Oxygen

A daytime talk show that has topped the ratings for the better part of a decade, made by her own production company. A lauded turn as a movie star. Made-for-TV movies, best-selling books, cable productions, glam cover shots gracing this month's Vogue. Is it enough for Oprah Winfrey? Hardly. Yesterday, the Big O signed on to help run Oxygen, a cable television and online company for women that's set to launch Jan. 1, 2000. Winfrey joins founder Geraldine Laybourne, former president of Nickelodeon, and the Carsey-Werner-Mandebach Co., the television production company responsible for The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and 3rd Rock from the Sun, as partners in the venture.

THERE'S NO WAY that a reality TV show called "All My Babies' Mamas" was going to be anything but a hot mess. Especially if Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo (a/k/a Carlos Walker) was starring in it. And get this: All 11 of his children by 10 different mothers also were going to be featured on the program on Oxygen. Yeah, you read that right. Thankfully, someone at Oxygen apparently realized what a colossal mistake that would have been. The network announced Tuesday it had dropped "All My Babies' Mamas.

Microscopic bubbles trapped in hardened tree resin for 80 million years indicate the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere has decreased by one-third, scientists say. Preliminary data from the tree resin, or amber, suggest the level of atmospheric oxygen 80 million years ago may have been as high as 30 percent, compared with today's 21 percent, Robert A. Berner of Yale University told a meeting of the Geological Society of America this week....

The Air Force and many Americans have been puzzling for more than two weeks over the aerial odyssey of pilot Craig Button, whose A-10 fighter disappeared over Colorado after veering away from a training flight. But retired Air Force Lt. Col. Donald Towner thinks he may have an answer. When he heard the story, the first thing that popped into his mind was: "That guy's got hypoxia. " Hypoxia is a strange phenomenon of oxygen starvation that can induce a kind of aerial rapture producing confusion, poor judgment and muscle incoordination, experts say. Those conditions could produce the kind of erratic flight path reported for Button, Towner believes.

The deaths of two men Saturday on a ship docked at the Beckett Street Terminal were accidental, the result of insufficient oxygen in the atmosphere of the ship's hold, the Camden County Medical Examiner ruled yesterday. But the medical examiner, Dr. Robert Segal, could shed no more light on why the Saga Wave's deep bowels, loaded with lumber from Canada, lacked normal oxygen levels. One theory still being investigated by Segal's office, the Coast Guard and other agencies was that enough mold may have grown inside the cargo hold to consume most of the oxygen.

There was a moment, on a crag 28,000 feet up Mount Everest, that Peter Hackett knew exactly what would happen if he simply let go and stepped off the mountain. He would fly. He knew it with the certainty that dreams have, except, of course, that he was wide awake, freezing cold and breathing heavily through an oxygen mask. All around the view was spectacular, and the air was thin. "I stood on the very edge of the mountain," he recalled in a recent interview about his 1981 expedition.

My patient needed to be delivered. She had just developed eclampsia, a potentially fatal disease that afflicts women in the second half of pregnancy. She had suffered a seizure and dangerously high blood pressure, and was at risk for far worse, including a stroke. No one knows why this condition arises, but delivery sure clears it up in a hurry. So we gave medication to start labor, and the nurses placed a fetal heart monitor. Worn like a belt, but higher on the abdomen, the ultrasound monitor would play a crucial role in the hours to come.

As the surgical team began delicate heart surgery on a premature, two-pound infant, the unthinkable happened. The baby boy suddenly became engulfed in flames. Doctors and nurses immediately doused the fire and tried to revive the baby at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, but it was too late. He died soon after. "We really aren't sure what happened," a hospital official said at a news conference. Mark Bruley, summoned to the scene from his lab across the country in Pennsylvania, had an answer in five minutes.

TUCSON BIOSPHERE DUO TAKING PURE 'O' Two of the eight men and women sealed in Biosphere 2 are breathing pure oxygen at night to offset the effects of a drop in oxygen levels inside the experiment-under-glass. Dr. Roy Walford, 68, the crew's physician, said he and Jane Poynter began taking concentrated oxygen last weekend.

