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The Great Rift Valley extends some 4,000 miles southward from Syria north of Israel, through the Gulf of Aqaba, through Ethiopia, and all the way to Mozambique in southeast Africa. It harbors a giant fault, which has been under investigation as a model for sea floor spreading. A recent geologic event rent a gaping crack through the desert of Ethiopia, causing safety concerns for locals. These crustal plate motions may foreshadow rifting events further north in the Great Rift Valley...

for example, from his rant against big bottled water: "... the huge soda companies decided to sell you bottled water which is from the same source as tap water, but guess what? when you sell it as natural and in a bottle, it's unregulated. at least tap water is regulated." this from a guy who is currently fined up to his eye balls as a result of pimping unregulated natural supplements for every disease imagineable, while blasting regulated big pharma. shameless.

When Claire, a pixie-faced 6-year-old in a school uniform, heard her older brother, James, enter the family’s Manhattan apartment, she shut her bedroom door and began barricading it so swiftly and methodically that at first I didn’t understand what she was doing. She slid a basket of toys in front of the closed door, then added a wagon and a stroller laden with dolls. She hugged a small stuffed Pegasus to her chest. “Pega always protects me,” she said softly. “Pega, guard the door.” James, then 10, had been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder two years earlier. He was...

Last year Americans spent $22.5 billion on dietary supplements, taking everything from a standard multivitamin to fish oil for the heart to magnesium for healthy bones. But how do we know which vitamin pills we need and which we don't? And at what doses do the risks outweigh the benefits? Dr. Eric Rimm at the Harvard School of Public Health sat down with ABC's Medical Editor Dr. Tim Johnson to discuss some of the more talked about vitamins, how much of them we should be taking and whether too much can be detrimental to our health. In a field filled...

Crazed Veterans Spark Nationwide Crime Wave That's the theme of a front page article in today's New York Times: "Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles." The article reports on what must have been a major effort by the Times to comb through news reports from across the country, identifying and tabulating instances where servicemen who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan were charged with some form of homicide. The Times summarizes the results of its research: Town by town across the country, headlines have been telling similar stories. Lakewood, Wash.: “Family Blames Iraq After Son Kills Wife.” Pierre, S.D.: “Soldier...

17th century baldness cure is chicken dung says Ye Olde Men's Goode Health By OLINKA KOSTER 30th August 2007 In our age of gyms and jogging, dental floss and deodorants, mouthwash and moisturisers, a chap can waft along with ease every day feeling fit and fragrant. But back in 1654, with Oliver Cromwell ruling England, good health and grooming for men was somewhat more basic. Then, no self-respecting male's medicine chest was apparently complete without liberal supplies of cat's dung, snail's blood and chicken droppings - not to mention arsenic and brimstone. Gruesome as they may sound, they were recommended...

Canada's premiers and territorial leaders held their annual meeting in Moncton this week. The main agenda item was global warming. And so it was that on Thursday, the leaders paraded to the microphone and pronounced themselves committed to a greener world. But instead of offering practical plans, they served up hypocritical rhetoric designed for voters back home. The worst offenders were Ontario's Dalton McGuinty and B.C.'s Gordon Campbell. Throughout the summit, Mr. Mc-Guinty did his best to paint Alberta as Canada's climate bogeyman. While never identifying the province by name, the Ontario Premier repeatedly stated that the biggest emitters of...

Vitamin supplements taken by millions of people every day for their health could be increasing their risk of death a new Danish-led study suggests. The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The international research team reviewed the published evidence on beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E, Vitamin C and selenium. The team was led by Dr Goran Bjelakovic, from Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. These dietary supplements are marketed as antioxidants and people take them in the hope they will improve health and guard against diseases like cancer and heart disease by eliminating the free radicals...

Crash diets, plastic surgery, "miracle pills" and extreme workouts are the most common ways to shed off those extra pounds. However, a new fad is gaining popularity and due to its price and supposed success, it is sweeping the nation one ear at a time. Those who perform the acupuncture ear stapling procedure claim that by inserting a tiny, surgical staple into the ear, it will trigger certain pressure points that may curb appetites, reduce stress, relieve pain, and may even help one to quit smoking. "I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first considering all the gimmicks...

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ordered the Schwarzenegger administration to ask state lawmakers for the money to hire hundreds of mental health workers to tend to the needs of the legislators. The order is the latest in a string of actions in which federal overseers are driving reforms in the state’s troubled assembly. Separate lawsuits have placed federal courts in charge of much of the state’s legislative operations, including safety, employee discipline and health care and mental health systems. Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance estimated that California needed to hire an additional 552 mental health employees to...

