How To Frame a Printer For Copyright Infringement

Posted by timothy on Thursday June 05, @02:34PM
from the point-the-finger-point-it-well dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Have you ever wondered what it takes to get 'caught' for copyright infringement on the Internet? Surprisingly, actual infringement is not required. The New York Times reports that researchers from the computer science department at the University of Washington have just released a study that examines how enforcement agencies monitor P2P networks and what it takes to receive a complaint today. Without downloading or sharing a single file, their study attracted more than 400 copyright infringement complaints. Even more disturbing is their discovery that illegal P2P participation can be easily spoofed; the researchers managed to frame innocent desktop machines and even several university printers, all of which received bogus complaints."

[+] court, internet (tagging beta)

Bike stealing lessons?

by Josh Loposer
Jun 5th 2008 @ 12:06PM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Fitness

Three of the biggest fears that cyclists have to face as they make their carbon-conscious commutes are bad weather, getting mowed down by a motorist, and returning to the bike rack after work to find that your bike has been stolen. It's enough to ruin your entire workweek. Not only did someone choose to violate that special bond between you and your wheels, but now you're going to have to find a new source of locomotion.

To combat the problem, some groups like StreetFilms are working on educating bikers to do a more thorough job when locking up their bikes. Others, like Dutch cyclists lobby group Fietsersbond, are busy teaching cyclists how to steal bikes. The idea is that by understanding how easy it is to steal a bike, riders will become more conscientious in their bike-locking techniques.

Bikes are the most common form of transportation in the Netherlands and about 700,000 of them get stolen each year. Because most people do a poor job locking up, cities like Amsterdam are a gold mine for petty thieves. The Fietsersbond class actually includes a lock-picking lesson from a "specialist."

Hmm. I say, you might as well take the course. Then, if someone steals your bike, at least you know how to boost someone else's so you can get home. Just kidding, anyone who's seen the neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves understands the existential crisis that can ensue after a man's bike gets stolen. Actually, wasn't that also the topic of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure?

Nutritional Supplement Could Improve Clinical Situation Of ICU Patients

ScienceDaily (Jun. 5, 2008) — UGR News Scientists from the University of Granada and the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital have found out that some critical patients could improve their oxide stress and, consequently, their clinical situation by taking a simple exogenous antioxidant treatment through food. This study suggests that the oxide stress increase during patients stays in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is due to the low levels of antioxidant food consumption.

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Your burger can kill you

by Kelly Leahy
Jun 5th 2008 @ 10:02AM

Filed under: Food, News

One of the arguments for eating organic meat is that the overuse of antibiotics in cattle can lead to new strains of bacteria resistant to innoculation and therefor more dangerous for the consumer. Several years ago, England made a connection between the use of antibiotics on livestock and a "superbug" affecting people and animals alike. On this side of the Atlantic, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released a report about the rise of drug-resistant bacteria directly linked to what gets pumped into the bloodstream of our livestock.

Antibiotics are so commonly used in conventional cattle because of overcrowding which can allow disease to spread rapidly. They are also mixed with feed to promote growth. Some of these antibiotics are the same medications given to humans which further diminishes their effectiveness for us. The CDC found that the need for so many antibodies lessens when conditions are sanitary.

These studies are great arguments for organic, free range cattle (and also vegetarianism as someone is bound to point out in the comments). American eating culture is not going to change overnight. There is no way the entire country is going to give up their hamburgers without struggle. However, moving to smarter, cleaner ways to raising cattle is the best answer.

If you would like to read more about conventional farming and its effect on humans, read Patrick's post about recent findings from the Pew Charitable Trust.

Related Link

Public Funding Impacts Progress Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Bolstered by supportive policies and public research dollars, the United Kingdom, Israel, China, Singapore and Australia are producing unusually large shares of human embryonic stem cell research, according to a report from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the June 2008 issue Cell Stem Cell.

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Neurologically Impaired Mice Improve After Receiving Human Stem Cells

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Scientists report a dramatic success in what may be the first documented rescue of a congenital brain disorder by transplantation of human neural stem cells. The research, published by Cell Press in the June issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, may lead the way to new strategies for treating certain hereditary and perinatal neurological disorders.

