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Submission + - LSD 'helps alcoholics to give up drinking' (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by CambodiaSam
CambodiaSam writes: One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the 1960s.

A study, presented in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, looked at data from six trials and more than 500 patients.

It said there was a "significant beneficial effect" on alcohol abuse, which lasted several months after the drug was taken.

An expert said this was "as good as anything we've got".

Comment Local Cost (Score 3, Informative) 236

I've seen Cambodia's IT infrastructure improve over the last several years, but they still rely on much older, used equipment as their primary source of hardware. The most basic factor is cost. For someone earning about $100 a month (generally considered middle-class and able to reasonably sustain a small family), the prospect of a brand new computer, phone, or other device is unthinkable. Even a PC setup with monitor, UPS, keyboard, and mouse will run you $250. It'll be about 4 years old, but it runs Windows XP or Vista quite well because of lack of service packs. Plus, it's fully loaded with software since the concept of copyright hasn't been fully embraced.

I guess if you could bring low cost, reasonable electronics to the developing world they would embrace it instead of used equipment. I'll let you know when I see it for sale on the streets of Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. For now, it's all used PCs (mostly Dell and HP) and Nokia phones.
Businesses

IT Managers Are Aloof Says Psychologist and Your Co-Workers 378

Posted by samzenpus from the I-have-people-skills;-I-am-good-at-dealing-with-people dept.
dcblogs writes "IT managers see themselves as 'reigning supreme,' in an organization, and are seen by non-IT workers as difficult to get along with, says organizational psychologist Billie Blair. If IT managers changed their ways, they could have a major impact in an organization. 'So much of their life is hidden under a bushel because they don't discuss things, they don't divulge what they know, and the innovation that comes from that process doesn't happen, therefore, in the organization,' says Blair."
Hardware

Submission + - Liquid metal capsules used to make self-healing el (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "A crack team of engineers at the University of Illinois has developed an electronic circuit that autonomously self-heals when its metal wires are broken. This self-healing system restores conductivity within “mere microseconds,” which is apparently fast enough that operation can continue without interruption. The self-healing mechanism is delightfully simple: The engineers place a bunch of 10-micron (0.01mm) microcapsules along the length of a circuit. The microcapsules are full of liquid metal, a gallium-indium alloy, and if the circuit underneath cracks, so do the microcapsules (90% of the time, anyway — the tech isn’t perfect yet!). The liquid metal oozes into the circuit board, restoring up to 99% conductivity, and everything continues as normal. This even works with multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs), such the motherboard in your computer, too. There’s no word on whether this same technology could one day be used by Terminators to self-heal shotgun blasts to the face, but it certainly sounds quite similar. The immediate use-cases are in extreme environments (aerospace), and batteries (which can't be taken apart to fix), but long term we might one day buy motherboards with these self-healing microcapsules built in."
The Military

Submission + - Troops in Afghanistan Supplied by Robot Helicopter

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Pakistan is still blockading NATO war supplies passing through the port of Karachi in response to last month’s killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers by an alliance air strike. But inside Afghanistan, supply lines are about to get a lot safer for NATO’s logisticians as an unmanned helicopter just delivered a sling-load of beans, bullets, and band-aids to Marines at an undisclosed base in Afghanistan marking the first time a drone has been used to resupply a unit at war. The 2.5-ton, GPS-guided K-MAX can heft 3.5 tons of cargo about 250 miles up and over the rugged and mountainous terrain of Afghanistan across which NATO troops are scattered and can fly around the clock. "Most of the [K-MAX] missions will be conducted at night and at higher altitudes,” says Marine Capt. Caleb Joiner, a K-MAX operator. “This will allow us to keep out of small-arms range.” K-MAX will soon be joined in Afghanistan by Lockheed’s robo jeep that can carry a half a ton of supplies for up to 125 miles after being delivered to the field in a CH-47 or CH-53 helo."
China

IBM Tracks Pork Chops From Pig To Plate 216

Posted by samzenpus from the name-your-food dept.
dcblogs writes "IBM is deploying technology in China that allows meat suppliers to track a single pig all the way from farm animal to pork chop. Pigs are initially identified with a barcoded ear tag. This identification is then put on bins used to track the various pig parts as they pass through the slaughterhouse, processing plant, distribution center and finally to the clear plastic-wrapped package in a grocer's case. If a consumer buys three pork chops in a package, 'you know that these three pieces of pork chop came from pig number 123,' said Paul Chang, who leads global strategy for emerging technologies at IBM. The goal is to control disease outbreaks, but theoretically this technology could allow a grocer to put a picture on the store package of the pig you are eating."

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