I recently saw one of Exxon Mobil's slick new TV ads espousing Exxon's commitment to developing new technologies that will reduce global warming. I was actually very impressed. Subsequently, I opened an email from Greenpeace showing a dead beached whale, with news of a pod of rare melon-head whales that beached themselves due to seismic testing conducted by Exxon off the coast of Madagascar.
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An increase in heart rate is one component of the "fight or flight" response. When we are startled, frightened, or angry, our bodies automatically ready themselves to stand up and fight or to run away.
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There are two ways to answer this question- one could consider the fuel consumed on a daily basis by our brain or one could take a longterm perspective of overall brain health.
From day to day, our brains primarily utilize glucose as fuel. Glucose is a simple sugar that is the most convenient form of fuel for cells. Although the brain is only two percent of the body’s total weight, it consumes an average of 70 percent of the body’s glucose, which comes as no surprise because we have up to ...

It's a day before the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
I can barely see the outline of the 50-story building a four minute bicycle ride from my house. We’ll have to wait till tomorrow to get the air quality reading issued by Beijing environment authorities.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reports "The weather will be mainly overcast and appropriate for the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony on Aug .," That’s according to China Meteorological Administration spokesman Yu Xinwen. I love the "appropriate" part.
Over the weekend we had ...

Humans, mice -- indeed all mammals -- have two types of fat cells in their bodies; white and brown. White fat cells store energy. In contrast, brown fat cells dissipate energy as heat, thus counteracting obesity. Much to the chagrin of humans living in industrialized societies,
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Dear Dr. Molly,
How am I supposed to know what is good for me and what is bad for me? Whenever I read the paper or a magazine, there are results from a new study that contradict that last study. What gives?
Pullman, Washington
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With the Olympics only a week away, the world is focused on the quality of Beijing's air.
Here's the silver lining: The global spotlight on dirty air has been a wake-up call to many Beijingers.
One young Chinese woman working for a multinational told me she wasn't particularly concerned about the pollution until she noticed lots of critical news reports about Beijing's air in the foreign media.
Aug.2, 2008-- Blue sky in Beijing two days after a rainstorm. Photo by Jocelyn Ford
She and many other Beijingers want to be good hosts ...

It took 30 years, but Jimmy Carter finally has gotten recognition for the wisdom of his energy policies. Speaking on Science Friday, Senator John Warner, a Republican from Virginia who first entered the Senate during Carter's term in office, said that Jimmy Carter "was right" when he called for a massive program of energy conservation and alternative energy research.
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat from New Mexico, agreed. As chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, one would expect a fellow democrat to back the former President. But I ...