any proposed remedy for the obesity epidemic will work. No matter how slam-dunk it sounds, it must be tested using scientific methods.
The film’s thesis, that sugar has caused the obesity epidemic, is not well supported by evidence. It is a partial truth that the filmmakers have dogmatically represented as the whole truth, with nary a hint of nuance. And it’s not fair to demonize the food industry. It has done a lot of good by providing a greater variety of safer food to more people for lower prices. We must share the responsibility for their shortcomings, because their less healthy offerings were created in response to public demand, and large numbers of people have chosen to buy those products because they don’t know any better.
The film will undoubtedly do some good by helping raise public awareness of childhood obesity and of hidden sugars in processed foods. I only wish it could have done so without misrepresenting the facts and without the bias and hype in support of the filmmakers’ political agenda of increasing food regulation. I try to eat a healthy diet, but I enjoy an occasional sugary treat and fast food meal, and I appreciate the convenience of packaged, processed foods when I don’t have a lot of time to shop and cook. I see no compelling reason to think it is impossible for people to lose weight on a diet that is overall nutritious and calorie controlled but that allows small amounts of even the “worst” foods.


Notes on "Mirrors in the Mind", by Rizzolatti, Fogassi and Gallese, Scientific American Magazine, November 2006 issue, p30-37.
The need for deduction of the meaning of complex (human) behaviours is quite probable, however, the ease with which simple behaviours and actions are understood suggests that there is another, simpler, explanation. This line of thought (among others) has led to the discovery and characterisation of so-called 'mirror neurons'. This paper follows the line of research central to this new understanding, and is written by some of those who were, and still are, actively involved in its progress.
The first indications of these neurons came from primate studies. It was noticed that certain neurons fired in a monkey brain when the individual was engaged in simple goal directed behaviour. Even more interestingly, these same neurons fired when another individual was observed performing these same actions. It was because of this behaviour that they were called mirror neurons. They were studied through single unit recordings, and through behaviour analysis in monkeys, which provided strong evidence for the presence of these special neurons. A second possible method of analysing the functions of mirror neurons would be to remove the mirror neuron system - however, because of the very wide ranging cognitive deficiencies which would result, this method would not have provided any conclusive evidence. Instead, an alternative method was used. Given their supposed function in understanding, their activity should reflect the meaning of the action rather than the action itself. Two experiments were run on this basis. In the first, it was tested to see whether the activity of mirror neurons could be induced from only the sound of an action being performed - the results showed that a subset of mirror neurons which were activated for the sight and sound of an action being performed were also activated for the sound alone. This subset was dubbed audiovisual mirror neurons. In the next experiment, even fewer cues were provided for the monkey - merely sufficient for it to create an internal representation of what was going on. Again, the results confirmed that mirror neurons underlie the understanding of motor actions - when enough information is present for an action to be inferred, mirror neurons fire as if recreating the parts of the action which are not directly observed.
Based on these observations in monkeys, a natural progression of the research was to assess whether mirror neurons also exist in humans. Cortical signal measurements provided an indication that they were present, but the accurate localisation of the neurons in human subjects is more difficult than in monkeys (no invasive procedures). Brain imaging was thus used to address this question. Using PET (Positron Emission Tomography), further support for this view was obtained. A further question raised by this experiment was explore the possibility that mirror neurons allow one to understand the intention of an action by distinguishing a particular action from others which have different goals.
To address this question, monkeys were used for single unit recordings (of parietal neurons). In one experiment, its task was to grasp a piece of food and bring it to its mouth. Its next action was to grasp a piece of food, but this time place it into a container. For most of the neurons, there was a distinct difference in readings between the two cases, despite the similarities in actions, because of the different goals. This result "illustrated that the motor system is organised in neuronal chains, each of which encodes the intention of the act." The second part of the experiment then attempted to address the issue of whether this neural behaviour explains how we understand the intentions of others. Using a similar procedure as previously, a monkey was set to watch an experimenter perform one of two actions - grasp and then either bring food to the mouth, or place in a container - and single unit recordings taken. The results were quite striking (tome at least): "The patterns of firing in the monkey's brain exactly matched those we observed when the monkey itself performed the acts...". This was for both tasks, thus illustrating a link between the neural representations of motor actions and the capacity to understand the intention of those same actions in others. Using brain imaging, these results seem to be also confirmed in humans.
Further studies showed that emotions may also be communicated in this way. Given that the communication of emotions is of vital importance in a social network (such as the societies and interpersonal relationships in which humans persist), the action of mirror neurons may explain this - "Thus, when people use the expression 'I feel your pain' to indicate understanding and empathy, they may not realise just how literally true their statement could be". It is acknowledged that this mechanism does not explain all possible aspects of social cognition, but it does go a long way in providing a neural basis for interpersonal interactions. Deficiencies in this system may then be responsible for conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, in which interpersonal communication and difficulty with picking up social cues are characteristic. (V.S. Ramachandran, among others, has written on this subject.)
On a side note, philosophers have long held that one must experience something 'within oneself' in order to truly comprehend it - the finding of mirror neurons provides a physical basis for this view. More than this, this discovery has the potential to dramatically change "the way we understand the way we understand". More recent recent evidence has suggested that the mirror neuron mechanism plays an important part of how people learn new skills. Imitation is very important for humans when young and learning skills and knowledge, much more so than any of the other primates. Could the development of the mirror neuron system in our phylogenetic past be responsible for this? Studies are ongoing to address the question of whether they exist in other species, or whether they are a more recent evolutionary development. Whatever the answer, it is clear that mirror neurons have an important role to play in communication and learning - more detailed characterisation is the subject of ongoing research.


Hipotlamo, part of diencfalo, with inferior localization to the thalamus. He is composed for about twelve nuclei, forming four main regions. To mamilar, posterior part of hipotlamo includes the bodies mamilares and the posterior hipotalmico nucleus. The tuberal region, that is the part widest of hipotlamo, includes the nuclei back-medial, ventro-medial and hooped, more infundbulo. The medium eminence, slightly prominent region, that surrounds infundbulo. The region supply-optics is superior to quiasmo optic, nucleus to paraventricular, the supply-optic nucleus, previous the hipotalmico nucleus and the supraquiasmtico nucleus.
The region daily pay-optics, is previous the supply-optics is, generally considered as part of hipotlamo, for participating it together with, of the regulation of certain autonmicas activities. Hipotlamo is one of the main regulators of the homeostasia. Other receivers, in proper hipotlamo, continuously monitor the osmtica pressure, certain hormonais contractions and the temperature of the blood. The main functions of hipotlamo are the following ones: Control of the SNA: hipotlamo controls and integrates the activities of the autonmico nervous system, that in turn, regulates the contraction of muscles smooth cardiopath of the secretion of many glands. By means of the SNA, hipotlamo and the main regulator of the visceral activities, including the regulation of the cardiac frequency, the food movement throughout the gastrintestinal treatment and of the contraction of the urinria bladder.
Control of the gland hipfise: hipotlamo produces some hormones and has two types of important connections with the gland hipfise, a endcrina gland, with inferior situation to hipotlamo. Regulating hipotalmicos hormones are set free in hair nets, in the medium eminence. The cellular bodies of these neurons produce one of two hormones (ocitocina or antidiurtico hormone). Regulation of the emotional and mannering standards. Together with the lmbico system, hipotlamo regulates the feelings of anger, aggression, pain and pleasure, also, behavior related with sexual activation. Regulation of the water and food ingestion.