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Pac-Man Roomba created with 448 LEDs

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 5th 2008 at 6:31AM

We were beginning to wonder if the Roomba hacking community had been sucked dry of ideas, but leave it to longjie0723 to give us hope yet. This Roomba hacker (yeah, he also rigged his up for Wiimote control) managed to solder 448 yellow LEDs onto a board and program said devices to move in such a way that a Pac-Man-type image is seen. C'mon, who hasn't dreamed of having that ghost-inhaler work his magic on those forsaken floors? Check the video after the jump.

[Via Hack N Mod]

World's largest 3D display revealed in 4D spacetime

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 5th 2008 at 5:52AM

Ooo, ahhh, you feeling that 3D display on your 2D panel? You should, it's the world's largest 3D LCD panel from VMJ measuring in at 65-inches. The stereoscopic panel developed with support from VisuMotion features a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 6-ms refresh, 120-degree viewing angle, and DVI and RGB inputs. Best of all, no goofy 3D glasses of any type are required thanks to the incorporation of Sharp's Parallax Barrier viewing technology. Priced at ¥3.15 million (about $30k) when it starts advertising CosaNostra Pizza around Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong.

[Via Akihabara News and Impress]

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DARPA's Nano Air Vehicle program puts UAVs on a diet

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 5th 2008 at 4:56AM

It's not like DARPA hasn't been trying to miniaturize unmanned aerial vehicles already, but its Nano Air Vehicle program is yet another attempt to find tiny, ultra-lightweight devices that could theoretically "perform indoor and outdoor military missions." More specifically, it's looking for something less than 7.5-centimeters and under 10-grams, and the overriding goal is to "explore novel, bio-inspired, conventional and unconventional configurations to provide the warfighter with unprecedented capability for urban mission operations." Reportedly, AeroVironment already has an idea in mind for such a drone (pictured), but as these type things always go, we've no idea how soon we'll see critters like these take to the skies with a thumb-sized American flag plastered on the side.

[Via BoingBoing]

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Data Retention Proven to Change Citizen Behavior

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 04, @10:04PM
from the I-always-feel-like-somebody's-watching-me dept.

G'Quann writes "A new survey shows that data retention laws indeed do influence the behavior of citizens (at least in Germany). 11% had already abstained from using phone, cell phone or e-mail in certain occasions and 52% would not use phone or e-mail for confidential contacts. This is the perfect argument against the standard 'I have nothing to hide' argumentation. Surveillance is not only bad because someone might discover some embarrassment. It changes people. 11% at least."

Synthetic Molecules Hold Promise For New Family Of Anti-cancer Drugs

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Synthetic molecules designed by two Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have succeeded in reducing and even eliminating the growth of human malignant tissues in mice, while having no toxic effects on normal tissue.

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Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Short bursts of high intensity sprints--known to benefit muscle and improve exercise performance--can improve the function and structure of blood vessels, in particular arteries that deliver blood to our muscles and heart, according to new research from McMaster University.

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Weather, Stomach Bugs And Climate Change: Refining The Model

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Monitoring extreme weather, such as periods of high temperature, is one way to predict the timing and intensity of infectious diseases like cryptosporidiosis, an intestinal disease that causes upset stomach and diarrhea. Two public health researchers have created a model that takes into account weather and other factors that affect the number of people who will fall ill during an outbreak. With this model they show that the risk of weather-sensitive diseases may increase with climate variability or even gradual climate change. Better understanding of the ways in which climate can affect disease will help researchers forecast infectious disease outbreaks and design early warning systems.

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JetBlue expands in-flight connectivity options on BetaBlue aircraft

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 4th 2008 at 3:28PM

During our time on JetBlue's BetaBlue aircraft, we came away mildly impressed with what was available. Thankfully, the airline isn't resting on its laurels, and has today announced expanded services for those lucky enough to secure a seat on the connected Airbus A320. By utilizing LiveTV's Kiteline platform, patrons can now check their Gmail, AOL Mail, Hotmail and Windows Live Mail from the comfort of their seat, and just in case you get bored with that, a "customized in-flight version of Amazon.com" will also be accessible. Yeah, we're talking really minor updates here, but at least the whole gamut of what's available is still totally free. Gratis and airlines just don't go together these days, so it's certainly a welcome change.

