smog linked to reduced mental capacity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110705071735.htm

In the new study, mice were exposed to either filtered air or polluted air for six hours a day, five days a week for 10 months -- nearly half the lifespan of the mice.

The polluted air contained fine particulate matter, the kind of pollution created by cars, factories and natural dust. The fine particulates are tiny -- about 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or about 1/30th of the average width of a human hair. These particles can reach deep areas of the lungs and other organs of the body.

The concentration of particulate matter that the mice were exposed to was equivalent to what people may be exposed to in some polluted urban areas, according to the researchers.

After 10 months of exposure to the polluted or filtered air, the researchers performed a variety of behavioral tests on the animals.

In a learning and memory test, mice were placed in the middle of a brightly lit arena and given two minutes to find an escape hole leading to a dark box where they feel more comfortable. They were given five days of training to locate the escape hole, but the mice who breathed the polluted air took longer to learn where the escape hole was located. The mice exposed to polluted air also were less likely to remember where the escape hole was when tested later.

D - we have already had a coupla smog alert days locally.

Once again, it may be that air pollution is not cost effective to tolerate.

A general lowering of mental performance has an economic cost.

I reiterate that pollution - including CO2 - is an URBAN problem, forming a bubble around a city.

ottawa offers free parking if you bike rest of way

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/06/18/ottawa-park-cycle.html

The NCC plans to allow free access to 10 parking lots, where drivers can leave their cars and cycle the remaining distance to work. The Park and Cycle pilot will run from June 20 to October 28, 2011.

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D - anybody else notice how hard it is to get to Guelph?
My sis lives off the Hanlon.
I'm trying to bike there. But I *really* don't like roads without bike lanes or trails.

http://www.pr.uoguelph.ca/sustain/transportation/cycling.htm

D - I just cannot get Firefox to display PDFs. Never have been able to.
Explorer did it just fine.

Anyway, my sis is off the Hanlon midway through Guelph.
I'm trying to figure out how to avoid Victoria as much as possible - it is brutal.
Looking like Shantz on the way out of Kitchener.
This will also allow me to cycle to work near Cambridge's Toyota plant.

The lack of a coherent bike lane/trail from Kitchener to Guelph is just tragic.

public transit will make us thin, cars made us fat

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100628203756.htm

In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326134014.htm

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, finds that people who take public transit are three times more likely than those who don't to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's suggested daily minimum of physical activity.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110426122950.htm

Canadians have become heavier and less fit over the last three decades; people aged 20-39 years have the BMI (body mass index) that people aged 40 or older had thirty years ago. The 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey found more than 60% of adults were overweight or obese, with 24% being overweight, and 37% obese. If such a trend is to continue, over the next 25 years, half of Canadians over age 40 will be obese.

"Obesity is expected to surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality," writes author

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110511131138.htm

"You can think of obesity as an energy imbalance," Jacobson said. "People consume food, which is a form of energy, and then they expend it in their activities. But if you look over the last 60-plus years, the automobile has become our primary mode of transportation -- so much so, in fact, we have literally designed our way of life around it. It is that energy imbalance that ultimately may lead to obesity."

D - most people sleepwalk their way into obesity. It happens one double-double cream coffee at a time.
Take my roomie. He was 280lbs, now down to 250lbs.
We'd go to the bar for beer 'n burgers and fries.
We'd be walking out and he'd go ooohhh! Chocolate almonds - protein.
A champion bodybuilder doesn't need that much protein!
One snack after meal at a time.
Energy imbalance.

why teen drivers go splat so much

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419190032.htm

Scanning involves observing the surroundings far ahead of the vehicle and side-to-side, not just immediately in front of the hood. It is a higher-level skill that experienced drivers develop over time. The study authors note that developing effective ways to teach this skill sooner in the learning-to-drive process could reduce teen crash risk. Pilot tests of this type of training have shown promise in increasing hazard detection and response skills among novice drivers.

By getting very specific about the types of teen driver errors that are most likely to precede a crash, this study makes it possible to target policies, programs, driver education and other strategies to reduce those critical errors and prevent crashes from happening.

Among crashes with a teen driver error:

• Twenty-one percent occurred due to lack of scanning that is needed to detect and respond to hazards.
• Twenty-one percent occurred due to going too fast for road conditions, (for example, driving too fast to respond to others, or to successfully navigate a curve).
• Twenty percent occurred due to being distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100609083225.htm

D; and another reason to start high school student after the primary school kids.
Besides grades.