A new resource has been developed to help teach mini science lessons to youth who are home from school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The videos are posted on Facebook and each video has a list of applicable TEKS and links to the activity resources discussed. This page will be updated with additional resources as they are added.
Wildlife Adaptations (video posted 03/18/20):
Animal Camouflage Lesson
Wildlife Skull Adaptations
Animal Behavior (video posted 03/20/20):
Lesser Prairie Chickens, video 1 and video 2
Bird Behavior Activity
Bird Beak Adaptations (video posted 03/25/20):
All About Birds, sorted by taxonomy
Bird Beak Activity
Bird Beak Adaptation Match worksheet


The MENA region made remarkable progress during the MDG era, starting from an already relatively advanced baseline. But progress towards the MDG goals and targets was uneven between and within countries, with inequalities widening. The uprisings in the region that started in 2011 had widespread impact and gave rise to new conflicts and unprecedented displacement. As a result, MDG progress slowed for some goals in some countries and there were even reversals of progress in countries most affected by conflict and displacement. Assessments of progress across 13 countries at the end of the MDG era suggest that progress has been greatest in the eradication of extreme poverty and access to improved sanitation. On the other hand, there is insufficient progress related to targets on undernutrition in a significant number of MENA countries.
The MENA region consists of low- and middle-income countries that are facing a double of burden of malnutrition (i.e. stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies) and over-nutrition (i.e., overweight and obesity) and the associated chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The nutrition situation of young children across MENA reveals inequities in the nutrition status of children under five between and within countries. Additionally, the region has been inundated with on-going conflicts for many years, further affecting the nutrition status of the most vulnerable population, women and children. The effects of persistent conflict in MENA are not limited to death and injuries, but include secondary in-direct consequences such as the deterioration of social, economic, and health conditions, both in conflict-affected countries as well as neighbouring countries. Nutrition interventions vary between conflict and non-conflict countries as the former appear to have interventions focused on treatment of acute malnutrition and saving lives. Moreover, these countries undergo wider sub-national inequity, especially within wealth quintiles and area of residence.
 Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, State of Palestine, Yemen.


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Upon the comparison of two groups of nurses, it became clear that training on chronic wound care management enhances confidence and preciseness amongst the nurses. For instance, the study indicated that prior to their training, nurses felt unsecured to address some of the challenges that accompany chronic wounds. They fear aggravating the physical and emotional pain that the patients suffer thereby averting engaging in procedures that they are unsure about. Additionally, nurses practice defensive strategies so as to reduce the chances of having to deal with medical malpractice litigations. In fact, prior to their training, over 80 percent of the nurses report that they would consider practicing defensive strategies, a situation which would consequently increase risks to the sufferers’ lives. Additionally, such practices increase the costs of chronic wound management, both to the sufferer and to the health care provider (Sussman & Bates-Jensen, 2007).
Nurses reported that they consider undertaking defensive measures so as to avoid jeopardizing the nursing career. According to the respondents, defensive medical practice is pervasive and widespread. Many nurses admitted to have frequently administered unnecessary treatments for fear of compensation claims from the patients. According to them, the inability to define the right factors that would facilitate effective wound management held them back. However, according to the respondents, training enhances preparedness amongst the nurses. As such, they possess precise awareness of the chronic wound management, a scenario which facilitates enhanced treatment as well as the preparedness to inform patients on how to effect chronic wound management from an informed point of view (Sussman & Bates-Jensen, 2007).
A single dimension of learning limits the ability to accommodate new information, and, consequently, lowers the ability to make sense of that information in a quick, accurate, and effective manner. For instance, if a nurse over-relies on written texts, he/she tends to opt for what is familiar. They, therefore, concentrate on the facts that he/she knows instead of getting innovative and adaptive to new situations. In this regard, as much as learning is proves to be beneficial, the performance of nurses is enhanced when they begin forming inter-professional teams as this heightens their level of preparedness. This fact enables the nurses to respond positively when queried on matters pertaining to the management of chronic wounds (Sussman & Bates-Jensen, 2007). Effective training as well as the engagement in inter-professional teams does prompt the improvement of positive response from 72.2 percent to 91.6 percent.


Food allergies among children are fairly common, with about 8% of children affected—nearly nine million kids in the population. If you’re child happens to be allergic to certain foods, it’s especially important that you train your child to take precautions at school, where you can’t always monitor what she’s eating.
Here are a few school safety tips to help avoid food-related allergic reactions
- Instruct your child about the foods she cannot eat.
- Knowledge is the foundation of safety. Be sure that your child knows precisely which foods she is allergic to, and be sure also that she understands that some prepared foods may contain these allergens without it being obvious. Make a list of all foods that could possibly contain the allergen, and make sure your child knows it by heart.
- Make sure all teachers, nurses, and administrators know about your child’s allergies.
- You can’t be at school to monitor your child’s potential ingestion of allergy-inducing foods. But if you inform all adults that your child encounters on a daily basis, they can do their best to make sure your child avoids foods that she’s allergic to.
- Be on the safe side—pack your child’s lunch every day.
- Prepared foods can be such a crapshoot when it comes to children’s allergies that it’s best to avoid them as much as possible. Lunches that you prepare yourself are often a lot healthier than food options offered at the cafeteria. What’s more, you can control everything that goes into your child’s lunch. Be sure to prepare the lunch with your child, if possible, so she can gain a clearer understanding of what she can and cannot eat.
- Teach your child how to properly use an Epipen and how to wash her hands thoroughly throughout the day, especially before and after meals.
- Sometimes, you simply cannot avoid accidents. Even if you pack your child’s lunch, there are so many other opportunities for allergic reactions—other kids’ snacks and meals, classroom parties, and accidental exposure when children touch their mouths with their hands. It’s especially important that your child understands the importance of washing their hands periodically throughout the day—especially during mealtimes—to avoid accidental exposure. Make sure also that your child knows how to use an Epipen in the event of a reaction that causes anaphylaxis.
The good thing about food allergies in young children is that they often grow out of these allergies. Some allergies persist throughout their lives, however, so it’s important that your child regularly go to a doctor and understand which foods she may be allergic to. Good luck!
Lauren Bailey is a freelance blogger who loves writing about education, new technology, parenting, lifestyle, and health. As an education writer, she works to research and provide information for those choosing an online college and welcomes comments and questions via email at blauren 99 @gmail.com.


