Researchers, including a BYU scientist, believe they have found a new compound that could finally kill the HIV/AIDS virus, not just slow it down as current treatments do.
And, unlike the expensive, drug cocktails 25 years of research have produced for those with the deadly virus, the compound invented by Paul D. Savage of Brigham Young University appears to hunt down and kill HIV.
Although so far limited to early test tube studies, CSA-54, one of a family of compounds called Ceragenins (or CSAs), mimics the disease-fighting characteristics of anti-microbial and anti-viral agents produced naturally by a healthy human immune system.
If future tests, and animal and human trials go well, and the FDA fast-tracks the drug, it could be available by prescription in as little as three years. (Via Slashdot)
According to this AP story, the recipient of the world’s first face transplant went public today in Amiens, France, a little more than two months after the surgery was performed.
energy independence from the oil cartels of the Middle East was a pipe-dream, or at least, far enough away that it wouldn’t make much impact on us and our current international tensions. According to Robert Zubrin, though, American energy independence is not very far away, nor indeed very difficult to accomplish:
Today’s favorite alternatives to oil are wind, solar, hydroelectric, and nuclear power. They each have strengths and weaknesses, but the bottom line is that these are all methods of generating electricity—and electricity is far from the central issue of energy independence. The United States has plenty of coal, and if necessary could easily generate all of its electric power that way.
The key to energy independence, rather, is liquid fuel to power cars, trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes. These vehicles are not mere conveniences; they are the sinews of our economy and the fundamental instruments of our military strength. Our civilization cannot be sustained without efficient liquid fuels, and there is no foreseeable prospect whatsoever of cost effective, large-scale generation of liquid fuels from wind, solar, hydroelectric, or nuclear sources.
It’s true that some of his arguments come off as alarmist, and that some others certainly beg the question, but this is probably the first common-sense approach to the problem I’ve seen (not that I’m an expert on the subject, by any means). Read the whole thing. (Via InstaPundit)
According to psychologist Daniel Goleman:
The Internet inadvertently undermines the quality of human interaction, allowing destructive emotional impulses freer reign under specific circumstances. The reason is a neural fluke that results in cyber-disinhibition of brain systems that keep our more unruly urges in check. The tech problem: a major disconnect between the ways our brains are wired to connect, and the interface offered in online interactions.
[...]
Such disinhibition seems state-specific, and typically occurs rarely while people are in positive or neutral emotional states. That’s why the Internet works admirably for the vast majority of communication. Rather, this disinhibition becomes far more likely when people feel strong, negative emotions. What fails to be inhibited are the impulses those emotions generate.
This phenomenon has been recognized since the earliest days of the Internet (then the Arpanet, used by a small circle of scientists) as “flaming,” the tendency to send abrasive, angry or otherwise emotionally “off” cyber-messages. The hallmark of a flame is that the same person would never say the words in the email to the recipient were they face-to-face. His inhibitory circuits would not allow it — and so the interaction would go more smoothly. He might still communicate the same core information face-to-face, but in a more skillful manner. Offline and in life, people who flame repeatedly tend to become friendless, or get fired (unless they already run the company).
He goes on to state that this “cyber-disinhibition” has caused an increase in phenomena such as “cyber-bullying” and child pornography. Pretty interesting; read the whole thing. (Via InstaPundit)
From Slashdot:
A test carried out by Pegasus Lab on account for Swedish magazine PC För alla showed that a normal PC keyboard was infected by more bacteria than a normal toilet seat. More specific it contained 33000 bacteria per square centimeter, compared to 130 on a ordinary toilet seat. The tests also showed occurrence of up to 3100 fungi per square centimeter.
Gross. Note that I am not bothering to link the original article, because it’s in Swedish, and I’m guessing that most of you readers are as hopeless with Swedish as I am.
I can’t believe I missed this. According to this article, NASA, the USAF and the US Department of Energy are investigating a possible hyperspace engine that could make interstellar travel a more feasible possibility:
AN EXTRAORDINARY “hyperspace” engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.
The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today’s New Scientist magazine.
The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.
Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.
It’ll be interesting to see how the research pans out. (Via Slashdot)
On CNN:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) — With the space shuttles due to retire, NASA is looking for private companies interested in taking over the potentially lucrative business of flying cargo and crew to the international space station.
The U.S. space agency issued a solicitation for proposals on Tuesday for firms interested in handling delivery services now provided by the three shuttles, which are due to stop flying by 2010.
“Certainly this is an opportunity for the new space companies,” said Jim Banke, head of Florida operations for The Space Foundation industry trade association. “They’ve been lobbying NASA hard for something like this for years.”
NASA hopes to supplement, and eventually replace, crew and cargo flights to the space station that had been planned for the shuttle fleet.
From the Slashdot post where I found this:
One has to wonder how much money can be saved by NASA that can be put to use elsewhere, such as trying to figure out how to put together a manned mission to Mars, if they no longer have to dish out the tremendous amount of money that getting astronauts and cargo to the ISS requires.
According to a report released this week by the Harvard Medical School, carpal tunnel syndrome may not have anything to do with typing:
Carpal tunnel is caused when nerves in the wrist are pinched, however it’s not caused by frequent use of a keyboard, claims the report. Instead, it is caused by heredity, body weight, fracture, or even pregnancy.
Now, don’t go out typing to your heart’s content. Researchers still warned that improper computer use could cause different types of repetitive stress injuries, of which carpal tunnel is incorrectly described as one.
(Via Slashdot)
everyone seems to be having on evolution vs. intelligent design lately, here’s an excerpt from Anne Applebaum’s brutally frank opinion piece on American flu-preparedness:
Finally, Americans and their leaders will have to get over their love affair with intelligent design . Polls show that most don’t believe in evolution. But it is actually impossible to talk logically about bird flu, or any other rapidly evolving and constantly changing virus, without using the language of evolution — specific words such as “mutant,” “recombination,” “genome” and “selection.” Without that language, a sensible popular or political discussion, let alone a scientific discussion, is impossible: We’re stuck talking about the virus “jumping” from birds to humans, as if it were a magic bug with a mind of its own. We’re stuck thinking that a virus is a hex that can be lifted with a single lucky charm, not something that will change over time.
We’re also stuck with magic solutions: silver bullets, protective amulets, Tamiflu prescriptions. And until we are willing to elect the politicians, pay the businessmen, and support the scientists and science educators who can come up with something better, that, I’m afraid, is all the flu preparedness we’ll ever have.
(via VodkaPundit)