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Comment Ummm.... (Score 1) 368

Low capital gains taxes create jobs and wealth. OK, why then, after eight years of capitalist policies and low taxes, do we have record unemployment and why is my 401k half of what it was before? Why hasn't the S&P moved an inch since Bill Clinton left office? Seems like low-tax theories show up everywhere except in investment returns.

Comment Re:What about tourists? (Score 0) 278

no, as far as i know its not illegal. lots of nokia nseries have built in gps and they are being legally sold. and if you want those fones cheaper, buy them in dubai and show it to customs, so long as you only have that one fone, you can pass go.

i guess now, the govt. will have to take a stand or sit down on the gps issue now that those nokia fones are no longer flying under the radar.

oh did i just put nokia on the map?

Biotech

Scientists Identify a Potentially Universal Mechanism of Aging 359

cybergenesis2008 points us to a summary of research out of Harvard Medical School in which a set of genes known to affect aging in yeast was found to affect aging in mice as well. The genes, called sirtuins, perform two particular tasks; regulating which genes are "on" and "off," and also helping to repair damaged DNA. As an organism ages, the frequency of damage to DNA increases, leaving less time for the sirtuins' regulatory tasks. The increasingly unregulated genes then become a significant factor in aging. Realizing this, the researchers "administered extra copies of the sirtuin gene [to the mice], or fed them the sirtuin activator resveratrol, which in turn extended their mean lifespan by 24 to 46 percent." We discussed the plans for this research a few years ago.
Power

Rainforest Fungus Synthesizes Diesel 244

Fluffeh alerts us to a report of a fungus that naturally produces diesel fuel, or something very close to it. "A fungus that lives inside trees in the Patagonian rain forest naturally makes a mix of hydrocarbons that bears a striking resemblance to diesel, biologists announced today. And the fungus can grow on cellulose, a major component of tree trunks, blades of grass and stalks that is the most abundant carbon-based plant material on Earth. ... [T]the paper's authors admit that the technique is far from any sort of industrial production. 'This report presents no information on the cost-effectiveness or other details to make G. roseum an alternative fuel source,' they write." NPR has an interview with the fungus's discoverer.
Space

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth 235

MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through.'"

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