Archive for November, 2013
New Artificial Blood Made In Transylvania (Yes, Really)
November 9th, 2013Via: Smithsonian: Science, in all its grand ambition and contemporary sophistication, doesn’t quite have what it takes yet to replicate anything like blood. It not only delivers oxygen and essential nutrients, but also serves a host of other functions crucial for our survival, such as fighting infections, healing injuries and regulating hormones. So far, researchers […]
Philippines Typhoon: At Least 10,000 Dead?
November 9th, 2013Via: Reuters: One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines province of Leyte, a senior police official said on Sunday, with coastal towns and the regional capital devastated by huge waves. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path […]
Man Spent 34 Years in Prison for Murder He Didn’t Commit
November 9th, 2013Via: USA Today: A man who spent 34 years behind bars for a decades-old killing was freed from jail Friday after his conviction was overturned. Kash Delano Register, 53, walked out of a downtown jail at about 4:30 p.m. and was greeted by family members and attorneys. … Register was convicted of killing Jack Sasson, […]
Two Admirals Face Probe in Navy Bribery Scheme
November 9th, 2013[???] Via: Washington Post: Two U.S. admirals — including the director of naval intelligence — are under investigation as part of a major bribery scandal involving a foreign defense contractor, Navy officials announced Friday night. Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, the service’s top intelligence officer, and Rear Adm. Bruce F. Loveless, the Navy’s director of […]
EPA Bans Most Wood-Burning Stoves
November 8th, 2013Tell me another one. Via: Off The Grid News: Wood-burning stoves offer warmth and enhance off-grid living options during cold weather months, but the tried-and-true heating devices now are under attack by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has banned the production and sale of the types of stoves used by about 80 percent of […]
CIA Pays AT&T $10 Million Per Year for Access to Call Data
November 8th, 2013Via: New York Times: The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials. The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the […]
The $100,000 Battery That Could Help Hotels Save Bundles of Money
November 8th, 2013Via: The Atlantic: What riles Hobbs is utilities’ approach to managing electricity supply and demand for big commercial customers like hotels. If a hotel’s energy consumption spikes—say on a hot day when guests all turn on their room air conditioners at once—the utility ratchets up the electricity rate they pay. To avoid these so-called demand […]
A Recently Discovered Bacterium Thrives in NASA’s Spacecraft Clean Rooms
November 8th, 2013Via: JPL: A rare, recently discovered microbe that survives on very little to eat has been found in two places on Earth: spacecraft clean rooms in Florida and South America. Microbiologists often do thorough surveys of bacteria and other microbes in spacecraft clean rooms. Fewer microbes live there than in almost any other environment on […]
Snowden Pulled Off NSA Document Heist—Using Oldest Trick in the Book?
November 8th, 2013Two-step verification? Via: Reuters: Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden used login credentials and passwords provided unwittingly by colleagues at a spy base in Hawaii to access some of the classified material he leaked to the media, sources said. A handful of agency employees who gave their login details to Snowden were identified, […]
Crispr
November 7th, 2013Via: Independent: A breakthrough in genetics – described as “jaw-dropping” by one Nobel scientist – has created intense excitement among DNA experts around the world who believe the discovery will transform their ability to edit the genomes of all living organisms, including humans. The development has been hailed as a milestone in medical science because […]