However, one challenge many students encounter when switching from a traditional school to an online school is a lack of personal space in the home to learn. Parents can help by dedicating a consistent area in the house for schoolwork. This creates a focus on learning and helps your child feel like he has responsibilities for daily learning.
Because the home is a different environment, designed more for living, a few adjustments are necessary to improve your at-home online student's success and comfort.
Find a distraction-free zone. Your student can't focus sitting in the middle of traffic, nor can he in the busyness of a daily household. Find a quiet corner, perhaps in a bedroom, office, or living room that is designated as "the learning spot." Ensure this area has excellent light, a comfortable temperature, and the least noise as possible. Remove distractions like clutter, cell phones, and television. Consider installing monitoring software.
Make the best use of space. Of course, a desk for your student will remind him of traditional school and could be a good option for your learning spot. However, if you don't have room, consider making desks out of tables, counters, or shelves. Garage sales can also offer cheap desks or convertible work stations. Make sure your student has space for proper posture!
Create a personalized spot. Make your student's area unique to his personality. Put up shelves for his items. Put school supplies, like calculators, paper, writing utensils, and so forth in easy reach. Include a bulletin board or whiteboard if possible (or try a digital version.) Put up pictures. Make it a colorful, fun space where your student will want to learn!
Remember lessons can be mobile. One of the benefits of online learning is being able to take school anywhere. While it's good to have a designated spot at home for learning, keep in mind the flexibility of at-home learning means your student can do lessons anywhere. If it's a nice day, do schoolwork on the patio. If you're on vacation or have errands to run, do lessons in the car.
Encourage learning beyond lessons. In an online school, your student can make his own schedules, meaning schoolwork can completed faster than in traditional school. Allowing for shorter school days, online school gives your student more time to grow and develop his talents! Foster further learning with sports, music, art, library visits, field trips, clubs and groups, or community activities.
Show a positive parental attitude. Nothing fosters learning more than a positive ambiance. This is reflected in attitudes. Nurturing an environment of true growth requires daily parental help and encouragement. Remember you are also your child's teacher. Reflect positivity. Your child will model his behavior after you!
Online school is wonderfully free from traditional school limitations. Take advantage of the flexibility it affords by thinking beyond the average school classroom set-up. Construct an at-home environment that builds up your student's academic abilities, interests, and goals. Make it personal. Make it safe and comfortable. Make it your student's.
Learning never stops, so it's a good thing online schools never close!
What advice do you have for creating an at-home learning environment?


Original article: Studies on Slack
Proposition: If you have enough free resources you can evolve irreducibly complex features.
Imagine a bunch of yeast cells added to a barrel of malt when beer is being brewed. They have an ocean of free resources at their disposal. Surely, the evolutionary pressure will be low and the yeast cells would be able to escape the local maximum and evolve an irreducibly complex eye.
Where this idea fails is not taking the nature of exponential growth into account. Exponential means being fast. It means, in fact, being faster than anything you can visualize. The barrel would be fully fermented in just couple of days.
In other words: No matter how big a whale fall is, it will be exploited fast. The body of the whale will be eaten in months and the last bacterial remains of the ecosystem will survive for maybe 100 years. Nowhere near the time needed for a complex evolutionary change to happen by chance.
It's worth looking at E. coli long-term evolution experiment here. Since 1988 E. coli is cultivated in a uniform substrate and observed to see how it evolves. From our perspective it's interesting that each day 1% of population is transferred to a new flask with the fresh substrate. One can think of it as of a new whale fall every day. Unfortunately, I am not aware of a control experiment where substrate would be added gradually, which would allow us to see whether environment with slack is more conductive to evolution of new features than environment without slack.
However, in one of the populations in the experiment a speciation event was observed. There's one strain of E. coli that has advantage during growth on the substrate (slack) and another strain that has advantage during stationary phase, when the substrate runs out (moloch).
That hints that supposed slack may not be slack at all, just a different environment exploited in competitive manner by different subset of species (ecological opportunists).
Proposition: Isolation of small subpopulations can produce slack.
Let's start with some basics of population genetics so that we have tools to understand what's going on.
Let's say no human being is able to roll their tongue. What happens when a mutation arises that gives one that ability?
Well, if rolling your tongue makes you more likely to survive and have more children then the trait will be actively selected for. The frequency of the tongue-rolling allele in the population will increase rapidly:
Note that when the frequency reaches 100% there's no way back. There are no more non-tongue-rollers that could reproduce and take over the population. We say that the allele becomes fixed.
But what happens if the allele has no effect on your fitness? What it tongue-rolling makes you neither more likely to survive and reproduce, nor less likely?
In that case the frequency of the allele is a random walk. If increases and decreases solely by chance. In most cases it means it will be wiped out quickly:
Sometimes, though, the allele gets lucky and becomes fixed:
We call this process of random fluctuation of allele frequency "genetic drift".
The things turn interesting when the population size is small. Imagine population of two. Now it's much easier for the new allele to become fixed. Once it comes to being via mutation it already has 50% frequency in the pool and all it takes to become fixed is reproducing once.
The smaller the population, the more alleles become fixed by chance alone. (The picture stolen from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)
To put it in different words, there are two competing forces in play here. There's selection (determinism, Moloch). And then there's drift (randomness, slack). And there are two factors that determine which one is going to be stronger. First, the more effect the allele has on the fitness the more is its evolution driven by selection. Second, the smaller the population, the more it is driven by drift.
In very small populations even alleles that are deletrious (harmful to the survival of the individual) can become fixed by chance.
If there was a single allele that coded for the half of the irreducibly complex eye it could become fixed even though having a half of eye is, strictly speaking, worse than not having an eye at all.
What we gain here is time. We gain slack to wait for a new mutation to completes the eye. There are no more individuals with no eyes at all that would outcompete the half-eyed individuals. Now everybody has a half of an eye (even it the population size grows!) and we are waiting for something to happen. We are standing on a hillock in the adaptive landscape. It could be that the next mutation would produce no-eyed individuals again who would outcompete the half-eyed individuals. In that case we are back to where we started. But it may also happen that the next mutation would provide the second half of the eye and the individuals with the sense of sight would spread through the population.
Now, assuming that our small population originated by splitting from a large ancestral population, for example, some animals migrating to a new island, now that they have evolved a superior trait they can migrate back to their ancestral homeland, win the evolutionary race and become the dominant species. (See peripatric speciation.)
There's not much slack to be seen here. We can call small size of a population "slack" even if it is under intense evolutionary pressure, but that way the term loses its intuitive appeal.
But let's look futher.
Interesting alternative was proposed by the team of Andreas Wagner, here in Zurich. They start with the fact that neutral mutations (neither beneficial nor harmful) are subject to the random drift and thus a population is likely to have a lot of neutral variation at any given point of time. In other words, while the population has only a small variation of phenotypes (how the animals look like) it has large variation of genotypes (how the genomes of the animals look like). Then they show that different genotypes within the same phenotype can have vastly different "neighbourhoods". One animal may, to put it simply, undergo a single mutation and evolve an eye. Another may undergo a different mutation and evolve an ear.
Think of it as of a map. Each colour patch is a different phenotype. Locations within a patch are different genoptyes. Individuals in the population, thanks to neutral mutations (which are by definition free of the selection pressure) can explore the enire area of their particular phenotype. Once the environment changes there may be some individuals just across the border from the phenotype that would do better in the new conditions. Such individuals can undergo a single non-neutral mutation and result in a new phenotype which will then spread in the population via selection.
This may be closer to the intuitive notion of slack. Neutral mutations have slack because they don't affect the phenotype and are thus not acted upon by the selection.
Proposition: Two-layer evolutionary systems can produce their own slack. The outer system can introduce rules that give inner system some slack.
Let's look at some examples.
Multicullular organisms: Each cell is genetically identical to each other cell. There's no variance for the evolution to work with. Any mutations (cancer) are aggressively weeded out. There's no evolutionary slack in the sense of "freedom to evolve in random direction".
Eukaryotic cell: Eukaryotic cell has two genomes so it's harder to tell whether the outer system (nuclear DNA) gives the inner system (mitochondrial DNA) any slack. But we can make an educated guess. First, let's stress the point that mutations in mitochondrial DNA can be as dangerous as mutations in nuclear DNA. There is such a thing as mitochondrial cancer. It ends up with a cell packed up wall to wall with mitochondria. That implies that it doesn't pay off for the cell to give mitochondria too much slack. Second and more important: Look at the crazy measures the cells use to prevent mixing mitochondria from both parents when undergoing sexual reproduction. The fact that sperm cell is stripped of all of its mitochondria before the DNA is allowed to enter the egg cell hints that intra-cell mitochondiral evolutionary conflict is detrimental to the cell as a whole. To sum it up, it looks very much like eukaryotic cells give mitochondria as little slack as possible.
Social insects: In fully social insects such as bees, the individuals have different genomes, but they use a weird trick to ensure social cohesion. To make it short, their reproductive mechanism is such that a sister of a bee is more genetically similar to heself than her own offspring. That's an incentive not to reproduce herself but rather help the queen with reproducing. In the end the system doesn't look too much different from the system used by multicelular organisms. (It may be interesting to look at termites though, which lack the incentive system described above.)
All of the above are systems seem to be the cases of 100% coordination with no slack allowed.
Proposition: Two-layer evolutionary systems with migration can produce slack.
The difference to the previous scenario is that the lower level individuals (say, mitochondria) can migrate between higher level individuals (eukaryotic cells). While mitochondria cannot in fact migrate, there's a huge class of organisms that can. Namely, parasites. (In fact, it's a rule of thumb: Anything that cannot migrate tends to be a mutualist. Anything that can migrate has a tendency towards parasitism.)
These include typical parasites, such as pinworm, but also, on a different level, memes. The common characteristic is that the environment of a parasite is not a single individual of the host species, but rather the entire host species. In theory, an opportunity to play non-zero-sum games emerges: If a parasite helps its host to survive and reproduce it grows the host pool size and may get more populous itself. However, assuming free migration between hosts, there's nothing preventing the old bad strain of parasites invading the new hosts and eventually pushing the do-gooder parasites to the extinction.
Proposition: Two-layer evolutionary systems with controlled migration can produce slack.
I am going to get handwavy here.
Imagine that the control exercised by the outer system is incomplete. Not because the outer system would get any short-term evolutionary advantage from relaxing the control but simply because the controled individuals sometimes manage to escape and find a different host. It is not clear how such a relationship could be stable though. It seems that one side must prevail: Either the host gets full control and what we get is a mutually beneficial relationship or the symbiont manages to escape the control and becomes a hardmful parasite. (But look here.)
All that being said, there is one mechanism that seems to fit the bill. It's sex. Individual genes are able to escape the genome, but it happens in a very controlled manner.
Does that mean that sex gives species slack? One hint would be that sexual specifes in general evolve slower than asexual species. In other words, they are slacking. But I am not at all sure. If there's a mysterious question in evolutionary biology, it's the very existence of sex. Entire books were writen about it and there are dozens of proposed solutions. I don't feel confident enough to dig any deeper here, but it still may be worth considering.
May 23th, 2020


