'True Blood' Recap: 'Sunset'

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Vampire behavioral science and setup work for next week's season-ender were the name of the game in this week's episode of "True Blood," as most of the cast converges on Authority headquarters for the grand finale.

Hive-minded idealists Bill's rapid evolution from sensitive gentleman to power-hungry Lilith freak is one of the weirdest things to happen this season... and apparently, we're not the only ones who think so. Jessica, newly arrived at Authority headquarters, is shocked to see how her maker has changed. Her pleas to return to Bon Temps to warn Sookie and Jason of the Russell threat fail to sway him, and when she tries a bluff that appeals to Bill's newfound faith (giving Jason Stackhouse the gift of fangs), he calls her out with sneering superiority and sends her out to make good on it.

Instead, Jessica slips stakes her security detail and runs for Fangtasia, where Pam gives her a hiding place and us some long-awaited exposition. Namely: nesting behavior, which causes a group of vampires living in one home to act as catty and exclusive as a table of eighth grade mean girls. And at the Authority, the nest has been kicked into overdrive by blood-of-Lilith use... which explains not only Bill's devolvement into this season's biggest douche canoe, but also why the chancellors keep having visions of the bloodied and be-merkin-ed Lilith standing in various hallways and personally selecting them to lead the cause.

But not every Authority figure is on the train to Crazytown. Haunted by visions of the ghostly and disappointed Godric, Nora runs to Eric who, unlike the rest, has been faking his zealotry for forgiveness and makeup sex. And when a pissed-off visiting dignitary from the U.S. government presents an opportunity, Eric kills him and then takes off with Nora for a damage-control "glamouring campaign"... which is, of course, all a ploy to escape. And they do! Which is great, but considering that the big multi-cast-member finale looks to be taking place at the building they just left, they'll probably be back.

Where's Warlow? Back at the faerie bordello, Sookie looks for answers to her plight from an ancient elder faerie who, as Maurella explains, "operates on many frequencies at once" which is a nice way of saying that she's a dyed-in-the-wool weirdo. (She warns Sook that trouble is coming, but she also wants to know if she's "for or against" John Cougar Mellencamp and Boyz II Men.) The only thing that can sober her up? The news of Russell Edginton's return. The Elderfaerie vows that the Fae will fight, and when Russell and Steve find their way to the portal, it looks like she'll vanquish them post-haste... but no, the overconfident Elder makes a wild pitch, hits Jason Stackhouse with the vanquishing intended for Russell, and gets sucked to death in a matter of seconds. The bad news: no more mid-1990s R&B group references. The worse news: Russell's bellyful of blood means that he can now see the incredible, edible fae.

And now, your moment of zen Alcide. Shirtless. With an axe. You're welcome. And though we don't yet know what the werewolf's role in the final episode will be, Alcide and Daddy Herveaux have worked through their issues enough to tag team a marauding pack of babyvamps which sets them up nicely for whatever showdown is in store next week.

What did you think of this week's "True Blood"? Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!

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'True Blood' Recap: 'Sunset'

VBT Bicycling & Walking Vacations Announces New Line of Cross-Country Skiing Vacations

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Cross-Country Skiing in the Alps, the Dolomites, and the Canadian Rockies Provides a Perfect Blend of Outdoor Activity and World Travel with VBT’s Tradition of ExcellenceBristol, VT (PRWEB) August 20, 2012 VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations has announced a new line of cross-country skiing vacations, a wonderful way to bring together an active traveler’s love for the beautiful winter landscape ...

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VBT Bicycling & Walking Vacations Announces New Line of Cross-Country Skiing Vacations

CSU vets seeking cats with chronic kidney disease

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Colorado State University veterinarians are looking for cats with chronic kidney disease to participate in a clinical trial involving stem cell therapy.

Felines with chronic kidney disease may benefit from the clinical trial. Kidney disease, or renal failure, is a highly common ailment particularly in older cats.

