Tokiga "Nyheter",

[tomas]

Hmm,

DailyTech - Muscle-Growth Gene Therapy Raises Athletes' Hopes of Becoming Supermen,
http://www.dailytech.com/MuscleGrowth+Gene+Therapy+Raises+Athletes+Hopes+of+Becoming+Supermen/article17082.htm

DailyTech - Muscle-Growth Gene Therapy Raises Athletes' Hopes of Becoming Supermen,


A Belgian Blue cow shows off the super-musculature that myostatin blocking can produce.  (Source: kottke.org)

Scientists have demonstrated a way to selectively block myostatin production

Myostatin is a critical gene in the human body that plays a regulatory role in many processes, including the deposition of fatty tissue.  It also blocks muscle growth.  Animals or humans born without the gene show freakish muscular growth and the ability to perform athletic feats that take their peers years of dedication and training.

Of course all that comes at a price.  Muscle building mandates a diet with more protein, which can put a stress on organs like the kidneys (as well as placing additional physical stress on them).  Those with an unusually high amount of muscle have been shown to live to shorter lifespans in some studies, potentially due to increased rates of organ failure.


Wendy is a whippet endowed with myostatin blocking. Where whippets are typically slender, Wendy is bluky and tough. She has been studied by genetics researchers in the U.S.  (Source: Canada.com)

Undeterred, researchers are pushing ahead to look at ways to block myostatin and make us into supermen (and women).  Researchers at the National Children’s Hospital (NCH) and Ohio State University have demonstrated how gene therapy can be used to selectively upregulate follistatin in muscles according to Singularity Hub.  Fullistatin blocks myostatin, allowing for tremendous gains.  The macaque monkeys involved in the trial were endowed with super biceps.

The center is now filing the preliminary paperwork to start human trials.  They insist that their goal is not to make super people, but rather to help children and the elderly with conditions that cause muscular dystrophy.  Using the blockers, children with Muscular Dystrophy (MD), a disease that frequently leads to an early death, could develop musculature on par, or even superior to their peers, raising their chance of survival.  

In the elderly, the therapy could be used to combat conditions that cause loss of musculature or muscle control.   This could lead to less accidents and improved energy.

As mentioned, dangers of Myostatin blocking include an increased rate of organ failure, possible effects on smooth muscle tissue, and damage to tendons and ligaments.  The briefer and more selective application of the new gene therapy may somewhat reduce the risk of the first two problems, but the long term effects on connective tissue health remain to be seen.

As for the monkeys, after receiving the treatment they continued to add muscle for close to 12 months.  Their biceps increased 15 percent in circumference.  And one of the test subjects demonstrated an incredible 78 percent increase in leg muscle strength when undergoing electrical stimulation.  Best of all, the monkeys showed no adverse affects -- their organs seemed in perfect health.

So how far could myostatin blocking take us?  Well, to answer that, just look at the story of Liam Hoekstra, a toddler from Roosevelt, Michigan, who was born without the myostatin gene.  Despite having to overcome some tough birth defects, the youngster could stand up fully after only two days.  Within months the toddler was doing pull-ups, inverted sit-ups, Olympics-ready iron crosses, and even punching holes in his parents walls when he threw fits.  


Humans with myostatin blocking have shown development of similar freakish strength. One such baby was recently born in Berlin, Germany (pictured), while another was born in Roosevelt Park, Mich.  (Source: China Daily)

If myostatin therapies hit the mainstream to treat age associated or genetic muscular atrophy, it's hard to believe that some won't use them for such athletic gains.  However, we are approaching a point where some of the dangers may be minimized.  The fields of organ engineering and implantation are advancing rapidly.  Today, organs like the bladder have been successfully grown and implanted into humans.  So if our super muscles wear out our body, we may be able to pop in some replacements, much like making a pit stop on the race track.

The real question is -- how will these advancements effect society?  From those with super-vision via artificial lenses, to myostatin hulking behemoths, where will we draw the line in terms of athletic competition and morality.  That's an intriguing question that will yet be debated by society.

-Tomas

[tomas]

Superbåten Ady Gil klövs på mitten,
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6385883.ab

Superbåten Ady Gil klövs på mitten

”Whale wars”-båten delad – av japanskt valfartyg
Miljöaktivister som protesterat mot valjakten utanför Antarktis drabbades av ett bakslag i morse.
Då sänktes deras mångmiljonbåt – efter att ett japanskt valfångstfartyg klöv den på mitten.
– Mannarna kunde ha dött omedelbart, säger Jeff Hansen till VG....mera

シー・シェパード レーザー攻撃で妨害	DQ

Kollisionen,

Sea Shepherd's Adi Gil 捕鯨抗議船が第2昭南丸に衝突！	DQ

-Tomas

Edit in!!!
Kolla in videon på den här sidan, första videon!
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/anti-whaling-sea-shepherd-boat-ady-gil/story-e6frf7jo-1225816658175

