This Science Friday entry is more political than science and could also be considered as a late Earth Day entry. Now I’m not a very green person, at least not as green as I’d like to be. Just by glancing at the carbon quiz, I knew I was doing a very poor job of being a steward of the earth. Part of that is due to laziness, but I also have to put some blame on local resources. Del City does not make it easy for you to recycle. But I predict in the coming months Chris and I will become a greener family just out of shear frustration with the current administration.

Last month a California judge ruled in favor of a suit put forward by two environmental groups against the Bush administration on illegal neglect of energy policy. The judge declared that the Department of Energy violated the 1992 Energy Policy Act by falling to meet its own goal of converting its fleet of vehicles into alternative fuel models. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires that 75% of all government vehicles purchased must be alternative fuel source vehicles (AFVs). It was supposed to boost AFV purchases therefore increasing the demand for AFVs and making them more accessible to the general public. Unfortunately the ruling does not mandate that the Bush administration comply with the original standards. Now it’s up to the Secretary of Energy to set new goals, like achieving 10% fuel conversion by 2014 instead of 30% fuel conversion by 2010.

But it doesn’t end there. Ten states filed suit against the Federal government on Thursday over the EPAs decision not to regulate carbon dioxide pollution as a contributor to global warming. The EPA says that the Clean Air Act does not require them to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks and that the law does not authorize the agency to regulate emissions to reduce global warming. The EPA also maintains that there is not enough scientific data supporting that carbon dioxide plays a big part in global warming (or even that global warming exists). So what does EPA stand for? I thought that was the Environmental Protection Agency. It says something on their website about “35 years of protecting human health and the environment�. The new suit was filed in response to the July decision and applies to tighter pollution controls on power plants. The states suing hope the courts will rule specifically whether the Clean Air Act can be used to fight global warming.

All this leaves many people asking what’s it going to take to get this administration to take some freakin responsibility for our environment. The answer is simple.

Get a new administration.

I’ve been wanting to get a new bar for my eyebrow piercing for a long time now. I’ve had a loop in for over a year and thought it was time for a change. I mentioned this to Chris today, but told him that I’d probably put it off until next month. His reply was to go today.

We made the trek down to 23rd Street Body Piercing and looked through the jewelry. I asked the clerk if they could put in a short bar and he looked at me and said “no”. He said that my piercing had migrated too much and that the ring I currently had in would probably rip itself out soon. He told me it would be better to remove the ring and just let the piercing grow back, then get it re-pierced later.

So, I had the ring removed. The girl that removed it had had two eyebrow piercing that had done the same as mine except she never removed her jewelry and now she has two scars across her eyebrow. She told me that removing the ring now was really the best choice.

I’m sad. It doesn’t look bad, just a tiny indention, but I feel like something’s missing. I have to wait three months before I can even think about getting it re-pierced and even then I’m not sure I’ll have it done again. Well, at least my mom will be pleased.

A bathroom cleaner called Magic Nano was recalled in March only three days after going on sale in Germany because almost 80 people reported severe respiratory infections. Six were admitted to a hospital with fluid in their lungs. Most of the symptoms cleared up with in a few days and no one has died (yet), but its definitely added fuel to the fire for critics of nanotechnology who say that nanotechnology is the spawn of Satan.

Of course there are several problems with this criticism. First of all, Magic Nano isn’t really what you’d call nano. I mean it doesn’t contain microscopic robots that eat away the mold and grime in your bathrooms. (Trust me. I was severely disappointed when I found all this out). Liquid in Magic Nano doesn’t contain nanoparticles. When applied as an aerosol it forms a layer of silicon dioxide that repels oil and water. The silicon dioxide layer is 100 nanometer thin and that’s where it gets it’s “nano liquid� label.

Also, the respiratory problems only occurred with the aerosol version of the bathroom cleaner. The same company also produces a windscreen cleaner containing nano liquid and it hasn’t harmed any one. There have been no problems reported for people who have the pump version of the bathroom cleaner. So far the real culprit of the respiratory infection seems to have been caused by the anti-corrosion liquid inside the propellant can.

I’m just disappointed to discover that the product doesn’t contain microbots. I had this great little vision of teeny tiny bots cleaning the mold off of my bathtub for me.