Currently, other than kidney transplantation, only supportive care home treatments are available to try and slow the progression of the disease. Recent studies have shown that stem cell therapy has the potential to improve kidney function in rodents with kidney failure. In laboratories, stem cells improve renal function, decrease inflammation and scarring in the kidney and improve levels of excess protein in the urine.

What the study involves: Stem cells that have been grown from the fat of young healthy specific-pathogen free cats (the cats are not harmed during the collection process) will be slowly injected intravenously every two weeks for three treatments. A small group of cats will receive a placebo treatment during the trial, but have the option to receive stem cell treatment after finishing the trial. The study involves a minimum of five visits to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, so cats that are stressed or become agitated during veterinary visits, or are not local to the CSU area, are not ideal candidates.

Cats with stable chronic kidney disease can participate in the stem cell study. Those with other illnesses or heart disease, kidney infection, stones or other renal complications cannot be enrolled in the study.

All visits, lab work, stem cell treatments and a $200 stipend for the owner's expenses are funded by CSU's Frankie's Fund for Feline Stem Cell Research and the Morris Animal Foundation.

For more information about enrolling a cat in this study, contact Dr. Jessica Quimby at jquimby@colostate.edu.

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CSU vets seeking cats with chronic kidney disease

Uri Geller's holiday heaven and hell

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What do you need for the perfect holiday?

I need it to be a short flight from my home in Sonning, Berkshire. I need to be able to speak the language I speak Greek, Hungarian, Hebrew, English and German. It must always be warm. It must have the sea, a lake or a river for the powerful positive energy of water and it cannot be a place that is polluted. Many places fit those criteria.

Whats your best piece of travel advice?

Make sure youre insured. There are so many horror stories about people getting sick or injured and having to spend 200,000 on hospital bills to get home.

What do you always take with you?

I take rubber exercise bands, my Achilles tendon stretcher, running shoes, vitamins, sunglasses, sanitiser gel, face masks in case I encounter major pollution and, of course, my wife.

Where do you want to go next?

Israel. I havent been for seven years. Its an incredible country: the Holy Land where religions meet. Im in love with old Jaffa, its a 5,000-year old town by Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean. Im looking forward to running with Hanna from Tel Aviv to Jaffa and back again.

...and disasters?

Whats the worst hotel youve stayed in?

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Race to Health Opens Door for Spirituality

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There seems to be an urgency when it comes to health care. Perhaps, because of this, more consideration is being given to thought, spirituality, and the powerful connection they have to well-being.

Last year, the American Psychological Association revealed that the use of prayer for health concerns significantly increased from forty-three percent in 2002 to forty-nine percent in 2007.

Many studies have examined the effectiveness of prayer. Most of these studies state that prayer improves health. Some suggest otherwise.

Why the confusion?

If you analyzed the effects of 100 different medications used to treat a specific problem, you wouldnt declare, Medicine does not work! if only one was found to be beneficial for treating the problem. Most likely, you would say, Here is the one that helps.

Just as all medications are not the same, not all prayers are the same.

I wrote in a column two weeks ago: It would be difficult to grasp the complete driving ability of the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe if the test-drivers were fifteen-year-olds from your neighborhood driver education class. Just so, each test subject during a study of prayers ability to heal may not, as yet, be spiritually prepared to apply the full might of divine power. Jesus disciples couldnt always heal as quickly or completely as he did. Yet, the Bible implies that as they gained spiritual maturity some were able to perform many substantial cures.

Utilizing prayer under all circumstances is not always an easy task. After I married my wife, Joanne, and whenever I got the hiccups, a race for relief would break out between my prayer and her home-remedy of a spoonful of jelly. If I couldn't make the hiccups disappear through prayer before Joanne arrived with her spoon, I was supposed to swallow the sugary solution.

However, absolutely every time, prayer won out. Praying caused the hiccups to completely stop before Joanne could dash to the kitchen and return with the jelly.

I don't know if you have ever tried praying while under pressure, but it took a concerted effort to keep my thought on the divine power to bring relief while hearing Joanne's shoes on the tile floor as she ran to the kitchen.

