Foetus 'cannot feel pain before 24 weeks'

Foetus 'cannot feel pain before 24 weeks'

"Nerve endings in the brain are not sufficiently formed to enable pain to be felt before 24 weeks, according to the report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which had been commissioned by the Department of Health."

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Stem cells reverse blindness caused by burns

Stem cells reverse blindness caused by burns

"Dozens of people who were blinded or otherwise suffered severe eye damage when they were splashed with caustic chemicals had their sight restored with transplants of their own stem cells - a stunning success for the burgeoning cell-therapy field, Italian researchers reported Wednesday.

The treatment worked completely in 82 of 107 eyes and partially in 14 others, with benefits lasting up to a decade so far. One man whose eyes were severely damaged more than 60 years ago now has near-normal vision."

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Beach Art

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Artist completes 700 hour stare | Quirky News | Orange UK

Artist completes 700 hour stare | Quirky News | Orange UK

A Serbian artist has completed the world's longest ever piece of performance art by staring at members of the public for 700 hours.

Marina Abramovic sat for seven hours a day, six days a week, on a chair for her installation, entitled The Artist Is Present at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Visitors were invited to sit in a chair facing her and simply return her silent gaze.

Celebrities including Bjork, Lou Reed, Marisa Tomei and Isabella Rossellini were among the 1,400 people who came and sat opposite the artist, who always dressed in a long cassock.

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Google Employees Sleep In Alien-Like Pods

Google Employees Sleep In Alien-Like Pods

How does Google keep its employees fresh for long days and nights of working? With sleep pods.

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Super Mario Beatbox

First replicating creature spawned in life simulator

First replicating creature spawned in life simulator

A first for the game, the replicator demonstrates how astounding complexity can arise from simple beginnings and processes - an echo of life's origins, perhaps. It might help us understand how life on Earth began, or even inspire strategies to build tiny computers.

The Game of Life is the best-known example of a cellular automaton, in which patterns form and evolve on a grid according to a few simple rules. You play the game by choosing an initial pattern of "live" cells, and then watch as the configuration changes over many generations as the rules are applied over and over again (see "Take two simple rules").

More @ New Scientist

USA vs England in Lego [Video]

Insulin that doesnt need a fridge or a needle

Insulin that doesnt need a fridge or a needle

A young Monash University chemist and her colleagues have successfully strengthened insulin's chemical structure without affecting its activity. The new insulin structure means that it won't need refrigeration.

The team from Monash University's Chemistry Department in the Faculty of Science has just filed a series of patents with the support of their long term commercial partner ASX-listed Circadian Technologies. Together, they're negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to start the long process of getting the invention out of the laboratory and into the homes of people with diabetes.

Team researcher Bianca van Lierop said they're also using their knowledge to develop a form of insulin that could be delivered by pill.

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The Burger Lab: How to Make Perfect Thin and Crisp French Fries | A Hamburger Today

The Burger Lab: How to Make Perfect Thin and Crisp French Fries | A Hamburger Today

Fries and frozen fries, pre-blanched to various temperatures. Notice how dark the un-blanched fries are due to excess sugars browning.

Ingredients

2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch fries (keep potatoes stored in a bowl of water)
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
Kosher salt
2 quarts peanut oil

Procedure

1. Place potatoes and vinegar in saucepan and add 2 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes. Potatoes should be fully tender, but not falling apart. Drain and spread on paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. Allow to dry for five minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in 5-quart Dutch oven or large wok over high heat to 400°F. Add 1/3 of fries to oil (oil temperature should drop to around 360°F). Cook for 50 seconds, agitating occasionally with wire mesh spider, then remove to second paper-towel lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining potatoes (working in two more batches), allowing oil to return to 400°F after each addition. Allow potatoes to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Continue with step 3, or for best results, freeze potatoes at least over night, or up to 2 months.

3. Return oil to 400°F over high heat. Fry half of potatoes until crisp and light golden brown, about 3 1/2 minutes, adjusting heat to maintain at around 360°F. Drain in a bowl lined with paper towels and season immediately with kosher salt. Cooked fries can be kept hot and crisp on a wire rack set on a sheet tray in a 200°F oven while second batch is cooked. Serve immediately.

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Lego Printer in Action

Alzheimer’s Stalks an Extended Family in Colombia - NYTimes.com

Alzheimer’s Stalks an Extended Family in Colombia - NYTimes.com

For generations, the illness has tormented these and thousands of others among a sprawling group of relatives: the world’s largest family to experience Alzheimer’s disease. Now, the Colombian clan is center stage in a potentially groundbreaking assault on Alzheimer’s, a plan to see if giving treatment before dementia starts can lead to preventing Alzheimer’s altogether.

But preventive research is difficult. Participants should be people guaranteed, or highly likely, to develop dementia, and with common Alzheimer’s identifying such people is challenging because the disease’s cause is unknown. Also, because people would not be sick when treated, potential negative side effects of drugs are especially worrisome.

Since Colombians with Alzheimer’s are young, without many old-age ailments, they have “cleaner brains that can give a better picture” of whether drugs work, Dr. Buckholtz said.

And the extended family’s single location, large size and similar lifestyles provide enough comparable participants for solid scientific data.

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Concorde flying again?

Concorde flying again?

Work starts in £15m plan to get Concorde flying

Concorde completed its last commercial passenger flight in 2003 The engines on a French Concorde are to be examined as the first move in a £15m project aiming to get the supersonic passenger jet back in the air. The Rolls Royce engines of the former Air France Concorde will undergo an initial examination to see what work needs to be done to start the engines. Concorde was retired seven years ago, but it is hoped the jet could return to flight in a heritage capacity. The tests by a French-British team will take place at an air museum near Paris. The work at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum is being done through a partnership between the British Save Concorde Group, SCG, and a French group Olympus 593. 'Critical date' Vice-chairman of SCG Ben Lord said: "Today marks the most critical date in Concorde's history since she was retired almost seven years ago. "Two members of our management team are in France this weekend to observe these amazing developments. "SCG has always maintained that she could return to flight in a heritage capacity, and the findings of today will hopefully go an awfully long way to proving our point.

More @ BBC News