The Raw Story | Extinct Tasmanian tiger gene brought back to life: scientists

The Raw Story | Extinct Tasmanian tiger gene brought back to life: scientists: "Scientists said Tuesday they had achieved a world first by bringing back to life a gene from the extinct Tasmanian tiger after implanting it in a mouse.

Researchers from universities in Australia and the United States extracted the gene from a 100-year-old preserved specimen of the doglike marsupial -- correctly known as a thylacine -- and revived it in a mouse embryo.

'This is the first time that DNA from an extinct species has been used to induce a functional response in another living organism,' said research leader Andrew Pask of the University of Melbourne."

I Spy Your PC: Researchers Find New Ways to Steal Data - Yahoo! News

I Spy Your PC: Researchers Find New Ways to Steal Data - Yahoo! News: "In two separate pieces of research, teams at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at Saarland University in Saarbrucken, Germany, describe attacks that seem ripped from the pages of spy novels. In Saarbrucken, the researchers have read computer screens from their tiny reflections on everyday objects such as glasses, teapots, and even the human eye. The UC team has worked out a way to analyze a video of hands typing on a keyboard in order to guess what was being written."

‘Big Brother’ database for phones and e-mails - Times Online

‘Big Brother’ database for phones and e-mails - Times Online: "A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.

The information would be held for at least 12 months and the police and security services would be able to access it if given permission from the courts."

Orthodox Jewish youths burn New Testaments in Or Yehuda - Haaretz - Israel News

Orthodox Jewish youths burn New Testaments in Or Yehuda - Haaretz - Israel News: "Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land."

China's All-Seeing Eye : Rolling Stone

China's All-Seeing Eye : Rolling Stone: "Now, as China prepares to showcase its economic advances during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, Shenzhen is once again serving as a laboratory, a testing ground for the next phase of this vast social experiment. Over the past two years, some 200,000 surveillance cameras have been installed throughout the city. Many are in public spaces, disguised as lampposts. The closed-circuit TV cameras will soon be connected to a single, nationwide network, an all-seeing system that will be capable of tracking and identifying anyone who comes within its range — a project driven in part by U.S. technology and investment. Over the next three years, Chinese security executives predict they will install as many as 2 million CCTVs in Shenzhen, which would make it the most watched city in the world. (Security-crazy London boasts only half a million surveillance cameras.)"

BBC NEWS | UK | Phone calls database considered

BBC NEWS | UK | Phone calls database considered: "Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged."

10-year-old takes college by storm - Education- msnbc.com

10-year-old takes college by storm - Education- msnbc.com: "DOWNEY, Calif. - With the end of another school year approaching, college sophomore Moshe Kai Cavalin is cramming for final exams in classes such as advanced mathematics, foreign languages and music.

But Cavalin is only 10 years old. And at 4-foot-7, his shoes don't quite touch the floor as he puts down a schoolbook and swivels around in his chair to greet a visitor."

UFO files from The National Archives

UFO files from The National Archives: "Newly released UFO files

The files contain a wide range of UFO-related documents covering the years 1978–2002. So if you want to find out more about lights in the sky over Waterloo Bridge, near misses by pilots, crop circles - and what the UK government thought of it all - this is the place to start. The files are in PDF format."

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens: "VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God."

Low-energy LEDs could soon be lighting homes | Technology | The Guardian

Low-energy LEDs could soon be lighting homes | Technology | The Guardian: "Dr Faiz Rahman is putting millions of holes into light emitting diodes to make them brighter. He's not, as you might imagine, trying to increase their surface area. Instead, he's overcoming the physical properties that keep most light trapped inside. And when he's managed to scale up his hole-making process, it'll mean bright low-energy LED lightbulbs for the home."

Vending machine can spot a youthful face - tech - 12 May 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Vending machine can spot a youthful face - tech - 12 May 2008 - New Scientist Tech: "Cigarette vending machines in Japan will soon be able to judge their user's age from their appearance. The technology has been developed as an effort to have the machines comply with new laws that, from July, require them to check the age of buyers."

China preparing for nuclear war

China preparing for nuclear war: "LONDON – Defense analysts for the British intelligence service MI6 believe China is preparing for the 'eventuality of a nuclear war.' The conclusion follows evidence that Beijing has built secretly a major naval base deep inside caverns which even sophisticated satellites cannot penetrate, says a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin."

The Brisbane porn king who blew $60 million - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes

The Brisbane porn king who blew $60 million - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes: "So what really goes through the mind of a man who lost $60million and now lives at home with his parents? 'Look, it took losing everything for me to sit down and realise there are far more important things in life,' he says."

3-Year-Old Has Never Fallen Asleep - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

3-Year-Old Has Never Fallen Asleep - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando: "ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A 3-year-old Florida boy with a rare condition has not slept in three years."

Mind Control by Cell Phone: Scientific American

Mind Control by Cell Phone: Scientific American: "Could the electrical signals coming from a phone affect certain brainwaves operating in resonance with cell phone transmission frequencies? After all, the caller's cerebral cortex is just centimeters away from radiation broadcast from the phone's antenna. Two studies provide some revealing news."

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Respect atheists', says cardinal

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Respect atheists', says cardinal: "The Archbishop of Westminster has urged Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with 'deep esteem'."

Abuse may trigger gene changes found in suicide victims - health - 07 May 2008 - New Scientist

Abuse may trigger gene changes found in suicide victims - health - 07 May 2008 - New Scientist: "Early child abuse may forever change the way genes are expressed in the brain, suggests a postmortem study of people who died by suicide.

It is now well established that it isn't just what genes we inherit, but how they are turned on and off that influences our development. Most of these control switches are thrown before we are born, but some are set in early life, and to a lesser degree, throughout our lives.

Genes are switched off when methyl groups are added to our DNA. Studies have shown that diet, stress and even maternal care can influence these 'epigenetic' changes."

Gorbachev laments New World Order behind schedule, blames US for new Cold War � Aftermath News

Gorbachev laments New World Order behind schedule, blames US for new Cold War � Aftermath News: "From Nato’s expansion plans in the former Soviet Union to Washington’s proposals for a bigger defence budget and a missile shield in central Europe, the US was deliberately quashing hopes for permanent peace with Russia, Mr Gorbachev said.

“We had 10 years after the Cold War to build a new world order and yet we squandered them,” he said.

“The United States cannot tolerate anyone acting independently.

“Every US president has to have a war.”"

Singer Seeks Surgery For Non-Stop Hiccups | peculiarosities.com

Singer Seeks Surgery For Non-Stop Hiccups | peculiarosities.com: "A singer who estimates that he has hiccupped almost 10 million times in the last 15 months is to undergo an operation to cure him from the condition."

BBC NEWS | Health | Breastfeeding 'helps to boost IQ'

BBC NEWS | Health | Breastfeeding 'helps to boost IQ': "More evidence is being put forward that breastfed babies eventually become more intelligent than those who are fed with formula milk."