Archive for May, 2009
Scientists Hail Stunning Fossil
May 19th, 2009Via: BBC: The beautifully preserved remains of a 47-million-year-old, lemur-like creature have been unveiled in the US. The preservation is so good, it is possible to see the outline of its fur and even traces of its last meal. The fossil, nicknamed Ida, is claimed to be a “missing link” between today’s higher primates – […]
Breathing Polluted Air May Wreak Havoc on Our DNA, Reprogramming Genes in as Few as Three Days
May 19th, 2009VIa: National Geographic: Breathing in polluted air may wreak havoc on our DNA, reprogramming genes in as few as three days and causing increased rates of cancer and other diseases. So says a new study that tracked DNA damage in 63 steel-foundry workers in Brescia, Italy, who, under their normal factory conditions, were exposed to […]
Cellular Communication Through Light
May 19th, 2009This is just the abstract. The entire paper is available. Via: PloS One: Information transfer is a fundamental of life. A few studies have reported that cells use photons (from an endogenous source) as information carriers. This study finds that cells can have an influence on other cells even when separated with a glass barrier, […]
Hard to Stomach: The Ten Worst Meals in America
May 19th, 2009Via: Minyanville: Wrap it up in colorful paper like McDonald’s (MCD) and place it next to an adorable talking dog llike Taco Bell (YUM) and Americans will eat just about anything. But cheeseburgers and chalupas aside, some foods are so unappetizing they defy even the biggest appetites. And yet, they’re willfully consumed. Minyanville takes a […]
Robot Warriors Will Get a Guide to Ethics
May 19th, 2009Oh sure. You better clip a clothes peg on your nose for this one. Via: MSNBC: Smart missiles, rolling robots, and flying drones currently controlled by humans, are being used on the battlefield more every day. But what happens when humans are taken out of the loop, and robots are left to make decisions, like […]
Brazil and China Eye Plan to Axe Dollar
May 19th, 2009Via: Financial Times: Brazil and China will work towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar, according to Brazil’s central bank and aides to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president. The move follows recent Chinese challenges to the status of the dollar as the world’s leading international currency. Mr […]
Court Tosses Case Over GPS Tracking
May 19th, 2009Via: Times Union: A Watervliet man will get a new trial on burglary charges after the state’s top court ruled Tuesday it was wrong for a police investigator to slap a GPS device on the defendant’s van to track his movements without a search warrant. A divided Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 decision, reversed […]
The Case of the Missing H-Bomb: The Pentagon Has Lost the Mother of All Weapons
May 18th, 2009Via: Alternet: Things go missing. It’s to be expected. Even at the Pentagon. Last October, the Pentagon’s inspector general reported that the military’s accountants had misplaced a destroyer, several tanks and armored personnel carriers, hundreds of machine guns, rounds of ammo, grenade launchers and some surface-to-air missiles. In all, nearly $8 billion in weapons were […]
Chart of the Day: S&P 500 Earnings Plunge
May 18th, 2009Via: Chart of the Day: While the stock market is up sharply since early March, the economy as well as corporate earnings continue to suffer. Today’s chart helps provide some perspective as to the magnitude of the current economic decline. Today’s chart illustrates that 12-month, as-reported S&P 500 earnings have declined over 90% over the […]
Guatemala: Thousands Protest Alleged Political Killing
May 18th, 2009Via: AFP: Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets on Sunday demanding justice in the case of a slain lawyer who eerily accused the President of ordering his murder in a video that shook the country. Just days before he was shot dead on May 10, Rodrigo Rosenberg recorded a video accusing President Alvaro Colom […]
