"Part of a Japanese woman’s lung was transplanted to her three-year-old son Monday in what was described as the world’s first successful graft of a middle lobe from a living donor, a hospital said. The hospital had previously said that a successful operation would be the first of its kind in the world." Continue reading →
"India launched the first of seven satellites for its domestic satellite navigation network in the first step to creating a scaled down version of the US Global Positioning System. The United States’ GPS is the most widely used network by consumers with 24 satellites, but other countries including Russia, the European Union and most recently China have developed rival positioning systems. China’s Beidou, or Compass, navigation system is expected to offer global coverage by 2020. India has a well-established space programme, but its cost has attracted criticism as the government struggles to tackle poverty and child malnutrition." Continue reading →
"Researchers in Switzerland and San Diego said this week that they have developed contact lenses that can bestow telescopic vision upon the wearer. The contacts work in conjunction with a set of special glasses that wouldn’t seem that unusual by themselves. Inside the lens, a tiny ring reflects light back and forth with hundreds of aluminum mirrors. Those mirrors are positioned precisely so that all the points of light come together in an image projected onto the eye that depicts the world magnified by 2.8 times, according to the BBC. The project was funded through the U.S. Department of Defense’s research wing DARPA." Continue reading →
"The advisory panel was supposed to finish its work by July 31 but was granted a two-month extension to continue examining whether the use of electronic and WiFi enabled devices, such as iPods, laptops, e-readers and other gadgets, would be safe to use through takeoff and landing and at altitudes under 10,000 feet. Airlines have long told travelers not to use iPods, music players, laptops and other gadgets during takeoffs and landings. NBC News reported that the recommendations are likely to call for allowing passengers to use devices such as electronic readers throughout a flight, and that FAA officials are likely to adopt the change." Continue reading →
"The engine would incorporate turbine stages not connected by a shaft, each able to rotate independently at the optimal speed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency in flight. They would spin in electromagnetic fields, using the same principle that allows high-speed trains to float frictionless above an energized track. The engine is a hybrid of turbofan, turbojet, and turbo ramjet, able to generate 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity. It uses about 9 MW of electricity to power a plasma field generator reshaping airflow around the aircraft and taming the pressure wave, turning sonic boom into a sound similar to rustling leaves on the ground." Continue reading →
"Colombia's economy has prospered: GDP growth has been strong; the average Colombian's income has doubled in less than a decade; and BusinessWeek even called Colombia 'the most extreme emerging market on Earth' in 2007. And the residential neighborhoods are keeping pace, too – they're dotted with cafés and restaurants that would rival those in European cities. As should be clear by now, there's a stark contrast between the perception of Colombia and its reality. While the country isn't perfect and drugs are still a problem, they are only a fraction of the problem they were 20 years ago. Though few are talking about it, Colombia is up and coming." Continue reading →
"Chile isn't just a safe place to park some savings (e.g., with Chilean real estate), it's also a country with lots of economic opportunity – where entrepreneurs and investors have the potential to make fortunes. More services are becoming readily available, and jobs are plentiful. Professionals from all sorts of fields (engineering, geology, medicine, etc.) have been arriving from 'first world' nations, and the country is beginning to have a much greater international feel than ever before. This will most likely pave the way for another, larger wave of newcomers that wouldn't have been willing to make the move previously." Continue reading →
"Obtaining real estate in a foreign country is an internationalization grand slam – it can accomplish four key goals all at once: 1. Move Savings/Wealth Abroad; 2. Create Other Internationalization Options; 3. Portfolio Diversification; 4. Privacy and Tax Benefits." Continue reading →
"Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s office said it was preparing to bring charges against British and US intelligence today amid fresh allegations that the services spied far more extensively than thought on German phone and internet traffic and bugged European Union offices in America. The leak from fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden claimed that the NSA tapped into half a billion German phone calls, emails and SMS messages each month. Reports last week revealed extensive tapping of German phone and internet traffic by British intelligence under its so-called Tempora programme. The information was said to be shared with the NSA." Continue reading →
"The German Justice Minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenburger, demanded an 'immediate explanation' why Washington was applying to Germany policies 'reminiscent of the actions against enemies during the Cold War.' The president of France has said that France will not again cooperate with Washington on any issue until France receives 'full assurances' that Washington will cease spying on France. Do any of these protests from politicians who are almost certain to be on Washington’s payroll mean anything, or are they just make-believe protests to quiet the domestic European populations who have been betrayed by their elected leaders?" Continue reading →