Life

Updates...

Peter Stathakos — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:13:41 GMT

Well, it's been a while since I last posted, it's been a crazy couple of months involving a move and a change of jobs.

This should be the last move for a long time...

Details to come.

A Cure For Cancer?

Peter Stathakos — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 01:25:00 GMT

Holy cow! This is potentially very huge. Of course, since the drug is not under patent it does not appear like the drug companies are interested in funding clinical trials and this may need to be funded publicly instead.

Who cares. Pull some money out of "defense" budgets and throw it towards some trials. We'll be saving allot of pain and suffering in both patients and war zones.

And now for the science:

Article from the New Scientist Magazine

Wikipedia article

Article in the Toronto Star

Nothing on Snopes about this yet, but it appears to be true... Here's hoping.

Thanks to Carl for the link.

Online Family Tree

Peter Stathakos — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:13:00 GMT

A shout out to Omar who pointed me to this excellent family tree site at Geni.com. It's fairly fast, free and online, so everyone in the family tree can contribute and build out the branches. Check it out if you're into family trees at all.

Note: If you're somehow related to me, expect some mail to come your way shortly once I extend the branches a bit. Or else drop me note and we'll set things up.

O Valencia!

Peter Stathakos — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:54:00 GMT

I don't usually listen to one song numerous times a day, and rarely buy a CD based on the strength of one track, but... Well, this says it all...

Currently listening to: O Valencia! - (03:48)
The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Tea Consumption and Iron Absorption

Peter Stathakos — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:51:00 GMT

I was recently looking for information concerning Tea (which I drink alot of) and Iron absorption. My concern is probably the opposite of most people's (especially women); my body loves iron, a bit too much and so I have to be careful about my intake. Most anaemics have the opposite problem, they can't get enough of the stuff.

Anyway, I found an interesting article from the UK Tea Council on exactly this subject. Tea and Iron Absorption (doc file).

Basically, it comes down to this quote:

Tea drinking mainly influences the absorption of non-haem iron as haem iron is relatively unaffected by tea.

Heam iron - haemaglobin and myoglobin of animals - easily absorbed
Non-haem iron - plant foods - not as easily absorbed

So, in effect, tea has a slight effect on the absorption of iron from plant sources but not from animal sources. This may be of a concern to vegetarians, but I suspect that the other health benefits related to tea more than outweigh a slight reduction in iron.

Also, not only do legumes such as beans, peas and lentils have a high concentration of iron, these are typically found in many vegetarian and vegan diets, so an extra helping here or there should balance it all out...

Finally, this choice quote from the tea council's document:

Vitamin C found in fruit, fruit juice and vegetables, enhances iron absorption by reducing the ferric iron to the more readily absorbed ferrous form. In addition, it also protects any iron in the ferrous form from being oxidised back to the ferric form.

So, Vitamin C has the added benefit (or risk, if you're ferophobic like me) of aiding iron absorption. So eat lots of fruit and veggies, drink some tea and you should be on the right track.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or anything, just a guy interested in this stuff trying to spread some knowledge. Before making any drastic lifestyle changes, please consult your doctor.

Currently listening to: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - (04:38)
U2, The Joshua Tree

Remembrance Day

Peter Stathakos — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:59:00 GMT

Thank you to all the men and women who have gone through the horrors of war to protect our lives and freedoms.

Body Worlds in Vancouver

Peter Stathakos — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:22:00 GMT

The Body Worlds 3 exhibit is here in Vancouver until January 2007 at Science World or World Of Science or big silver golf ball or whatever they're calling it nowadays.

I remember seeing exhibits by Dr. Gunther von Hagens on TV a long time ago, probably on one of those "Believe it or Not" type shows. I thought it was really cool, if a little creepy then, I guess I'm going to find out.

We really want to go see this exhibit, it should be awesome. I'm not so sure however about what this volunteers link is all about. I wonder if these "volunteers" knew what they were getting themselves into :-D

The Dead Sea Scrolls and King Tutankhamun

Peter Stathakos — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:06:00 GMT

We're definitely going to make a trip down the coast to Seattle this year to see the Dead Sea Scrolls before they get packed up and shipped back to Israel. For anyone in the area, it's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Where: Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA
When: Sept 23 2006 - January 7, 2007

And speaking of once in a lifetime museum exhibits, the King Tut exhibit is currently in Chicago and will be in Philadelphia in 2007 and London in 2008 before probably returning to Egypt. Hmmm. London 2008 you say? Maybe...

However, here's a little info from the FAQ

Q: What does the exhibition include?
A: The exhibition includes approximately 130 objects from the tomb of King Tut and other valley of the King Ancestors.

Q: Is the death mask in the exhibition?
A: The death mask is not allowed to leave Egypt and therefore is not included in the exhibition.

I guess that means his royal highness' body won't be on display either. Oh well, all the more reason to make that trip to Egypt one day.

Worldchanging Tour: Vancouver

Peter Stathakos — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 05:10:00 GMT

Speaking of upcoming stuff in Vancouver, this Sunday is the Worldchanging Tour: Vancouver event. Meet great people and learn about how we can change our world to make it sustainable and a better place for all.

November 5th: VANCOUVER
at Workspace
6:00-8:30pm
400 – 21 Water St.
Vancouver BC, V6B 1A1

More details and RSVP information here.

Trying Out Zooomr

Peter Stathakos — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:43:00 GMT

Update: Added the link to the free Zooomr pro accounts for bloggers.

I just uploaded a bunch of new pictures to the Flickr feed last night, mostly of stuff we did this summer like the Abbotsford Air Show and the Vancouver Zoo.

The cool thing is that a new photo sharing site Zooomr is giving away free one year pro accounts to bloggers, so I'm giving it a shot. I'll try to post all upcoming pictures to both our Flickr and Zooomr feeds and see what works better. So far, one thing I notice is that Zooomr is a little bit faster, but we'll see what happens once I hammer it with a thousand photos or so...

Vancouver Zoo 2006 Hosted on Zooomr