Question: What causes the iris of the eye to change color? For most of my life, my iris color in each eye was dark brown. When I was in my 50s, the color began to lighten. I'm now 62, and the iris color is hazel, a mix of brown and green. Also, my father's eyes slowly changed from hazel to pale blue by the time he was in his 70s. Answer: The color of our eyes is based on the number and color of pigment granules (melanin) in our iris. These granules range in color from nearly colorless to dark brown.

THERE'S NO WAY that a reality TV show called "All My Babies' Mamas" was going to be anything but a hot mess. Especially if Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo (a/k/a Carlos Walker) was starring in it. And get this: All 11 of his children by 10 different mothers also were going to be featured on the program on Oxygen. Yeah, you read that right. Thankfully, someone at Oxygen apparently realized what a colossal mistake that would have been. The network announced Tuesday it had dropped "All My Babies' Mamas.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans to travel to Cuba as early as Tuesday for more medical treatment after spending much of the last 18 months fighting cancer. In a written request to the legislature, Chavez said doctors have recommended he "begin special treatment consisting of various sessions of hyperbaric oxygenation" and physical therapy to continue "consolidating the process of strengthening health. " The request did not provide more details about the treatment or Chavez's condition and was approved by allied lawmakers at a special session in the city of Maracay.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has approved an Air Force plan to begin lifting flight restrictions on the F-22 stealth fighter jet, following the ongoing correction of oxygen-deficit problems that grounded and restricted the fleet for months. Press secretary George Little said Tuesday that the Pentagon had "very high confidence that we've identified the issue" with the mysterious oxygen-depletion problem that caused some F-22 pilots to feel dizzy and experience other symptoms of hypoxia.

LOS ANGELES - Recent incidents with the Air Force's fleet of F-22 Raptor fighter jets have prompted fresh questions by two members of Congress looking for answers on the oxygen problems that have plagued the aircraft for years. F-22 pilots have reported dozens of incidents in which the jet's systems weren't feeding them a proper amount of oxygen, causing hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can cause nausea, headaches, fatigue, or even blackouts. On Tuesday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.)

Question: What causes the iris of the eye to change color? For most of my life, my iris color in each eye was dark brown. When I was in my 50s, the color began to lighten. I'm now 62, and the iris color is hazel, a mix of brown and green. Also, my father's eyes slowly changed from hazel to pale blue by the time he was in his 70s. Answer: The color of our eyes is based on the number and color of pigment granules (melanin) in our iris. These granules range in color from nearly colorless to dark brown.

THE GLEE PROJECT. 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oxygen.       "THE GLEE Project" made me a little crazy last summer. Though not nearly as crazy as "Glee" does most weeks.   The only televised singing contest I still get worked up about returns to Oxygen Tuesday with all the fun and frustration that marked its first round, in which a dozen talented performers competed for a story arc on Fox's "Glee. " In the end, because "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy said so, there were two first-prize winners, Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen, and two runners-up won smaller roles.

HACKENSACK, N.J. - New Jersey fire officials said that an 82-year-old homeless man with emphysema accidentally caused a car explosion when his cigarette ignited gas from a leaking oxygen tank inside his vehicle. The Record reports that four people - the man, two police officers and Fire Department Lt. Stephen Lindner - were hurt in yesterday's explosion. Lindner was approaching the smoke-filled car with a hose when it exploded. An employee of a nearby store had pulled the man from the car. Fire Chief Matt Wagner said that the man, who wasn't identified, uses about a tank of oxygen a day and was storing them in his car. - Associated Press

Paula Marie Thomas braved the big nor'easter of 1962 that pounded much of the East Coast, including her hometown of Atlantic City. Water came up to her porch - nine steps up from the ground. But she stayed put and made it through. Almost 50 years later, Hurricane Irene threatens destruction to the area. This time, though, she isn't being allowed to weather the storm. "They said it was mandatory. We had to go," Thomas said. Gov. Christie declared a state of emergency for New Jersey on Thursday, and residents along the coastline were told to evacuate the area.