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Race to Health Opens Door for Spirituality

Spirituality correlates to better mental health regardless of religion, say researchers

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ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2012) Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world's major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person's faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health -- particularly mental health -- and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual's spiritual inclinations.

"In many ways, the results of our study support the idea that spirituality functions as a personality trait," said Dan Cohen, assistant teaching professor of religious studies at MU and one of the co-authors of the study. "With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe. What was interesting was that frequency of participation in religious activities or the perceived degree of congregational support was not found to be significant in the relationships between personality, spirituality, religion and health."

The MU study used the results of three surveys to determine if correlations existed among participants' self-reported mental and physical health, personality factors, and spirituality in Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants. Across all five faiths, a greater degree of spirituality was related to better mental health, specifically lower levels of neuroticism and greater extraversion. Forgiveness was the only spiritual trait predictive of mental health after personality variables were considered.

"Our prior research shows that the mental health of people recovering from different medical conditions, such as cancer, stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, appears to be related significantly to positive spiritual beliefs and especially congregational support and spiritual interventions," said Cohen. "Spiritual beliefs may be a coping device to help individuals deal emotionally with stress."

Cohen believes spirituality may help people's mental health by reducing their self-centeredness and developing their sense of belonging to a larger whole. Many different faith traditions encourage spirituality though they use different names for the process. A Christian monk wouldn't say he had attained Nirvana, nor would a Buddhist monk say he had communed with Jesus Christ, but they may well be referring to similar phenomena.

"Health workers may also benefit from learning how to minimize the negative side of a patient's spirituality, which may manifest itself in the tendency to view misfortune as a divine curse." As the authors note, spiritual interventions such as religious-based counseling, meditation, and forgiveness protocols may enhance spiritually-based beliefs, practices, and coping strategies in positive ways.

The benefits of a more spiritual personality may go beyond an individual's mental health. Cohen believes that the selflessness that comes with spirituality enhances characteristics that are important for fostering a global society based on the virtues of peace and cooperation.

The paper, "Relationships among Spirituality, Religious Practices, Personality Factors, and Health for Five Different Faiths" was published in the Journal of Religion and Health. The lead author was Brick Johnstone of the MU Department of Health Psychology. The paper's other authors were Dong Yoon of the MU School of Social Work, Laura Schopp of the MU Department of Health Psychology, Guy McCormack now at Samuel Merritt University, Marian L. Smith now of Via Cristi Hospital, and James Campbell of the MU School of Medicine.

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Spirituality correlates to better mental health regardless of religion, say researchers

Spirituality correlates to better mental health regardless of religion, say MU researchers

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Public release date: 20-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Tim Wall walltj@missouri.edu 573-882-3346 University of Missouri-Columbia

Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world's major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person's faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health particularly mental health and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual's spiritual inclinations.

"In many ways, the results of our study support the idea that spirituality functions as a personality trait," said Dan Cohen, assistant teaching professor of religious studies at MU and one of the co-authors of the study. "With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe. What was interesting was that frequency of participation in religious activities or the perceived degree of congregational support was not found to be significant in the relationships between personality, spirituality, religion and health."

The MU study used the results of three surveys to determine if correlations existed among participants' self-reported mental and physical health, personality factors, and spirituality in Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants. Across all five faiths, a greater degree of spirituality was related to better mental health, specifically lower levels of neuroticism and greater extraversion. Forgiveness was the only spiritual trait predictive of mental health after personality variables were considered.

"Our prior research shows that the mental health of people recovering from different medical conditions, such as cancer, stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, appears to be related significantly to positive spiritual beliefs and especially congregational support and spiritual interventions," said Cohen. "Spiritual beliefs may be a coping device to help individuals deal emotionally with stress."

Cohen believes spirituality may help people's mental health by reducing their self-centeredness and developing their sense of belonging to a larger whole. Many different faith traditions encourage spirituality though they use different names for the process. A Christian monk wouldn't say he had attained Nirvana, nor would a Buddhist monk say he had communed with Jesus Christ, but they may well be referring to similar phenomena.

