Morgellons Disease

· A Crime of Silence.
http://www.viewzone.com/morgellons.html

by Dan Eden

If you have ever watched horror movies, you've probably seen one where a person becomes infested by bugs or worms. Their skin begins to move and ripple as dark shapes squirm under its surface. Suddenly their skin bursts open allowing a colony of bugs to escape! While this is an exaggeration of Morgellons Disease, it's not that far off.
For over a decade now, thousands of people on every continent (except Greenland) have contracted a mysterious disease that still eludes the medical community. Morgellons remains shrouded with controversy, paradoxes and politics and has become a major "conspiracy theory" on the world wide web.
Morgellons victims have the sensation of bugs, worms or sometimes ants crawling under their skin. They describe being stung or feeling like needles are sticking in them. They develop skin lesions that bleed and fester, exuding a kind of film that covers the wounds and prevents them from healing. But the weirdest thing is the mysterious appearance of fluffy, white cotton balls that form on the surface and colored threads that seem to grow from inside the skin.

The threads or filaments are what brings most victims to their physician. After weeks of observing and collecting these threads, patients often bring them to their physician in matchboxes, plastic bags or jars. Quite often, Morgellons sufferers are excited and a bit hysterical and suggest that they have some sort of "thing" living inside of them. Totally unfamiliar with these symptoms, the typical physician usually makes the diagnosis of delusional parasitosis and refers the patient for psychiatric care.
Morgellons does, in fact, have a psychological component. Victims report problems with short term memory, clouded thoughts and emotional fatigue. The reluctance of physicians to perform tests or examine their specimens further incites these victims and deepens the conviction of their caregivers that the wounds are self-inflicted and psychogenic.
With the help of the internet, Mary Leitao, who gave the disease its name, reached out to others who had been turned away by the medical community. After being frustrated with the treatment of her young child who had these symptoms, Mary found other victims of this strange disease. Together they demanded that the medical community (and politicians) take them seriously. Through the influence of her oragnaization, The Morgellons Research Foundation (morgellons.org), some scientists did examine the specimens, specifically the strange threads that Morgellons victims had growing from their wounds. The results of laboratory tests on these fibers were unexpected and extremely strange. This strangeness has only served to feed conspiracy theorists who claim that they are the result of such things as chemtrails, a secret genetic modification program, an alien organism or rogue nano-technology.
As you will see, these theories all seem to have some legitimate basis...

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Electric cars: put a battery in your roof

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gY_9zthQIXN8etDM3tZF4b0O6uSQ

A nanoscale material developed in Britain could one day yield wafer-thin cellphones and light-weight, long-range electric cars powered by the roof, boot and doors, researchers have reported.
For now, the new technology -- a patented mix of carbon fibre and polymer resin that can charge and release electricity just like a regular battery -- has not gone beyond a successful laboratory experiment.
But if scaled-up, it could hold several advantages over existing energy sources for hybrid and electric cars, according to the scientists at Imperial College London who developed it.
[...]
The new material -- while expensive to make -- is entirely synthetic, which means production would not be limited by availability of natural resources.
The carbon-polymer composite does not depend on chemistry, which not only means a longer life but a quicker charge as well.
[...]
As hard a steel, it could in theory double as the body of the vehicle, cutting the weight by up to a third.

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Nano-Cartography...

http://photonics.intec.ugent.be/publications/MediaCoverage/2009-12-17/

Take the length of the equator on the map above, double that distance and you have the width of a human hair. For this is the world’s smallest world map, with the 40,000 kilometre-long equator reduced to a mere 40 micrometres.The smallest features on the map, corresponding to 100 kilometres, are about 100 nanometres wide.

The map was created by the Photonics Research Group at Ghent University in Belgium, and embedded in an optical silicon chip[above]. Miniaturisation on this scale (one trillionth [*], to be exact) will enable optical technology with a million times more components than in present-day, glass-based photonics, and opens the door to nanophotonic applications in consumer electronics[but, of course!], medical imaging, and telecommunications.
*: The factor of 1 trillion (1.000.000.000.000) is expressed by the prefix tera- (as in terabyte or teraflop)

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Peers criticise food industry secrecy on nanotechnology

· Lord committee calls for more checks on use of nanomaterials in food and the dangers posed to the human body.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/08/food-industry-nanotechnology-secrecy

The UK food industry comes under attack from peers today for being secretive over its development of nanotechnology in food and drink.
The Lords science and technology committee is urging the government and research councils to carry out more checks into the use of nanomaterials in food and in particular the dangers for the human body.
Nanotechnology involves whittling common materials down to the size of microscopic particles, allowing them to acquire unusual properties.
Nanoparticles have been used in cosmetics and sun-cream products. They can help create foods which taste the same as conventional alternatives but have lower fat, salt or sugar levels, or enrich foods with supplements, or even be used in packaging to extend products' shelf-life.
Nanotechnology is also being seen as a successor to genetically modified (GM) techniques. [...]

Research has shown that nanoparticles can penetrate into places larger particles cannot go, such as through the "blood-brain barrier", which stops toxic molecules passing from the blood into the brain. They find their way into vital organs including the kidneys and liver, but precisely what they do in them has yet to be fully investigated.

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Tell USDA: Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

http://truefoodnow.org/2009/10/16/usda-considers-a-ban-on-nanotech-in-organic/

USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is voting on whether nanotechnology should be banned from use in Organic products. Thanks to your overwhelming outcry in May 2009 the Board’s initial recommendation is to keep nanotech out of organic entirely. Now, we need your help again to make sure USDA holds the line! The critical vote on the Board’s final recommendation will be held in Washington D.C. on Nov 3.
Nanotechnology is contrary to Organic Principles and could further entrench industrial/chemical agriculture and industrial food as our dominant paradigm, to the detriment of public health and the environment. Tell NOSB to ensure the integrity of Organic on this issue by voting that USDA ban nanotechnology as an excluded method.

[Source: truefoodnow.org]

Experts Present Evidence to Committee on Nanotechnology in Food

http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=11326

As part of the evidence given, several key points were raised including:

1. the ability of nanoparticles to cross the gut wall and other cellular barriers;
2. the potential novel toxic effects of such nanoparticles in the human body;
3. the possibility that other materials in the gut (e.g. bacteria or other contaminants) may attach to the nanoparticles and be transported across the gut wall (the Trojan Horse Effect)

Other important concerns included the ability of nanoparticles to interfere with cellular processes in the body e.g. oxygen metabolism, and the antimicrobial properties of some nanoparticles which may result in further harmful effects.
It was also emphasised that research to date has primarily been investigator driven, a consequence of the responsive funding mode adopted in the UK, and as such has focussed primarily on inhalation and dermal exposure to nanoparticles. This has led to a lack of research into the effects of ingestion of nanoparticles combined with a non-generalisability of current research. A more strategic coordinated approach, such as that recommended in the 2004 Royal Society Report, was necessary. These major gaps in the knowledge base, specifically relating to ingestion, was a key finding of the recent SAFENANO-led report EMERGNANO, one of the documents discussed at the hearing.

[Source: azonano.com]