torch fun
The Olympic torch relay in Paris has been cut short after chaotic protests by anti-China demonstrators.
The flame had already been extinguished four times by security forces after repeatedclashes with pro-Tibet and human rights campaigners.
The demonstrations also saw the city’s mayor cancel a ceremony to mark the torch’s passing.
The decision was made after a Tibetan flag was draped over the city hall’s facade.
Thousands of police sent on to the streets to protect the torch relay as it made its way around the city were unable to prevent demonstrators hijacking the event.
hot dog fight
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A 28-year-old woman in Orange County stabbed her husband during a fight that sparked over having hot dogs for dinner, according to a sheriff’s office report.
Officers said Alfreda Van Bladel apparently had prepared a dinner for her husband, Anton, that consisted of hot dogs.
At some point, the man snatched the plate of hot dogs from his wife’s hands, the report said.
The action prompted the woman to stab her husband in the shoulder with a steak knife, according to authorities.
global cooling
The world will experience global cooling this year, according a leading climate scientist.
The head of the World Meteorological Organisation said La Nina - the weather phenomenon which is cooling the Pacific - is likely to trigger a small drop in average global temperatures compared with last year.
The prediction - which follows a bitterly cold winter in China and the Arctic - is prompting some sceptics to question the theory of climate change.
toof enamel and your internal clock
This clock, or biological rhythm, controls many metabolic functions and is based on the circadian rhythm, which is a roughly 24-hour cycle that is important in determining sleeping and feeding patterns, cell regeneration, and other biological processes in mammals.
The newly discovered rhythm, like the circadian rhythm, originates in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that functions as the main control center for the autonomic nervous system. But unlike the circadian rhythm, this clock varies from one organism to another, operating on shorter time intervals for small mammals, and longer ones for larger animals. For example, rats have a one-day interval, chimpanzees six, and humans eight.
NYU dental professor Dr. Timothy Bromage discovered the rhythm while observing incremental growth lines in tooth enamel, which appear much like the annual rings on a tree. He also observed a related pattern of incremental growth in skeletal bone tissue – the first time such an incremental rhythm has ever been observed in bone.
france and pirates
France has made contact with pirates who hijacked a French luxury yacht off Africa’s eastern coast with 30 crew members on board, the French foreign minister said Sunday.
About 10 suspected pirates stormed the 288-foot Le Ponant on Friday as it was returning, without passengers, from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The pirates then guided the vessel down Somalia’s eastern coast.
The hijacking comes amid a surge in piracy in the seas off the chaotic Horn of Africa nation, where a weak and impoverished government is unable to patrol its territorial waters. Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships off the country’s coast in the past year, typically demanding high ransoms to free their hostages.
peering into a heart
Getting a high-resolution picture of the interior of a coronary artery is difficult: to take a scan using existing technology, the heart has to be kept free of blood for 30 seconds. A new approach could dramatically reduce the time required for imaging, making it safer and easier for doctors to check stents for stability and keep track of new scar tissue.
The new method builds on an old technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT). This high-resolution medical imaging system has been in use in ophthalmology for more than a decade and is occasionally used to scan coronary arteries. But OCT is problematic because it cannot see through blood, so any area being scanned has to be flushed with saline. During the procedure, a special balloon is used to block incoming blood, which can cause damage to the tissue. Two US companies are working individually on a scanning method that would take a fraction of the time, greatly reducing the risk of damage to the heart.
another russian assassination attempt?
Special Branch is investigating an alleged attempt to murder Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB double-agent who spied on Russia for British intelligence at the height of the Cold War.
The former Soviet colonel, who escaped to Britain in 1985, says he was poisoned by a Russian assassin who visited him at his secret safe-house in Surrey.
He fears he is the latest victim of revenge attacks by Russian intelligence on high-profile defectors.
institutionalized laziness
SANTA ANA, Calif.—Results of a criminal grand jury investigation released Monday show that an Orange County sheriff’s deputy watched TV and sent text messages while jail inmates beat a fellow prisoner to death.
The findings were compiled in an 80-page report released by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. Another 8,000 pages of transcripts from the probe were also made public.
According to the report, one jail guard watched the TV show "Cops" and sent 22 personal text messages during the hour-long beating that resulted in the death of inmate John Derek Chamberlain, 41, on Oct. 5, 2006.
tamil tigers getting money from america
The Tamil Tigers had a U.S. presence to help finance their deadly secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka, U.S. authorities said.
