The End of Humans, the Rise of Bacteria

Very few thinking people are naive enough to believe that humans will remain the dominant species on this earth forever.  "Forever" is a long time.  I'm sure that if dinosaurs possessed the level of cognitive thinking that humans do, they would have thought they were going to live forever too.  Of course, dinosaurs are a whole grouping of various species that are somewhere between birds and reptiles, but they roamed the earth for 165 million years.  Mammals have only been a dominant species for the better part of the last 60 million years, so should we be looking for the downfall of mammals anytime soon?

Provided a drastic change in climate or other unforeseen disaster occurs, probably not, but the human species?  That's a whole different question.  I don't buy into scare tactics by the media or even scientists.  It's too hard to tell who's got an agenda these days, but I do believe that in some ways, our modern medicine is both saving and destroying our species.

Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog is one of my favorite weekly reads (despite it's late 90's website design format).  Check out his newest article on the end of antibiotics and potentially the end of humans:

http://engineering.curiouscatblog.net/2010/08/15/are-you-ready-for-a-world-without-antibiotics/

Yes, I would like to live forever, thank you very much!

For all those who say they don't want to have a computer implanted inside of them, I bet that will change when it can save your life:

Do You Want to Live Forever?

Food for Thought

I found an article weighing the KFC "Double Down" (a "sandwich" with two chicken breasts instead of bread) against some other popular fast-food items.   This post doesn't really pertain to technology, but nutrition is a science, plus I found it interesting.  This thing apparently costs around $5.50, and has about 540 calories.  Compare that to McDonald's Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT sandwich, which has around 580 calories.  To put 500 calories into perspective, think about it in terms of the suggested (2000 calories per day) diet.  One of these sandwiches should count for 1/4th of your intake for the day.  Honestly, that doesn't seem that bad (assuming you don't tack on fries and a large coke for a meal), but the killer here is the sodium.

Both the KFC Double Down and the McDonald's Crispy Chicken BLT have around 1400 mg of sodium.  The National Academy of Science recommends 1500 mg of sodium per day, and NO MORE than 2300 mg per day.  Now, I know a lot has been said about the obesity epidemic and heart disease in America, and the perpetuation of its growth by the fast food industry, but this ties directly in with new legislation regarding health care reform.

I found it interesting, when looking over parts of the bill, that fast food chains and vending machines will now be REQUIRED to post nutritional information directly on their menus, and as someone who watches what he eats, I am pretty happy about this.  Maybe this will get more Americans thinking before ordering the 1260 calorie "Big Cheese" baked potato at Pimento's Cafe and Market.  I also think that this will motivate restaurants to make calorie cuts to their high-numbered items, which is a good step to make, but should more be done?  Does a government who wants to make health care universal not also have a duty to ensure its citizens' health through preventative measures, like restrictions on food items?  Should fast-food chains be allowed to sell items containing 93% of your daily sodium intake?