John Lewis of the University of Arizona believes the copious amounts of iron locked away in near-Earth asteroids make them a tantalising target for future space-mining missions. He points out that the Asteroid 3554 Amun alone could harbour iron and nickel deposits worth around $6 trillion.
The practicalities of getting this material back to Earth have yet to be addressed. However, one possibility is that they might not need to be brought here at all, but rather could be used in situ for constructing spacecraft in space - thus saving on the colossal fuel expense needed to propel the completed craft out of Earth’s gravitational field.
Specularite (high-grade iron ore)
Platinum and other precious metals are abundant on some asteroids. Asteroid 3554 Amun is believed to be home to platinum deposits with a value of around $12 trillion - that’s approximately half a million tonnes of the material.
This would be much easier to haul back to Earth than the same cash value of a bulky, less-precious commodity such as iron.
However, platinum is only valuable because it’s rare - just a few hundred tonnes of it are mined annually on Earth. The sudden addition of several thousand times this quantity to the world supply of platinum could saturate the market, leading to a sharp downturn in its price.
Sperrylite in platinum-copper ore Credit: Flickr
It’s the most potent energy source known.
Annihilating just a half of gram of matter and antimatter unleashes the same energy given out by the bomb that flattened Hiroshima. But there’s a catch: the world’s particle accelerator labs currently turn out just 10 billionths of a gram of antimatter per year, at a total cost of around $600,000.
However, James Bickford of the Draper Laboratory in Massachusetts believes nearly four tonnes of antimatter drift naturally into our Solar System every year - much of which he says will be snagged by the magnetic field of Jupiter, from where it could be scooped up by suitably-equipped spacecraft.


A new study conducted by the University of Haifa concludes that insomnia is a marker for increased risk of back pain—the risk factor increasing by 150%! Among women, the correlation between insomnia and back pain was even higher. Insomnia is known to increase sensitivity to pain and those suffering from it are liable to experience spontaneous pain more often and with more intensity compared to others. However this study is the first to show a direct connection between insomnia and back pain.
The robustness of the study findings are supported by the size of the subject population (over 2,000), its heterogeneity, the fact that those with health problems were weeded out and not included in the final results, and the lengthy period over which the study was conducted. Researchers speculate that the link between the 2 conditions stems from a yet-to-be-identified third biological factor, one possible candidate being stress level.
Read a news story about the study here.
Posted on December 17, 2014


