Hibernating bears studied in unprecedented detail
Five bears have been the subject of the most detailed hibernation study ever undertaken in animals of their size.
Researchers reporting at the AAAS meeting in Washington say the bears' metabolism drops to just 25% of its normal level - much more than their drop in body temperature would suggest.
The bears remain in a state of reduced metabolism even weeks after awakening.
The research may in time inspire new techniques that could prove useful in emergency medicine.
Hibernation is widely held to be a means for animals to reduce their energy use during the coldest seasons.
In an apparent effort to control the public narrative in the wake of rare protests that have spread throughout Libya, the country's government is threatening to withdraw scholarship funding from citizens studying in the US unless they attend pro-government rallies in Washington this weekend, Al Jazeera has learned.
Several Libyans studying in the US said they and their peers have received phone calls this week from a man employed by the Libyan embassy instructing them to join rallies in the capital on Friday and Saturday.
The man told the students that their government-funded scholarships would be cut off if they did not attend.
The apparent coercion comes as protesters in Libya attempted to mount a "day of rage" on Thursday and continued their calls for the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year reign as Libya’s leader.
played down prospects for cutting aid to Pakistan as leverage to win the release of a US national imprisoned for allegedly shooting dead two Pakistani men.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, just back from a visit to Pakistan to discuss the fate of Raymond Davis, suggested a solution to the bitter diplomatic dispute over his fate come come within days.
( It's interesting the U.S.A. doesn't trust other countries' criminal justice systems given its own chronic disdain for Due Process...or perhaps that's the problem.
What are the chances of sending Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld over for examination ? Zip ? Oh. Obama and the Clintons too ? )
Iranian warships sailing through Suez poses prickly decision for Egypt
The canal is an internal body of water and as such, Egypt has sovereignty over it. But Egypt also is bound by the 1976 Camp David Accords, which guaranteed the right of free passage by ships belonging to Israel and all other nations on the basis of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Before that, Egypt did not allow Israeli ships to sail through the canal.
Last week, Egypt's military government said it would honor all its international treaties. That would include Camp David.
Now it finds itself in the position of allowing ships belonging to the sworn enemy of their peace treaty partner to sail through.
U.S. May Have To Shift Approach To Mideast Peace
"There's definitely a sense that the Arab world is now much more empowered and emboldened TM * to confront oppressors and to take on U.S. foreign policy, to take on Israel. It's definitely viewed as a game-changer here" ( * Definitely a U.S. contribution to DuckSpeak and Framing : codewords as content.)
- Killer Plant Sucks in Prey at Record Speed
- Coca-Cola's Secret Recipe Bubbles Up
- 10 Trickiest Spy Gadgets Ever
- Trade Secrets: What Companies Don't Want You to Know: Slide Show
- Does a Massive Planet Lurk in the Outer Solar System?
- Stunning Photos from a Comet Near-Kiss
- Faces of Our Ancestors
- Solar Boom! Sun Unleashes Monster Flare
- A Cure for Baldness?
- THE BIEBER FACTOR: WHAT MAKES VOICES UNIQUE
Pollard and colleague Daniel Blumstein examined eight different species of rodents that live in social groups of different sizes and complexities.
Social group complexity did not predict the uniqueness of each voice, but the size of the groups did. The larger the social group, the more distinctive the voices were.
Techdirt
Homeland Security Won't Even Admit Whether Or Not It Seized Mooo.com, Taking Down 84,000 Innocent Sites
Yesterday, I wrote about how there were many reports, starting over the weekend, claiming that Homeland Security's inept Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) group had once again screwed up the process of seizing domains. However, this time, the mistake appeared to be on a much larger scale. While some other sites have simply assumed that Homeland Security seized the entire mooo.com domain, thereby publicly accusing 84,000 sites (nearly all of which were perfectly legitimate) of trafficking in child porn, we were at least willing to give Homeland Security the benefit of the doubt and question whether it was really involved.
Given that no one seemed to confirm that Homeland Security was involved, I figured I might as well ask. I sent off a quick email to a press contact at Homeland Security, asking a simple question: did Homeland Security seize -- and then unseize -- the mooo.com domain? It seemed like a simple yes or no question, and given that Homeland Security is a part of the Obama administration, which has promised the utmost transparency, I figured the least it could do was provide that simple answer. Instead, the response I got was:
Given that no one seemed to confirm that Homeland Security was involved, I figured I might as well ask. I sent off a quick email to a press contact at Homeland Security, asking a simple question: did Homeland Security seize -- and then unseize -- the mooo.com domain? It seemed like a simple yes or no question, and given that Homeland Security is a part of the Obama administration, which has promised the utmost transparency, I figured the least it could do was provide that simple answer. Instead, the response I got was:
"I need to refer you to DOJ for a response to your question."This, of course, is not true. The actions were taken by Homeland Security's ICE group. It was Homeland Security that put out the bragging press release about seizing more domains and putting up their "this site trafficked in child porn" graphics. But it can't even answer a simple yes or no question about a specific domain? That's not transparency. It also seems to suggest quite strongly that DHS and ICE did, in fact, screw up royally here.