[Via Jaunted]

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China isn't making any friends lately

by Ellen Slattery
Jun 4th 2008 @ 12:30PM

Filed under: News, Climate Change

First, they were under fire for hosting the Olympics while refusing to give up occupation of Tibet. Then, people were angry because Olympic athletes will have to perform in an unhealthy, polluted environment.

Now they've made a decision that's will undoubtedly prove to be just as unpopular as the former: they plan to build a plant that will turn coal into oil (think of it as a Rumpelstiltskin-type story, but replace Rumpel with greedy Chinese lawmakers).

Called coal-to-liquid (CTL), the process produces tons of nasty greenhouse gases, and raises concerns about how long oil-rich countries can meet our insatiable demand for oil.

And in order to turn the coal into liquid, as Rumpel could tell you, you need a ton of energy, so much of the energy (see: carbon dioxide) is wasted in the process.

Oh - and now CTL is being examined by the U.S. Great.

via [ENN]

Violent tornado season related to climate change?

by Patrick Metzger
Jun 4th 2008 @ 11:30AM

Filed under: News, Climate Change

With an especially violent tornado season underway in the United States, scientists are speculating that the upsurge in the number and power of the deadly storms could be related to a warming climate.

As the number of tornadoes heads towards what National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) record keepers say could be a new record, researchers are using satellite and on-the-ground data to determine if there are possible links between twisters and climate change. Jeffrey Gaffney, a professor at the University of Arkansas and expert in atmospheric chemistry says that ""Basic thought is there's more energy in the atmosphere, more water vapor evaporating and greater likelihood for stronger heating events that lead to stronger thunderstorms - super cells, that can lead to tornado production."

The thunderstorms not only create tornadoes, but can cause flooding, which has reached "100 year" levels in parts of the Midwest this spring.

Gaffney cautions, however, that the relationship with climate change remains only a theory, and notes that the currently available data are "not conclusive." However, the work being done serves to underline the fact that there could be all kinds of side effects to climate change that we haven't even considered yet when calculating costs.

via [Science Daily]

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McAfee Picks the Most Dangerous TLDs

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday June 04, @12:00PM
from the all-fear-dot-vg dept.

CWRUisTakingMyMoney writes "Companies that assign addresses for Web sites appear to be cutting corners on security more when they assign names in certain domains than in others, according to a report to be released Wednesday by antivirus software vendor McAfee Inc. McAfee found the most dangerous domains to navigate to are .hk, .cn, and .info. Of all .hk sites McAfee tested, it flagged 19.2 percent as dangerous or potentially dangerous to visitors; it flagged 11.8 percent of .cn sites and 11.7 percent of .info sites that way. A little more than 5 percent of the sites under the .com domain — the world's most popular — were identified as dangerous."

Kurzweil on the Future

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday June 04, @09:42AM
from the brain-upgrades-now-please dept.

dwrugh writes "With these new tools, [Kurzweil] says, by the 2020s we'll be adding computers to our brains and building machines as smart as ourselves. This serene confidence is not shared by neuroscientists like Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, who discussed future brains with Dr. Kurzweil at the festival. It might be possible to create a thinking, empathetic machine, Dr. Ramachandran said, but it might prove too difficult to reverse-engineer the brain's circuitry because it evolved so haphazardly. "My colleague Francis Crick used to say that God is a hacker, not an engineer," Dr. Ramachandran said. "You can do reverse engineering, but you can't do reverse hacking.""

Rockin' in the gas-free world - Neil Young building electric cars

by Patrick Metzger
Jun 4th 2008 @ 9:05AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Celebrities, News, Activism

Rust never sleeps, and apparently neither does Neil Young. When not touring and recording, the veteran rocker is reportedly putting his time and money into creating an affordable electric car. Young, working with Wichita mechanic Johnathan Goodwin, has spent $120,000 to convert his 1959 Lincoln Continental into a fully battery-powered vehicle.

The upgraded auto has already been taken for a successful test drive, and Young is looking to expand outside of his own garage. The next goal of the 60's icon is to bring the technology to mass market and help wean the economy off of its cheap oil addiction. Of course, he's got some competition, with Chevy, Nissan, and others all planning to offer electric vehicles over the next couple of years. Still, a car designed by some guy in Tokyo or Detroit isn't going to be nearly as hip as one with Neil Young's signature on the back bumper.