The question many parents seem to be asking themselves nowadays is, “Are vaccines actually safe for my kids?” It is without question that you can find information about the pros and cons of vaccinations. With so many opinions on each side of the debate, how can a parent effectively decide what is best for their children?
In a recent article written for the Wyoming Tribune, these very questions are discussed.
The article began by discussing a national survey released in June where out of 376 households, 80% of parents are uncomfortable getting their children vaccinated. Still, 95% said they would get the vaccinations.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Vaccine Program Office analyzed survey findings.
The biggest objection to vaccines is the pain of injection, cited by 38% of parents surveyed. About 26% had concerns that ingredients in vaccines are not safe; 30% feared the shots could cause autism or other learning disabilities. Some 32% worried about vaccine-caused fevers and 2% said they would not get their infants vaccinated.
“The overwhelming number of parents have vaccinated or plan to vaccinate,” said Allison Kennedy, CDC epidemiologist and survey author. “But they had a lot of questions.”
Survey results found that parents look for information and want facts from their doctors.
“We know vaccines are very safe and protect children from potentially devastating illnesses,” Kennedy said. Vaccines have been so successful that today’s parents have not experienced the illnesses that the shots prevent and may not realize their severity, she added.
Many parents who oppose vaccinations are concerned about a link between vaccines and autism. However, Dr. Bob Prentice of Cheyenne disagrees with that. Three studies in the U.S. looked at autism related to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, said Prentice, a pediatrician for 44 years. The studies did not find any association between the vaccine and illness, he said.
“The scientific data are not there,” he said. “We see (that) vaccines are important for the control and the spread of disease and the protection of children. “We’re actually seeing fewer local reactions and fewer calls about fever after shots.”
He added that today’s parents are asking more questions about vaccines. “I want people to deal from facts,” he said. He refers parents to websites like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
But critics — like Dr. Sherri Tenpenny of the Vaccine Information Center — say they are toxic.
And mothers like Carolyn Spranger of Cheyenne said her decision not to vaccinate her two young boys, Tristan, 4, and Avery, 1, came from her extensive research. Vaccines do not enter the body’s natural immune system, she said. “Our natural immunity isn’t able to work,” she said. ‘We’re messing with nature.”
Her research convinced her “without a doubt that I’m not going to take the chance” of vaccinating. She added that her confidence in her decision grows with her research. “It’s not natural to put a whole bunch of chemicals” into your body, she said. Getting vaccinated doesn’t mean a person won’t get the illness, she added.
Parents must do their research so they can make educated decisions whether to vaccinate their children, Spranger said.
“There are some great websites that take no sides. Their goal is to inform.” She recommends websites such as www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety, www.nvic.org, www.webmd.com, www.vaccinationcouncil.org, and www.vaclib.org.com.
In the end, it is a parent’s responsibility to figure out what is best for their children. Just as Ms. Spranger did, she researched and came up with what is best for her family. Other families should also do the same. They are the only ones that can truly decide if vaccines are safe and right for their kids.
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Public Health Statement for Dichlorvos
This article is a verbatim version of the original and is not available for edits or additions by EoE editors or authors. Companion articles on the same topic that are editable may exist within the EoE.
Public Health Statement for Dichlorvos
This Public Health Statement is the summary chapter from the Toxicological Profile for dichlorvos. It is one in a series of Public Health Statements about hazardous substances and their health effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™, is also available. This information is important because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737.
This public health statement tells you about dichlorvos and the effects of exposure.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most serious hazardous waste sites in the nation. These sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term federal cleanup. Dichlorvos has been found in at least 3 of the 1,430 current or former NPL sites. However, it's unknown how many NPL sites have been evaluated for this substance. As more sites are evaluated, the sites with dichlorvos may increase. This is important because exposure to this substance may harm you and because these sites may be sources of exposure.
When a substance is released from a large area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This release does not always lead to exposure. You are exposed to a substance only when you come in contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, eating, or drinking the substance or by skin contact.
If you are exposed to dichlorvos, many factors determine whether you'll be harmed. These factors include the dose (how much), the duration (how long), and how you come in contact with it. You must also consider the other chemicals you're exposed to and your age, sex, diet, family traits, lifestyle, and state of health.
What is dichlorvos?
Dichlorvos is a synthetic organic chemical used as an insecticide. Dichlorvos does not occur naturally in the environment, but is manufactured by industry. Dichlorvos is sold under many trade names including Vapona®, Atgard®, Nuvan®, and Task®. Dichlorvos may also be called DDVP, which is an abbreviation for its full chemical name. Pure dichlorvos is a dense colorless liquid that evaporates easily into the air and dissolves slightly in water. Dichlorvos has a sweetish smell and readily reacts with water. The dichlorvos used in pest control is diluted with other liquids and used as a spray. It can also be incorporated into plastic that slowly releases the chemical. The dichlorvos present at hazardous waste sites will most likely be in a liquid solution or as solid plastic pellets or strips.
Dichlorvos is manufactured by a reaction between two other chemicals called chloral and trimethyl phosphite. It is also manufactured by heating a chemical called trichlorfon. In 1984, about 1 million pounds of dichlorvos was manufactured in the United States. The main uses of dichlorvos are for insect control in food storage areas, greenhouses, and barns, and for parasite control in livestock. Dichlorvos is generally not used on outdoor crops. It is sometimes used for insect control in workplaces and the home. Veterinarians also use it to control parasites in pets.
What happens to dichlorvos when it enters the environment?
Dichlorvos enters the air, water, and soil during its manufacture and use. Wastes containing dichlorvos that are generated during its manufacture and use are sometimes disposed of in landfills. It can enter the environment from these landfills. Dichlorvos also enters the environment from accidental spills during transport and leaks from storage containers.
Dichlorvos evaporates easily into the air, which is why it is usually used in enclosed areas. Once in the air, it can react with water vapor and be broken down. The higher the temperature and the humidity, the more rapidly dichlorvos is broken down. Experiments in greenhouses and food storage areas show that 90% of the applied dichlorvos disappeared in 3–6 hours. The products of this breakdown are two chemicals called dimethyl phosphate and dichloroacetaldehyde. These chemicals are less harmful than dichlorvos and are not believed to cause health effects in people.
If dichlorvos is spilled into a lake or river, it will dissolve in the water. Some dichlorvos will then evaporate into the air, but most of it will be broken down when it reacts with the water. The less acid the water is, the more rapidly dichlorvos is broken down. Bacteria and other microorganisms (microscopic plants and animals) in lakes and rivers can also break down dichlorvos. In an experiment where dichlorvos was applied to a pond, 50% of the chemical was broken down in 24–36 hours.
Dichlorvos does not seem to bind to soil. This means it can move through soil fairly rapidly. The breakdown in soil is less rapid than in air or water. Dichlorvos breakdown is most rapid in moist soils with low acidity. In a laboratory experiment with soil that contained 200 parts of dichlorvos per million parts of soil (200 ppm), 37% of the dichlorvos remained in the soil after 3 days. Dichlorvos remains for longer periods in dry, acidic soil. Certain bacteria and other microorganisms in the soil can also break down dichlorvos.
Dichlorvos is not stored, accumulated, or concentrated by plants, fish, animals, or people.
How might I be exposed to dichlorvos?
The general population is not likely to be exposed to dichlorvos. It has not been found in drinking water in the United States and only very rarely in outdoor air. Dichlorvos has occasionally been found on raw foods (fruits, vegetables, grains), but washing and processing destroys the residue. Maximum limits (ranging from 0.02 to 2 ppm) have been established by the U.S. EPA. Dichlorvos has not been found in prepared foods.
People living near hazardous waste sites containing dichlorvos or near its manufacturing, processing, or storage facilities, could potentially be exposed. Because of the chemical properties, the most likely way a person would be exposed is by breathing in air contaminated with dichlorvos. Another possible route of exposure is skin contact with soil contaminated with dichlorvos.
You are most likely to be exposed to dichlorvos if you are involved in manufacturing or using it. Chemical plant workers, transport workers, and pesticide applicators are the major occupational groups that might be exposed. People in these groups are mainly exposed by breathing air containing dichlorvos, but significant exposure through the skin can occur as well. An estimated 24,000 workers in the United States are exposed to dichlorvos because of their occupations. Measured air levels in factories and workplaces have ranged from 0.005 to 0.08 ppm dichlorvos.
