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Medicine

Supreme Court Legitimizing Medical Patents? 251

Posted by samzenpus from the prior-broken-arm-art dept.
RobinEggs writes "A case before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday addressed the legality of medical patents. From the article: 'The case focuses on a patent that covers the concept of adjusting the dosage of a drug, thiopurine, based on the concentration of a particular chemical (called a metabolite) in the patient's blood. The patent does not cover the drug itself—that patent expired years ago—nor does it cover any specific machine or procedure for measuring the metabolite level. Rather, it covers the idea that particular levels of the chemical "indicate a need" to raise or lower the drug dosage. The patent holder, Prometheus Labs, offers a thiopurine testing product. It sued the Mayo Clinic when the latter announced it would offer its own, competing thiopurine test. But Prometheus claims much more than its specific testing process. It claims a physician administering thiopurine to a patient can infringe its patent merely by being aware of the scientific correlation disclosed in the patent—even if the doctor doesn't act on the patent's recommendations.'"

Comment "Game" mechanics need work (Score 2) 23

by WhoIsThePumaman (#38298158) Attached to: Video Gamers Advancing Genetic Research
While it's a neat puzzle game that magically transforms into science somehow, the timer mechanic is frustrating and off-putting. Why have an arbitrary time limit to solving these puzzles? Time limits are the laziest form of added difficulty and will drive away potential players once they see their progress disappear because they were too slow. I don't understand the motivation for having it there.
Movies

Motus Lets Users 'Film' Within Any 3D Environment 89

Posted by CmdrTaco from the still-need-a-zoe dept.
Zothecula writes "In the creation of the film Avatar, director James Cameron invented a system called Simul-cam. It allowed him to see the video output of the cameras, in real time, but with the human actors digitally altered to look like the alien creatures whom they were playing. The system also negated the need for a huge amount of animation – every performance was captured in all its blue-skinned, pointy-eared majesty as it happened, so it didn't need to be created from scratch on a computer. Now, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee have built on the techniques pioneered by Simul-cam to create a new system that lets users act as their own cameraperson within existing 3D environments."

Comment Re:$10 per Barrel (Score 5, Funny) 315

by WhoIsThePumaman (#29451005) Attached to: Transforming Waste Plastic Into $10/Barrel Fuel
My middle-class parents fought bravely in the Great Class War. They were on the front lines at the Battle of Yuppie Hill, charging forth with their cards and using their meager wages to fight against the upper class. Skilled for battle by community and state colleges, their assault landed them deep into enemy territory. Luckily, they managed to carve out refuge and propagate, bringing new soldiers into the onslaught. Alas, it was too late, as the Upper Class bought out the Lower Class and together they forced my family and friends into a life of video games, malls, nights at the pub, and an affordable sedan.

Life's harsh, but we manage to make it through the night.
Earth

Transforming Waste Plastic Into $10/Barrel Fuel 315

Posted by samzenpus from the mr.-fusion dept.
Mike writes "Today Washington DC-based company Envion opened a $5 million dollar facility that they claim will be able to efficiently transform plastic waste into a source of oil-like fuel. The technology uses infra-red energy to remove hydrocarbons from plastic without the use of a catalyst, transforming 82% of the original plastic material into fuel. According to Envion, the resulting fuel can then be blended with other components, providing a source for gasoline or diesel at as low as $10 per barrel."
Businesses

AU Goverment To Break Up Telstra; Filtering News 144

Posted by kdawson from the breaking-up-is-hard-to-do dept.
benz001 writes "The Minister who has pushed the ridiculous broadband filter plan has at least won a few brownie points with yesterday's press conference, in which he promised to force Telstra to split its network and wholesale businesses. Australia's largest ISP, and the country's main infrastructure owner, will be given a chance to implement the structural separation voluntarily; if it does not, the Government will step in with legislation. Here is the Minister's official press release." And speaking of the filtering program, reader smash writes "After several years of debate and electioneering, some statistics on the Australian national web filtering effort have been disclosed. Apparently, the typical Aussie web surfer is 70 times more likely to win the national lotto than stumble across a blocked page. Additionally, despite the claim that the main aim of the filter is to block child pornography, only 313 of the 977 total sites blocked is on the basis of child porn. At $40M AU so far in taxpayers funds, the cost so far is around $40,900 per blocked URL. Government efficiency at work..."
Medicine

Scientists Create Artificial Bones From Wood 138

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the sticks-and-bones dept.
steve_thatguy writes "According to Discovery News, Italian scientists have made artificial bone from wood. Created by blasting wood blocks with heat until they are nearly pure carbon then coating them with calcium, the scientists say the material allows bones to heal faster and more securely. Unlike titanium, the wood-based artificial bones flex slightly much like real bone, and the porous nature of the wood allows for better bio-activity with surrounding tissue. Though human testing is still likely years away, the material is currently being used successfully in sheep and may have other industrial applications."
Input Devices

