ericj
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Post by ericj on Mar 13, 2005 10:44:36 GMT -8
Uh-oh. The black hands cause Alzheimers, I guess I'm in trouble. The major thing I hate about working with aluminum is that its SOOO easy to warp it with a bead blaster. Actually, it's all aluminum. It's been found that people with Alzheimer's have a notably larger amount of aluminum in their brainstem that has been deposited over their lifetimes. The main culprit is the very common aluminum antiperspriants, which are readily absorbed through the thin skin under one's arms... Since such small amounts cause problems over the long term, I'm almost terrified of holding raw aluminum. It matters on the alloy.
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Post by IguanaKing on Mar 13, 2005 14:38:50 GMT -8
Nobody actually knows the cause of Alzheimers, but Aluminum is thought to be the culprit. I don't doubt that, but Alzheimers is really no less elusive than cancer. Some get it through a minimum of exposure to carcinogens, some don't, in spite of regularly exposing themselves to HUGE doses. Alzheimers doesn't look like much fun though. My grandmother had it for years until she finally gave up on living. She kept asking us who the "old guy" was when her husband of 50+ years left the room. Anyway...in my line of work, Aluminum absorption is the least of my worries. There are ALL KINDS of things that can kill me MUCH quicker than that. I already have lived through 1 plane crash. The healed fractures in two of my pelvic vertebra make a GREAT natural alarm clock though.
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ericj
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Post by ericj on Mar 20, 2005 0:23:49 GMT -8
Nobody actually knows the cause of Alzheimers, but Aluminum is thought to be the culprit. I don't doubt that, but Alzheimers is really no less elusive than cancer. Some get it through a minimum of exposure to carcinogens, some don't, in spite of regularly exposing themselves to HUGE doses. Alzheimers doesn't look like much fun though. My grandmother had it for years until she finally gave up on living. She kept asking us who the "old guy" was when her husband of 50+ years left the room. Anyway...in my line of work, Aluminum absorption is the least of my worries. There are ALL KINDS of things that can kill me MUCH quicker than that. I already have lived through 1 plane crash. The healed fractures in two of my pelvic vertebra make a GREAT natural alarm clock though. They found (though this was a while ago) that all alzheimer's patients had higher-than-average amounts of aluminum built up in the brain (primarily the stem). The root cause was found to be anti-perspirant that is absorbed and delivered to the brain. Over time it collects and eventually disrupts many natural brain processes. The cause of cancer is consistent, simple, and logical. It's unpredictability is only in when/if the replication error occurs. Certain things increase cellular mutation, which increase the risk of cancer. The solution that has been used is actually the most obvious and likely way to kill it without somehow getting inside the cell to check it out and decide whether it is good or bad... Chemo-therapy kills all dividing cells. The plan is to kill enough dividing cells over a long enough period to kill the cancer cells (which divide constantly) without killing too many cells along with the host. In all seriousness, I think that "searching for a cure for cancer" is a pointless waste of time, unless they're seeking better ways to kill dividing cells. Until there's a way to scan every cell and selectively remove specific cells, there will never be a cure for cancer. Technology we don't have would be able to end it. What we need is bold-faced print on everything known to increase the risk, and banning of most (if not all) products known to greatly increase the risk. Certain things increase risk of cancer so dramatically due to their physiological effects that they should be completely banned...most have little value to humans, the most obvious has absolutely no value, unless you're actually trying to kill someone, then it's awesome... In fact, the only value I know of is food for a deadly-toxic caterpillar. Back on topic: I completed most of the enclosure, but I can't get any pictures because the battery in my camera went dead and I can't seem to locate my battery charger. The next project related directly to the enclosure is my light hood, but I am still waiting on quotes for that part... I have all my pipes and I'm working on a good way to hang them; it might be finished before the hood is in... No other news for now.
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Post by IguanaKing on Mar 20, 2005 6:45:20 GMT -8
Hi Eric ;D That's a VERY cool and innovative enclosure you're building...did I mention that? ;D I once thought about building an enclosure with an Aluminum frame and Styrofoam/Polyester Fiberglass composite panels. But time wasn't on my side because my igs were quickly getting too big for their adolescent enclosure. About risk...I think warnings are good enough. Bans are going too far because of the motivation behind some studies. Remember...many of these studies also have corporate research grants behind them. Some of them, over time, turn out to be false. What better way to sell your product than to fund a research program that "proves" your target audience LITERALLY can't live without your product. Remember the controversy over eggs and cholesterol? Remember Saccharin? (Where the rats that developed cancer were practically given a blood transfusion with the Sachharin solution). Everything in moderation. Like my Chemistry professor once said..."This is the Periodic Table of Elements. Everything on it, with the exception of the man-made elements, is required for survival. Yet, everything on it can also kill you." BTW...our actual sheet metal guy is 75 years old (I'm an instrument guy, but he has taught me to fabricate aircraft instrument panels and mounting brackets), STILL has a memory like a steel trap, and has worked with 2024T3 (aircraft) aluminum for 50 years. Genetics are SOOOO complex, but I agree that its Aluminum in the brain that is the possible cause. It makes sense in the case of my grandmother...she had life-long GERD which she treated with TUMS. In the old days, this antacid contained Aluminum and Magnesium as its active ingredients. Of course the formation of cancer is simple and logical. But, like you said, the factors that leave cells open to this mutation are a mystery. I think research is still warranted, since most species of shark don't ever get cancer. If we can figure out why, maybe we actually can find a cure or, better yet, a vaccine. But...genetics and chaos theory again, it won't be effective for everybody.
