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What’s Your Child’s Genetic Destiny For Disease?What's your child's "genetic destiny?" Does diabetes run in your family? Or has a genetic test indicated that your child may some day be at risk for developing heart disease?Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Gout And Parkinson's: Studies Examine Treatment For Gout And The Condition's Protective EffectsThe goal in treating patients with gout is to reduce acute attacks by lowering serum urate levels, which are usually high in this disease. At the same time, high serum urate levels have been shown to lower the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Sea Snakes Seek Out Freshwater To Slake ThirstSea snakes may slither in saltwater, but they sip the sweet stuff. It has been the "long-standing dogma" that the roughly 60 species of venomous sea snakes worldwide satisfy their drinking needs by drinking seawater, with internal salt glands filtering and excreting the salt. Experiments with three species of captive sea kraits captured near Taiwan, however, found that the snakes refused to drink saltwater even if thirsty -- and then would drink only freshwater or heavily diluted saltwater.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Tale Of Two Snails Reveals Secrets About The Biochemistry Of EvolutionResearchers in Spain are reporting deep new insights into how evolution changes the biochemistry of living things, helping them to adapt to new environments. Their study, based on an analysis of proteins produced by two populations of marine snails, reveals chemical differences that give one population a survival-of-the fittest edge for life in its cold, wave-exposed environment.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Tracking Hair Loss And Growth MathematicallyScientists have developed maths-based imaging technology to measure hair on different parts of the human body.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Many Motorists Don't See Need To Heed Speed LimitsResearch suggests US motorists are growing increasingly cynical about the relevance of speed limits, and a new study indicates many motorists are more likely to think they can drive safely while speeding as long as they won't get caught.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am Accident Ahead? New Software Will Enable Cars To Make Coordinated Avoidance ManeuversA road construction barrier falls over: The car driver can't avoid it, since there are cars on the lane next to him. In future, a new software program will enable cars to coordinate maneuvers together in dangerous situations.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm Pool Of Distant Galaxies: Deepest Ultraviolet Image Of The Universe YetThis uniquely beautiful patchwork image, with its myriad of brightly colored galaxies, shows the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S), arguably the most observed and best studied region in the entire sky. The CDF-S is one of the two regions selected as part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), an effort of the worldwide astronomical community that unites the deepest observations from ground- and space-based facilities at all wavelengths from X-ray to radio.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm How Body Determines Optimal Amount Of Germ-fighting B CellsResearchers can now explain how the body determines whether there are enough mature B-cells in the blood stream at any one time.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm Type 2 Diabetes Management: Apelin Hormone Injections Powerfully Lower Blood SugarBy injecting a hormone produced by fat and other tissues into mice, researchers report in Cell Metabolism that they significantly lowered blood sugar levels in normal and obese mice. The findings suggest that the hormone known as apelin might be a promising target for managing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance, in which normal amounts of insulin are insufficient to lower blood sugar (glucose) levels, is a precursor to diabetes.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm Obama climate policy caught in Democratic tussle (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 8:40 am Hurricane Paloma lashes Caymans as it moves toward Cuba (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 6:08 am Woman has twins from cancer survivor's 13-year-old spermTAIPEI (Reuters) - A Taiwan woman has given birth to healthy twins using the 13-year-old frozen sperm of a former testicular cancer patient, local media said on Saturday, setting a record for the island.Source: Reuters: Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:45 am French scientists discover new species of gecko (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:29 am Jackie's tale sets alarm bells ringingLast week I failed to distinguish satisfactorily between the fantastical miasmatic theory of disease in the middle ages and the fantastical miasmatic theory of disease as meant by some homeopaths. This made no difference to my argument - that the science of a disease is more interesting than made up nonsense about it - but it was an error, it was mine, and there is no ignominy in clarifying that. So you're reading Woman's Own, and you get to the "Real life - health" pages, and you see "Most people jump when the phone rings unexpectedly, but for Jackie Dewhurst, 39, it could be deadly". This was a first person story about Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal glands, under the headline A Phone Call Could Kill Me. "Now I have to avoid stressful situations at all costs," says Jackie, "which means I've had to bid farewell to horror films, crowded buses and Saturday clothes shopping ... "I started working again as a kitchen assistant at a local primary school. At times I worry that the children might give me a shock, but my colleagues are all trained to give me an adrenaline shot should I have an attack." Addison's disease doesn't sound like that in any medical textbook I've read (apart from anything else you give hydrocortisone, not adrenaline). Your first thought may well be, rather unkindly, that Jackie Dewhurst, 39, is an idiot. Or a blagger, who has hoodwinked Woman's Own for a couple of hundred quid. Or a fan of attention, perhaps, self-dramatising about her health. She does also say: "I was walking to the shops near my home in Broughton, North Lincolnshire, when some kids wolf-whistled at me. I tried not to panic, but started to sweat profusely, then fainted. I awoke two days later in hospital, attached to life support." Worse, perhaps it's all true. Her employers must be terrified about the potential for liability. This is why Jackie is upset. She says the article is rubbish. She spoke to the magazine to raise awareness of Addison's - which is easy to miss - in good faith, with the support of her patients group. She says they made stuff up for a better story. She is angry that they will not issue a clear correction. I asked Woman's Own if they had any evidence for their headline claim as Jackie says she has never said a phone call could kill her. They declined to comment. Jackie denies ever saying that she worries that the children might give her a shock. She does work in a school though, and she's worried now what her employers might think. Again Woman's Own declined to comment. Jackie complained to the Press Complaints Commission. Woman's Own mounted a successful defence, involving extensive reference to what were said to be the journalist's contemporaneous notes from the interview with Jackie. The magazine had offered to publish an apology on the issue of adrenaline being wrong, a further article on Addison's, and a letter from Jackie. And that was enough for the PCC. But there is another issue here, whether Woman's Own had an obligation to check the information. As Jackie says: "Even if I had said all the things they claim ... surely the magazine would have had some responsibility to verify medical information before they published such claims?" • Please send your bad science to bad.science@guardian.co.uk guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 8 Nov 2008 | 12:04 am New Flares of Activity Spotted on the SunAfter more than two years of very low sunspot activity and hardly any flares, the sun is ramping up activity now.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:05 pm EPA: Mercury Not Needed in Many Consumer Products (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - The U.S. EPA has concluded that mercury is not a necessary ingredient in a number of consumer products, and subsequently developed a searchable database of products that contain mercury and possible non-mercury alternatives.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:41 pm SpaceX Seeks Customers for DragonLab Spaceship (SPACE.com)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:33 pm EPA: Mercury Not Needed in Many Consumer ProductsThe U.S. EPA has concluded that mercury is not a necessary ingredient in a number of consumer products.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:53 pm ADHD in AdultsLearn the signs of Adult ADHDSource: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:50 pm Bladder ProblemsFind out the different types, and ways to overcome this common problemSource: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:50 pm Tricked-Out Inflatable House Provides "Instant Survival"
And the latter is exactly what the "Life Cube" from startup Inflatable World is designed to provide. Packaged into a four-foot-tall cube, it inflates into a 12-foot-tall structure built from the same thick plastic as a bouncy house. Designed to provide shelter and basic amenities for people in the days and weeks after a disaster, the instant housing will come with a $3,900 price tag, so the company's first market could be wealthy survivalists. "We need a versatile design that is completely self-contained that gives you instant survival," said Nick Pedersen, business development head of the fledgling startup, based in Santa Barbara, California. "We'll get you through the critical first 72 hours and beyond." Inflatable World isn't the first company to focus on short-term housing for disaster-struck areas. In fact, a wide variety of architects and builders, notably TED-grantee Cameron Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity, have designed structures to keep people alive in the aftermath of calamity. But Inflatable World sees a market between the long-term FEMA trailers and the tents used in the immediate recovery efforts. In FEMA's 2008 Disaster Housing Plan, officials identified the
period after the initial disaster but before homes can be rebuilt as a
major priority. "Finding and providing the actual structures to house displaced disaster victims during this interim housing period is the most tangible challenge that emergency management officials, at all levels of government, face," they wrote (.pdf). In developing countries, providing basic shelter after disasters is even more difficult. When
a major quake struck Pakistan in October 2005, 74,000 people died, most
of them from exposure to the elements in the weeks after the initial
disaster. Just last week, another major earthquake struck Pakistan,
prompting Red Cross officials to note the "urgent need for shelter and blankets." Right now, Pedersen said that Inflatable World was trying to raise
one million dollars in capital to begin production of the Life Cubes.
