Stem-Cell-Like Cells Produced From Skin

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @05:03PM
from the end-of-the-moral-debate dept.

MikShapi writes "Skin cells can now be turned into something resembling stem cells. A genetic modification to four genes using a viral vector reverses differentiating, making the cells revert to a stem-cell state, capable for becoming any other cell in the body. The researchers are calling them 'iPS cells' or 'induced pluripotent stem cells.' In their experiments, iPS cells in the lab turned into nerve cells, heart muscle, and other tissues. The research was published in Cell and Nature by teams from the universities of Kyoto and Wisconsin. The article notes that if the new method proves successful, 'we can disconnect the whole stem cell debate from the culture war, from battles over embryo politics and abortion rights.' And, should this technique be adopted, stem cells will henceforth be abundant, easier and cheaper to come by for research and therapeutic purposes."

[+] biotech, science, viralvector (tagging beta)

Maryland To Tax Custom Programming and Computer Services

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @05:48PM
from the strangling-the-golden-goose dept.

mcwop writes "Early this morning Maryland passed legislation to apply a new 6% sales tax to 'custom computer programming' and other computer- and hardware-related services. Computer industry groups lobbied hard against the measure to no avail. Purchasers of IT services may find that in-house IT and buying out-of-state become attractive options, as well as cutting money out of other projects."

[+] money, programming, government, whinylibertarians, taxes (tagging beta)

Sustainable water: falls from the sky

by Josh Loposer
Nov 21st 2007 @ 3:32AM

Filed under: Home

Have you ever dreamed of building a rainwater collection system for you home, one that will make your entire home totally water independent? Sustainable rainwater catch systems are becoming more reliable, and perhaps more affordable, than you might expect.

According to rainwater.org, you're looking at around $15,000 to construct a 1st-rate, whole-house system. That includes everything from the tank to the ultra-violet lights. Not to mention, some local governments are offering incentives for rainwater collection and green building projects. If that's too rich for your blood, you can do a more affordable supplemental system such as rain barrels.

As a reference guide, rainwater.org offers a pretty complete set of information, including a book and video of how to build your system from the ground up. Chapter 1 of the book -- which you can view online -- discusses practical things like how much water you'll need and how much can be harvested per inch of rainfall, so you can take your local rainfall situation into consideration before building.

Related Link

Magic mushrooms can insulate your attic

by Kelly Leahy
Nov 21st 2007 @ 11:34AM

Filed under: Home

I've written before about alternatives to fiberglass when insulating your home. Greensulate is yet another emerging material that is effective and environmentally friendly only this time fungus is the main ingredient.

Made from mushroom cells, hydrogen peroxide, starch, and water, Greensulate is poised to replace foam insulation. It's naturally fire retardant, inexpensive and requires no petroleum products to produce. Inventors Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre have patented their product and are looking into manufacturing it large scale.

Related Link

Meet the carbon-neutral Eurostar

by Laura Malesich
Nov 20th 2007 @ 4:06PM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, Travel and Vacation

Would you rather fly from Paris to London or take an eco-friendly speed train? Personally, I would skip the security lines, turbulence bumps and pollution and take the train -- now you can too! Eurostar is now offering service across the Channel from Paris to London in just over 2 hours. Open to the public as of November 14th it is the newest development in eco-travel. Earlier this year the Eurostar company unveiled its environmental campaign and its plans to reduce carbon emission by 25% per journey by 2012 which makes this train a great step in the right direction. I love to see innovative technology meeting travel needs the green-way and I hope this is just the beginning.

[via ShinyShiny]

Related Link

6 best green gadgets for Christmas

by Jonathon Morgan
Nov 21st 2007 @ 10:41AM

Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, Shopping Guide

Looking for the perfect gift for the geek in your house? With all the recent interest in living green, the technologically inclined have been hard at work making your eco-friendly lifestyle easier to achieve -- with gadgets! There is literally an endless supply of tech out there that will help you reduce your impact on the environment, so weeding through it all can be a challenge (especially if you're not all that tech savvy yourself). Here's a quick list of six of the most useful, eco-friendly or downright awesome little innovations that have recently grabbed our attention.

