Bill May Renew U.S. Weather Control EffortsWASHINGTON — After a brutal year of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts, lawmakers are looking for ways to beat Mother Nature.
And while it's still a bit of a long shot, Uncle Sam could be called in to sponsor research to find ways to blast dangerous storms out of the sky or put rain clouds over parched land.
"This is a fascinating subject to me, and the idea that we can actually impact weather is exciting, and I guess, frightening in some ways," Sen. J... (more)
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Engineer Outwits Fingerprint Recognition Devices with Play-DohPotsdam, New York – Eyeballs, a severed hand, or fingers carried in ziplock bags. Back alley eye replacement surgery. These are scenarios used in recent blockbuster movies like Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” and “Tomorrow Never Dies” to illustrate how unsavory characters in high-tech worlds beat sophisticated security and identification systems.
Sound fantastic? Maybe not. Biometrics is the science of using biological properties, such as f... (more)
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Biopiracy and GMOs: Fate of Iraq's agricultureWhile the Iraqi people are struggling to end the U.S. military Occupation and its associated violence, the fate of their food sources and agricultural heritage is being looted behind closed doors. Unless the colonisation of Iraq ends, the U.S. Occupation of Iraq will continue to have lasting and disastrous effects on Iraq's economy and Iraq's ability to feed its people.
Iraq is home to the oldest agricultural traditions in the world. Historical, genetic and archaeological evidence... (more)
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Vaccine additive banned in IowaJust as Iowa records the season’s first official case of influenza, pediatricians are reminding parents that children younger than 2 years face nearly the same risks associated with the illness as adults older than 65.
But while some parents are leery of the pediatric flu vaccination — which can contain preservatives such as thimerosal, a mercury-based compound added to some vaccines — Iowans can rest easy.
Earlier this year, the state became the f... (more)
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The UN's Desire to Control the InternetUN pirates sailed into Tunis this November 16-18, looking to take the helm of Internet supervision from U.S. hands.
Do you treasure the freedom to wade out into the vast sea of information that is the Internet and surf the World Wide Web? Then look out for what is coming over the horizon: a fleet of ships is bearing down on you and your little surf(key)board, and they are flying the blue Jolly Roger of the United Nations.
You will see among them such ships of state ... (more)
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U.S. Command Declares Global Strike CapabilityWASHINGTON — The U.S. Strategic Command announced yesterday it had achieved an operational capability for rapidly striking targets around the globe using nuclear or conventional weapons, after last month testing its capacity for nuclear war against a fictional country believed to represent North Korea (see GSN, Oct. 21).
In a press release yesterday, STRATCOM said a new Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike on Nov. 18 “met requirements necessar... (more)
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New Study Suggests Artificial Sweetener Causes Cancer in Rats at Levels Currently Approved for Humans [Research Triangle Park, NC] ] A statistically significant increase in the incidence of malignant tumors, lymphomas and leukemias in rats exposed to varying doses of aspartame appears to link the artificial sweetener to a high carcinogenicity rate, according to a study accepted for publication today by the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The authors of the study, the first to demonstrate multipotential carcinogenic effects of aspartame administered to rats in feed... (more)
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'Fossil fuel' theory takes hit with NASA finding New study shows methane on Saturn's moon Titan not biologicalNew study shows methane on Saturn's moon Titan not biological
NASA scientists are about to publish conclusive studies showing abundant methane of a non-biologic nature is found on Saturn's giant moon Titan, a finding that validates a new book's contention that oil is not a fossil fuel.
"We have determined that Titan's methane is not of biologic origin," reports Hasso Niemann of the Goddard Space Flight Center, a principal NASA investigator responsible for the Gas ... (more)
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GM crop failure a warning, says US adviserA former agricultural adviser to US presidents says the failure of a genetically modified field pea trial should act as a warning for future GM crop testing.
The 10-year CSIRO trial was abandoned when tests found the peas were making mice seriously ill.
Dr Charles Benbrook, who advised presidents Carter, Bush senior, Reagan and Clinton says the field pea trial failure shows current GM crop testing is grossly inadequate.
"I don't believe that this new ... (more)
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Man Arrested For Posting Story About China Invading JapanJAPANESE ROZZERS have nabbed a computer programmer for publishing a fabricated news article on a fake Yahoo Japan Web site.
The story saying China had invaded the Japanese island of Okinawa was posted by Takahiro Yamamoto.
What seems to have attracted the attention of Inspector Knacker of Okinawa was that Yamamoto copied the style of the Kyodo News Agency and Yahoo Japan's news site which was a breach of trademark rules.
Apparently the sit... (more)
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Terrorism threat to Net 'overstated'As one of the world's foremost authorities on security issues, Bruce Schneier has been a voice of reason in an industry where hyperbole is often rife.
Schneier, who has written several books on security and is the founder of Counterpane Internet Security, has previously criticized those who claim that cyberterrorism is a serious threat.