The organization, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, has set up "branches" in at least a dozen countries to buy weapons and fund the fight to overthrow the Sri Lankan government and create an independent state for the Tamil minority, The Washington Times reported Monday.
The expansion by the group formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam included operations in Maryland, New York and New Jersey.
pizza.com sold for $2.6 million
A US man has sold the domain name pizza.com for $2.6m (£1.3m) - after maintaining the site for just $20 a year since 1994.
Chris Clark, 43, accepted the offer from an anonymous bidder after a week-long online auction.
"It’s crazy, it’s just crazy," Mr Clark, who lives in North Potomac, Maryland, was quoted as saying by the Baltimore Sun newspaper.
"It will make a significant difference in my life, for sure," he added
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in spain
MADRID, Spain — Two people in Spain have died of the human variant of mad cow disease, in the first such fatalities since 2005, officials said Monday.
The victims were aged 40 and 51 and lived in the central Castilla-Leon region. One died in December and the other in February, said Jose Javier Castrodeza, director of public health at the regional government.
Until now Spain’s only fatality from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease came in 2005 with the death of a 26-year-old woman in Madrid.
gator blood goodness
MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a case of gator aid. New research suggests that alligator blood could serve as the basis for new antibiotics targeting infections caused by ulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."
The research is in its early stages -- extracts of alligator blood have only been tested in the laboratory -- and there’s no guarantee that it will work in humans. Still, the findings are promising, researchers said.
"We need new antibiotics. Anything like this is a step forward," said Dr. Stuart Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, who’s an expert in antibiotic-resistant infections and is familiar with the new study. "But there are hurdles that this kind of antibiotic poses that others might not."
mobile saunas
BARNAUL, Russia (Reuters) - Cannot afford to install a sauna in your home? A Russian inventor might have the answer -- the mobile sauna.
Converted from a military truck, Igor Chupin offers clients a session in the back of his GAZ-66 truck for 1000 roubles ($42.37) per hour.
"What Russian guy doesn’t love his banya! One day I had the idea to put a bathhouse on wheels and to drive wherever I want!" said Chupin, a self-taught inventor from the Altai region of southern Siberia.
The Olympic torch relay in Paris has been cut short after chaotic protests by anti-China demonstrators.
The flame had already been extinguished four times by security forces after repeatedclashes with pro-Tibet and human rights campaigners.
The demonstrations also saw the city’s mayor cancel a ceremony to mark the torch’s passing.
The decision was made after a Tibetan flag was draped over the city hall’s facade.
Thousands of police sent on to the streets to protect the torch relay as it made its way around the city were unable to prevent demonstrators hijacking the event.
hot dog fight
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A 28-year-old woman in Orange County stabbed her husband during a fight that sparked over having hot dogs for dinner, according to a sheriff’s office report.
Officers said Alfreda Van Bladel apparently had prepared a dinner for her husband, Anton, that consisted of hot dogs.
At some point, the man snatched the plate of hot dogs from his wife’s hands, the report said.
The action prompted the woman to stab her husband in the shoulder with a steak knife, according to authorities.
global cooling
The world will experience global cooling this year, according a leading climate scientist.
The head of the World Meteorological Organisation said La Nina - the weather phenomenon which is cooling the Pacific - is likely to trigger a small drop in average global temperatures compared with last year.
The prediction - which follows a bitterly cold winter in China and the Arctic - is prompting some sceptics to question the theory of climate change.
toof enamel and your internal clock
This clock, or biological rhythm, controls many metabolic functions and is based on the circadian rhythm, which is a roughly 24-hour cycle that is important in determining sleeping and feeding patterns, cell regeneration, and other biological processes in mammals.
The newly discovered rhythm, like the circadian rhythm, originates in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that functions as the main control center for the autonomic nervous system. But unlike the circadian rhythm, this clock varies from one organism to another, operating on shorter time intervals for small mammals, and longer ones for larger animals. For example, rats have a one-day interval, chimpanzees six, and humans eight.
NYU dental professor Dr. Timothy Bromage discovered the rhythm while observing incremental growth lines in tooth enamel, which appear much like the annual rings on a tree. He also observed a related pattern of incremental growth in skeletal bone tissue – the first time such an incremental rhythm has ever been observed in bone.
france and pirates
France has made contact with pirates who hijacked a French luxury yacht off Africa’s eastern coast with 30 crew members on board, the French foreign minister said Sunday.
