Friday, November 16, 2007

Common Cold Kills

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new and virulent strain of adenovirus, which frequently causes the common cold, killed 10 people in parts of the United States earlier this year and put dozens into hospitals, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report detailed cases of people ill in May of 2006 and from March to June of 2007 with a strain of the virus called adenovirus 14 in New York, Oregon, Washington state and Texas.

"Whether you're a healthy young adult, an infant or an elderly person, this virus can cause severe respiratory disease at any age," said John Su, who investigates infectious diseases for the CDC and contributed to the report.

"What makes this particular adenovirus a little different is that it has the capability of making healthy young adults severely ill. And that's unusual for an adenovirus, and that's why it's got our attention," Su said in a telephone interview.


Full article here

Thursday, November 08, 2007

NCSU scientists are trying to blow up the planet




Raleigh (NC) - Scientists recently announced they have fired the most powerful antimatter beam ever created. Comprised of positrons (antimatter electrons) emitted from a large plate and focused into a beam, the emission strength exceeds the previous record held by a laboratory in Munich, Germany.


Sounds great, right? And then I read this portion of the article...

Since this project has now created a successful, powerful antimatter beam, physicsts are looking to turn their attention to practical applications. Dr. Ayman Hawari, associate professor of nuclear engineering and director of the Nuclear Reactor Program at NC State, told ncsu.edu's Dave Pond, "The idea here is that if we create this intense beam of antimatter electrons ... we can then use them in investigating and understanding the new types of materials being used in many applications."


Holy fucking shit we are screwed. All we need is one scientist to go off the radar and wind up in Syria to end it all. Using an antimatter death beam is only the number one method to destroy the planet.

Israel set to start nuking within a year

A claim by President Ahmadinejad that Iran has 3,000 working uranium-enriching centrifuges sent a tremor across the world yesterday amid fears that Israel would respond by bombing the country’s nuclear facilities.

Military sources in Washington said that the existence of such a large number could be a “tipping point”, triggering an Israeli air strike. The Pentagon is reluctant to take military action against Iran, but officials say that Israel is a “different matter”. Amid the international uproar, British MPs who were to have toured the nuclear facility were backing out of their Iran trip.

Even before President Ahmadinejad’s announcement, a US defence official told The Times yesterday: “Israel could do something when they get to around 3,000 working centrifuges. The Pentagon is minded to wait a little longer.” US experts say 3,000 machines running for long periods could make enough enriched uranium for an atomic bomb within a year.


It's the beginning of the end, folks. I guess Israel doesn't believe in M.A.D., or they don't care.

Full article available here.

Monday, November 05, 2007

The master race will soon be upon us

Scientists have been astounded by the creation of a genetically modified "supermouse" with extraordinary physical abilities – comparable to the performance of the very best athletes – raising the prospect that the discovery may one day be used to transform people's capacities.

The mouse can run up to six kilometres (3.7 miles) at a speed of 20 metres per minute for five hours or more without stopping. Scientists said that this was equivalent of a man cycling at speed up an Alpine mountain without a break. Although it eats up to 60 per cent more food than an ordinary mouse, the modified mouse does not put on weight. It also lives longer and enjoys an active sex life well into old age – being capable of breeding at three times the normal maximum age.

American scientists who created the mice – they now have a breeding colony of 500 – said that they were stunned by their abilities, especially given that the animals came about as a result of a standard genetic modification to a single metabolism gene shared with humans.


Full story here