So, with the SANS Institute warning that hackers are changing their tactics and the NISCC, the British government body responsible ... (more)
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Land where everyone from the King down has Aids testThe Times has learnt that Lesotho’s entire population is to be screened for HIV
THE African kingdom of Lesotho, a nation afflicted by one of the world’s worst Aids pandemics, is to become the first country in the world to offer HIV tests to its entire population, The Times has learnt. Even the King may participate.
Its ministers and public health officials will announce a $12 million (£7 million) programme this week to test the 1.9 million people l... (more)
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When the machines revolt, will you be prepared for it?How to Survive a Robot Uprising
Tips on Defending Yourself
Against the Coming Rebellion
The unnerving thing about "How to Survive a Robot Uprising," this self-defense handbook with its splashy red neo-retro graphics showing tiny people fleeing huge machines, is that, now and then, you can't tell whether or not it's a joke. You suspect that it is, because -- well, because you're laughing. And because of its deliberate deadpan prose style that echoes t... (more)
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Turkey, Talk, Family: One More Reason It All Seems FamiliarIt was just a lampshade, in your line of vision as you settled in for the predinner olives and celery, but it unleashed a powerful feeling of déjà vu. Even though this was your first Thanksgiving at this relative's home, you were sure you had been there before. Or, it was a phrase spoken when a tablemate passed the creamed onions. Even though she was a new in-law, you were positive you had celebrated Thanksgiving with her in years past.
About two-thirds of people exp... (more)
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Holographic-memory discs may put DVDs to shameA computer disc about the size of a DVD that can hold 60 times more data is set to go on sale in 2006. The disc stores information through the interference of light – a technique known as holographic memory.
The discs, developed by InPhase Technologies, based in Colorado, US, hold 300 gigabytes of data and can be used to read and write data 10 times faster than a normal DVD. The company, along with Japanese partner Hitachi Maxell announced earlier in November that they would... (more)
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The food you eat may change your genes for lifeIT SOUNDS like science fiction: simply swallowing a pill, or eating a specific food supplement, could permanently change your behaviour for the better, or reverse diseases such as schizophrenia, Huntington's or cancer.
Yet such treatments are looking increasingly plausible. In the latest development, normal rats have been made to behave differently just by injecting them with a specific amino acid. The change to their behaviour was permanent. The amino acid altered the way the rat... (more)
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Russian warhead alters course midflight in testRussia recently conducted a flight test of a new warhead that can change course in midflight, which U.S. and Russian officials are calling part of Moscow's efforts to defeat U.S. missile defenses.
The warhead was tested Nov. 1 and tracked by U.S. intelligence technical monitors, including satellites, the officials said.
An analysis of the flight test by U.S. intelligence agencies revealed that it was a further test of a maneuverable warhead that Moscow has been deve... (more)
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GM pea causes allergic damage in miceRelated: Most Offspring Died When Mother Rats Ate GM Soy
A decade-long project to develop genetically modified peas with built-in pest-resistance has been abandoned after tests showed they caused allergic lung damage in mice.
The researchers – at Australia’s national research organisation, CSIRO – took the gene for a protein capable of killing pea weevil pests from the common bean... (more)
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New Drug Fails In Mission, Promotes Disease InsteadCleveland, OH (AHN) - Research spearheaded by Steven E. Nissen, M.D., Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Coordinating Center at The Cleveland Clinic, has discovered that a new generation of drugs, intended to inhibit the buildup of plaque in arteries, is ineffective.
Pactimibe, the first ACAT inhibitor or plaque-deterring drug to reach phase III trials, was found not only to be ineffective in reducing the progression of coronary artery disease, but also in some cases to even p... (more)
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On the line: the internet's futureOwnership: World leaders meet today to discuss regulation; US fighting to regain control of global network. Censorship: State power increasingly used to limit access; Dissenters beaten outside summit site
Nov 16, 2005 - Over the next three days a United Nations summit, in the unlikely setting of Tunisia, will attempt to thrash out the future of the internet.
More than 40 world leaders, including Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, are set to attend, and the owners... (more)
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Marines Quiet About Brutal New WeaponWar is hell. But it’s worse when the Marines bring out their new urban combat weapon, the SMAW-NE. Which may be why they’re not talking about it, much.
This is a version of the standard USMC Shoulder Mounted Assault Weapon but with a new warhead. Described as NE - "Novel Explosive"- it is a thermobaric mixture which ignites the air, producing a shockwave of unparalleled destructive power, especially against buildings.
A post-action report from Iraq descr... (more)
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US retains hold of the internet The US has won its fight to stay in charge of the internet, despite opposition from many nations.
Negotiators worked late into the night on a deal
In an eleventh-hour agreement ahead of a UN internet summit in Tunis, Tunisia, negotiators agreed to leave the US in charge of the net's addressing system.
Instead an international forum will be set up to discuss net issues, although it will not have any binding authority.
The deal clears the way for the su... (more)
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