1. Hymini: a device that collects solar and wind power, so you can charge your portable electronics any time, anywhere.

2. SolarRoll: a green gadget that allows you to finally have a truly "mobile" laptop.

3. Water powered alarm clock: Need more juice? Simply add more water right from the tap. Features include a gravity sensor that lets you switch from function to function just by changing the clock's position.

4. Wattson: If you're not using much electricity, the Wattson will glow a calming blue color. If you're using the microwave oven, vacuum cleaner, blasting the stereo, and typing away on the computer at the same time, it will glow an angry red color.

5. Wind-up phone charger: This incredibly clever gadget does just what you'd think -- charges your phone with nothing more than elbow grease.

6. Solar Bluetooth headset: The Iqua BHS-603 SUN offers complete freedom from chargers, wires and delays allowing for 9 straight hours of talk time and up to 200 hours of standby.

Google Crowdsources Map Editing

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @10:01PM
from the don't-do-your-home-address-first dept.

An anonymous reader notes that Google now makes it possible to edit the map location designated by (almost) any address. Registered Google users in the US, Australia, and New Zealand can move incorrect markers for their homes or businesses to the correct locations. Access to some listings is restricted — hospitals, government buildings, and businesses whose listings have been claimed through Google's Local Business Center. In addition, moving a place marker more than 200 yards (or 200 meters) from its original location requires a moderator's approval before the change shows up on the map. Once a marker has been moved, a "Show Original" link will direct users to the original location.

[+] google, internet, crowdsourcing, buzzwordoverkill (tagging beta)

Schools To Lobby for 2nd HQ Building (Connection Newspaper)

Fairfax County Public Schools is moving forward with plans to request funding for a second central administrative building despite predictions of a downturn in county government revenue next year.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=90860&paper=0&cat=109

Target trialing online sales of pre-owned electronics

Posted Nov 21st 2007 8:59AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Although you may be accustomed to picking up your used wares from locales such as GameStop, Target is hoping that the scavengers of all things pre-owned will stop by its online electronics site, too. The retailer is currently testing online sales of used gizmos, including iPods, camcorders and HDTVs. Reportedly, the company made the call to start selling these goods after noticing that many returned items came back in "perfect working order," but it has yet to decide whether it will continue the business. We also heard that refurbished consoles would be up for grabs, but after running a quick search, we came up empty handed. Still, we'd be awfully careful before we ordered, say, a pre-owned iPod, from Target -- you really never know what you're gonna get.

Tags: business, industry, pre-owned, refurb, refurbished, retail, target, used

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Put down that domestically grown produce!

by Kelly Leahy
Nov 21st 2007 @ 9:26AM

Filed under: Food, News

Just when you think that you have it all figured out at the dinner table, someone brings up the starving children in Africa. Apparently people are eating too locally. That sweet potato that you bought at the local farmers' market just put six organic farmers in a developing nation out of work.

Ok, not really but the issue over how far organic food travels in order to get to the grocery store has been a big enough concern that people are choosing to buy local. Third world farmers are feeling the pinch and may go back to conventional growing methods if organics cease to pay off. For the shopper this is a clearly "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. It's enough to make your head spin.

Police Rumbler grabs your attention, rattles your teeth

Posted Nov 21st 2007 12:50AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Transportation

Although the Rumbler, conceived and sold by Federal Signal, has been helping cops grab the attention of citizens for a few months, its shock waves are just now getting the publicity they demand. The setup is being installed on patrol cars in locales such as Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and New York, and it serves the purpose of moving crowds / vehicles out of the way when an officer is headed to an emergency. More specifically, Rumbler-equipped rides take advantage of the powerful woofers and amplifier to shake the ground beneath them and get people a-lookin' some 200-feet away. Reportedly, the gizmo is meant to be used "judiciously, in situations where motorists should pull over to make way for the police," and it can also be helpful in grabbing the eyes of deaf drivers who cannot hear the traditional siren. 'Course, you could just load up your ride with a few subs and pop in a low-frequency CD to achieve the same goal, but don't be shocked if your copycatting ways net you an unwanted disturbing the peace citation.

Tags: cop, cops, police, rumbler, siren

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The Obesity Epidemic — Is Medicine Scientific?

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @02:05PM
from the paradigm-takeover dept.