Why Natal Is a Big Deal 303

Posted by Soulskill from the things-to-combine-with-a-vr-headset dept.
Kikizo has an editorial piece evaluating the Xbox 360's upcoming motion-control scheme, Project Natal, and discussing why it's a bigger step forward for interactive gaming than many people think. Quoting: "[Natal] accurately perceives players in 3D space, simultaneously tracking over 48 joints on your body, enabling it to accurately redraw your skeleton in real time as you move about. On a separate 'debug screen' in the closed-doors session, we could witness for ourselves the 'mind's eye' of Natal, visually showing how it completely understands where we are, how we're moving, where we are in 3D space, how far in front of my face my hand is, whatever. It can supposedly even track individual hand and finger movement when it switches into this more finely-tuned mode. ... There is a surprising feeling of tactility and iPhone-like fluidity and precision to the way Natal works." Another interesting bit of news about Natal is that Wii-hacker Johnny Chung Lee is part of the development team. We've discussed some of his creations in the past.
Bug

Skype Billing Gone Haywire For Some Users 154

Posted by timothy from the looks-fine-from-here dept.
Cousin Scuzzy writes "This morning I awoke to 26 e-mail messages from Skype and PayPal notifying me of multiple payments for my Skype account that had been charged to my credit card and subsequently refunded. At first I suspected that this was a new wave of spam that had slipped through my defenses, but it quickly became apparent that they were legitimate messages. I then began to worry that my Skype account had been compromised. The first message from Skype thanked me for setting up their "Auto-Recharge" service which automatically purchases Skype credit when the balance falls below a certain amount. This was very suspicious, as I had never requested this service. Based on posts to Skype's forum, it now appears that there have been serious billing problems at Skype relating to Auto-Recharge for over a month. Although I believe that all unauthorized charges to my credit card have been refunded, it is worrisome that Skype, or anyone, would charge my account erroneously. Skype, for their part, has not yet e-mailed me an explanation or posted one online. This problem reinforces my aversion to automatic bill payment services that give companies the authority to draw money from my bank account at their discretion." For all the Skype users out there, have you experienced this? For what it's worth, the company's own response on the linked forum thread says that the problem is now solved.

Comment Too bad, so sad (Score 1, Troll) 207

by WhoIsThePumaman (#27434511) Attached to: Pro Video Game Leagues — Another Economic Casualty
This guy makes more than I do with his salary, sponsors and winnings than I do in a year, and I'm a video game developer. I never understood "Major League Gaming". I can understand local tournaments at arcades and pizza parlors, at least there you get outside and be sociable with the rest of the world and have an in-person experience. But watching a screen depicting someone else watching a screen? How much more recursive can we get? Professional Major League Gaming Watching? Physical contact sports I can understand. We're essentially watching athletes who hone their bodies engage in feats of physical endurance and skill, and we admire such classical expositions of strength. I can understand professional Chess tournaments to a lesser extent; great minds coming together to wage war on a physical board in a centuries-old game of intellect. But paying out six figure salaries to people who can click (or button-press) very fast in an order that is more efficient than his/her opponent? Major League Gaming truly is the product of fat and decadent times.
Space

Tickets On Sale In Sweden For Space Tourism, Starting In 2012 66

Posted by timothy from the would-rather-have-a-condo-and-the-dvd dept.
think_nix writes "The local.se is reporting that, for around 200,000 USD, tickets for eager space tourists looking for that outer space adventure will be purchasable from the Sweden's Ice Hotel in Kiruna. The flights are planned to be run by Virgin Galactic, also allowing flights to be taken from New Mexico. The article further states that already around 300 tickets have been purchased."
Image

New Laser System Targets Mosquitoes 354

Posted by samzenpus from the excessive-force dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In the Cold War the so-called 'Star Wars defense system' proposed using lasers to destroy incoming Soviet missiles. In a 2007 brainstorming session aimed at combating malaria, Dr. Lowell Wood, the architect of that system, proposed modifying his original idea to kill mosquitoes. The cover of today's Wall Street Journal contains an article that highlights this initiative as well as a few others, like using a giant flashlight to disrupt mosquitoes' vision and using the insects to vaccinate, in the war against malaria. The system is intelligent enough to avoid noncombatants like humans and butterflies and can even tell the difference between females, the blood-drinkers, and males. My favorite quote: 'We'd be delighted if we destabilize the human-mosquito balance of power.'"
The Military

US Forgets How To Make Trident Missiles 922

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-forget-how-to-spell-feal dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The US and the UK are trying to refurbish the aging W76 warheads that tip Trident missiles to prolong their life and ensure they are safe and reliable but plans have been put on hold because US scientists have forgotten how to manufacture a mysterious but very hazardous component of the warhead codenamed Fogbank. 'NNSA had lost knowledge of how to manufacture the material because it had kept few records of the process when the material was made in the 1980s, and almost all staff with expertise on production had retired or left the agency,' says the report by a US congressional committee. Fogbank is thought by some weapons experts to be a foam used between the fission and fusion stages of the thermonuclear bomb on the Trident Missile and US officials say that manufacturing Fogbank requires a solvent cleaning agent which is 'extremely flammable' and 'explosive,' and that the process involves dealing with 'toxic materials' hazardous to workers. 'This is like James Bond destroying his instructions as soon as he has read them,' says John Ainslie, the co-ordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, adding that 'perhaps the plans for making Fogbank were so secret that no copies were kept.' Thomas D'Agostino, administrator or the US National Nuclear Security Administration, told a congressional committee that the administration was spending 'a lot of money' trying to make 'Fogbank' at Y-12, but 'we're not out of the woods yet.'"

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