I responded to the press contact, and pointed out that there is simply no reason that Homeland Security cannot answer this question, and repeated the question, but I have not heard back. I also sent an email to the Justice Department, and have also received no response.
Lots of folks are pointing out the incredibly serious First Amendment concerns brought out by such a seizure. If there were actual due process, involving an actual adversarial hearing, moves like this would be avoided.
Next Tech Area To Be Hindered By Patents: Nanotech... And Much Of It Is Funded With Your Tax Dollars
The single largest "patent patron" in nanotechnology... is the federal government. Yes, the government is spending your tax dollars to have these new inventions locked up so you can't use them.
Researchers are ready to advance their tests of a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) from animals to human subjects, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency just granted them more than $6 million over the next three years to get those human clinical trials under way.
the study will test two separate electrodes on human participants, and the team is already brainstorming more sophisticated approaches to the technology, including a telemetry system that would enable wireless control of prosthetic arms with sensory components.
the study will test two separate electrodes on human participants, and the team is already brainstorming more sophisticated approaches to the technology, including a telemetry system that would enable wireless control of prosthetic arms with sensory components.
Chinese Researcher Points Out How Patents Can Hinder Innovation
I have no doubt that many Chinese officials understand quite clearly how the patent system is really a protectionist system and are fully intending to use it as an economic weapon against foreign competitors to Chinese companies. It's really kind of brilliant when you think about it. The US has been pressuring China on patent laws for decades, and this way China gets to say it's following exactly what the US has demanded of it, and "respecting" intellectual property, while, at the very same time and using the very same system, basically using it to harm the very American companies who for years have complained about Chinese companies infringing on patents. Live by the patent, die by the patent.
( Calling that 'Surprising' is interesting too. Try 'Hoist on Own Petard'...Medieval talk for skewed with your own excuse. )
Copyright only applies to works that are "fixed in a tangible medium of expression." And here it sees a big problem: a garden is not fixed.
To the extent that seeds or seedlings can be considered a "medium of expression," they originate in nature, and natural forces--not the intellect of the gardener--determine their form, growth, and appearance.
Comments
opit Feb 17th, 2011 @ 2:20pm
LOL This should shake up the legal eagles who are busy registering native/aboriginal cultured strains as corporate property. Norwegian archives are filling with seeds from all over to be preserved. And then there's Monsanto.
I don't know how eager you are to get into the Rumsfeld WMD activity : NWO plans without a doubt, enabled by the USDA.
Try this : no promises. It was changed to Monsanto HQ's URL at http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2009/07/corporate-farming.html!
I don't know how eager you are to get into the Rumsfeld WMD activity : NWO plans without a doubt, enabled by the USDA.
Try this : no promises. It was changed to Monsanto HQ's URL at http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2009/07/corporate-farming.html!
The World According to Monsanto - YouTube Video
New Scientist TV
HIV as you've never seen it before
An image of this visualisation just won first place in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored jointly by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The model contains 17 different viral and cellular proteins and the membrane incorporates 160 thousand lipid molecules, of 8 different types, in the same proportions as in an actual HIV particle. It denotes the parts encoded by the virus's own genome in orange, while grey shades indicate structures taken into the virus when it interacts with a human cell.
Despite Warning, Babies Still Get Cough Medicine
Survey Shows Many Parents Don’t Heed Warning on Risks of Cough and Cold Medicines
( I'm reminded of a comment to distribution staff about cough medicine from years ago : If it worked effectively at cough suppression there would be a risk of killing the user. )
Available to users of Internet Explorer 7 or later running Windows 7, Vista, or XP
( If you don't want to use the standard IE browser, I've played with Avant for a few years - just because I could )
Digital Blasphemy
It was suggested (on my Facebook page) that "Island Time" would make an excellent freebie. Looking outside my window this grey February morning I cannot help be concur. I hope my free gallery users enjoy it and perhaps consider the benefits of DB Membership
Ikea building its own personal windfarm
partnered with Stockholm-based O2 to oversee the construction and maintenance of a nine-turbine wind farm slated to be completed in 2012.
IKEA has already made headway into the transition to renewable power, buying three wind farms in France from Volkswind in 2009, and six German-based wind farms from Spain's Gamesa in 2010. It now currently owns 52 wind turbines that together generate about 10 percent of the IKEA Group's total energy use.
Proposed Islamic Centre targeted by EDL suffers arson attack
Proposed Islamic Centre targeted by EDL suffers arson attack
Shotton Town Council this week has-
written to North Wales Police chief constable Mark Polin to thank the force for its ‘offer of CCTV cameras for the protection of the local Muslim community’ following the blaze at Shotton Lane Social Club on February 4. Three councillors have put their names to the letter, which was written by the Rev Peter Francis, warden of Gladstone Library in Hawarden. The cause of the fire at the site, which had been earmarked to be turned into an Islamic cultural centre, is still under investigation.
( KKK redux )
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