joe_momma
6th January 2011, 11:35 AM
The Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific is far smaller than alarmists initially claimed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8241265/Great-Garbage-Patch-in-the-Pacific-Ocean-not-so-great-claim-scientists.html
British Journal of Medicine has retracted Dr Wakefield's study that linked autism to vaccinations.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/?hpt=T1
IMHO:
The garbage patch debunking is just one more reason to be suspicious whenever alarmists insist that society must immediately stop doing something (in this case using plastics), usually resulting in most people paying more for less. Global Warming, Ozone Layer depletion, Rain Forrest destruction, Tree Frog Mutations, Silent Spring, Prohibition, ... the list goes on and on.
My apologies to all those with loved one afflicted, but Autism story is a mixed one, I wish it were as simple as a single (controllable) thing that causes the disorder(s) - for example Thalidomide, but I suspect Autism and its kindred disorders are much, much more complex and difficult to overcome than I would prefer.
The victory (as such) is that the research community may being to look for other causes - rather than expending more effort on a possibly non-productive hole.
Wakefield may still be correct, but his initial research does not support his claim. (note - I do not believe mercury exposure in newborns is benign - just may not be the most significant cause of neurological/developmental damage)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8241265/Great-Garbage-Patch-in-the-Pacific-Ocean-not-so-great-claim-scientists.html
British Journal of Medicine has retracted Dr Wakefield's study that linked autism to vaccinations.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/?hpt=T1
IMHO:
The garbage patch debunking is just one more reason to be suspicious whenever alarmists insist that society must immediately stop doing something (in this case using plastics), usually resulting in most people paying more for less. Global Warming, Ozone Layer depletion, Rain Forrest destruction, Tree Frog Mutations, Silent Spring, Prohibition, ... the list goes on and on.
My apologies to all those with loved one afflicted, but Autism story is a mixed one, I wish it were as simple as a single (controllable) thing that causes the disorder(s) - for example Thalidomide, but I suspect Autism and its kindred disorders are much, much more complex and difficult to overcome than I would prefer.
The victory (as such) is that the research community may being to look for other causes - rather than expending more effort on a possibly non-productive hole.
Wakefield may still be correct, but his initial research does not support his claim. (note - I do not believe mercury exposure in newborns is benign - just may not be the most significant cause of neurological/developmental damage)