Geotags are a feature that one must WORK to disable, the worst type of creeping technology.
Adam Savage, host of the popular science program “Mythbusters,” posted a picture on Twitter of his automobile parked in front of his house that was geotagged.
Web Photos That Reveal Secrets, Like Where You Live
By KATE MURPHY | August 11, 2010 | New York Times
When Adam Savage, host of the popular science program “MythBusters,” posted a picture on Twitter of his automobile parked in front of his house, he let his fans know much more than that he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Embedded in the image was a geotag, a bit of data providing the longitude and latitude of where the photo was taken. Hence, he revealed exactly where he lived. And since the accompanying text was “Now it’s off to work,” potential thieves knew he would not be at home.
Security experts and privacy advocates have recently begun warning about the potential dangers of geotags, which are embedded in photos and videos taken with GPS-equipped smartphones and digital cameras. Because the location data is not visible to the casual viewer, the concern is that many people may not realize it is there; and they could be compromising their privacy, if not their safety, when they post geotagged media online.
Mr. Savage said he knew about geotags. (He should, as host of a show popular with technology followers.) But he said he had neglected to disable the function on his iPhone before taking the picture and uploading it to Twitter.
“I guess it was a lack of concern because I’m not nearly famous enough to be stalked,” he said, “and if I am, I want a raise.”
This is a very sad story. Condolences to the Arnold family, especially the young children who must grow up without knowing their father.
From left to right: Shannon Arnold, Ryan Arnold, Chad Arnold. (July 29, 2010)
A Selfless Gift
www.keloland.com | By Erich Schaffhauser | August 13, 2010, 10:04 PM
WATERTOWN, SD – It was a selfless act for a Watertown dentist and may have been one that saved his brother’s life and cost him his own.
Thirty-four-year-old Ryan Arnold died after donating part of his liver to his brother whose liver was failing.
“Ryan was an amazing father, husband, brother, friend. He had uncommon character,” Ryan’s brother Rod said. “And the thing that Ryan did for his brother Chad in giving his liver to save his brother’s life made perfect sense if you know Ryan.”
Well it’s about time there is was a test for Alzheimer.
John Trojanowski, neuropathologist at Penn, helped develop the test, a measure of proteins in patients' cerebrospinal fluid.
Alzheimer test developed largely at Penn proves effective
By Faye Flam | Inquirer Staff Writer | www.philly.com | Aug. 11, 2010
A screening test developed largely at the University of Pennsylvania has proved surprisingly good at predicting who will go from relatively mild memory decline to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists are just starting to use this test to identify people at a much earlier stage in the disease and get them into clinical trials of drugs being developed to combat Alzheimer’s.
And that’s raising hopes that new drugs might fight the disease early, before the brain becomes irreparably damaged, said John Trojanowski, a Penn neuropathologist who helped develop the test – a measure of three proteins in patients’ cerebrospinal fluid. Another Penn researcher, Leslie Shaw, also played a lead role in developing the test.
Emma Joan and Taylor Nalani Bailey were born conjoined from waist to sternum and sharing one heart. Their prognosis was so grim they spent their first 18 months in hospice. But they lived, so their parents took them home.
They had 3 brothers and a sister and lived a life that was normal to them. Wanting the best for their daughters their parents consulted with medical specialist all over the world on the girls unique condition and surgical options.
Unlike the original “Siamese twins” Chang an Eng, who merely shared some tough fibrous tissue and a small part of their liver and could have been easily separated, the Bailey sisters had a shared heart and would have been difficult to separate. The enormous strain of one heart working for two people made heart troubles seem inevitable so preparatory surgeries were made for an eventual separation. During the surgery for separation each girl was to get her own heart from a donor.
Alas, there were complications during one of the preparatory surgeries which was performed on Friday August 13. The girls passed away. You may visit their blog at Emma Joan and Taylor Nalani Bailey to see pictures of the girls and their family. Condolences to the Bailey family and their friends and community who have supported them thru the sister’s short life.