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ericj
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Post by ericj on Mar 20, 2005 11:23:47 GMT -8
Hi Eric ;D That's a VERY cool and innovative enclosure you're building...did I mention that? ;D I once thought about building an enclosure with an Aluminum frame and Styrofoam/Polyester Fiberglass composite panels. But time wasn't on my side because my igs were quickly getting too big for their adolescent enclosure. Thanks. The environmental control system is the really impressive part - far more impressive than the enclosure itself, but far less obvious to the casual observer. As a rule, I'd agree. I have never smoked marijuana, but I don't think it should be illegal. If people want to grow it for themselves, and dealers pay taxes, I don't see a problem. It's safer than many other things. This is true. Multiple, independent, reproducible results should be required. Like I said, certain things so notably increase risk by nature that there is no reason they should be readily available. So true, except most of the 5th through 7th periods. The interesting thing that came to me when I read that brings me to my next thought...many can also kill you if they're free in your system, while the same elements within certain molecules are important to life. In other cases, your body effectively cannot absorb the element unless it's attached to something else. Maybe my fear of aluminum is unfounded... I am certain that the aluminum in both TUMS and antiperspirant are in a molecule that makes the body take it up better. Maybe aluminum itself is the cause, but aluminum in it's metalic form is not readily absorbed by the body. It would be interesting to take a brain sample from your sheet metal guy... Off-topic: I wish I knew someone with sheet metal skills - that's my most difficult problem with this project at the moment. Only mysterious to a point. Logically, the cause is one of only a few things, which are, sadly, difficult to document... I don't believe that you could be vaccinated against it. You could be genetically altered to be less susceptible, but outside of that, there is really very little that could be done. Cancer risk is clearly increased by (this list is not exhaustive): Free radicals causing genetic duplication errors. Stay away from anything that causes higher-than-average free radicals in your system. Choose foods that are easy to digest, and if your food contains fats, ensure they are easy-to-break-down fats. Avoid so-called 'trans fats' - solid hydrogenated fats that take more for your body to digest and utilize - always choose liquid fats with good proportions of helpful fats whenever possible (olive oil is one of the best non-altered fats, so I tend to use it in a lot of my cooking, I also enjoy black walnuts and pine nuts for similar reasons, beside the fact that they all taste good). (It's sad that it took the government this long to learn about hydrogenated fats...I've known about them for at least 10 years, which was long after they were well-known.) Radiation that causes genetic duplication errors. If at all possible, avoid things that produce radiation that will cause such errors. This includes, but is not limited to: The sun, microwaves, radioactive isotopes, high-powered radio antennae, high-tension power lines, wifi cards, etc. Obviously, genetically, some people have more defense against these things than others. Everything that disrupts the natural cell life cycle - extending cell lifespan and decreasing the rate of division, or killing them more rapidly and causing them to divide more often. If a cell lives too long and divides more slowly, your risk increases dramatically, especially if you have excessive free radicals. An old cell is more likely to have genetic damage, so if your cells divide more slowly and die more slowly, you are at a notably increased risk of cancer... The same is true, but to a lesser extent, if you have higher cell division rates, because each division is also slightly more likely to have a replication error. Unrelated genetic code. Certain structures are more likely to be damaged by free radicals (the reason is still not entirely known), so code that may cause any physical trait could make damage at the right point more likely. A few extra cells in some location could be the total extent of the genetic difference, yet it renders you more susceptible to cancer. There are ingredients in many readily available products that are clearly known to do two or more of the external effects. Limiting or banning those specific items would be well worth the problems they solve. They are exceptionally dangerous products, even if marketed as innocuous or relatively 'safe'... Just my $0.02.
