Fast Food Fats Focus of Forgetting? Alzheimers May Have Found A Link
An interesting study has just been released that suggests that diets high in fats and fast food may attribute some factors to Alzheimers disease. The study revolved around testing a group of mice that were fed a steady stream of high fats over a period of nine months. After the nine month period, the mice showed the same abnormal brain tangles that have been strongly associated with the memory-loss disease.
I know this isn’t your normal run-of-the-meal “Adventurist” post, but over the past year I have been keeping my eyes on what is currently being done in regards to Alzheimers. I lost two grandparents to the disease. Another friend of mine, Alan Arnette, continues to try to raise awareness and funds to help battle the disease that has stricken his mother. Earlier this year, many fans to this site will remember the posts I made as we followed Alan Arnette on his quest to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He was climbing for the Cure Alzheimers Fund and has been giving information and posts in regards to his mother and this disease.
Filed Under Health |
Access Fund: Bridal Veil Falls To Re-Open To Climbers After Decades Old Ban
The Access Fund has released the news that Telluride’s famed Bridal Veil Falls will re-open to climbers on December 5th. Bridal Veil Falls is Colorado’s tallest free-flowing waterfall and has garnered a reputation as being one of the country’s hardest and most difficult ice climbs. The Idarado Mining Company, who currently owns the land that Bridal Veil Falls runs on, has had the area closed for a few decades except for a few brief and intermittant openings that allowed climber access.
The Trust For Public Lands, Idarado Mining Company, The Telluride Mountain Club, The Access Fund, and Colorado’s San Miguel County were able to negotiate for the new measure to re-open the famed area for climbers. The Idarado Mining Company will still hold a revocable public access license allowing climbers into the area. No time-table on a future closing has been given.
The opening of the key access point to Bridal Veil Falls was managed by The Trust for Public Land, a non-profit land conservation organization dedicated to helping communities all around the country save special places for everyone to enjoy. Their work has made a real difference around Telluride, Ouray and Silverton, where they have protected over 10,000 acres for the public, including other outstanding climbing resources such as Wilson Peak and the Ouray Ice Park.
A climber’s general information meeting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. in the county meeting room, Miramonte Building, 333 West Colorado Ave (2nd floor) Telluride, CO. All interested climbers are invited to attend.
Filed Under Access Fund |
Todd Carmichael Expedition Earth 2008 Update: Going To The Pole On Foot
Todd Carmichael has phoned in a new update to his South Pole expedition. In our previous update, Todd had reached the 81st degree, but was having some problems with his ski bindings. After breaking one, then fixing it, his second binding snapped–forcing Todd to make a couple of tough decisions. After a couple of days of tinkering, Todd was able to get the bindings back together, albeit not a sure fix for the long haul. You can read the previous update here.
Day 13 finds Todd at roughly 16 miles past the 82nd degree and moving forward. He is covering between 12 and 16 miles a day, has been facing some high winds, and is now planning on walking to the South Pole unaided by skis. His decision to not rely on skis is a tough one, but the binding fix has proven to be just a semi-permanent fix. He is afraid that he may need them later on and doesn’t want to risk destroying the precarious state they are in. In Todd’s latest audio update, he talks of actually enjoying the walk and feeling closer to the experience and the history of the past. He relates that explorers of the past, including Shackleton, made this expedition on foot. Unfortunately, Shackleton’s expedition wasn’t a success. Let’s hope Todd’s experience is different!
Speaking of Ernest Shackleton, Todd had the recent opportunity to meet up with The Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition. He mentions holding Ernest Shackleton’s compass. This compass is being carried by the ancestors of Shackleton’s original 1909 Nimrod expedition, as they search for their own links to the past. Todd mentions the weight and the significance of holding such a peice of history.
Overall things are going good for Todd. He has the bit of frostbite to his face, is now on foot rather than skis, but is taking in the moment, trying to protect himself from the high winds, and keeping his mind on moving forward. He dedicated his latest update to Dr. Galdikas, whom Todd has worked closely with over the years, and told everyone to go visit her site if they have time. Likewise, I pass on this information. Go visit http://www.orangutan.org to learn more of the Dr.’s work and why Todd gives this organization so much of his time. It’s a good cause.
Filed Under Todd Carmichael |
Wildlife Alert: Massive Whale Massacre Gets Canadian Greenlight
Canadian authorities recently authorized Inuit hunters that they may begin killing a group of whales that had become stranded near Baffin island. The original numbers had placed these whales at about 200 animals. They had become trapped in the arctic ice and their survival was looked upon as futile and very unlikely. Inuit hunters began killing the narwhal whales earlier in the week. By weeks end, whales were still surfacing in the area on a regular basis. It is now believed that there could be as many as 400 whales trapped in the ice with little chance of survival.
Narwhal whales are one of very few species of whale (if not the only one) to have a tusk that protrudes from it’s face. This tusk can be upwords of 10 feet in length. The narwhal is also thought to be the only whale species that inhabits the arctic for the full extent of it’s life. Males can weigh in excess of 3,500 pounds, with females slightly smaller.
Canada’s Federal Fisheries and Oceans officials have assured everyone that all parts of the narwhal harvest are being used to benefit the people. The ivory tusks are to be sold internationally, while the blubber and meat will be sold through local merchants.
