Malnourished American Children Face Long Term Learning and Developmental Problems
July 28th, 2011Via: Boston Herald:
Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families.
Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems.
Before the economy soured in 2007, 12 percent of youngsters age 3 and under whose families were randomly surveyed in the hospital’s emergency department were significantly underweight. In 2010, that percentage jumped to 18 percent, and the tide does not appear to be abating, said Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at BMC.
Research Credit: Matt
Bank ‘Activity’ Required For Wisconsin Voter ID
July 28th, 2011Via: disinfo.com:
In the state of Wisconsin, you may be denied the ability to vote for lack of sufficient recent “bank activity”. A woman surreptitiously filmed the interactions as her 18-year-old son leaps through hurdle after hurdle in an attempt to get a constitutionally-guaranteed state ID so that he could vote. At the DMV, the pair is told that voter IDs were not issued when voters’ bank accounts did not show enough “activity.” The clerk had no answer when asked what would happen in the case of a resident who was homeless or unemployed, or too poor to maintain the minimum balance required for a checking account.
Scientists Think They’ve Figured Out The “Uncanny Valley”
July 27th, 2011Via: Digital Trends:
Researchers from the university of California, San Diego, have discovered that a mismatch between movement and humanoid traits could be causing the uncanny valley effect, or the uneasiness we feel when we look at humanoid robots or CGI creations.
46% of Voters Think Most in Congress Are Corrupt
July 27th, 2011This isn’t maintaining appearances.
Via: Rasmussen:
Voters are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters now view most members of Congress as corrupt. That’s up seven points from June and the highest finding yet recorded. Just 29% think most members are not corrupt, and another 25% are not sure…
Similarly, a whopping 85% of voters think most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping other people. That’s a record high for surveys stretching back to early November 2006. Only seven percent (7%) believe most of the legislators are more interested in helping others.
New Long Range Wi-Fi Standard Extends Network Range Out to 100km; 22Mbps
July 27th, 2011Via: TechEYE:
New standards for long range wireless networks have been published today by the IEEE.
The 802.22 standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) means that broadband access can be provided over long distances, up to 100 kilometres.
This will mean that rural areas could more easily benefit from broadband access, with developing countries targeted by the IEEE.
FDA Finds U.S. Drug Research Firm Faked Documents
July 27th, 2011Via: Reuters:
Drug companies that had medicines tested by contractor Cetero Research might have to reevaluate results, U.S. regulators warned after the firm was found faking documents and manipulating samples.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday two 2010 inspections, an internal company investigation and a third-party audit uncovered “significant instances of misconduct and violations” at a Cetero facility in Houston.
The Cary, North Carolina-based firm does early-phase clinical research and bioanalytics for a number of drugmakers. The pharmaceutical companies can then use those studies as supporting evidence in drug approval applications to the FDA.
“The pattern of misconduct was serious enough to raise concerns about the integrity of the data Cetero generated during the five-year time frame,” the FDA said, warning drugmakers they might have to repeat or confirm any studies Cetero did in support of their applications between April 2005 and June 2010.
It remains unclear which drugmakers have used Cetero’s services to apply for regulatory approvals and the FDA is asking companies to identify such instances. The regulators said the measure is precautionary and the safety and efficacy of drugs already on the market are unlikely to be affected.
Research Credit: HPLovecraft666
Russia Launches Telescope With 10,000 Times the Resolution of the Hubble Telescope
July 27th, 2011Via: Christin Science Monitor:
Russian scientists are jubilant at news that the Spektr-R, a powerful space telescope conceived in the depths of the cold war, was finally lofted into orbit aboard a Zenit rocket Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Once it is fully operational, the new radio telescope will sync up with ground-based observatories to form the biggest telescope ever built. It will be known as RadioAstron, with a “dish” spanning 30 times the Earth’s diameter. Experts say it will be able to deliver images from the remote corners of the universe at 10,000 times the resolution of the US Hubble Space Telescope.
GE Healthcare Moves Headquarters of X-Ray Business from Wisconsin to Beijing
July 27th, 2011Via: Bloomberg:
General Electric Co. (GE)’s health-care unit, the world’s biggest maker of medical-imaging machines, is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing to tap growth in China.
“A handful” of top managers will move to the Chinese capital and there won’t be any job cuts, Anne LeGrand, vice president and general manager of X-ray for GE Healthcare, said in an interview. The headquarters will move from Waukesha, Wisconsin, amid a broader parent-company plan to invest about $2 billion across China, including opening six “customer innovation” and development centers.
The move follows the introduction earlier this year of GE Healthcare’s “Spring Wind” initiative to develop and distribute medical products and services in China, GE said in a statement today. More than 20 percent of the X-ray unit’s new products will be developed in China, LeGrand said.
General Council of U.S. National Security Agency: Americans Are Tracked Via Mobile Phones
July 27th, 2011I’ve been waiting for them to make this one official for a long time.
Related:
Synthetic Environments for Analysis and Simulation
Via: Wall Street Journal:
Is the government using cellular data to track Americans as they move around the U.S.?
According to the general counsel of the National Security Agency, it may have that authority. Matthew Olsen, who is currently at the NSA and has been nominated to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, discussed the possibility at a confirmation hearing Tuesday morning in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“There are certain circumstances where that authority may exist,” he said. His comments came after Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) asked him several times whether the government has the authority to “use cell site data to track the location of Americans inside the country.”
Although Olsen acknowledged the possibility, he also said “it is a very complicated question” and that the intelligence community is working on a memo that will provide a better answer for the committee.
Gold: New Record High
July 27th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Spot gold reached a new record high today of $1624.07.
On the dollar: USDX breached the support at 73.506, so a retest of 72.696 is likely.