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Post by IguanaKing on Mar 20, 2005 11:35:55 GMT -8
Whoops...I guess I'm also at risk since I am exposed, on a daily basis to antennae that radiate 1.087 to 1.093 GHz at a magnitude of 75-500 watts. More rarely, I am exposed to X-band radar side-lobes. If I were to be directly exposed to X-band radiation...well...I wouldn't have to worry about my eye-sight any more. Its wavelength is about the same as the width of capillaries in our retinas. Like I said...I try not to worry about it too much, but its causes always interest me. Thanks for the informative post, and I agree 100%, but we live in a dangerous world...nobody is safe. I guess my world just happens to be a little more dangerous than that of many.
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ericj
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Post by ericj on Mar 21, 2005 20:07:16 GMT -8
That's scary, I.K. Personally, I'm such a klutz that I would probably be dead within a week. I took a couple more pictures today of the current state of construction:
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Post by kevman on Mar 22, 2005 3:20:46 GMT -8
Wow, nice cage, I wish I knew to make mine that big..
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Post by Diane on Mar 22, 2005 5:29:08 GMT -8
I wish i had a big enough HOUSE to make Narcy a cage that big!
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Post by IguanaKing on Mar 22, 2005 18:36:20 GMT -8
Well, Eric, from the looks of that cage you're building, it doesn't look to me like you're much of a klutz. Very nice work!!! ;D BTW...the RF energy doesn't scare me nearly as much as all of the spinning propellers, jet engines, and rotor blades all around me.
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Post by IrwinsMom on Apr 1, 2005 22:45:25 GMT -8
.....WOW.....
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Post by URSULA on Apr 10, 2005 1:49:17 GMT -8
Fantastic. One lucky, lucky iggy will live there.
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ericj
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Post by ericj on Apr 10, 2005 8:53:39 GMT -8
I cannot believe how hard it is to get the hood fabricated. It is the most foreign area to me, but I never imagined everyone would say that it wasn't worth doing... So, I improvised with some material and spot lights/heaters to give him a chance to stay in there more often. In fact, he gave me quite the attitude when I went inside this morning (after I took the picture below). "You had better not even THINK of picking me up, you crazy mammal.", and last night he gave me the same, which is why I didn't move him. I think the dogs really bother him, but for some reason he felt safer in his old enclosure. I guess that will come with time. I found the ABS pipe fairly easy to work with once you get the hang of it, but the rope is always a royal pain. I ended up drilling holes through it fairly often and running the rope through so it wouldn't slip. The pipes are mounted using a handful of L brackets, bolts, slot fasteners, a blow torch, a pair of pliers, and a couple wrenches. He loves the rope-wound pipe. Here's a picture of Fredrick laying near the CHE... The dust due to wind storms just boggles the mind...
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Post by IguanaKing on Apr 10, 2005 9:35:49 GMT -8
I "You had better not even THINK of picking me up, you crazy mammal." Now that's funny!!! ;D Hercules gives me that same attitude when I try to put him to bed every night. Audrey does too, but she's easy to deal with, not NEARLY as big and strong as Herky. I'm just lucky that Herky almost never tries to bite...my medical insurer would probably have dropped me years ago. It may take a LONG time for him to view his new habitat as home. But...it looks like you are providing him with everything needed to convince him his new home is cooler than his old one. ;D
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ericj
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Post by ericj on Apr 19, 2005 22:18:54 GMT -8
Now that's funny!!! ;D Hercules gives me that same attitude when I try to put him to bed every night. Audrey does too, but she's easy to deal with, not NEARLY as big and strong as Herky. I'm just lucky that Herky almost never tries to bite...my medical insurer would probably have dropped me years ago. It may take a LONG time for him to view his new habitat as home. But...it looks like you are providing him with everything needed to convince him his new home is cooler than his old one. ;D *chuckles* He quit giving me that look yesterday after a few days of him coming out for some exercise and attention. He's back to his overall-mellow self, eating good again (right from my hand), his cycle is almost back to normal, he's quit being territorial about his new enclosure (except with one of the dogs and when certain people come around), he is totally at home with his pipe/rope climbing toy and his shelf (hops from one to the other, walks around without fear), he has learned that if he goes to the ground and scratches at the window I'll let him walk out for some more exercise (but only if the dog he has a problem with isn't around), he is consistently pooping in his big water tub (from the CHE side of the shelf...odd, but it works), etc. I still need to do a couple more modifications to the enclosure, but I don't think it'll cause any major disruption of his daily cycle... I'm happy that it appears he now appreciates his new place. The shelf is also really handy for nail trimming since they're right there, so I don't have to hold him in an uncomfortable position. Sadly, although my insulation choices seem to be paying off, the enclosure isn't quite as warm as I'd like it to be (a 60W UVA & the CHE have it at 78, which is not bad considering the size of the enclosure). Once I finish getting the roof, lights, and verticals in, climate control will be my top priority.
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