Filed Under Wildlife alert |
Video: The Truths of Mt. Kilimanjaro?? ‘Today’ Show Called Out
Filed Under Cool Vid, Uncategorized |
Music Review: Guns-N-Roses Chinese Democracy
Is 14 years to long to wait for a follow-up album? In 1986, when Appetite for Destruction was first released to the world, myself along with millions of other fans rushed in for what could only be called a new musical experience. Guns-n-Roses was raw. It was real. It made our parents cringe at the thought that their kids could listen to something so…so…distasteful.
Then we lost them.
Sure, there was the Use Your Illusions I & 2 that had some good material, but the band itself had worn thin and worked its way into the mainstream ballad markets. Soon enough Guns-N-Roses would vanish for good.
On November 23rd, after a 14 year hiatus, America’s biggest rock/metal band returns to the big stage. Should we hate them for being gone so long? Should we be dissappointed that Slash and the others behind the original incantation of Guns-N-Roses had dissipated? For those of you now holding this same argument, and I have heard it over the last few days, all I can say is that you are going to miss one hell of an album come November 23rd!
Chinese Democracy combines the efforts of all previous albums of G-n-R and comes up with something yet new again. It is an amazing peice of hard-rocking, hard-hittin’, and mesmerizing musical melodies that bring back the flavors of that age that none of us want to truly forget. It is Guns-n-Roses 1986, 1994, and 2008 all wrapped into one tight package of tunes that will have you wondering what the hell you just listened to. Axl Rose is still the king of hard-hittin rock, and his bandmates are his court.
Filed Under Music Review |
Ann Curry, ‘Today’ Show Host, Turned Back From Kilimanjaro Summit
Today show host Ann Curry has been turned back from the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro after getting within striking distance. Her decision to pull back from the final summit push, which was scheduled for tomorrow, came after the team started suffering from the effects of acute altitude sickness.
She said in yesterday’s broadcast report that, even if they didn’t summit, they accomplished what they set out to do by showing the visual evidence of how far the glaciers and snow fields have retreated from the mountain because of climate change with 80 percent of the glaciers having disappeared in 20 years. The report made no claim as to whether the climate change is man-made or occurring naturally. (From The Examiner)
Ann Curry had been sent to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak and one of the famed Seven Summits, to report on the effects of climate change. This was part of a ‘Today’ show series highlighting climate change around the globe. Her other co-hosts were dispatched to places like Iceland, Belize, and Australia and are still reporting on location.
Curry’s final altitude before retreating was 15,700 feet, or about 3,500 feet from the top. Not bad for someone who found out they were going less than three weeks ago. Ann Curry has had no formal mountain climbing experience before this trip to Kilimanjaro. That is still a pretty good feat and she should be proud of her attempt. Half the battle in mountain climbing is knowing when to say when-Good job, Ann!
Filed Under Mt. Kilimanjaro |
Todd Carmichael Expedition Earth 2008 Update: The 81st Degree
It has been a couple of days since I have posted any polar updates. One of the reasons being that most teams were battling snowy, white-out conditions and decided to hunker down rather than risk the weather. The weather has now improved and teams are on the move once again.
The last update that I provided had Todd finally reach the ice of Antarctica. This had come after a brief stay in Chile where Todd began suffering from the effects of tendonitus and a lung infection. Luckily, once Todd reached Patriot Hill, Antarctica things seemed to get better.
Many of his updates, up till now, have focused on the weather, how good things are going, and thanking everyone for their thoughts and emails. A few days back, some of you may remember Todd having some problems with the binding on one of his skis. He was able to MacGyver that (I know I am old) and get back to being useful, but then the darn thing broke again. The second fix seems to be holding, but now the binding on his other ski has broken, too.
Filed Under South Pole |
Adventure Gear: HangTimer Brings iPhone and iPod To Adventure Life
A really cool application has just been released that will track how much air you get in those great adventure sports. When bragging rights are of the utmost importance, now you will have your proof with the touch of a button!
The HangTimer application is compatible with all iPhones and the iPod Touch and even features a few more features if you are lucky enough to own an iPhone 3G. Here’s the lowdown on what this application can do for you.
- Records your hangtime
- Records your 10 best jumps
- Auto-locates ski resorts
- Features trail maps and snow reports
- Mountain info and live webcams
With the added benefits of a GPS navigational system found in the iPhone 3G, you will also be able to track your top speed at takeoff, map where your big air occured, and even track yourself on Google Maps.
That’s a pretty impressive list of features that should benefit all adventurers. Not only does this new iPhone and iPod application work while skiing and mountain biking, but they say it can even track the air you get on rollercoasters etc. The application was developed to work with the iPhone’s accelerometer using a sophisticated air and mapping device to calculate the speed and air that you obtain, while also tracking your progress.
This seems to be a really cool and handy application. It almost makes me want to run out and purchase that new iPhone 3G and give this thing the big air it craves. For more information on the HangTimer, please visit their website.
Filed Under Adventure Gear |
Wildlife Alert: Extinct Primate Resurfaces In Indonesia
A primate thought to be extinct since the 1920’s has resurfaced in Indonesia. National Geographic News is reporting that a pygmy tarsier was recently discovered deep in the Indonesian rain forest. The carnivorous animal was rediscovered during an expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society’s Conservation Trust.
It is thought that deforestation during the 1970’s may have wiped out the species, but no live specimen had been seen since the 1920’s. Sharon Gursky-Doren, who helped lead this expedition, mentioned that the team actually captured, tagged, and set free three different pygmy tarsiers and are hoping that this rediscovery will help pursuade the Indonesian government tp protect this species while they still can.
To read more about the pygmy tarsiers and to catch an amazing close-up view of this long lost species, head over to National Geographic News.
Filed Under Wildlife alert |