Every Saturday on our way back from grocery shopping at Aldi, Chris and I pass this store called Nature’s Treasures. It’s one of those New Age type shops. Actually, that’s were Chris bought my really cool Ganesh statue. I’ve been in the place once and was amazed with the selection of spell books and crystals (the lady that runs the place can tell you the best way to fix a broken crystal, which is to bury it in your backyard).

The most amazing thing about this store is the number of people it seems to attract. The parking lot holds maybe eight cars and the owner lives in the house next door. The lot is always full. Every Saturday Chris and I are just dumbfounded by the amount of people there. Sometimes the lot is so full that people have to park in the dirt lot next door.

Since we spent the whole weekend in Tulsa, Chris and I did the grocery shopping yesterday. When we passed by Nature’s Treasures there were only three cars parked out front, but one of them was the store’s delivery van. Yeah! They have a delivery van! You can call in an order for healing crystals and have them delivered right to your door.

Sometimes I think I chose the wrong profession. Oh why did I choose a science degree from a liberal arts university when I could have received and online PhD in Metaphysics?

So Robin came into the lab the other day all excited about this article and I thought it would be a good Friday Science entry. New fossils have been discovered in the eastern Ethiopian desert that are the link between our ape-man ancestors and more primitive hominids.

The more primitive hominids are known as Ardipithecus and date from between 4.4 million and 7 million years ago. They were very ape-like (sort of like the Bonobo), but walked on two legs. The new fossils discovered are from the post primitive species of Australopithecus called Au. anamensis. The Australopithecus has a short ape-like stature with a small brain and big teeth and it walked on two legs (remind you of any one?). This particular species dates back 4.1 million years ago.

There has been a big relationship gap (like a million years) between Australopithecus and Ardipithecus. The new fossils were found in two areas with Ardipithesus found in older rocks and Au.afarensis in overlying rocks showing that Au. anamensis closes that gap.

Of course this all depends on whether or not you believe that the earth is about 4.6 billion years old or only about 6,000 years old.

Thanks to Shelley, I now have something to blog about even if it’s just a list of things copied off of Wikipedia. I really wanted to put something clever down for the death entry like 2001- Death of the Constitution when George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43 President of the United States, but in the end I decided to stick with the traditional sort of answer.

Three Events
1945- Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a fourth term as President of the United States.
1958- Elvis Presley receives his draft notice.
1969- The first pulsar was discovered in the Crab Nebula.

Two Births
1946- David Lynch, American film director.
1958- Lorenzo Lamas, American actor.

One Death
1993- Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t do a Friday Science entry. But work has been insane this week. I think I worked late every day this week except on Friday, but I’m going in on Sunday to set some things up so that cancels out the leaving early on Friday.

If I had had time to do a Friday Science entry it would have been about genetically engineered pigs with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. That means that eating bacon could have the same health benefits as eating a tuna sandwich. Rumor has it that researchers are also planning to try this trick out on chicken eggs.

Does this mean that pork rinds will be healthier too?

Ever since they opened an Ikea store in Dallas, Chris and I have been planning a trip there. The trip always gets postponed for various reasons. Last month Chris suggested that we go to the Ikea store for our anniversary, but after all the birthdays last month we were broke and so postponed the trip (again). Saturday we finally went to the Ikea store. FINALLY!

It was the best trip to Dallas that we had ever had together. There was no screaming at traffic, no crying over misnamed streets, no temper tantrums over being lost. It was amazing. I think it was because we never actually made it to the Dallas area. We ended up finding all the places we wanted to see in the Plano area, close to the Ikea store.

We spent four hours in Ikea. Yes, you heard me. Four Hours. Basically everything is coming from Ikea and if I had had the money in my pocket on Saturday I would have bought our new couch right then and there. Instead I just bought a bag of 100 tea-light candles for $3. You never know when you’re going to need tea-lights. We spent so much time in Ikea that we were too tired to go the Container Store.

Not only did we have a great time at Ikea, but I also bought pants for cheap that fit me and look good on. I’m telling you, we were in the dime zone. I bought a very flattering pair of slacks ($15) at the Gap outlet and I didn’t even mind being dragged to the REI store because I found these on the clearance rack for $15! The Prana pants are my new favorite pants and if I could replace all of my pants with Prana pants, I would. They are soooo soft and flowy and comfortable. Plus they look good on and I can wear them to work and yoga. I think I love them just about as much as I love Chris.