Dad: Tor (old) Mom: Mandy (not as old) Paige: age 11 Drew: age 9 Cole: age 8 Emma: age 3 Taylor: age 3 Blake: age 2
Rare conjoined twins die at Seattle hospital
By TIM HAECK | Aug 13, 2010 | KIRO Radio | www.mynorthwest.com
When Emma and Taylor Bailey were born almost four years ago, doctors didn’t give them much of a chance. “We were told when they were born they’d live a few minutes, maybe a few hours,” says their grandfather Don Lybbert of Lynnwood.
The conjoined twins were linked from waist to sternum and shared a heart. The girls survived in hospice for 18 months so their parents had to decide what to do. They consulted with specialists. “Their file literally went to doctors all over the world,” says Libbert. He says there was no consensus on the best treatment for the conjoined twins.
The twins grew up and Lybbert says the almost four year old girls had unique personalities but were definitely in tune. “On the way to the hospital the other morning, they were humming a song in unison in perfect pitch, it was just amazing,” says Lybbert.
Well it’s about time there is was a test for Alzheimer.
John Trojanowski, neuropathologist at Penn, helped develop the test, a measure of proteins in patients' cerebrospinal fluid.
Alzheimer test developed largely at Penn proves effective
By Faye Flam | Inquirer Staff Writer | www.philly.com | Aug. 11, 2010
A screening test developed largely at the University of Pennsylvania has proved surprisingly good at predicting who will go from relatively mild memory decline to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists are just starting to use this test to identify people at a much earlier stage in the disease and get them into clinical trials of drugs being developed to combat Alzheimer’s.
And that’s raising hopes that new drugs might fight the disease early, before the brain becomes irreparably damaged, said John Trojanowski, a Penn neuropathologist who helped develop the test – a measure of three proteins in patients’ cerebrospinal fluid. Another Penn researcher, Leslie Shaw, also played a lead role in developing the test.
I think this is the first time I’ve used cbn.com as a source. What a wonderful science story for them to the be the source for!
Smooth muscle cells derived from human embryonic stem cells showing the nuclei (blue) and proteins of the cytoskeleton (green) Photo: REUTERS
Stem Cells Reverse Blindness Caused by Burns
www.cbn.com | Thursday, June 24, 2010
A recent medical breakthrough using stem cells may restore sight to people blinded by burns.
According to a new Italian study, people blinded or who have suffered severe damage to their eyes due to a burn had their sight restored with transplants of their own stem cells.
The stem cells were taken from an unaffected part of the eye. Scientists then put the cells in an incubator to grow. The damaged cells were then replaced with the new ones.
In 82 of 107 procedures, the treatment worked completely. In 14 others, it was only partially successful.
Patients with superficial damage were able to see again within one to two months. Those with more extensive injuries took several months longer.
“They were incredibly happy. Some said it was a miracle,” said one of the study leaders, Graziella Pellegrini of the University of Modena’s Center for Regenerative Medicine in Italy. “It was not a miracle. It was simply a technique.”
The study, published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 106 patients treated between 1998 and 2007.
The classics are still a lively field of study, which is great news!
Statue of Greek philosopher Plato. (Credit: iStockphoto/Vasiliki Varvaki)
Science Historian Cracks the ‘Plato Code’
ScienceDaily | June 29, 2010
=Plato was the Einstein of Greece’s Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science. Dr Jay Kennedy’s findings are set to revolutionise the history of the origins of Western thought.
Dr Kennedy, whose findings are published in the leading US journal Apeiron, reveals that Plato used a regular pattern of symbols, inherited from the ancient followers of Pythagoras, to give his books a musical structure. A century earlier, Pythagoras had declared that the planets and stars made an inaudible music, a ‘harmony of the spheres’. Plato imitated this hidden music in his books.
Since “Botox Limits Ability to Feel Emotions” and to express emotions, it’s a good thing no one in Hollywood uses it!
Two photos of actress Nicole Kidman taken at very different times in her career. Please note, Botox® does not affect the size of one's teeth, nose or hair.