Kaptenen borde inför domstol för mord försök, man ser väl i denna video att han styr för att klippa Ady Gil IMO, och detta i arktiska vatten,
http://player.video.news.com.au/heraldsun/?sxiCQFRrLmdM0xDi7_JKv_Hfy7GtQhpI

[tomas]

Telegraph - FBI admits Spanish politican was model for 'high-tech' Osama bin Laden photo-fit,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7004715/FBI-admits-Spanish-politican-was-model-for-high-tech-Osama-bin-Laden-photo-fit.html

FBI admits Spanish politican was model for 'high-tech' Osama bin Laden photo-fit
By Fiona Govan in Madrid
Published: 3:24PM GMT 16 Jan 2010

The FBI has admitted using a photograph of a bearded Spanish politician as the basis for a mocked-up photofit image showing how Osama Bin Laden might look now.

   
Gaspar Llamazares: The digitally altered image of an older and greying Bin Laden was meant to show how the world's most wanted terrorist might now look without his trademark turban and long beard.

The US state department was forced to withdraw the mocked up photo-image, circulated around the world last week, after the discovery that it was not quite as technically sophisticated as the FBI had originally claimed.

The digitally altered image of an older and greying Bin Laden was meant to show how the world's most wanted terrorist might now look without his trademark turban and long beard. It was released in a renewed effort to locate him, more than eight years after the September 11 attack which he ordered and directed.

But it created an unexpected stir in Madrid when a Spanish MP recognised strong elements of himself in the image and complained to the US.

Gaspar Llamazares, 52, a member of Spain's communist party and the former leader of the United Left coalition in parliament, said his forehead, hair and jaw-line had been "cut and pasted" from an old campaign photograph.

The FBI claimed to have used "cutting edge" technology to reproduce new images of 18 of the most wanted terrorist suspects for the State Department's Rewards for Justice website.

But yesterday Ken Hoffman, a spokesman the FBI, admitted that a technician "was not satisfied" with the hair features offered by the FBI's software programme and instead used part of a photo of Mr Llamazares, found on the internet. "The technican had no idea whose image he had found and no dark motive for using it," he said.

Mr Llamazares said the mistake showed the "low level" of US intelligence services. It could cause problems for any individual mistakenly seen to resemble the wanted terrorist, he said. "Bin Laden's safety is not threatened by this but mine certainly is."

Telegraph - Anti-piracy agency's logo broke copyright,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6974249/Anti-piracy-agencys-logo-broke-copyright.html

Anti-piracy agency's logo broke copyright
Published: 5:20PM GMT 12 Jan 2010

France's new internet agency set up to protect the rights of artists is facing legal action for using a copyrighted design for its logo.


The design agency Plan Creatif that created the Hadopi logo has now admitted it used the typeface by mistake.

The French government's web police force – called Hadopi – was set up to stop piracy and clamp down on illegal downloaders.

The agency's logo was unveiled this by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, who said that Hadopi "finally had a face".

But within hours of its launch, it was forced to apologise for using a typeface without permission that belonged to France Telecom.

The blunder was spotted by graphic designer Jean-Francois Porchez, who created the distinctive "Bonjour" font and sold it exclusively to France Telecom.

The design agency Plan Creatif that created the Hadopi logo has now admitted it used the typeface by mistake and the design had now been "tweaked".

But Mr Porchez said he was still considering legal action against the government for illegal use of his design.

He said: "My lawyer will contact the culture ministry and France Telecom in the hope of finding a solution."

-Tomas

[tomas]

Haiti,

Hörde på radion idag att 5 fulla flygplan så här långt från Läkare utan Gränser inte fått landa i Port-au-Prince, ingen orsak angavs i radio programmet.

Man undrar vad som pågår?!?!?

Doctors Without Borders Cargo Plane With Full Hospital and Staff Blocked From Landing in Port-au-Prince,
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=4165&cat=press-release

Doctors Without Borders Cargo Plane With Full Hospital and Staff Blocked From Landing in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince/Paris /New York, 17 January 2009

Demands Deployment of Lifesaving Medical Equipment Given Priority

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges that its cargo planes carrying essential medical and surgical material be allowed to land in Port-au-Prince in order to treat thousands of wounded waiting for vital surgical operations. Priority must be given immediately to planes carrying lifesaving equipment and medical personnel.

Despite guarantees, given by the United Nations and the US Defense Department, an MSF cargo plane carrying an inflatable surgical hospital was blocked from landing in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, and was re-routed to Samana, in Dominican Republic. All material from the cargo is now being sent by truck from Samana, but this has added a 24-hour delay for the arrival of the hospital.

