In her head, she's already there. Photo: CC/Bryan Fenstermacher

[That's a lot of Lindens]

I can’t even ride a bicycle in Second Life without my avatar getting stuck in motion, before peddling madly into the ocean. (I know, clear my cache.)

But it is possible that less rickety virtual worlds will be useful places in which to coordinate a response to some calamity.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health are conducting a study to determine if collaborative virtual environments improve public health preparedness and response planning.

The study is funded by a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The project will use Second Life, a Web-based virtual world in which users move and interact in simulated 3-D spaces, to train public health workers in emergency preparedness.

via UIC evaluates ‘virtual world’ training for public health emergencies.

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Hope it's OK. Photo: CC/Daniel Beaman

It’s hard to say exactly which foods we will be forced to eat, in Earth’s CO2- and O3-stuffed atmosphere.

But it is likely those foods will be genetically modified to counter the toxic effects of these atmospheric gases, and to maintain their nutritional value.

Global food security in a changing climate depends on the nutritional value and yield of staple food crops. Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia have found an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decreased yield in plants grown under high CO2 and drought conditions.

via New crops needed for new climate | h+ Magazine.

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Hoping for the best. Photo: CC/Jordan

One percent of Air Force/Army/Navy/Marine brats have autism. That’s double the rate for the general population.

So I’m not surprised to read the US Defense Department’s announcement of a $2.2 grant to help the military better treat its personnel, and their families, who’ve been affected by the disease.

It may be that military moms and dads are exposed to more heavy metals in their jobs, as well as chemical and biological weapons. That, and experimental vaccines.

As a military spouse who has been contributing to Age of Autism since it was Rescue Post, I am especially thrilled. We’ve seen growth here at Age of Autism, but we’ve also seen growth of the autism epidemic both in the military and civilian community. We’ve also seen a rise in the challenges, or problems, that come along with this heartbreaking rise. In the military community the most recent FOIA shows that as of 2007, one in every eighty-eight military dependent child of an active duty member has autism. This figure most likely doesn’t include my own boys because of how and when the stats for the FOIA were tracked. Currently we’re waiting on new statistics.

via AGE OF AUTISM: Age of Autism Adds Military Category.

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