Hawaiian aspartame ban stalls on lack of science

Hawaiian aspartame ban stalls on lack of science: "21-Feb-2008 - Moves to ban the use of aspartame in Hawaii appear to have failed after the bill was deferred until further evidence could be heard."

Report: Security relaxed at Obama speech - UPI.com

Report: Security relaxed at Obama speech - UPI.com: "DALLAS, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The Secret Service told Dallas police to stop screening for weapons while people were still arriving at a campaign rally for Barack Obama, a report said."

BBC NEWS | Americas | US stealth bomber crashes on Guam

BBC NEWS | Americas | US stealth bomber crashes on Guam: "The United States Air Force (USAF) said both pilots had ejected safely before the plane came down at Andersen Air Force Base, shortly after take-off.

A spokeswoman said it was the first time a B-2 had crashed.

B-2 bombers, which can evade most radar signals, cost about $1.2bn (�610m) each to build."

BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkish troops enter north Iraq

BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkish troops enter north Iraq: "Turkish ground forces have rolled across the border into northern Iraq to target Kurdish rebels said to be sheltering there, Ankara has said."

China plans to halt rain for Beijing Olympics - Travel - LATimes.com

China plans to halt rain for Beijing Olympics - Travel - LATimes.com: "It is yet another attempt by man to triumph over nature.

Determined not to let anything spoil their party, organizers of the 2008 Summer Olympics said Wednesday that they will take control over the most unpredictable element of all -- the weather."

Navy Research Paper: 'Disrupt Economies' with Man-Made 'Floods,' 'Droughts' | Danger Room from Wired.com

Navy Research Paper: 'Disrupt Economies' with Man-Made 'Floods,' 'Droughts' | Danger Room from Wired.com: "A recently-unearthed U.S. Navy research project calls for creating mad-made floods and droughts to 'disrupt [the] economy' of an enemy state."

Daily Express: The World's Greatest Newspaper :: News / Showbiz :: Global warming? It’s the coldest winter in decades

Daily Express: The World's Greatest Newspaper :: News / Showbiz :: Global warming? It’s the coldest winter in decades: "NEW evidence has cast doubt on claims that the world’s ice-caps are melting, it emerged last night. Satellite data shows that concerns over the levels of sea ice may have been premature.

It was feared that the polar caps were vanishing because of the effects of global warming. But figures from the respected US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that almost all the “lost” ice has come back."

Physicist Neil Turok: Big Bang Wasn't the Beginning

Physicist Neil Turok: Big Bang Wasn't the Beginning: "For decades, physicists have accepted the notion that the universe started with the Big Bang, an explosive event at the literal beginning of time. Now, computational physicist Neil Turok is challenging that model -- and some scientists are taking him seriously.

According to Turok, who teaches at Cambridge University, the Big Bang represents just one stage in an infinitely repeated cycle of universal expansion and contraction. Turok theorizes that neither time nor the universe has a beginning or end."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Brain control headset for gamers

BBC NEWS | Technology | Brain control headset for gamers: "'Emotiv is a neuro-engineering company and we've created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically.'"

Research backs theory that vitamin C shrinks tumours - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - Independent.co.uk

Research backs theory that vitamin C shrinks tumours - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - Independent.co.uk: "New research suggesting that vitamin C can be effective in curing cancer will renew interest in the 'alternative' treatment for the terminal disease.

Three cancer patients who were given large intravenous doses over a period of several months had their lives extended and their tumours shrunk, doctors reported yesterday."

BBC NEWS | Americas | Fidel Castro announces retirement

BBC NEWS | Americas | Fidel Castro announces retirement: "Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro has said he will not accept another term as president, ending 49 years in power."

Saboteurs may have cut Mideast telecom cables: UN agency

Saboteurs may have cut Mideast telecom cables: UN agency: "Damage to several undersea telecom cables that caused outages across the Middle East and Asia could have been an act of sabotage, the International Telecommunication Union said on Monday.

'We do not want to preempt the results of ongoing investigations, but we do not rule out that a deliberate act of sabotage caused the damage to the undersea cables over two weeks ago,' the UN agency's head of development, Sami al-Murshed, told AFP."

Why You Should Plan to Party When You’re 70 | Inventor Spot

Why You Should Plan to Party When You’re 70 | Inventor Spot: "Do you ever dream about the wild parties you'll have when you're 70 years old? If not, maybe you should - for the sake of your health. A new study shows that young people who view old age as a miserable time of life are more likely to engage in binge drinking, smoking, eating junk food, and other unhealthy habits than their peers who have a more positive perspective of old age."

The Raw Story | Homeland Security commissions new human incapacitation device

The Raw Story | Homeland Security commissions new human incapacitation device: "One company has received an $800,000 contract from the Department of Homeland Security to develop a new 'non-lethal' method of human incapacitation for use by law enforcement.

By 2010, Intelligent Optical Systems hopes to be selling a sort of high-powered flashlight, the 'LED Incapacitator,' which would act by not only effectively blinding its target, but overloading his or her brain, with rapidly flashing lights at varying colors and frequencies. In addition to disorientation, headache and nausea are also likely."

Russia: US Satellite Shot a Weapons Test

Russia: US Satellite Shot a Weapons Test: "MOSCOW (AP) - Russia said Saturday that U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite may be a veiled test of America's missile defense system.

The Pentagon failed to provide 'enough arguments' to back its plan to smash the satellite next week with a missile, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

'There is an impression that the United States is trying to use the accident with its satellite to test its national anti-missile defense system's capability to destroy other countries' satellites,' the ministry said."

Crowds 'pick leaders to follow' - Telegraph

Crowds 'pick leaders to follow' - Telegraph: "People in crowds behave just like sheep, scientists claim, by blindly following one or two people who seem to know where they are going."

Who wants to live for ever? A scientific breakthrough could mean humans live for hundreds of years - Science, News - Independent.co.uk

Who wants to live for ever? A scientific breakthrough could mean humans live for hundreds of years - Science, News - Independent.co.uk: "A genetically engineered organism that lives 10 times longer than normal has been created by scientists in California. It is the greatest extension of longevity yet achieved by researchers investigating the scientific nature of ageing."

Senate Passes Bill to Expand U.S. Spying Powers - New York Times

Senate Passes Bill to Expand U.S. Spying Powers - New York Times: "WASHINGTON — After more than a year of heated political wrangling, the Senate handed the White House a major victory Tuesday by voting to broaden the government’s spy powers after giving legal protection to phone companies that cooperated in President Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping program."

G7 approves IMF gold sales - Italy econ minister | Business | Reuters

G7 approves IMF gold sales - Italy econ minister | Business | Reuters: "TOKYO (Reuters) - The Group of Seven rich nations on Saturday approved the sale of gold by the International Monetary Fund from April as part of a broad reform of its budget, Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said."

BBC NEWS | UK | Tourists warned of UAE drug laws

BBC NEWS | UK | Tourists warned of UAE drug laws: "Travellers to the United Arab Emirates are being warned about its severe drug laws which have seen dozens detained for apparently minor offences."