Cyclone Waste Heat Engine promises power on the cheap

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 4th 2008 at 6:32AM

Another day, another means of converting waste heat into something decidedly non-wasteful. This one comes to us from the folks at Cyclone, whose self-starting Waste Heat Engine can apparently be powered by virtually any source of waste heat, including exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine, the "direct burning of biomass," or even the waste heat from another Waste Heat Engine. The company is also touting the engine's ability to provide a boost to solar-power generators, with it apparently able to capture heat using inexpensive panels attached to a roof, which Cyclone says could be installed at just 20% of the cost of other systems relying on pricey photovoltaic panels. Of course, there's no word as to what the Waste Heat Engine itself will cost, or when it'll be available, but you can check it out in action in the (auto-playing) video after the break.

Does Antimatter Fall Up Or Down?

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday June 04, @06:01AM
from the answer-is-yes dept.

KentuckyFC writes "There are enough loopholes in the general theory of relativity to allow antimatter to fall up rather than down in a gravitational field. We've never been able to make enough of the stuff to do the experiment. But at the European particle physics laboratory at CERN, where scientists have been refining the technique for making antihydrogen, researchers are designing an experiment called AEGIS that will finally settle the matter. The idea is simple — fire a beam of antihydrogen atoms and watch which way they fall — but the details are fiendish (abstract). The answer should help solve a number of important conundrums such as why there is so little antimatter in our part of the universe and what the value of the cosmological constant is."

New Superconductor Found "Immune To Magnetism"

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 03, @03:37PM
from the north-south-it's-all-the-same-to-me dept.

Lisandro sends in news that testing of the new class of superconductors we discussed a while back (compounds of iron, lanthanum, and rare earths) has turned up a major surprise: magnetism doesn't shut off the superconducting state. Magnetic fields represent one of three factors that limit expanded applications for superconductors (the others are current density and temperature dependence.) The research will appear in Nature; here's a preprint (PDF).

Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals

ScienceDaily (Jun. 3, 2008) — As the cost of sequencing a single human genome drops rapidly, with one company predicting a price of $100 per person in five years, soon the only reason not to look at your "personal genome" will be fear of what bad news lies in your genes.

People With Joint Pain Can Really Forecast Thunderstorms

ScienceDaily (Jun. 3, 2008) — The summer brings many thunderstorms to the east coast of the United States, and one of the nation’s leading joint specialists, Javad Parvizi, M.D., Ph.D., of the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, says you should believe your grandmother, friend or co-worker when they tell you it’s going to rain—even if it’s simply because their aching knees, hips, hands or shoulders “say so.”

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Breaking WIND: DOE hearts the wind industry

by Josh Loposer
Jun 3rd 2008 @ 2:00PM

Filed under: News, Polit-eco, Alternative Energy, Climate Change

We know why the DOE has set a target of boosting wind power to 20% of the nation's energy mix by 2030, Monday they revealed the first tidbits about how they plan on doing this. At a press conference yesterday afternoon, the Department of Energy's Alexander Karsner signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' with the heads of the 6 largest turbine manufacturers GE, Siemens, Vestas, Clipper, Suzlon, and Gamesa.

What does this mean exactly? It doesn't really outline a lot of concrete plans -- mainly some government/industry cheerleading -- but still there's a sense that wind power development is going to ramp up significantly. The agreement basically states that the National Laboratories and these turbine companies will share information and work to set industry standards in the areas of turbine reliability, site location, universal grid connection, manufacturing, and workforce. Historic? Maybe, maybe not. With the DOE promising 20% renewable energy by 2020, it's a pretty sure thing that wind will be one of the primary sources of this growth in the near term.

CSA shares going ... going ... gone!

by Kelly Leahy
Jun 3rd 2008 @ 8:38AM

Filed under: Food, Local

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has taken off and shares are selling quickly this year. For a fee, you can by a share of a farm's produce for the season. Some CSAs harvest conventionally grown produce but a great deal of them are organic. By joining a CSA, you are often privy to the freshest, organic, locally grown food available. No wonder people are clamoring to get on board.

In New Orleans, a local farmer decided to try his hand at Community Supported Agriculture for the first time this year and now has a waiting list as it was so popular. Similar stories are to be found all over the country whether there were 25 or 400 shares to be bought. The popularity can be attributed to people becoming more concerned about where their food comes from and the idea that local is better. Additionally, there have been a few scary food recalls this year that make buying local more savory.