Autism diagnoses have dropped nationwide since mercury was removed from most childhood vaccines, according to a new study that some say lends credence to charges that vaccinations were responsible for a huge increase in autism cases. About 4,700 families -- including ones from Framingham and Waltham -- have pending claims in a federal vaccine court alleging that mercury in vaccines caused their children to develop autism. The allegations are controversial and viewed with skepticism by many government officials and medical professionals. But supporters of a vaccine-autism link say a new report in the peer reviewed Journal of American Physicians and...

A while back, I wrote about Airborne, the "herbal" concoction designed by a schoolteacher that is touted as preventing colds and the flu if taken preemptively or lessening their severity if taken early on in the course of a cold. I concluded that there was no evidence that it did what Victoria Knight-McDowell, a schoolteacher and the creator of Airborne, claims. Now the company itself seems to be admitting as much. It turns out that the company commissioned a study to "prove" Airborne's efficacy, and its results did seem to show a mild positive effect on colds. Unfortunately, the study...

Holistic massages and aromatherapy to soothe away the stresses of life behind bars are to be offered to inmates at Britain's newest prison. To a chorus of protests, the managers of Peterborough Prison are advertising for two part-time holistic therapists to "offer treatments such as reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture, Indian head massage, reiki and shiatsu alongside general relaxation and other health promotion groups". United Kingdom Detention Services, which runs the £65 million jail, opened two months ago, yesterday defended offering prisoners the sort of treatments they would have to pay dearly for on the outside. "We look at the whole person...

Weird and wonderful inventions will be on show during a debate on medical "quackery" at London's Science Museum. Devices once used to treat the sick are being taken out of storage for the adults-only event on Wednesday evening. Many date from the 1800s. They include Sir Hiram Maxim's Pipe of Peace, a precursor of the inhaler, and a hand-cranked electric shock machine used to treat toothache and tics. The debate will take place at the museum's Dana Centre from 1900 BST. 'Unique chance' Lisa Jamieson, head of Dana Centre programmes, said: "This will be a unique chance for our audience...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — For hundreds of years, the flamboyant sellers of patent medicines relied not only on exorbitant claims and theatrical presentations to push their panaceas, but also employed accomplished artists to create advertisements for their too-good-to-be-true elixirs and gadgets. "Quack, Quack, Quack," a new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, showcases the prints, posters and pamphlets that guaranteed everything from "animal magnetism" to cures for "the indiscretions of youth" — and were the precursors of today’s spam e-mails and late-night infomercials that also promise the moon but rarely deliver. "Quacks have been around forever and they’re still with...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A prominent brain specialist believes that Terri Schiavo can recover with proper treatment. Dr. William Hammesfahr, nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work in medicine, told the Christian Wire Service that he "and others I know have treated many patients worse than Terri, and have seen them regain independence and dignity." Dr. Hammesfahr said he has examined Terri Schiavo three separate times for a total of over 10 hours. "There are many approaches that would help Terri Schiavo. I know, because I had the opportunity to personally examine her, her medical records, and her X-rays." The...

A chewing gum which the makers say can help enhance the size, shape and tone of the breasts has proved to be a big hit in Japan. B2Up says its Bust-Up gum, when chewed three or four times a day, can also help improve circulation, reduce stress and fight ageing. The gum works by slowly releasing compounds contained in an extract from a plant called Pueraria mirifica.

Doctors: (A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000. (B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000. (C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171 (Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.) Now think about this: Guns: (A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. Yes, 80 million. (B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500. (C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188 Statistically, doctors are therefore ~ 909 times more lethal than gun owners. NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST...

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) - Some Florida State University professors have been circulating a parody map showing the campus of the future, with a new Bigfoot Institute, a School of Astrology and a Crop Circle Simulation Laboratory. It's a not-so-subtle jab in a growing debate over a proposal to build a chiropractic college on this campus - the first such school at a public university in the United States. More than 500 professors, including the university's two Nobel laureates, have signed a petition opposing the school and a handful have even threatened to resign rather than teach alongside what they consider...

To all good people of countries other than the US- WE are now officially a rogue nation- please don’t blame the citizens of the US as we have been taken over by Nazis. Trust us, we are more frightened than you. There is no possible way that Bush is the most popular president ever. There is no way that he won this election. It is a lie, supported by fraudulent elections and corrupt government officials. There is no popular support for Bush, only Bush freepers on the net paid for by homeland security to convince other nations and naive US...