An anonymous reader writes "An award-winning science author, Gary Taubes, has written a book that pans the medical community's treatment of the obesity epidemic. What is interesting is that it looks like the medical community is behaving in a very unscientific manner. Taubes points out that the current medical orthodoxy — that consuming fat makes you fat and exercise makes you thin — has no basis in research. In fact, all the available research points in quite another, and more traditional, direction. Here's the (excellent) podcast of an interview with Taubes on CBC's 'Quirks and Quarks.' So, has medicine become a non-science? Is it mostly a non-science? Somewhat?"

[+] fat, science, biotech, sensationalism, mcdonalds (tagging beta)

Verizon ups its FiOS speeds to 50Mbps, sets the internet on fire

Posted Nov 21st 2007 4:14AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Networking

Not content with blazing up your local connection at 20Mbps downstream and up, Verizon has once again bumped its already-painfully-fast FiOS broadband service into the realm of ridiculous. According to reports, the company is now offering a 30Mbps / 15 Mbps service at $89.95 a month, and the nerve-shattering 50 Mbps / 20 Mbps speed at $139.95. The telecom has also introduced symmetrical connections in all 16 states where it currently offers FiOS service, with a 20Mbps / 20Mbps on the up and down, starting at $64.99. Of course, it's all bleeps and buzzes in our particularly lonely corner of Brooklyn, where we'll have to suffer the indignation of a lowly 10Mbps connection until the big V blesses us with some real speed... you hearing us, dudes?

[Via GigaOM]

Tags: 20mbps, 50mbps, broadband, fiber optic, FiberOptic, fios, speeds, symmetrical connections, SymmetricalConnections, verizon

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Cannabis Compound Said To "Halt Cancer"

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @07:58AM
from the afraid-of-what-we-represent dept.

h.ross.perot informs us of research out of the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute suggesting that a compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer from metastasizing. Cannabidiol, or CBD, could develop into a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy some years down the road, if animal and human trials bear out its effectiveness. The article notes that smoking cannabis will not deliver significant quantities of CBD.

[+] science, biotech, ilikethepopethepopesmokesdope, cancer, pot (tagging beta)

Water-activated portable power generator on the horizon

Posted Nov 20th 2007 10:39AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We've seen our fair share of diminutive power generators, but rather than worrying with vibrations or hyperventilating, Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell have teamed up to deliver an iteration that's water-activated. The pair has been working together on this technology for some time now, and apparently, it's readying a beta that will be demonstrated at next year's CES. The portable power generator incorporates a "unique water-activated cartridge system," which is designed to quietly provide clean energy to consumer products in emergencies and when far, far away from an electrical outlet. Reportedly, the device will provide an AC socket alongside two USB connectors, an operating time of over 16-hours, infinite shelf-storage life and 400-watts of instant juice by just adding H2O. Regrettably, we still have no idea what this thing actually looks like, but considering that CES is less than two months away, we'll soon be seeing what this $400 gizmo can do up close and in person.

Tags: battery, electricity, energy, fuel cell, FuelCell, generator, Horizon Fuel Cell, HorizonFuelCell, Millennium Cell, MillenniumCell, portable power, PortablePower, water, water power, water powered, WaterPower, WaterPowered

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SAIC wants to build 10,000 hybrids annually by the end of the decade

Posted Nov 20th 2007 9:56AM by Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: Hybrid, China

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) wants to get into the hybrid business starting next year. They have built two dozen electric and hybrid cars for use by officials during next years Beijing Olympic games and they hope to ramp production up to 10,000 hybrids a year by 2010. SAIC has long had joint ventures both Volkswagen and General Motors. It's unknown if the new hybrid system will be in-house designs or licensed from one of their partners. The GM belt-alternator-starter mild hybrid system seems like a possible candidate for a first application.

School Officials Say U.S. Panel's Call for Closure Hurt Image (Washington Post)

I'll admit that I do not understand all of the situation but I have followed this story a little it appears awfully unfair that the government can say, without any evidence, that a school is training terrorists in the public and make them prove they are not. This seems to be a pretty clear case of guilty until proven innocent. Ben Franklin said:

"He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither"
Officials of a Northern Virginia Islamic school yesterday criticized a federal commission, saying that the panel unfairly damaged the school's reputation by recommending it be shuttered until it could prove that it is not promoting intolerance and violence through its textbooks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502324.html

Deficit Decisions (Connection Newspaper)

The Fairfax County School Board will face some tough decisions next spring if they do not receive an increase in funding, said many of its members during a work session Nov. 12.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=90685&paper=0&cat=106

1GB write-once SanDisk memory cards to cost $5.99?