You might also be exposed to dichlorvos in the home after pesticide application. You are most likely to be exposed by breathing air containing dichlorvos, but skin contact with contaminated surfaces, or eating food that has been left out during dichlorvos application can also result in exposure. Measured levels of dichlorvos in room air immediately after pesticide applications have ranged from 0.08 to 2.7 ppm. It has been recommended that people should not reenter a room or house treated with dichlorvos until after a 10-hour ventilation period.
How can dichlorvos enter and leave my body?
Dichlorvos can enter your body through your lungs if it is in the air you breathe. It can also enter your body through your stomach if it is in your drinking water or food. It can also enter through your skin. Dichlorvos is taken into your body very rapidly by any of these routes (lungs, stomach, or skin). How much dichlorvos enters your body depends on how long you are exposed and the amount to which you are exposed.
Once dichlorvos enters your body, it goes into your bloodstream and is carried to all the organs in your body. There are enzymes in your liver and blood that rapidly break it down. These breakdown products are less harmful than dichlorvos. Most of these breakdown products quickly leave the body in the urine. Some of these products are broken down further and leave your body in your breath. Dichlorvos and its breakdown products are not stored in your body.
How can dichlorvos affect my health?
Dichlorvos is a member of a group of chemicals called organophosphorus compounds. Some of these chemicals are extremely harmful to insects and are widely used as insecticides. At higher doses than those used to kill insects, these chemicals can also be harmful to people. Dichlorvos can chemically react with an important enzyme in your brain and nerves called acetylcholinesterase and stop them from working properly. When this happens, signals sent between your nerve cells and to your muscles are disrupted. To understand the harmful effects of dichlorvos that might occur at levels of exposure that people are likely to experience, scientific studies have been done with people and laboratory animals. To protect the public from the harmful effects of toxic chemicals and to find ways to treat people who have been harmed, scientists use many tests.
One way to see if a chemical will hurt people is to learn how the chemical is absorbed, used, and released by the body; for some chemicals, animal testing may be necessary. Animal testing may also be used to identify health effects such as cancer or birth defects. Without laboratory animals, scientists would lose a basic method to get information needed to make wise decisions to protect public health. Scientists have the responsibility to treat research animals with care and compassion. Laws today protect the welfare of research animals, and scientists must comply with strict animal care guidelines.
We do not know how much dichlorvos is necessary to cause harmful effects in people. This is because few people have been exposed to enough dichlorvos to cause symptoms of poisoning. From the results of animal testing, we can estimate that if a person breathed in air containing more than 1 ppm dichlorvos for more than one hour, harmful effects might result. Accidentally drinking as little as 1 ounce or 30 milliliters (mL) of a pesticide containing 5% dichlorvos could also cause harmful effects. Spilling an ounce of the same strength dichlorvos solution on your skin and failing to wash it off promptly could also be harmful.
If you have been poisoned by dichlorvos, you will suddenly feel nauseated, anxious, and restless. You may also have teary eyes and heavy sweating. If this happens, you should seek medical attention immediately. Emergency rooms have drugs that stop the harmful effects of dichlorvos. Further symptoms can include loss of bladder control, muscle tremors, and labored breathing. Severe poisoning (5 ounces or more of a 5% dichlorvos solution) can result in coma, inability to breathe, and death.
Most people who have survived poisoning by dichlorvos make a complete recovery, although this can sometimes take several months. Dichlorvos poisoning does not appear to cause permanent damage to the nerves (a condition called "delayed neuropathy").
A few studies have been done on people who have been exposed to dichlorvos in the air in their workplaces. When dichlorvos is used properly, air levels of 0.01–0.03 ppm are achieved. This level kills most insects within one hour. In tests done with volunteers, exposure at about 20 times this level (0.23 ppm) for 2 hours a day for 4 days had no harmful effects. In a study in rats exposed to air with very high levels of dichlorvos (up to 34 ppm), all the animals died within 3 days. The rats showed similar signs of effects on the nervous system as in people that have been poisoned with dichlorvos. In general, harmful effects have not been seen in animals exposed to air levels of dichlorvos below 0.5 ppm. In a 2-year study in rats, breathing air every day with low-to-moderately high levels (0.006–0.6 ppm) of dichlorvos had no effect on how long the rats lived or on their general health.
In at least one case, a person who drank a pesticide containing dichlorvos died. The doctors who treated this patient were unable to tell exactly how much dichlorvos she had taken. Volunteers who ate 0.03 milligrams dichlorvos per kilogram body weight (0.03 mg/kg) for 21 days showed no harmful effects. In studies where animals (rats and mice) have been force-fed dichlorvos, about half the animals died when given approximately 100 mg/kg. Before the animals died, they showed signs of harmful effects to their nervous systems similar to those seen in human poisoning cases.
Two pesticide workers died after spilling concentrated dichlorvos on their skin and failing to wash it off promptly. It is not known exactly how much dichlorvos they absorbed through their skin. Experiments in animals show that dichlorvos can be just as harmful when it is applied to the skin as when it is breathed in or swallowed. Monkeys that had dichlorvos put on their skin (50 mg each day) died after 10 doses.
It is not known if exposure to dichlorvos can affect fertility or development of the fetus in people. Experiments done in animals that were fed or breathed in dichlorvos did not show any effect on fertility or health of the offspring.
There is no evidence that exposure to dichlorvos increases the risk of cancer in people. Rats that breathed in air containing dichlorvos for 2 years had the same rate of cancer as rats that did not breathe in dichlorvos. However, a 2-year study in rats and mice force-fed dichlorvos showed an increase in certain forms of cancer. Rats had increased rates of cancer in the pancreas and also had more cases of leukemia than rats that had not been treated with dichlorvos. Female mice had a higher rate of a form of stomach cancer.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that dichlorvos may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen (a substance that can cause cancer). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that dichlorvos is possibly carcinogenic to humans. The U.S. EPA has determined that dichlorvos is a probable human carcinogen.
The U.S. EPA has calculated that a lifetime of drinking water containing 0.1 micrograms of dichlorvos per liter (µg/L) would cause one extra case of cancer in every million people exposed to this level. Dichlorvos has not been found in drinking water in the United States.
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed to dichlorvos?
Two blood tests exist that can determine whether you have been exposed to significant levels of dichlorvos. These tests can be performed by any hospital or clinical laboratory. These tests measure the activity of two enzymes (called serum cholinesterase and erythrocyte [red blood cell] acetylcholinesterase) that are affected by dichlorvos. Dichlorvos affects these enzymes at lower levels of exposure than necessary to produce harmful effects. This means that if these enzymes have been affected, you will not necessarily have effects on your health. Many other insecticides also affect these enzymes. To determine whether you have been specifically exposed to dichlorvos, a laboratory test must measure the breakdown products in your urine. Tests of this type are not routinely done in hospital laboratories and your doctor will have to send a sample to a specialized laboratory.
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect human health?
The federal government develops regulations and recommendations to protect public health. Regulations can be enforced by law. Federal agencies that develop regulations for toxic substances include the EPA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recommendations provide valuable guidelines to protect public health but cannot be enforced by law. Federal organizations that develop recommendations for toxic substances include the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Regulations and recommendations can be expressed in not-to-exceed levels in air, water, soil, or food that are usually based on levels that affect animals, then they are adjusted to help protect people. Sometimes these not-to-exceed levels differ among federal organizations because of different exposure times (an 8-hour workday or a 24-hour day), the use of different animal studies, or other factors.
Recommendations and regulations are also periodically updated as more information becomes available. For the most current information, check with the federal agency or organization that provides it. Some regulations and recommendations for dichlorvos include the following:
- The U.S. OSHA has set a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 1 mg/m³ (0.11 ppm) of dichlorvos for workplace air over a 10-hour workday.
- The U.S. EPA requires reporting of any discharge of dichlorvos to the environment that exceeds 10 pounds. The EPA has also designated dichlorvos as a hazardous substance and specific regulations regarding its disposal are in effect
- The U.S. EPA has established maximum permissible levels of dichlorvos in various food products ranging from 0.02 to 2 parts per million (ppm). Samples from the food supply are regularly tested for dichlorvos.
Where can I get more information?
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1997. Toxicological profile for dichlorvos. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
• The Encyclopedia of Earth article "Animal testing alternatives" supplements this entry.
• Hyperlinks were created by the Encyclopedia of Earth, not by the Content Source.


