Archive for August, 2012
Gates Foundation Funds ‘Anti-Vaccine Surveillance and Alert System’ and ‘On-Demand Vaccine Delivery via Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’
August 29th, 2012Via: TechNet21: An anti-vaccine surveillance and alert system Seth Kalichman of the http://www.uconn.edu/ in the USA will establish an Internet-based global monitoring and rapid alert system for finding, analysing, and counteracting communication campaigns containing misinformation regarding vaccines to support global immunization efforts. … On-demand vaccine delivery via low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles George Barbastathis of the […]
U.S. Helicopters Over Bay Area Scanning for Radiation
August 29th, 2012You know, “Natural radiation levels,” *wink* Via: Contra Costa Times: Helicopters will be flying low over San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Pacifica through Saturday to record natural radiation levels, federal authorities said Monday. The flyovers are part of research by two federal security agencies to set baselines for radioactivity in the event of a nuclear […]
Did Gwenyth Todd Delay Start of U.S.-Iran War?
August 29th, 2012Via: Washington Post: Todd feared that the Iranians would respond, possibly by launching fast-attack missile boats into the gulf or unleashing Hezbollah on Israel. Then anything could happen: a collision, a jittery exchange of gunfire — bad enough on its own, but also an incident that Washington hawks could seize on to justify an all-out […]
New AIDS-Like Disease Found in U.S., Asia
August 29th, 2012Via: AP: Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV. The patients’ immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn’t […]
Israeli Court Throws Out Family’s Lawsuit Over Death of U.S. Activist Rachel Corrie
August 28th, 2012Via: MSNBC: An Israeli court rejected on Tuesday accusations that Israel was at fault over the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an army bulldozer during a 2003 pro-Palestinian demonstration in Gaza. Corrie’s family had accused Israel of intentionally and unlawfully killing their 23-year-old daughter, launching a civil case in the […]
Four U.S. Soldiers Accused of Plotting to Overthrow the Government and Kill Obama
August 28th, 2012[???] Via: Global Post: Four US army soldiers are accused of forming an anarchist militia inside the military with the idea that they would overthrow the government and kill President Barack Obama, the UK Press Association reported, citing court prosecutors. Private Michael Burnett, one of the four soldiers in question, also pleaded “guilty to manslaughter […]
IBM Envisions Watson as Supercharged Siri for Businesses
August 28th, 2012Via: Bloomberg: International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) researchers spent four years developing Watson, the computer smart enough to beat the champions of the quiz show “Jeopardy!” Now they’re trying to figure out how to get those capabilities into the phone in your pocket.
Light from Screens Delays Sleep
August 28th, 2012Via: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: A new study from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that a two-hour exposure to electronic devices with self-luminous “backlit” displays causes melatonin suppression, which might lead to delayed bedtimes, especially in teens. The research team, led by Mariana Figueiro, associate professor at Rensselaer and director of […]
Venezuela Ramps up China Oil Exports
August 27th, 2012Via: OilPrice.com: The biggest geostrategic change of the past decade overlooked by Washington policy wonks in their fixation on their self-proclaimed “war on terror” is that Latin America has been throwing off the shackles of the Monroe Doctrine. These ignored developments may well soon refocus Washington’s attention on the Southern Hemisphere, as Venezuela’s President Hugo […]
Water Shortages Could Force World Into Vegetarianism
August 27th, 2012Soy dogs and free vaccinations for all! Note the following if you click through to the link. Here’s a screenshot: The earliest, strategic decisions that Becky and I made about where we were going to live were driven by factors related to freshwater availability. If we didn’t have sufficient water for gardens and livestock, we […]
