Health

Ashland’s Great Carrot Conspiracy: What the heck are these icky orange sticks doing in a salad?

City government is a tricky business–because it gets political; gets personal; gets out of whack. Ashland, Oregon is no exception. We’ve said it before and are repeating it again: Ashland’s City Hall is controlled by a good-ol’-boys network. This mentality of clinging to the old-thinking white male hierarchy is not just outdated and out of touch, but in these turbulent times, also harmful. To survive as the vibrant, unique, culturally varied, naturally beautiful, trying to be progressive and trying to peaceful town that it is, Ashland must change its old ways and join modern times. Because frankly, #TimesUp. …Read more »

Sugar: Not as sweet as Coca-Cola would have you think

 In 1983, Steve Jobs tried to recruit John Sculley, President of PepsiCo, to jump ship and join the Apple Train instead. He offered the famous clincher: “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?” I would have been … Read more

Vegetables for Your Health and Fashion Ideas

I used to eat salads. Now I drink them. Instead of eating raw vegetables, I plop a basketful into a juicer and turn them into a cup of greenish sludge. It’s actually tasty. And healthier: higher concentration of nutrients and enzymes. I use a modified recipe from Joe Cross’s excellent film: “Fat, Sick, and Nearly … Read more

Life and Death of Microvilli

Here we go again! Adding to the list from the last two blogs…  FuchsiaWoman appears on the TV game show Jeopardy! Mr. Trebek: “Fuchsia, you won the coin toss. You select first.” “Thanks, Alex. Long-time viewer. First-time contestant. My fave category…I’ll take ‘Life in America’ for $500.” Mr. Trebek to himself: Starting with the hardest … Read more

Telomeres Are Your Friends: The Key to Longevity

Quick anatomy lesson: The human body is composed of organs—which are composed of tissue—which are composed of cells—which perform different functions. Cells number 10 trillion to 100 trillion in an adult. In the nucleus of cells are chromosomes. Picture a chromosome as a double-twisted shoelace. The plastic tip at the end of the shoelace is … Read more

Here’s to Good Health and Ears to Good Hearing

A few weeks ago at the Tech Museum in San Jose I watched the IMAX Movie: Human Body. The movie was filmed with microscopic photography—showing a highly-magnified version of  how the human body is created (with an egg, the largest cell in the body, being fertilized by one of the smallest—pesky millions of dinky sperm … Read more