Comment Re:Sorry to hear it (Score 1) 3
No prob - let me know how that works out for ya. The Eds seem pretty responsive IMHO, at least they were when Taco was around.
Comment Sorry to hear it (Score 1) 3
You should send a note to the editors - they don't take too kindly to mod abuse.
Submission + - Researchers: Pigs Now Responsible For MRSA Superbug (medicalnewstoday.com)
smitty777 writes: It was assumed that the rise of the superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occured due to the overuse of antibiotics in hospitals — a fact which is even mentioned on the CDC website. However, new reserch from Nothern Arizona University is pointing in a new direction: pigs. According to this research, the superbug made the jump from human to porcine farms where they are given a routine course of antibiotics.
FTA: "Price, the study's lead author, said the research was "like watching the birth of a superbug — it is simultaneously fascinating and disconcerting." He said that while this strain of MRSA was discovered less than a decade ago it appears to be spreading very quickly. "Our findings underscore the potential public health risks of widespread antibiotic use in food animal production," Price said. "Staph thrives in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Add antibiotics to that environment and you're going to create a public health problem.""
FTA: "Price, the study's lead author, said the research was "like watching the birth of a superbug — it is simultaneously fascinating and disconcerting." He said that while this strain of MRSA was discovered less than a decade ago it appears to be spreading very quickly. "Our findings underscore the potential public health risks of widespread antibiotic use in food animal production," Price said. "Staph thrives in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Add antibiotics to that environment and you're going to create a public health problem.""
Submission + - Nigerian Scam Artists Taken for $33,000 (couriermail.com.au)
smitty777 writes: An Australian woman who was being used by a group of Nigerian scam artists stole over $33,000 from the group who employed her. Her bank account was being used to funnel the cash from a dodgy internet car sales website. Irony aside, it makes one wonder how these folks ever got the nerve to go to the police with this matter. Those of you wondering, this article offers some answers to the question of why so many of these scams originate from this area.
Submission + - Alzheimer's Transmission Pathway Discovered (nytimes.com)
smitty777 writes: Two separate studies by the Taub Institute and Harvard have discovered the pathway used by Alzheimer's Disease to spread throught the brain. The studies indicate it's not a virus, but a distorted protien called Tau which moves from cell to cell. This article further explains that "The latest discovery, proving the latter, may now offer scientists a way to move forward and develop a way to block tau’s spread in Alzheimer’s patients, said Karen Duff, a researcher at Columbia’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s disease and co-author of one study published Wednesday in journal PLoS One.
“It’s enlightening for us because it now provides a whole other area for potential therapeutic impact,” said Duff. “It’s possible that you can identify the disease and intervene (with potential tau-blocking drugs) before the dementia actually sets in.”"
“It’s enlightening for us because it now provides a whole other area for potential therapeutic impact,” said Duff. “It’s possible that you can identify the disease and intervene (with potential tau-blocking drugs) before the dementia actually sets in.”"
Comment Re:Sigh (Score 5, Informative) 206
There is an interesting article on the oldest trees in the world in this article. It also has a good picture of The Senator before the fire.
Comment Re:No more narrator? (Score 1) 612
Hmmmm....I was wondering about that too. Maybe they used xtranormal to hide the identity of the speaker.
Comment Re:B61-11 ground penetrating tactical nuclear miss (Score 1) 612
No, actually I think the how is much more relevant. Are you saying that if there's a good why, than the how (B61 vs GBU-57) is not important? Clearly the country and it's allies would disagree with you.
Submission + - Pentagon: 37,000 Pound Bomb Too Small (wsj.com)
smitty777 writes: According to the pentagon, the 37,000 precision guided Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb is just too small. Concerns around Iran's fortification of their nuclear program facilities has the DoD seeking from congress something not quite as subdued as the GBU-57, the largest non-nuke bomb operated by the USAF. This "smaller" was just recently won a prize for its abilit to cut through 60 feet of concrete. The upgrades will cost $82 million in addition to the $330 million already used so far to develop the system.
There is some interesting high speed camera footage of the GBU-57 in this video.
There is some interesting high speed camera footage of the GBU-57 in this video.
Comment Re:Um... (Score 1) 39
Yes, but I believe arranging the sequence is the trick. That's like saying you have a briefcase with 20 keys...
Comment Re:Um... (Score 1) 39
I think the operational phrase here is "if a sample could be taken". I'm assuming that since the military doesn't want folks to find out what the sequence is, they probably have their own secret strain of algae/moss/bamboo/whatever that's locked away in a lab somewhere. Swab it off the top of the bolt? I'm sure they thought of that.
According to this whitepaper, the DNA sequencing is "unequivocally uncopyable".
Submission + - DoD Using Plant DNA to Combat Counterfeit Parts (wired.com)
smitty777 writes: Highlighting another unique way to use cutting edge DNA technology, the US Department of Defense has a new weapont to combat counterfiet parts: plant DNA. This article discusses how plant DNA can be used to make an almost (1 in 1 trillion) unique code for parts identification. This nifty graphic shows some of the ways this could be done; bolts with DNA-marked coating, invisible barcodes, and flourescing inks are some of the possible applications. In a similar but unrelated project, World Micro has a different solution to detect counterfeit items in the military that have been "blacktopped", where items have been re-surfaced to allow remarking.
Comment Re:SeaMonkey Composer (Score 1) 300
I've tried this pretty successfully in the past. The only problem is that it has trouble with CSS and some of the newer technologies sometimes. Not always that easy to work with.
Comment Amaya (Score 3, Informative) 300
You should definitely try Amaya
Submission + - NASA Open Sources Aircraft Design Software (openvsp.org)
sabre86 writes: "At the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Nashville, NASA engineers unveiled the newly open sourced OpenVSP, software that allows users to construct full aircraft models from simple parameters such as wing span and fuselage length, under the NASA Open Source Agreement. Says the website, 'OpenVSP allows the user to create a 3D model of an aircraft defined by common engineering parameters. This model can be processed into formats suitable for engineering analysis.'"
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