Posted Nov 20th 2007 6:36AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Storage

Remember how Sandisk was flirting with read-only, cheap-archival storage based on their new "3D memory' back in February? Well, it sounds like they're about to commit. We just received a tip from a SanDisk customer who took a survey about a proposed write-once memory card. The most interesting new piece of information is the price: a 400 photo, 1GB write-once card for a proposed $5.99 as described by our tipster. We can't vouch for his claims -- nevertheless, what he says is consistent with what we've heard and certainly makes sense. We'll break it down for you as we received it:

• The new "memory cards (memory stick)" will be widely available in food, drug, camera, and convenience stores (we already knew that Wal-Mart and Walgreens were involved)
  
• The new format fits your existing camera
  
• Large enough to store at least 100 photos per card (does that mean 256MB cards for $2.00 or less?)
  
• Write-once technology stores your pictures safely for over 100 years (check)
  
• Less expensive than standard re-writeable memory cards (duh)
  

No dates were provided in the survey, but at this point, a near-term launch certainly appears imminent.

[Thanks, Chris G]

Tags: 3d memory, 3dMemory, read-only, rumor, sandisk, wal-mart, walgreens, write-once

Killer Mobile Graphics — NVIDIA's GeForce 8800M

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @12:48AM
from the confluence-of-many-streams dept.

MojoKid writes "Today NVIDIA unveiled the much-anticipated GeForce 8800M series of mobile graphics processors. The GeForce 8800M is powered by the new G92M GPU which is built on a 65nm manufacturing process and shares a lineage with the desktop-bound G92 GPU on which NVIDIA built their GeForce 8800 GT. The 8800M series will come in two flavors, a GTX and a GTS, with different configurations of stream processors, 64 for the GTS model and 96 for the high-end GTX."

Vote To Eliminate Leap Seconds

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 20, @03:11AM
from the making-y2k-look-like-a-walk-in-the-park dept.

Mortimer.CA writes "As discussed on Slashdot previously, there is a proposal to remove leap seconds from UTC (nee 'Greenwich' time). It will be put to a vote to ITU member states during 2008, and if 70% agree, the leap second will be eliminated by 2013. There is some debate as to whether this change is a good or bad idea. The proposal calls for a 'leap-hour' in about 600 years, which nobody seems to believe is a good idea. One philosophical point opponents make is that the 'official' time on Earth should match the time of the sun and heavens."

[+] badidea, politics, science, changelengthofsecond (tagging beta)

10 Great Snake-Oil Gadgets

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 19, @11:21AM
from the wanna-buy-a-bridge dept.

The Byelorussian Strikes Again writes "Wired offers up 10 of the most awesome snake oil gadgets, from industrial cables sold as $200 ionized pain-relieving bracelets to a plastic chip that cures anything, improves gas mileage and cleans swimming pools. One truly sad development: the infamous $500 wooden volume knob is no longer on sale."

[+] humor, audiophiles, usenoscript, suckerborneveryminute (tagging beta)

Scientists Trap a Rainbow

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday November 19, @12:44PM
from the i-can-c-the-light dept.

An anonymous reader writes to tell us that Physicists from both the University of Surrey and Salford University have devised a method to trap a multi-colored rainbow of light inside a prism. "Previous attempts to slow and capture light have involved extremely low or cryogenic temperatures, have been extremely costly, and have only worked with one specific frequency of light at a time. The technique proposed by Professor Hess and Mr Kosmas Tsakmakidis involves the use of negative refractive index metamaterials along with the exploitation of the Goos Hänchen effect, which shows that when light hits an object or an interface between two media it does not immediately bounce back but seems to travel very slightly along that object, or in the case of metamaterials, travels very slightly backwards along the object."