What do you mean? Multiple Meaning Words
Multiple meaning words are words that have similar spellings but have different meanings. Multiple meaning words, or homonyms, are important for vocabulary growth and comprehension. Let’s think about the word right. There are multiple definitions or meanings for the word right. It can be a direction, such as turn right. Another meaning has to do with whether an answer on a test is correct or right.
We teach these types of words to increase vocabulary strength, ensure understanding of directions, encourage vocabulary variety, and more.
I have found some amazing multiple meaning activities on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I needed some more visuals as some of my students were struggling to grasp these types of words. Thus I created “What do you mean? Multiple Meaning Words Activities.
The “What do you mean?” activity pages were created to work on multiple meaning words (homonyms). There are a variety of activities from prep to no prep. Start with teaching cards to demonstrate some of the multiple meaning words using sentences. Then have fun with the multiple activities to practice these words.


Skonis kaip prekių ženklas: ar skonis gali atlikti pagrindinę prekių ženklo funkciją
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The registration of tastes as Community Trade Marks became possible from 1 April, 1996. The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) began accepting applications for taste trademarks when EC Regulation 40/94 on the Community Trade Mark came into force. The primary issue of this article is the discussion of whether the taste is capable of providing the essential function of a trademark. The basic criterion for identifying trademarks eligible for registration (and protection) is distinctiveness. A taste is a sign that has the potential to be included in the definition of a trademark according to the Directive and to the CTMR. It should be noted that taste as a trademark can be applied only for goods but not for services. It comes from the nature of the taste itself: taste is initially stimulated by the contact of saliva, which dissolves or dilutes tasty molecules of food and transports them toward the taste receptors. Normally, the services cannot stimulate taste receptors. The taste trademark is not immediately viewed as a trademark, in part because it has not been traditionally used as such. Consumers need to be conditioned to perceive the claimed taste as a source-identifying object: taste should help a consumer distinguish one brand of goods and services from that of another. The taste should be viewed by the consumer as a trademark, but not as a decorative or functional feature of goods. The main problem of the taste trademark is that it is typically perceived as simply as a functional feature of the goods. Taste is a different sort of a distinctive sign in the sense it is intrinsic to the product in question. Very often, taste will prove to be an essential component of the product it claims to distinguish. Tastes cannot normally be separated from the product they should distinguish and that makes some difficulty for consumers in gaining access to the mark. The taste of a product can only be appreciated once it is consumed. The article discusses if there is any point where the taste mark can be exhibited. The article discusses Eli Lilly & Co.’s Community Trade Mark Application case. The application for an artificial strawberry flavour for use in pharmaceutical products was refused by the OHIM second board of appeals. An artificial strawberry flavour was found to be commonplace and devoid of a distinctive character in relation to pharmaceutical products. It was thought that consumers were likely to see the taste as a means to disguise the unpleasant flavour of medicine rather than as a trademark—in other words there was doubt over whether it functioned as an indication of origin.
- Straipsniai / Articles


Ah, the south of Iceland with its glaciers, waterfalls and long black sand beaches. So many memories that still emerge freshly more than a year later. In this article we will focus on the impressive glaciers of the south of the island, as it is in the south of Iceland that most of them are found. It's impossible to miss them because they are so present.
1The impressive Vatnajökull
The biggest of them is the huge Vatnajökull. It is so big that it is impossible to imagine its span from the ground. It is one of the largest glaciers in the world! It is the second largest glacier and the second largest glacier in Europe. And for good reason, it covers more than 8,000 km², or 8% of Iceland, with a thickness of up to 1,000 meters, for an average of 400 meters! Imagine that ice monster! Do the math and you will also see that its weight is just surrealist. Moreover, the pressure he exerts on the soil of the small island is enormous, so much so that he pushes it into the earth's mantle.
The whole of the Vatnajökull is included in the Vatnajökull National Park. And you will also notice that the ending "jökull" means "glacier" in Icelandic, a name that will be found a lot on Icelandic maps, but also in this article.
Volcanoes and Jökulhlaup
The Vatnajökull is far from harmless. Under the ice monster there are dozens of volcanoes, which awaken in turn, and rather regularly. During an eruption, the ice melts abruptly in contact with the heat, causing huge catastrophic floods called Jökulhlaup, taking everything with them.
The last Jökulhlaup took place in 2010, during the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull, but it was the eruption of the Grímsvötn in 1996 that caused the greatest damage in last decades. The Jökulhlaup usually last several days, taking roads and bridges along their way. The traces are still clearly visible today in the southern part of Vatnajökull before reaching Skaftafell. Since 2010 new bridges have been built in areas considered safer, but the remains of the old structures are still present, as a reminder that mankind is very insignificant when nature rumbles.
Glacier and global warming
The Vatnajökull is so large that its extremities end in a sort of small, narrow and long glaciers. But here, the word "small" is relative as everything is on an oversized scale! There are about 30 glaciers extensions scattered all around the large glacier, and they are most numerous south of the ice cap.
Unfortunately, global warming is affecting Vatnajökull, which is shrinking from year to year. Studies show that the glacier may have disappeared in 100 years.
From Route 1, you can easily discover the great glaciers that shape the landscape. Let's discover them from west to east.
2The Vatnajökull's glacier and secondary glaciers
The Skeiðarárjökull is the first glacier from the Vatnajökull, visible from Route 1 from the west. Impossible to miss it, it is impressive despite the fact that it is located 5 km from the road. Its front extends for almost 15 km and goes up to the centre of Vatnajökull for almost 30 km.
For long minutes our car ran along this impressive glacier without leaving it. It is at this moment that one becomes aware of the immensity of the Skeiðarárjökull, which is only a very small part of the Vatnajökull.
It is this same glacier that was at the origin of the powerful 1996 Jökulhlaup, whose remains can be seen on the right-hand side of Route 1, about 3 km before reaching Skaftafell. Here, some panels tell the facts of 1996 in pictures.
The Skaftafellsjökull's glacier is much smaller than the previous one, but still very impressive. It is located directly after the Skaftafell campsite. From here, a 2 km long one-way trail leads to the glacier, and reaches the edge of the lake at its foot. It is not uncommon to see small icebergs.
Hikes with crampons can be made on the glacier, supervised by professionals. It is recalled that venturing out on an ice-cream pad alone, without equipment and without knowledge of the place is extremely dangerous. Water digs the ice beneath the surface and unsuspected cavities are constantly created, making the glacier unpredictable and dangerous. People have already lost their lives on Iceland's glaciers and the commemorative plaques will remind you of this.
A few kilometres from Skaftafell is the beautiful Svínafellsjökull glacier. Easily accessible by a small unpaved road, don't miss to stop and discover the glacier and its small iceberg lake. Here, the water is rather muddy, but the charm is no less.
The pieces of ice still bear the blackish traces of the ashes from the last eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull, which magnifies the contrasts on the ice. From the lake, the glacier stretches upwards. Take a few hundred meters of the path that starts from the car park to have a more unobstructed view of the glacier. You will then see the glacier's heights appear, tinged with an incredible sky blue! For more information and photos, please visit our article dedicated to the Svínafellsjökull.
It was by chance that we discovered Kviárjökull glacier, a part of the Öræfajökull, a secondary glacier from the Vatnajökull, which is a little further back from the road. Halfway between the Skaftafellsjökull and Jökulsárlón, the access to the Öræfajökull is simply signposted from a small sign indicating Kviamyrarkambur. A dirt road of about 300 meters leads to a car park. Then, a path climbs up small hills that will allow us to take a little height to admire the glacier from above.
This time the observation is done from a little further away, but the panorama is really nice, especially when the sky is clear.
Fjallsjökull and its lake, Fjallsárlón
Near Route 1 is the Fjallsjökull and its iceberg lake, the Fjallsárlón. This little gem was still a little-known place a few years ago, but it was without counting on the arrival of mass tourism in Iceland. Today, the lake has become an almost as popular attraction as Jökulsárlón. It is also possible to make boat tours.
The Fjallsjökull glacier ends its journey in a small lake. The opposite bank is not far away, which allows you to admire the icebergs and glacier at the same time. What's interesting is to stay and watch the icebergs drift and hear large blocks of ice crumbling away from the glacier in a huge crash. There is an isolated point of view, still little known because it is accessible after an unpaved track of about 1.5 km and not yet marked in 2016. To get there, we give you all the information in our article dedicated to Fjallsárlón.
The Breiðamerkurjökull and its lake, Jökulsárlón
This is one of the most popular places in Iceland. The famous iceberg lake of Jökulsárlón was formed following the melting of the Breiðamerkurjökull's glacier. The show is fascinating! Today, the lake is growing larger and larger, so that the glacier front is now 3 km from the sea and can only be seen if the weather is clear. The lake ends its journey in the ocean, passing through a small channel where the pieces of ice pile up before running aground along the immense black sand beach that borders the area. Boat tours are organized all year round to get a closer look at the icebergs (but we don't endorse them).
Take your time to discover the Jökulsárlón lagoon and don't stop at the two large car parks on either side of the channel. Solitary and much more impressive points of view are accessible from small car parks located upstream, before reaching the channel. You will find all the details in our article dedicated to Jökulsárlón.
The Mýrdalsjökull is another large glacier located west of the Vatnajökull. With its 596 km², it is the 4th largest glacier on the island. Road 1 runs along it for more than 40 km, but the glacier is located about 10 km from the road, and it is mainly on the other side of the road, from the F210 that the view is most spectacular. A route that is also recommended for all adventurers equipped with a good 4x4. You will find more information in this article dedicated to F210 track.
The Mýrdalsjökull is now under close surveillance as it hosts several volcanoes, including the famous Katla, whose crater is buried under several hundred metres of ice. Its eruptions are fairly regular, and there is every indication that the next eruption may be taking place in the near future. This could then have devastating consequences, following the formation of huge Jökulhlaup.
Sólheimajökull is the only glacier of the Mýrdalsjökull which is located in the south of the island, making it easily accessible from Route 1. It is also probably the first glacier you will discover during your stay in Iceland if you turn counter-clockwise.
The Sólheimajökull stretches for nearly 10 km towards the ocean. The glacier is majestic, still slightly tempted by the black ashes projected by Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. To get close to it, you must use Highway 221 for 4 km, which is well signposted from Highway 1. Once you arrive at the car park, you will have to walk for about 15 minutes on a path without difficulty.
At the end of the trail, a rope will stop you from going further unless you are guided on a glacier excursion by a guide. Indeed, as mentioned above, walking on the glacier is very dangerous, as ice can break on your weight. But from here, we can already have a very interesting view of the glacier and above all admire its impressive dimensions.
Nevertheless, we braved the ban to get close to the ice and discover the big cavities of a fascinating blue. We continued the few tens of meters while being very careful to always stay on the earth. But it was when we came back that we found out that we had actually been mounted on a large block of ice, itself covered with earth. Looking closer, we see a large stream of water coming out of this block of ice a few meters further, indicating that our path was actually just over a layer of ice above a river. What was nothing but curiosity could have ended in drama if the ice had given way under our weight, taking us with the current...
The Eyjafjallajökull was made famous in 2010 by the eruption of its volcano, which disrupted air traffic for weeks. But above all, it is a 78 km² glacier, just 2 km from its neighbour, the Mýrdalsjökull. Its smallest surface area ranks it in 6th place among Iceland's glaciers.
Viewpoint on the Eyjafjallajökull
From Route 1, a viewpoint has been set up to see the glacier and above all the top of its mediatized volcano. Some panels tell the story of the two eruptions in 2010.
Today, the ice has returned to its place and the volcano is now covered with a thick white mantle.
We are coming to the end of this article. Of course there are dozens of other glaciers belonging to the Vatnajökull, but we did not have the opportunity to explore them. Don't hesitate to share your discoveries with us!