Whatever the reason, it's good for the small farmers, it's good for the earth and it's good for you.

Related Link

Time Warner Cable Tries Metering Internet Use

Journal written by Presto Vivace (882157) and posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 03, @08:05AM
from the been-there-done-that-gave-it-up dept.

As rumored a couple of months back, Time Warner is starting a trial of metered Internet access. "On Thursday, new Time Warner Cable Internet subscribers in Beaumont, Texas, will have monthly allowances for the amount of data they upload and download. Those who go over will be charged $1 per gigabyte... [T]iers will range from $29.95 a month for... 768 kilobits per second and a 5-gigabyte monthly cap to $54.90 per month for... 15 megabits per second and a 40-gigabyte cap. Those prices cover the Internet portion of subscription bundles that include video or phone services. Both downloads and uploads will count toward the monthly cap."

[+] communications, internet, money, rationing (tagging beta)

Researchers Simplify Quantum Cryptography

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 03, @12:32AM
from the again-with-the-bob-and-alice dept.

Stony Stevenson writes "Quantum cryptography, the most secure method of transmitting data, has taken a step closer to mainstream viability with a technique that simplifies the distribution of keys. Researchers at NIST claim that the new 'quantum key distribution' method minimizes the required number of detectors, the most costly components in quantum crypto. Four single-photon detectors are usually required (these cost $20K to $50K each) to send and decode cryptography keys. In the new method, the researchers designed an optical component that reduces the required number of detectors to two. (The article mentions that in later refinements to the published work, they have reduced the requirement to one detector.) The researchers concede that their minimum-detector arrangement cuts transmission rates but point out that the system still works at broadband speeds."

[+] encryption, science, security (tagging beta)

Leaning Tower of Pisa Secure For 300 More Years

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 03, @05:32AM

from the galileo-never-slept-here dept.

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The tower of Pis began to lean 5 years aer its construction began, in 1178, and by 1990 it had tilted more than four meters off its true vertical. Conservationists estimated that the entire 14,500-ton structure would collapse 'some time between 2030 and 2040.' Now the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been stabilized and declared safe for at least another three centuries. The stabilization, which cost $30M, was accomplished by anchoring it to cables and lead counterweights, while 70 tons of soil was removed from the side away from the lean, and cement was injected into the ground to relieve the pressure. The tilt has now returned to where it was in the early 19th century. Nicholas Shrady, author of Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa, says that the tower was destined to lean from the outset because it was buildt on 'what is essentially a former bog.' Shrady adds that the tower previously came close to collapsing in 1838, 1934, and 1995. (The commission convened in 1990 to study the tower's stability was the 17th such.) Although Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped cannon balls from the tower in a gravity experiment, Shrady says the myth is the result of 'the overripe imagination of Galileo's secretary and first biographer, Vincenzo Viviani.'"

[+] science, aer, typoinsummary (tagging beta)

State of Play

Moving with the confidence of Indiana Jones, an eighth-grader makes landfall and begins to explore the island for potable water. She begins to test a pond for bacteria and to determine its level of acidity. She is interrupted by a message from Grandma. Grandma?

The student's execution of her mission, including answering the e-mail from a virtual Grandma (requesting details about her adventures), is part of an online survivor game included in her school's science curriculum. The game, ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111632&govDel=USNSF_51

Methane Release Could Cause Abrupt, Far-Reaching Climate Change

An abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from ice sheets that extended to Earth's low latitudes some 635 million years ago caused a dramatic shift in climate, scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

The shift triggered events that resulted in global warming and an ending of the last "snowball" ice age.

The researchers believe that the methane was released gradually at first ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111554&govDel=USNSF_51

MIT fabricates nanowire mats to selectively absorb oil

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 1st 2008 at 11:52PM

A team of astute MIT researchers have developed a sophisticated new material that could help control, contain and lessen the environmental impact of future oil spills. The creation is a mat of nanowires that actually looks a lot like paper, but unlike the material your paycheck gets printed on, this stuff can "selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids (oil-like liquids) from water." We're talking about a membrane that can "absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil, and can be recycled many times for future use." Outside of this, it could also be used in water filtration processes and for designing the next great wetsuit. Okay, so we're making that last one up, but don't dare say it's beyond the realm of possibility.