They'll be targeting first-responder agencies like the Red Cross as
well as consumers in disaster-prone areas in the southeastern United
States. Though the Life Cube is the company's flagship product, and what
made them a finalist at yesterday's Department of Energy-sponsored
California Clean Tech Open, Inflatable World is also looking to sell
other blow-up structures, including a next-gen slip and slide, because
even the post-apocalypse should be fun. See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:47 pm Video - Robot Guitar: The Next Step in Tuning UpApple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak tries out his new self-tuning Robot GuitarSource: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:30 pm Dinosaur experts bust up prehistoric party theory (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:19 pm New Fighter Jet: Controversial Future of the U.S. FleetThe F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is slated to become the backbone of the U.S. tactical aviation fleet.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:05 pm Earth Can't Cope, New Planets NeededSci-fi writers have solutions to our woes.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:36 pm Pope slams human organ trade, warns on transplantsVATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict condemned the trade in human organs as an abomination on Friday and urged caution in removing organs for transplant from dying donors who might not actually yet be dead.Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:58 pm Warming Trend Is Steepest in 5,000 YearsThe current warming trend is unmatched in the time since human civilization began.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:19 pm Teachers: Creationism Belongs in Science ClassUK survey: 29 percent of teachers there think creationism and intelligent design should be taught as science.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:48 pm Steamy Magazines Make Men Feel as Bad As WomenGuys who read Maxim get a knock to their body images.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:29 pm China tells rich states to changeChina says developed countries must fix their "unsustainable lifestyles", at a major climate conference in Beijing.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:32 pm Florida Targets 75% Recycling Rate by 2020The national recycling rate is around 35 percent.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:25 pm Computerized Leg Device to Help Elderly WalkHonda develops a device that makes it easier for people to walk and climb.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:23 pm Killer Whales Are Discriminating DinersLike picky sushi chefs, killer whales go to great lengths to find their favorite fish.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:19 pm Darwin's specimens go on displayTwo mockingbirds, which helped Charles Darwin develop his theory on evolution, are to go on public display for the first time.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:18 pm NASA Patent Auction Aims at Ailing EconomyNASA auctions off licensing rights to patents and patent applications.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 3:38 pm Scientists say a rock can soak up carbon dioxideNEW YORK (Reuters) - A rock found mostly in Oman can be harnessed to soak up the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could help slow global warming, scientists say.Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 3:36 pm 'Anti-Aging' Pill Makes Mice MightyThe anti-aging chemical in red wine has met its pharmaceutical match.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 2:44 pm Avalanches Rumble on Mars at SpringSpring time near the Martian poles is full of avalanches, as new images reveal.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Nov 2008 | 2:44 pm Bletchley Park saved for posterityBletchley Park – the code breaking centre made famous for its role in cracking the Enigma code during the second world war – looks set to be saved from extinction after a £330,000 grant from English Heritage. Bletchley made its name by playing host to a team of mathematicians who used an early supercomputer, Colossus, to decipher Nazi codes. Cracking Enigma was recognised as one of the great achievements of the war, and helped Allied forces to victory after they began intercepting enemy communications. Although Bletchley has been feted for its part in history – even becoming the subject of a feature film produced by Mick Jagger in 2001 – the estate has fallen into disrepair over the past decade. Faced with the potential loss of the site, a group of academics began campaigning for funds to help the restoration effort earlier this year. In an open letter to the Times, the group warned that the estate was "a crucial and unique piece of both British and world heritage" that was being allowed to rot without public assistance. "It marks the start of a regeneration initiative to transform Bletchley Park into a world-class heritage and education centre," said Simon Greenish, the director of the Bletchley Park Trust. Among those stationed at the estate in Buckinghamshire was Alan Turing, the British mathematician who went on to become a leading figure in the development of the computer industry and made significant advances in artificial intelligence. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2008 | 2:25 pm Bullies may get kick out of seeing others in painCHICAGO (Reuters) - Brain scans of teens with a history of aggressive bullying behavior suggest that they may actually get pleasure out of seeing someone else in pain, U.S. researchers said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 1:15 pm Teens do not see science as route to good careerTwo-thirds of teenagers do not believe science qualifications would help them to have rewarding careers. A poll of 1,000 16- to 18-year-olds found that just over a quarter (28%) saw the sciences as relevant. The study said that students were unaware of the range of career options – including in sectors such as fashion and sport – that studying sciences could open up for them. Many young people have preconceived ideas about science subjects leading solely to laboratory jobs and wearing a white coat, it said. The survey by the Science Council, which represents learned societies and professional institutions, warned that British pupils' negative view of science subjects was preventing huge numbers of them from having fulfilling and potentially lucrative careers. Diana Garnham, the council's chief executive, said: "This research highlights the huge misperception about what studying the sciences can lead to. "Scientists work everywhere in the economy making use of their science skills in industries such as finance, fashion, art and design, and sport. "It's important we explain these options to students so they can make an informed choice about their career." The science minister, Lord Paul Drayson, said: "I want to shake this image problem that science has. "I'm sure teenagers would agree that Lewis Hamilton's formula one race engineers have an exciting life. "We need to make them realise it's because of what they studied at school." The findings come after the English funding council announced a revival in the number of students taking up science, maths and language subjects at A-level and university last month. The research coincides with the launch of Future Morph - a new online resource for students, teachers and parents aimed at changing perceptions of the careers open to students with science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) qualifications. The most likely reason students gave for avoiding a Stem subject was that they are "too difficult" (30%), they are "not interesting or enjoyable enough" (27%) and that they will "limit my career options" (23%). Increasing the number of students studying Stem subjects and going into related careers is important for the UK economy, the council argued. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:35 pm Lucky escapeGood luck saves a gorilla ranger captured by militiaSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:28 am Green spaces 'reduce health gap'A bit of greenery near people's homes can cut the "health gap" between rich and poor, researchers suggest.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:18 am Teachers TV: The creationism controversy in the classroomIs teaching evolution being threatened by a rise in creationism, and can religious belief and scientific theory be included in the same lessons?Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:09 am
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