[+] science, supercomputing, tastearainbow, potofgold, carebearstare (tagging beta)

Hackers Use Banner Ads on Major Sites to Hijack Your PC

Journal written by ob1y2k (1187621) and posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 19, @10:36AM
from the i-knew-advertising-was-bad-for-us dept.

The worst-case scenario used to be that online ads are pesky, memory-draining distractions. But a new batch of banner ads is much more sinister: They hijack personal computers and bully users until they agree to buy antivirus software. And the ads do their dirty work even if you don't click on them.The malware-spiked ads have been spotted on various legitimate websites, ranging from the British magazine The Economist to baseball's MLB.com to the Canada.com news portal. Hackers are using deceptive practices and tricky Flash programming to get their ads onto legitimate sites by way of DoubleClick's DART program. Web publishers use the DoubleClick-hosted platform to manage advertising inventory." CT: Link updated to original source instead of plagerizer.

[+] security, malware, whatisabannerad, adblockplus, oldnews (tagging beta)

VIDEO: Riding the PCH and more in a Tesla Roadster!

Posted Nov 17th 2007 11:52AM by Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

Click on the Tesla for a high-res gallery

Warning! The following report will likely sound to many readers as though it comes from a fanboy. Perhaps I am, although I have tried to report on the problems and realities that Tesla faces as well as all the company's bold claims. Whatever the case, this car is one amazing ride, and one can't come away from it without a big s**t-eating grin. Onward...

Rest of the Article:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11/17/video-riding-the-pch-and-more-in-a-tesla-roadster/

Oregon First-Grader Suspended From School After Violent Drawing (fox 5)

Douglas Weathers, the boy's father, told the Mail Tribune that the drawing was harmless, and that 6-year-old Ryan was punished merely for copying something he had seen on an episode of "The Simpsons" TV show.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312061,00.html

90% of IT Professionals Don't Want Vista

Journal written by ozmanjusri (601766) and posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 19, @09:15AM
from the oh-so-sad dept.

A survey by King Research has found that Ninety percent of IT professionals have concerns using Vista, with compatibility, stability and cost being their key reasons. Interestingly, forty four percent of companies surveyed are considering switching to non-Windows operating systems, and nine percent of those have already started moving to their selected alternative. "The concerns about Vista specified by participants were overwhelmingly related to stability. Stability in general was frequently cited, as well as compatibility with the business software that would need to run on Vista," said Diane Hagglund of King Research.

[+] it, microsoft, os, windows, obv (tagging beta)

We're number 2

by Josh Loposer
Nov 19th 2007 @ 7:58AM

Filed under: News

Usually, I'm as competitive as it gets. Give me any lighthearted game and I'll turn it into a bitter deathmatch that can drive a wedge between the most established friendships -- but this is one competition I'm OK with coming in second... or last. A new study found that Australians (not Americans) are the world's worst green house gas polluters, as least when defined by power sector emissions.


Rest of article here:
http://www.greendaily.com/2007/11/19/were-number-2/

First Drive: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity, world's first series production fuel cell car

Posted Nov 18th 2007 7:53PM by Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: Hydrogen, Honda, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, LA Auto Show

Click on the FCX Clarity for a high-res gallery

What you see pictured above is the world's first fuel cell-powered car designed from the ground up expressly for that purpose with series production in mind. It's not converted from any existing vehicle like the Chevy Equinox, Toyota Highland and Ford Focus that you can find elsewhere on this site. The Honda FCX Clarity takes the layout and design themes first seen in two years ago in the FCX concept to completion. As we reported earlier this week, the FCX Clarity will be available for lease to retail customers beginning in the summer of 2008.

See link for rest of article:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11/18/first-drive-2009-honda-fcx-clarity-worlds-first-series-produc/

Honeybees Might Prompt Faster Internet Server Technology

Posted by Zonk on Monday November 19, @03:20AM
from the heard-the-buzz-about-it dept.

coondoggie writes "The Georgia Institute of Technology is working on the theory that honeybees can give us hints about how to improve the speed and efficiency of Internet servers. Honeybees somehow manage to efficiently collect a lot of nectar with limited resources and no central command. Such swarm intelligence of these amazingly organized bees can also be used to improve the efficiency of Internet servers faced with similar challenges." This has some similarities to the rules of the swarm discussion we had last week.

[+] internet, science, technology, buzzword (tagging beta)