About 10 suspected pirates stormed the 288-foot Le Ponant on Friday as it was returning, without passengers, from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The pirates then guided the vessel down Somalia’s eastern coast.
The hijacking comes amid a surge in piracy in the seas off the chaotic Horn of Africa nation, where a weak and impoverished government is unable to patrol its territorial waters. Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships off the country’s coast in the past year, typically demanding high ransoms to free their hostages.
peering into a heart
Getting a high-resolution picture of the interior of a coronary artery is difficult: to take a scan using existing technology, the heart has to be kept free of blood for 30 seconds. A new approach could dramatically reduce the time required for imaging, making it safer and easier for doctors to check stents for stability and keep track of new scar tissue.
The new method builds on an old technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT). This high-resolution medical imaging system has been in use in ophthalmology for more than a decade and is occasionally used to scan coronary arteries. But OCT is problematic because it cannot see through blood, so any area being scanned has to be flushed with saline. During the procedure, a special balloon is used to block incoming blood, which can cause damage to the tissue. Two US companies are working individually on a scanning method that would take a fraction of the time, greatly reducing the risk of damage to the heart.
another russian assassination attempt?
Special Branch is investigating an alleged attempt to murder Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB double-agent who spied on Russia for British intelligence at the height of the Cold War.
The former Soviet colonel, who escaped to Britain in 1985, says he was poisoned by a Russian assassin who visited him at his secret safe-house in Surrey.
He fears he is the latest victim of revenge attacks by Russian intelligence on high-profile defectors.
institutionalized laziness
SANTA ANA, Calif.—Results of a criminal grand jury investigation released Monday show that an Orange County sheriff’s deputy watched TV and sent text messages while jail inmates beat a fellow prisoner to death.
The findings were compiled in an 80-page report released by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. Another 8,000 pages of transcripts from the probe were also made public.
According to the report, one jail guard watched the TV show "Cops" and sent 22 personal text messages during the hour-long beating that resulted in the death of inmate John Derek Chamberlain, 41, on Oct. 5, 2006.
tamil tigers getting money from america
The Tamil Tigers had a U.S. presence to help finance their deadly secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka, U.S. authorities said.
The organization, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, has set up "branches" in at least a dozen countries to buy weapons and fund the fight to overthrow the Sri Lankan government and create an independent state for the Tamil minority, The Washington Times reported Monday.
The expansion by the group formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam included operations in Maryland, New York and New Jersey.
pizza.com sold for $2.6 million
A US man has sold the domain name pizza.com for $2.6m (£1.3m) - after maintaining the site for just $20 a year since 1994.
Chris Clark, 43, accepted the offer from an anonymous bidder after a week-long online auction.
"It’s crazy, it’s just crazy," Mr Clark, who lives in North Potomac, Maryland, was quoted as saying by the Baltimore Sun newspaper.
"It will make a significant difference in my life, for sure," he added
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in spain
MADRID, Spain — Two people in Spain have died of the human variant of mad cow disease, in the first such fatalities since 2005, officials said Monday.
The victims were aged 40 and 51 and lived in the central Castilla-Leon region. One died in December and the other in February, said Jose Javier Castrodeza, director of public health at the regional government.
Until now Spain’s only fatality from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease came in 2005 with the death of a 26-year-old woman in Madrid.
gator blood goodness
MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a case of gator aid. New research suggests that alligator blood could serve as the basis for new antibiotics targeting infections caused by ulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."
The research is in its early stages -- extracts of alligator blood have only been tested in the laboratory -- and there’s no guarantee that it will work in humans. Still, the findings are promising, researchers said.
"We need new antibiotics. Anything like this is a step forward," said Dr. Stuart Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, who’s an expert in antibiotic-resistant infections and is familiar with the new study. "But there are hurdles that this kind of antibiotic poses that others might not."
mobile saunas
BARNAUL, Russia (Reuters) - Cannot afford to install a sauna in your home? A Russian inventor might have the answer -- the mobile sauna.
Converted from a military truck, Igor Chupin offers clients a session in the back of his GAZ-66 truck for 1000 roubles ($42.37) per hour.
"What Russian guy doesn’t love his banya! One day I had the idea to put a bathhouse on wheels and to drive wherever I want!" said Chupin, a self-taught inventor from the Altai region of southern Siberia.
posted by william overin @ 4:18 PM
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