[Via NewScientist]

China's All-Seeing Eye

Posted by kdawson on Monday June 02, @12:42AM
from the market-stalinism dept.

krou writes "Naomi Klein writes in Rolling Stone Magazine about China's Panopticon-like experiment called 'Golden Shield' taking place in Shenzhen using technology supplied by companies such as IBM, Honeywell, and General Electric. Klein writes: 'Chinese citizens will be watched around the clock through networked CCTV cameras and remote monitoring of computers. They will be listened to on their phone calls, monitored by digital voice-recognition technologies. Their Internet access will be aggressively limited through the country's notorious system of online controls known as the "Great Firewall." Their movements will be tracked through national ID cards with scannable computer chips and photos that are instantly uploaded to police databases and linked to their holder's personal data.' According to Klein, this is more than just a Chinese experiment, it's also one that holds ramifications for America and elsewhere: '...the most efficient delivery system for capitalism is actually a communist-style police state... The global corporations currently earning superprofits from this social experiment are unlikely to be content if the lucrative new market remains confined to cities such as Shenzhen. Like everything else assembled in China with American parts, Police State 2.0 is ready for export to a neighborhood near you.'"

Previously Uncontacted Amazon Tribe Photographed

Posted by kdawson on Friday May 30, @10:47AM
from the bring-down-big-metal-bird dept.

ManicMechanic and other readers sent in news of a tribe of aboriginal people from the border of Peru and Brazil that has been photographed by helicopter for the first time. The images show huts in a village and people in red body paint shooting arrows at the helicopter. The outfit that released the photos, Survival International, works to end illegal logging in the rainforest in order to protect the uncontacted tribes living there. They estimate that 100 uncontacted groups exist worldwide, about half of them in the Amazon basin.

Bye Bye Bananas — the Return of Panama Disease

Posted by kdawson on Monday June 02, @05:43AM
from the where-you-gonna-get-your-potassium dept.

Ant ssnds in a disturbing report in The Scientist on an imminent threat to worldwide banana production. "The banana we eat today is not the one your grandparents ate. That one — known as the Gros Michel — was, by all accounts, bigger, tastier, and hardier than the variety we know and love, which is called the Cavendish. The unavailability of the Gros Michel is easily explained: it is virtually extinct. Introduced to our hemisphere in the late 19th century, the Gros Michel was almost immediately hit by a blight that wiped it out by 1960. The Cavendish was adopted at the last minute by the big banana companies — Chiquita and Dole — because it was resistant to that blight, a fungus known as Panama disease... [Now] Panama disease — or Fusarium wilt of banana — is back, and the Cavendish does not appear to be safe from this new strain, which appeared two decades ago in Malaysia, spread slowly at first, but is now moving at a geometrically quicker pace. There is no cure, and nearly every banana scientist says that though Panama disease has yet to hit the banana crops of Latin America, which feed our hemisphere, the question is not if this will happen, but when. Even worse, the malady has the potential to spread to dozens of other banana varieties, including African bananas, the primary source of nutrition for millions..."

Check the "particulate matter" forecast before exercising outdoors!

by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Jun 1st 2008 @ 12:32PM

Filed under: Health

Particulate matter is a type of air pollution comprised of tiny particle of solids or liquid that can cause health problems when inhaled. Some occur naturally from forest fires and dust storms. And of course, human activities contribute also, such as the burning of fossil fuels in cars, power plants and other industrial activities. We usually associate going outside with health, but that is not always the case. A new study from the University of Michigan shows that even short-term exposure to low levels of particulate air pollution may increase the risk of stroke.

So what can you do to lower your risk of exposure to particulates? According to experts, the most important thing you can do is avoid exercising outside during high pollution days and near major highways. To find out the particulate and ozone forecast for your area, see the EPA's Airnow site. You can sign up for a daily air quality forecast, delivered to your email. To see a national forecast for today, see this interactive map here.

Some days it might be healthier to walk on a treadmill or otherwise exercise indoors. Sad.

Related Link

Dehydrated Tomatoes Show Promise For Preventing Prostate Cancer

ScienceDaily (Jun. 2, 2008) — New research suggests that the form of tomato product one eats could be the key to unlocking its prostate cancer-fighting potential, according to a report in the June 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

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