"Health workers may also benefit from learning how to minimize the negative side of a patient's spirituality, which may manifest itself in the tendency to view misfortune as a divine curse." As the authors note, spiritual interventions such as religious-based counseling, meditation, and forgiveness protocols may enhance spiritually-based beliefs, practices, and coping strategies in positive ways.

The benefits of a more spiritual personality may go beyond an individual's mental health. Cohen believes that the selflessness that comes with spirituality enhances characteristics that are important for fostering a global society based on the virtues of peace and cooperation.

###

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Spirituality correlates to better mental health regardless of religion, say MU researchers

Astronauts hang space station shields

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - Astronauts are spacewalking outside the International Space Station for the first time in half a year.

Monday's spacewalk got started late because of a leaky valve on the Russian side of the orbiting outpost. The crew had to reopen the air lock and check the seals to ensure a tight fit, before Russians Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko could go out. Padalka assured Moscow flight controllers they were in no rush. But he admitted it was boring to wait an extra hour.

The two spacewalking pros will attach shields to protect against space junk. The panels were supposed to go up during a spacewalk in February, but got put on hold. The men also will move a crane and release a small satellite, all Russian-based work.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Astronauts hang space station shields

Spacewalkers take on fix-up tasks after delay

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A suspected leaky valve on the International Space Station stalled the start of a spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts for nearly an hour on Monday, forcing them to wait in bulky spacesuits until it was deemed safe to venture outside.

Veteran cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko were preparing to begin their space station spacewalk when the leak was detected during air pressure tests. Russian flight controllers at the station's Mission Control Center in Moscow asked the cosmonauts to stay put until the leaky valve could be isolated.

Padalka, the space station's commander, agreed.

"We're in no rush," Padalka radioed Mission Control in Russian, which was translated in a NASA broadcast.

Flight controllers spent almost an hour trying to isolate the leaky valve and monitoring air pressure inside the station's airlock and adjoining modules. Ultimately, they radioed good news to the spacewalkers the leak was resolved and it was safe to proceed. The cosmonauts welcomed the go-ahead.

"We're just hanging here and it's kind of boring," Padalka said.

At 11:37 a.m. ET nearly an hour later than the scheduled time of 10:40 a.m. ET the two cosmonauts finally opened the space station's airlock hatch and went to work.

Monday's spacewalk is due to 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station. Padalka is making his ninth career spacewalk during the excursion, and it's the fifth spacewalk for Malenchenko.

During the excursion, Padalka and Malenchenko plan to install new shields on the station to protect it from damage by tiny bits of space debris, and they'll move a hand-operated crane to a new location on the orbiting lab's hull.

Space news from NBCNews.com

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Spacewalkers take on fix-up tasks after delay

Photos: Space Station Crew Takes 1st Spacewalk of 2012

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Expedition 30 Cosmonauts Perform Spacewalk

This image of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov, both Expedition 30 flight engineers, was taken during a spacewalk on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. During the six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk, Kononenko and Shkaplerov moved the Strela-1 crane from the Pirs Docking Compartment in preparation for replacing it in 2012 with a new laboratory and docking module. The duo used another boom, the Strela-2, to move the hand-operated crane to the Poisk module for future assembly and maintenance work.

Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov work with a Strela crane during a Feb. 16, 2012 spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (right) rides the Strela crane outside the International Space Station during a 6-hour, 15-minute spacewalk with crewmate Oleg Kononenko on Feb. 16, 2012. The cosmonauts moved the Strela crane to a different spot on the station.

This still from a NASA animation shows how Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov will use one crane to move another outside the International Space Station during a Feb. 16, 2012 spacewalk.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 30 flight engineer, poses for a photo with a Russian Orlan spacesuit in the Pirs docking module after a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Feb. 16, 2012. Kononenko is wearing a blue thermal undergarment that complements the Orlan spacesuit.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 30 flight engineer, is seen wearing a bulky Orlan spacesuit during in a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Feb. 16, 2012. Kononenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (out of frame) spent more than 6 hours preparing the station's Pirs docking module to be replaced by a new module in 2013.

Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Expedition 30 flight engineer, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station. Image released feb. 16, 2012.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 30 flight engineer, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station, August 16, 2012.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 30 flight engineer, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station, August 16, 2012.

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Photos: Space Station Crew Takes 1st Spacewalk of 2012

Cosmonauts ready space station for new module

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two veteran spacewalkers floated outside the International Space Station on Monday to prepare the orbital outpost for a new module and beef up its living quarters against micrometeorite and debris impacts, officials said. Dressed in spacesuits, station commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko opened the hatch on the station's Pirs airlock ...

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Curiosity's Secrets: The Hidden Features of NASA's Mars Rover

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NASAs newest Mars rover, Curiosity, is an awesome scientific machine. By now, you probably know all about its rock-blasting laser and its 17 amazing cameras.

But here and there, Curiosity is hiding a few secrets. Scattered around its body are little mostly unknown bits and pieces. You might have noticed them in images and said, like we did, Huh, I wonder what that is.

Well, here we take a very close-up and detailed look at the rover to answer some of those questions. Some of these features helped Curiosity pull off a flawless landing on the Martian soil. Other bits are there to assist in the day-to-day science collecting that will allow the rover to figure out the history of water on Mars and whether the planet was ever capable of sustaining life.

Above:

Curiositys engineers seem to love pyrotechnics even more than Burning Man enthusiasts do. During the spacecrafts harrowing entry, descent, and landing sequence, it fired off 76 blasts to separate the pieces of the plummeting probe. Some of the pyrotechnics (which are essentially very controlled fireworks) had the energy of a box of matches while others contained the explosive force of a dynamite stick.

Just before Curiosity entered the Martian atmosphere it fired 10 pyrotechnics within five milliseconds Pow! Pow! Pow! some of which released miniature guillotines to cut connecting cables while the rest actually separated the entry capsule and the cruise stage. Other blasts released the spacecrafts tungsten ballast weights (which were later spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite). The biggest boom was responsible for unfurling the rovers supersonic parachute, the largest ever used on an interplanetary mission.

Even on the ground, the rover still had a few more bangs to go. Engineers needing to remove the cameras dust-blocking lens caps turned to -- what else? -- small pyrotechnic devices.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Curiosity's Secrets: The Hidden Features of NASA's Mars Rover

NASA's science rover Curiosity zaps first Martian rock

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Mars rover Curiosity zapped its first rock on Sunday with a high-powered laser gun designed to analyze Martian mineral content, and scientists declared their target practice a success. The robotic science lab aimed its laser beam at the fist-sized stone nearby and shot the rock with 30 pulses over a 10-second period, NASA said in a statement issued from mission ...

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NASA's science rover Curiosity zaps first Martian rock

Nasa's Mars rover zaps first rock

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20 August 2012 Last updated at 07:32 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent

Nasa's Curiosity rover has zapped its first Martian rock.

The robot fired its ChemCam laser at a tennis-ball-sized stone lying about 2.5m away on the ground.

The brief but powerful burst of light from the instrument vaporised the surface of the rock, revealing details of its basic chemistry.

This was just target practice for ChemCam, proving it is ready to begin the serious business of investigating the geology of the Red Planet.

It is part of a suite of instruments on the one-tonne robot, which landed two weeks ago in a deep equatorial depression known as Gale Crater.

Over the course of one Martian year, Curiosity will try to determine whether past environments at its touchdown location could ever have supported life.

The US-French ChemCam instrument will be a critical part of that investigation, helping to select the most interesting objects for study.

The inaugural target of the laser was a 7cm-wide rock dubbed "Coronation" (previously N165).

It had no particular science value, and was expected to be just another lump of ubiquitous Martian basalt, a volcanic rock.

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Nasa's Mars rover zaps first rock