41639439
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
"Facial recognition cameras are installed at local businesses. These cameras recognize your face when you pass by, then check you in at the location. Simultaneously, your smartphone notifies you of a customized deal based on your Like history."
From Facebook, whose track record for privacy problems is legendary.
What could possibly go wrong?
41225219
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
"Idiopathic autism, caused by genetic susceptibility interacting with unknown environmental triggers, has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. Identifying environmental triggers has been difficult due to poorly understood pathophysiology and subjective definitions of autism. The use of antidepressants by pregnant women has been associated with autism. These and other unmetabolized psychoactive pharmaceuticals (UPPs) have also been found in drinking water from surface sources, providing another possible exposure route and raising questions about human health consequences.
Our findings suggest a new potential trigger for idiopathic autism in genetically susceptible individuals involving an overlooked source of environmental contamination."
More easily digestible rephrasings of the report are found here:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21882-antidepressants-in-water-trigger-autism-genes-in-fish.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/04/antidepressant.pregnancy.autism.risk/index.html
41188965
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
In 1989, Joseph Wesbecker shot dead eight people and injured 12 others before killing himself at his place of work in Kentucky. Wesbecker had been taking the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant fluoxetine for four weeks before these homicides, and this led to a legal action against the makers of fluoxetine, Eli Lilly [1]. The case was tried and settled in 1994, and as part of the settlement a number of pharmaceutical company documents about drug-induced activation were released into the public domain. Subsequent legal cases, some of which are outlined below, have further raised the possibility of a link between antidepressant use and violence.
...in healthy volunteer studies, hostile events occurred in three of 271 (1.1%) volunteers taking paroxetine, compared with zero in 138 taking placebo [5]. Although not statistically significant, this finding is striking because hostile events are unusual in healthy volunteer trials, and this figure was higher than the rate reported in clinical populations above. GlaxoSmithKline ascribed these episodes to the fact that the volunteers were confined, although this applied to both paroxetine and placebo volunteers. One other healthy volunteer study has reported aggressive behaviour in one volunteer taking sertraline [8].
Nine illustrative cases in which we have between us acted as expert witnesses are summarised in Table 3. In eight of them the person who was taking an antidepressant was the defendant; in one (DS; see Annex), the patient killed three members of his family and then himself, and his son-in-law sued SmithKline Beecham. We have chosen the cases to demonstrate the diversity of the issues they raise. They are described in the Annex.
Many linked emotional storms and thoughts and acts of violence or self-harm to paroxetine, both to starting drug treatment and to dosage change. These were not simple anecdotal reports, in that the analysis clearly pointed to a linkage with dosage.
PLOS study here:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030372?imageURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030372.t001
Anecdotal Evidence here:
http://www.ssristories.com/index.php
Many other studies corroborate this hypothesis:
http://www.breggin.com/31-49.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167876003002174
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032700003530
41133681
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
"Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.
Ebb and Flow, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission probes, are being sent purposely into the lunar surface because their low orbit and low fuel levels preclude further scientific operations. The duo's successful prime and extended science missions generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The map will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.
Both spacecraft will hit the surface at 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second). No imagery of the impact is expected because the region will be in shadow at the time."
Observing the impacts could provide valuable feedback. For example, a spectrographic analysis of the impact dust cloud could reveal additional density and compositional element information for the lunar pole surfaces, so it is particularly Interesting that the probes will impact where they can't be observed from earth. This leads I, for one, to wonder if there is more to this than meets the press.
41125497
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
We've seen many variations of invisibility cloaks recently, visible light and otherwise. However, this one is most like the Harry-Potter version, and is of enough interest to the Pentagon to receive their funding.
"Maple Ridge, B.C.-based Hyperstealth Biotechnology has developed "Quantum Stealth," a type of camouflage that bends light around the wearer or an object to create the illusion of invisibility.
President and CEO Guy Cramer likened the new technology to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak during a recent CNN appearance, and described its ability to easily and effectively hide a soldier in different environments."
