Best Whisper – Keep It In The Family

Acidity in our oceans is increasing at an alarming speed due to the rising levels of carbon dioxide. Several projects around the world have shown that the increasing acidity will harm many of our marine organisms and harm coral growth in many of the oceans. The increase in acidity is much worse than scientists had first anticipated, and fears for our seas strengthen.

Almost one-third of our carbon-dioxide emissions have dissolved into the seas forming carbonic acid in the process. This in turn lowers the alkalinity of the waters and makes it much more acidic. Fears that the acidity will spell an end to the coral reefs by the end of the century have augmented, and many reefs are in threat of disappearing by 2050. Studies in the Pacific Ocean have shown that shell-making organisms are under threat as well, as they are in need of a much more alkaline environment. Mussels, barnacles are shellfish would be unable to grow their strong calcified shells in the increasingly acidic waters.

Tags: acid, Acidity, alkaline, alkalinity, carbon, carbon-dioxide, century, coral, dioxide, end, environment, growth, harm, increase, Mussels, need, Pacific Ocean, process, Seas, speed, threat, world
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Yet another medical frontier has been crossed, and the concept of us being able to grow new organs has now become a reality. Surgeons have used stem cells to grow replacement body parts in a new and fantastic innovation. The success of the transplant of a windpipe grown from stem cells has opened up several new doors, and soon we may be able to regenerate damaged body parts as opposed to having full transplants.

On recent years, there have been several breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, and several more in the pipelines. Scientists in Britain enabled a blind man to see again through injecting his eye with normal versions of the defective gene. Scientists in America have succeeded in growing parts of the bladder which have been implanted in several patients. Researchers are working on various techniques to re-grow skin and other parts of the body, in an exciting and unparalleled project. These amazing ideas will help thousands of people all over the world and will put an end to the need of donors.

Tags: bladder, body, concept, eye, frontier, gene, innovation, man, Medical, medicine, New, project, reality, replacement, skin, stem, success, Surgeons, transplant, windpipe, world
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A woman has gone on trial in America after being accused of bullying a young girl online resulting in her taking her own life. 49-year old Lori Drew allegedly posed as a sixteen year old boy on the website MySpace and befriended the young girl in a bid to humiliate her. Megan Meier was only thirteen years of age when her virtual relationship ended in disaster.

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Tags: Cyber, disaster, humiliate, internet, MySpace, online, prey, prosecutor, purpose, registration, relationship, statement, tease, Trial, website
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Credit cards are cool for teenagers because they see those plastic cards as certificates of personal success. By owning a credit card, teenagers are lulled to believe that they are grown-ups and free to do what they want.

Since credit card companies are unstoppable on sending credit offers to susceptible teenagers, the only thing parents can do is to be good teachers on credit card management. Here some guidelines to help:

1.    Teach your teens to treat credit cards with healthy respect.

Show various calculations of interest rates against length of time to pay off the debts. Highlight the total payment on interest alone when monthly payment is on the minimum.

Upon realizing that the interest amount exceeds the principal sum of debt, your teens will think twice on using their credit cards on anything trivial. They will learn that credit cards are for emergency only.

2.    Help your teens choose their credit card.

Teenagers often get into various credit troubles. You may prevent these happening to your teens by starting them slow. Look for the credit card that lets you or your teens load small amounts via electronic transfer. This way, your teens will not reach the real credit limit.

3.    Discipline the big spenders by not bailing them out.

Teenagers sometime tend to listen more to peer pressure than their parents. If this happened to your teens, do not let them off the hook easily. Help them find ways to pay off their debts by themselves but do not contribute any money to hasten the payment. Make them double or triple the amount of monthly dues to finish the debt within a short time. Let your teens see and experience how irresponsible use of card can lead them to tight situations.

4.    Practice what you preach.

Be a role model to your teens. If you had bad experiences with credit cards, share them so that they could learn from your lessons, too. Show them that you use your credit cards with great care.

Tags: credit card interest, credit cards, credit limit, credit management, debt, monthly payment, pay off, payment amount, plastic money, Teenagers
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MDS or myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of disorders found mainly in the bone marrow. The bone marrow produces stem cells that normally develop and mature into any type of blood cells, which are released into the bloodstreams. Every day, millions of blood cells are produced and millions also die. The balance is partly monitored by hormone-like substances in the bone marrow called growth factors.

MDS affects the normal functions of the bone marrow drastically. There is an excessive production of blood cells but these cells either die before and after release or failed to mature properly. When there is lack of red blood cells in the body, anemia is present. With lack of white blood cells and platelets, frequent infections and excessive bleeding occur.

Researches have not yet divulged the truth behind myelodysplastic syndromes. However, the secondary or treatment-related MDS are linked to the following factors:

1.    Chemotherapy drugs such as mechlorethamine, procarbazine, and chlorambucil are toxic drugs that cause even more damage to the bone marrow when combined with radiation.
2.    Long-term exposure to toxic industrial chemicals such as benzene, which is a known carcinogen found in cigarette smoke and also a widely used industrial chemical in soap detergent, furniture polish, and gasoline. Other high-risk substances are pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers (often used in commercial orchid production), and heavy metals.

There are no effective treatments for MDS yet. Most patients receive supportive care that helps manage chronic fatigue, bleeding, and infections. Some types of supportive care are: blood transfusion therapy, drug therapy, chemotherapy, and transplants.

Discovering that the secondary myelodysplastic syndromes may be caused by certain environmental toxins such as benzene, which is found in cigarette smoke, should inspire smokers to quit smoking now.

Tags: anemia, benzene, bleeding, blood cells, blood transfusion, bone marrow, carcinogen, chemotherapy, chlorambucil, cigarette smoke, detergent, exposure, fatigue, furniture polish, gasoline, MDS, mechlorethamine, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, platelets, procarbazine, radiation, red blood cells, white blood cells
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