A second MSF plane is currently on its way and scheduled to land today in Port- au-Prince at around 10 am local time with additional lifesaving medical material and the rest of the equipment for the hospital. If this plane is also rerouted then the installation of the hospital will be further delayed, in a situation where thousands of wounded are still in need of life saving treatment.

The inflatable hospital includes 2 operating theaters, an intensive care unit, 100-bed hospitalization capacity, an emergency room and all the necessary equipment needed for sterilizing material.

MSF teams are currently working around the clock in 5 different hospitals in Port-au-Prince, but only 2 operating theaters are fully functional, while a third operating theater has been improvised for minor surgery due to the massive influx of wounded and lack of functional referral structures.

Synd att vi inte kan läsa i våra media (kan ha missat) att andra "icke politiskt korrekta" länder också bidrar med massor i denna katastrof, min filosofi är "ära den som äras bör".

Ett ex,
Kuba har 450! läkare där nu,
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/cuban-run-hospital-performs-amputations


-Tomas

[tomas]

'Please leave your confession after the beep': Fury of French bishops over 30p-a-minute phone line for sinning Catholics,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1254908/Fury-French-bishops-pay-confess-phone-line-sinning-Catholics.html

'Please leave your confession after the beep': Fury of French bishops over 30p-a-minute phone line for sinning Catholics
By Ian Sparks
Last updated at 4:40 PM on 02nd March 2010


An automated answering service is operated on the Phoneline to the Lord, which costs 30p a minute (file picture)

A 'pay-to-confess' telephone hotline for Catholics too busy to go to church has been condemned as 'utterly unacceptable' by bishops in France.

The service - called the Phoneline to the Lord - charges users 30p a minute to confess their sins to an automated answering machine.

When the number is called, a soothing male voice says: 'For advice on confessing, press one. To confess, press two. To listen to some confessions, press three.'

But with soft organ music playing in the background, the voice warns: 'In case of serious or mortal sins - that is, sins that have cut you off from Christ our Lord - it is essential to confide in a priest.'

The hotline was set up at the beginning of the Christian fasting period of Lent by Paris-based telephone messaging service AABAS.

Its creator told French news agency AFP she could only give her first name as Camille as she had already received threats about the service from irate Catholics.

She said: 'The idea is to confess sins which are not capital sins, but minor sins, directly to God.

'Callers do not talk to a person but can confess their sins and listen to prayers, music or other people's confessions in an atmosphere of piety and reflection.' 

She said the line had received about 300 calls in its first week and part of the profits were being given to charity.

But the Conference of French Bishops said in a statement today that the line had 'no approval from the Catholic Church in France'.

The statement said: 'Some telephone services may have a role to play in lending an ear to the aged, isolated or those with disabilities.

'But it is utterly unacceptable to allow confusion over the notion of confession.

'For the Catholic faithful, confession has a sacramental meaning and requires the real presence of a priest, not a machine.'

-Tomas

[tomas]

Chefs Call Proposed New York Salt Ban 'Absurd',
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/chefs-call-proposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd

.......The legislation, which Assemblyman  Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation........

-Tomas

[tomas]

AFP - Granny fined £1,000 for selling goldfish to a child,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gdhBKbP-qmZ-cfqd0jYL4d0uU3rw

AFP - Granny fined £1,000 for selling goldfish to a child

LONDON — A grandmother was fined £1,000 and electronically tagged for selling a goldfish to a child, triggering a wave of derision about the over-zealous use of animal protection laws.

As well as the fine, pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, was given a dusk-to-dawn curfew and forced to wear an electronic tag for selling an animal to a person under the age of 16, in a ruling slammed by her son as a farce.

The pair were prosecuted after the Trafford Council in Manchester sent a 14-year-old boy to buy a goldfish in a "sting" operation following reports that their shop, Majors Pets, had sold a gerbil to a teenager with learning difficulties.

Neither Higgins nor her son Mark, 47, asked the boy's age nor how he planned on caring for the fish, prosecutors said.

"I think it's a farce and legal lunacy and I told the council that," said Mark Higgins, who was also fined and ordered to do 120 hours of community service.

"What gets me so cross is that they put my Mum on a tag -- she's nearly 70, for goodness sake... You would think they have better things to do with their time and money," he said.

But Trafford Council defended the decision to prosecute, noting that the gerbil sold to the teenager with learning difficulties -- who was also 14 -- was put in a cup of coffee.

"The evidence presented for this conviction clearly demonstrates that it is irresponsible to sell animals to those who are not old enough to look after them," said Iain Veitch, the council's head of public protection.

Higgins and her son pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates' Court to selling an animal to a person aged under 16. She was ordered to observe a curfew from 6:00 pm to 7:00 am for seven weeks because she is unfit for community service.

Her son, who manages the shop, was fined £750 in a ruling which came after an eight month legal battle.