For a more basic descriptions of trompes, please read our trompe overview.
The trompe–a sixteenth-century technology–uses falling water to collect pressurized air. But exactly how does a trompe work? Though simple to make, trompes use complicated physics. Below, we have compiled a basic explanation on the science of trompes and cited some of the numerical data scattered across the internet.
(Please note that the following is based solely on books, videos, and articles created by external sources. We have not yet conducted tests to verify their accuracy. )
How a Trompe Works
Let’s start with the physics of the air-intake, which works via the Venturi effect. When water first enters the trompe, it falls into a constricted pipe, reducing the pressure and creating suction. Air then rushes downward through the air-intake tubes to fill the vacancy.
The diameter of the air-intake tubes dictates the size of the air bubbles that enter the water. Bruce Leavitt found that thinner air-intake tubes make the trompe a more efficient aerator. A large trompe in Michigan used 11,800 tubes, 3/8-inches in diameters, on each of its three aerating cones.
The height of the water-intake pipe affects the pressure inside the air reservoir. Though hard numbers are hard to come, trompe discussions across the internet tend to use 14.5 psi : 10 m or 15 psi : 32 ft to estimate pressure output.
Historical (and more recent) records can also give us a good estimate on the air pressure created by a trompe. According to Bill Mollison’s video, the ratio of the water intake’s height to the air pressure inside the reservoir is about 25 ft : 14 psi (.56 psi/ft). According to Bruce Leavitt’s presentation, the trompe in Ragged Chutes created 128 psi with a 345-foot drop (.37 psi/ft). The trompe in Victoria Mine created 117 psi off of a 342-foot drop (.34 psi/ft).
Charles H Taylor’s hydraulic air compressor (a version of the trompe), he recorded that the air pressure int he reservoir increased 1 psi per every 2ft 3.5 inches of water displaced. He also noted that the air pressure was proportional to the height of the water column in the return pipe.
Next, let’s consider the quality of the captured air.
The air in the trompe undergoes isothermal compression, meaning the compression does not affect the captured air’s temperature. Normally when a gas is compressed, it heats up. However, in a trompe, the water encompassing the air bubbles removes the excess heat. This allows the compressed air to be stored in a smaller space and prevents overheating any machinery powered by the compressed air.
The pressurized air comes out cool (at the same temperature as the water) and dehumidified.
Once the water flows into the outtake pipe, pressure from the air reservoir pushes the water upward. According to Geoff Lawton, the returning water can be lifted to 85% of its original height. When the compacted version of a trompe is used, Mollison described the returning water as going back up in a whirl.
Trompes can easily self-regulate. If pressure inside the air chamber becomes too great, it will push the water level below the mouth of the outtake pipe. The air then escapes through the outtake pipe as bubbles, spewing out a geyser of water, steam, or ice in the discharge. A trompe in Michigan was recorded to have shot discharge up to 700 feet high.
The water intake pipe’s diameter needs to be smaller than that of the outtake pipe.
Trompes can provide ventilation, power pneumatic tools, aerate water, and much more. Though not much data is available on trompe performance, here are some numbers we have found through preliminary research. (We will update this article as more data is found.)
Geoff Lawton noted that trompes with different purposes need different sizes. If the trompe will aerate a fish pond, for example, the water needs about 3 feet of head. For collecting compressed air, the trompe needs a 100-foot-plus drop.
In Bill Mollison’s lectures, he talked about air-powered cars and how compressed air collected from trompes could run them. He said that a 2-cubit-foot tank of compressed air could drive a car for 200 miles. If a intensifier raised the pressure to about 1,000 psi, he said the car could travel 300 miles.
Though we are unsure how Bill Mollison’s calculations compare to modern automobile standards, we can use statistics from Motor Development International (MDI)–an emerging air-powered car company–as a gauge. MDI claims their Compressed Air Technology (CAT) car can run on 4,300 psi and travel 125 miles on a full tank. They say their city version can reach 70 mph. They also have hybrid models that use both gasoline and pressurized air.
This article will be updated in the future. If you find anything that we failed to include, feel free to let us know.