Botox Limits Ability to Feel Emotions
By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer | www.livescience.com | 22 June
A well-known side effect of Botox is the inability to fully express emotions. Now research reveals another side effect: the inability to fully feel emotions.
Botox, a popular cosmetic injection used to fight facial wrinkles, is made of an extremely toxic protein called Botulinum toxin. Botox works by temporarily paralyzing muscles that cause wrinkles.
That means no unsightly wrinkles, but also no moving those muscles at all — which could have more significant consequences than simply looking frozen, the researchers found.
Add this to the list of the many things we don’t know.
Deepwater travellers: A) deepwater slipskin and B) gonate squid
An out of place rattail
Deep sea fish ‘mystery migration’
By Matt Walker | Editor, Earth News | BBC.com | 3 June 2010
Deep sea fish species found in the north Pacific Ocean have mysteriously been caught in the southwest Atlantic, on the other side of the world.
It is unclear how the animals, a giant rattail grenadier, pelagic eelpout and deep sea squid, travelled so far.
Their discovery 15,000km from their usual home raises the possibility that deep sea currents can transport animals from one polar region to another.
Details are published in the journal Deep Sea Research part I.
“These findings were completely unexpected,” says Dr Alexander Arkhipkin of the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department, based in Stanley, on the Falkland
This information, if proven true, literally changes everything.
In a measuring chamber for protons: the muon beam moves through the ring-shaped electrodes from the left. In the space between the two grey-metallic bars under the pane of glass the muons impact on gaseous hydrogen - and displace the electrons from some of the atoms. The apparatus registers this process and fires a laser through the hole in the bottom bar onto the muonic hydrogen in order to reveal details of the atomic structure and thus ultimately the radius of the proton. (Credit: Randolf Pohl / MPI of Quantum Optics)
The Proton — Smaller Than Thought: Scientists Measure Charge Radius of Hydrogen Nucleus and Stumble Across Physics Mysteries
ScienceDaily | July 12, 2010 | www.sciencedaily.com
Big problems sometimes come in small packages. The problem with which physicists must now concern themselves measures a mere 0.0350 millionth of a millionth of a millimetre. This is precisely the difference between the new, smaller, dimension of the proton, the nucleus of the hydrogen atom, and the value which has been assumed so far. Instead of 0.8768 femtometres, it measures only 0.8418 femtometres.
At the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, an international team of researchers including physicists from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics has now measured this in experiments which are ten times more accurate than all previous ones. They thus present physics with some tough problems: at least one fundamental constant now changes. And physicists have also to check the calculations of quantum electrodynamics. This theory is assumed to be very well proven, but its predictions do not agree with these latest measurements.
Hair of dog helps, but ups dependency
May 10, 2010 at 11:44 PM
SOUTHAMPTON, England, May 10 (UPI) — A study in worms found withdrawal symptoms of alcohol could be relieved by small doses of alcohol, but it increased dependency, British researchers said.
Study leader Lindy Holden-Dye, a neuroscientist of the University of Southampton’s School of Biological Sciences, said the findings showed evidence a class of brain-signaling molecule — the neuropeptide — is required for the chronic effect of alcohol on the worm’s nervous system.
The simple brain of C. elegans worms have 302 nerve cells, but exhibits similar alcohol-dependent behaviors as humans, Holden-Dye said.
Science has made a color blacker than black, the blackest of all blacks.
A special thanks to the author of this fine site sendmeyourhead.com, for sharing this link with me.
Radiation-soaking metamaterial puts black in the shade
11 June 2010 by Jeff Hecht | www.newscientist.com
FASHIONISTAS take note: this material really does deserve to be labelled the new black – it absorbs virtually all the light that hits it.
This “blacker than black” stuff is an example of a class of substances known as metamaterials, which exhibit optical properties not normally found in nature.
Metamaterials consist of a regular array of two or more tiny components, each smaller than the wavelengths of the light they interact with. It is this array-like internal structure that gives them their unusual properties.
