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Biotech

Submission + - Can the Hottest Peppers in the World Kill You? 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Katharine Gammon writes that last week, the Kismot Indian restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, held a competition to eat the extra-hot Kismot Killer curry and several ambulances were called after some of the competitive eaters were left writhing on the floor in agony, vomiting and fainting. Paul Bosland, professor of horticulture at New Mexico State University and director of the Chile Pepper Institute, says that chili peppers can indeed cause death — but most people's bodies would falter long before they reached that point. "Theoretically, one could eat enough really hot chiles to kill you," says Bosland adding that a research study in 1980 calculated that three pounds of the hottest peppers in the world — something like the Bhut Jolokia — eaten all at once could kill a 150-pound person. Chili peppers cause the eater's insides to rev up activating the sympathetic nervous system — which helps control most of the body's internal organs — to expend more energy, so the body burns more calories when the same food is eaten with chili peppers. But tissue inflammation could explain why the contestants in the Killer Curry contest said they felt like chainsaws were ripping through their insides. As for the contest, restaurant owner Abdul Ali admitted the fiery dish may have been too spicy after the Scottish Ambulance Service warned him to review his event. ‘I think we’ll tone it down, but we’ll definitely do it next year.’"

Submission + - Hacking the Nissan LEAF EV (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The New York Times published a story on people "Hacking" the new Nissan Electric Vehicle. One interesting quote from one of the hackers, Phil Sadow, who was interviewed for the story: “I don’t like the term hacking because it’s been portrayed by the media as something evil,” he said. “To me, hacking is actually very American. Go out to the garage. Take it apart. Make it better.”

Comment Why I do not finish games (Score 1) 341

by nudibranchOne (#34291472) Attached to: Why Don't We Finish More Games?

It seems simple to me. I do not finish games because -
1. The original game depends upon graphics rather than plot.
2. The sequels are not as good as the original, relying upon repetitive fights or the hope that a poor story line will not be noticed because we remember (fantasize) the original game
3. The game relies upon the participation of on-line gamers. The developers have a poor or undeveloped story line and hope that just providing a base and putting it online will allow the Players to create their own world. Sorry, I don't buy that.

Comment Re:Perception (Score 1) 252

by nudibranchOne (#31022444) Attached to: Why Time Flies By As You Get Older

It seems to me that you have this reversed. Like the watched pot that takes forever to boil Time seems to move more slowly as you look forward to things. But, more than that, I suspect the reason time seems to move more slowly for the young is that it is relative. For a 5 year old, a year is one fifth of his entire life. For a 50 year old is is one fiftieth.

Comment Third world heath care? (Score 1) 52

by nudibranchOne (#26390453) Attached to: Mobile Phones To Fill Poor Nations' Healthcare Gap?

Everyone seems to have gone off on, "what happens in the 3rd world countries when someone infected with... shares his cellphone through the village infecting everyone else."
What I see is us being encouraged by our government health care to use these phones to do testing rather than seeing a doctor - much less costly. Then, because good technicians are so highly paid, outsourcing the testing/reporting/diagnosing to places like India

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