Results indicate that in 2008 the teen crash rate was about 41 percent higher in Virginia Beach, Va., where high school classes began at 7:20 a.m., than in adjacent Chesapeake, Va., where classes started more than an hour later at 8:40 a.m. There were 65.4 automobile crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Virginia Beach, and 46.2 crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Chesapeake.

"We were concerned that Virginia Beach teens might be sleep restricted due to their early rise times and that this could eventuate in an increased crash rate," said lead author Robert Vorona, MD, associate professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. "The study supported our hypothesis, but it is important to note that this is an association study and does not prove cause and effect."

speed linked to fuel mileage, accident survival

http://autos.aol.com/article/texas-speed-limit-gas-mileage/

Further evidence comes from a recent study that showed even a small reduction in speed can have a big impact on lives saved. In the report, published in the Transportation Research Record, author Rune Elvik found that a 1 percent decrease in travel speed reduces injury crashes by about 2 percent, serious injury crashes by about 3 percent and fatal crashes by about 4 percent. These reductions are critically needed, traffic safety experts say, as speeding remains a serious highway safety problem. Nearly 13,500 people died in speed-related crashes in 2006.

Drivers can assume that each 5 MPH they drive above 60 MPH, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association (GHSA), is like paying an additional 20 cents a gallon for gas. Additionally, aggressive highway behavior such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33% at highway speeds and 5% around town.

"But today, it's always hurry, hurry, hurry everywhere you go. Everybody's gotta be there yesterday, and if you do the legal speed limit of 55 or 60 MPH, people tailgate you or beep their horn. You can't obey the law even if you want to without getting grief on the highway."

vehicle pollution causes brain damage

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407092028.htm

If mice commuted, their brains might find it progressively harder to navigate the maze of Los Angeles freeways. A new study reveals that after short-term exposure to vehicle pollution, mice showed significant brain damage -- including signs associated with memory loss and Alzheimer's disease.

The authors found a way to recreate air laden with freeway particulate matter inside the laboratory. Whether in a test tube or in live mice, brain cells showed similar responses:

• Neurons involved in learning and memory showed significant damage,
• The brain showed signs of inflammation associated with premature aging and Alzheimer's disease,
• Neurons from developing mice did not grow as well.

The freeway particles measured between a few dozen to 200 nanometers -- roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and too small for car filtration systems to trap.

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D - maybe we will find that our transportation is an important contributor to old age dementia?

So does a sedan for every home still look 'cheap'?

Aside - I drive a subcompact car to work, and hope to start bicycling some soon.

I hypermile and drive like a granny - other than going 10kph over the speed limit.
LOL and better not go any slower or I'd cause road rage.
I ponder that the few bad 'indy 500' drivers pay less for gas than I do.
Otherwise, they'd just be plain foolish.

gas station air pollution linked to health problems

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130315.htm

The research study shows that a "minimum" distance of 50 metres should be maintained between petrol stations and housing, and 100 metres for "especially vulnerable" facilities such as hospitals, health centres, schools and old people's homes. "Ideally, the 100 metre distance should be respected in plans for building new houses," says Doval.

The researchers propose carrying out this study at new construction areas in which it is planned to build these kinds of facilities. However, petrol stations are not the only source of emission of these pollutants.

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D - I was arguing with the a friend's friend on FB recently
He dismissed incidental costs to society of use of products.
If it is not embedded into a standard product price, then apparently it is a fairy tale.
And since the 'cradle to grave' cost of product cannot be precisely measured, then approximating it is spurious.
I pointed out that standard taxing is totally arbitrary, and a 'sin tax' like I proposed would much closer to an accurate assessment of using a product.
With 100 buck barrels of oil upon us again, folks will begin to agitate for lower fuel taxes again.
I say DOUBLE it. That still does not reflect the cost in urban areas of fuel use.

With public health care, the fiscal budget picks up the tab for anything we do not sensibly deter at the taxation level instead. In other words, we pay indirectly via hiked taxes or increased debt anyway!
Without public health care, the economy still absorbs the costs by loss of productivity. Money spent on health care is money not spent elsewhere.
Perhaps a spartan rather than thriving health care sector for preventable (and delayable) conditions is more desirable?