Hokey slideshow here (the pictures are reported to be non-photoshopped):
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/11/quantum-stealth-invisibility-hyperstealth_n_2277394.html#slide=1868711
Obligatory cliche CNN coverage here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/12/04/tsr-lawrence-invisble-camo-technology.cnn
40990325
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Mcaffee, sounding completely lucid and erudite, cammed live for only five minutes on ustream.com tonight at 8pm. Describing the Belize government as corrupt, and citing references including a government-sponsored execution without trial, he asked viewers to go to http://www.whoismcafee.com/ and read File Posts 1 through 6. In less than one hour, at 9pm eastern, he will take questions live on ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/urecommendmedia
This is a new turn for the story, and shows the Internet being used in a new way to help bring one person's story to the public, unfiltered by news media and seemingly outside of coercion government control.
Fascinating. We will learn much about the power of the Internet media today.
40988365
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Scientists have found a relatively straightforward way to persuade the cells discarded in human urine to turn into valuable neurons.
The technique, described online in a study in Nature Methods this week1, does not involve embryonic stem cells. These come with serious drawbacks when transplanted, such as the risk of developing tumours. Instead, the method uses ordinary cells present in urine, and transforms them into neural progenitor cells — the precursors of brain cells.
Researchers routinely reprogram cultured skin and blood cells2 into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which can go on to form any cell in the body. But urine is a much more accessible source.
40979975
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Dubbed the Python Challenge, the month-long contest will award $1,000 for the longest python and $1,500 for the most pythons caught between Jan. 12 and Feb. 10 in any of four hunting areas north of Everglades National Park and at the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Pythons have been spreading through the Everglades for years, posing a threat to the sensitive ecosystem by preying on native species. Some estimates put their number in the tens of thousands. Last year, 272 pythons were removed from the wild, state figures show.
40942717
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the use of a pacemaker-like device implanted in the brain to treat the symptoms of diseases like Parkinson’s, or other maladies such as depression. For the first time in the US, surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland have used this technique to attempt to slow memory loss in a patient suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The fornix, a vital part of the brain that brings data to the hippocampus, is being targeted with this device. Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity. Holes are drilled into the skull, and wires are placed on both sides of the brain. Then, the stimulator device pumps in small and unnoticeable electrical impulses upwards of 130 times per second. Half of the patients will begin the electrical treatment two weeks post-surgery, but the other half won’t have their pacemakers turned on until a full year after the surgery to provide comparison data for the study.
40921981
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
A 170-foot trampoline path in Russia? Sure, why the hell not.
Last month a team of Parisian architects proposed a trampoline bridge over the Seine. The location was great; the bridge was not real. But now in Russia, Salto Architects have built a 170-foot-long trampoline pathway for the Archstoyanie Festival in Nikola-Lenivets.
Engineeering mumbo jumbo aside, this footpath just looks fun! And judging from the design images, clothing seems to be optional — most of the models are only partially-clothed.
40921237
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
It's a device called a Scanadu SCOUT and, basically, it's a touch-version of a medical tricorder that will give you some vitals on contact.
"You simply place it on the left temple and, in less than ten seconds, it will read your pulse transit time, heart rate, electrical heart activity, temperature, heart rate variability and blood oxygenation. Then it sends this information to an app on your iPhone or Android phone, which displays it for you. You can even store your vitals for tracking, which could prove fundamental to many health situations at home."
40920381
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
After the grand success of the Zune, Kin, FrontPage, Windows Live, Encarta, Mulitplan, Surface, etc, etc, Microsoft decides to throw a truckload of money into the dump by *SPINS WHEEL* a new Facebook knockoff.
"Microsoft has opened to the public Socl, the company's experiment in mixing search and social networking. The site — which can be accessed at www.so.cl — was originally designed for students and open by invitation only." She added, "The site now includes more rapid viewing and creation of posts, easier people- and interest-finding, and virtual 'parties' where users can create playlists to watch videos and chat together, according to a Microsoft blog post."
It appears that Socl is a solid time-waster at this point. As more people join, the site should become more usable, but the question is: With all the social networks and content-sharing sites around, why would Socl ever reach critical mass? It is really that special?
40580745
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Although not new, this story appears to have slipped under the /. radar, the discovery of arsenic-based life. According to Dwayne Brown and Cathy Weselby at NASA:
"Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components"
"If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven't seen yet?"
With so much attention focused on the exploration of far-away worlds, it's refreshing and exciting to find that discoveries that change the very definition of life are yet to be found right here on earth, in our virtual back-yards, and can help us better prepare for future exploration.
37267073
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
A Chinese iPhone lookalike manufacturer has reportedly patented the next iPhone’s design in China before Apple has even released the handset. Don't you just love the patent system, everyone? Apple? How about you?