Under front-page headline reading "Proof Britain really has gone mad," the Daily Express said the ruling made a "farce" of Britain's legal system.

-Tomas

[tomas]

New speed cameras trap motorists from space,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7608153/New-speed-cameras-trap-motorists-from-space.html

New speed cameras trap motorists from space
By By Richard Savill
Published: 6:30AM BST 20 Apr 2010

A new type of speed cameras which can use satellites to measure average speed over long distances are being tested in Britain.


Satellites could track motorists from space if trials prove successful  Photo: AFP

The cameras, which combine number plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver, are similar to those used in roadworks.

The AA said it believed the new system could cover a network of streets as opposed to a straight line, and was “probably geared up to zones in residential areas.”

The Home Office is testing the cameras at two sites, one in Southwark, London, and the other A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall.

The `SpeedSpike’ system, which calculates average speed between any two points in the network, has been developed by PIPS Technology Ltd, an American-owned company with a base in Hampshire.

Details of the trials are contained in a House of Commons report. The company said in its evidence that the cameras enabled "number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day". It also referred to the system's "low cost" and ease of installation.

The system could be used for "main road enforcement for congestion reduction and speed enforcement", and could help to "eliminate rat-runs" and cut speeds outside schools, it added. It could also reduce the need for speed humps.

The development of speed cameras has raised concerns about expanding state surveillance.

The Home Office said it was unable to comment on the trials because of "commercial confidentiality".

The AA said it would watch the system “carefully” but it did not believe there was anything sinister. “It is a natural evolution of the technology that is out there,” a spokesman said.

-Tomas

[tomas]

Jolly Rancher lands Brazos ISD third-grader in detention for a week,
http://www.khou.com/news/Candy-Gets-Third-Grader-A-Weeks-Detention-93033319.html




-Tomas

[tomas]

 
Million-dollar-a-minute summit worth it, insists Stephen Harper aide,
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/825508--million-dollar-a-minute-summit-worth-it-insists-stephen-harper-aide?bn=1

Million-dollar-a-minute summit worth it, insists Stephen Harper aide

2010/06/19 06:02:00
Bruce Campion-Smith
Les Whittington Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA—Canada’s twin summits are ringing in at nearly a million dollars a minute but the cost is worth it because Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other leaders will get a chance to let their hair down and talk “face-to-face,” a PMO spokesperson said Friday.

Explaining the eye-popping cost of next weekend’s meetings, which will ding taxpayers for about $833,000 per minute of actual leaders’ meeting time, Dimitri Soudas said G8 and G20 leaders face daunting challenges from a struggling economy, global warming, rogue nuclear states and crises in Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula and the Middle East.

“You actually need leaders sitting around the table having these difficult discussions, making progress,” Soudas told reporters in a pre-summit briefing.

The leaders “sit down and make collective decisions on what’s best for the global economy,” Soudas said. “So that is exactly why we need these type of summits, that is exactly why leaders sitting around the table face-to-face—and not through Twitter, Skype or video-conferencing—will eventually produce more results.”

Soudas also suggested that once leaders get down to business, any questions about Harper’s credibility as a result of the $1.2 billion cost of the meetings and the controversy over the “fake lake” at the media centre will be left far behind..........................mera

-Tomas

[tomas]

Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder,
http://www.naturalnews.com/029098_orthorexia_mental_disorder.html


-Tomas

[tomas]

Overweight people should pay 'fat tax' to cover healthcare costs, German MP says,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7904990/Overweight-people-should-pay-fat-tax-to-cover-healthcare-costs-German-MP-says.html

-Tomas

[tomas]

Eurotunnel Forgets to Unload 20 Passengers in France,
Written by Cerise Negulici on 05 Aug 2010
http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/10497-eurotunnel-forgets-unload-20-passengers-france

.........John Keefe, Eurotunnel's Spokesman said, "The passengers were surprised, frustrated and annoyed. The crew was at least up front and took it on the chin"...........


-Tomas

[tomas]

 
Sour taste Inspectors shut girl's lemonade stand - U.S. news - Life - msnbc,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38592078/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001

-Tomas

[tomas]

UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors' - Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8025832/UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html

UN gets serious about ET first contact - National practical spirituality Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/practical-spirituality-in-national/un-gets-serious-about-et-first-contact

Va nej det är inte första april (jag har dubbel kollat två! gånger redan)

Dessutom så undrar jag vad som skulle förmå något att besöka Tellus med energi och tidsåtgång i åtanke, Gettot i vårt universum?

Kanske ska den nya UN ambassadören ska förhandla om vi ska serveras som kokta eller grillade?

Bara att se hur vi behandlar varje lägre stående livsform på den här planeten eller våra egna för den delen, Steven Hawkings summerar det väl,

Stephen Hawking offers warning about Aliens	DQ

-Tomas