CLibertyC

Teen Jailed For Facebook Comment Beaten Up Behind Bars

"The family of Justin Carter, the 19-year-old Texas gamer who made offensive Facebook comments that landed him in jail, is working with new urgency to get his $500,000 bail reduced because they say he's getting beat up behind bars. 'Without getting into the really nasty details, he's had concussions, black eyes, moved four times from base for his own protection,' says Carter's father, Jack. 'He's been put in solitary confinement, nude, for days on end because he's depressed. All of this is extremely traumatic to this kid. This is a horrible experience.' Carter has been in jail since his arrest in February." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTeen Jailed For Facebook Comment Beaten Up Behind Bars

U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement

"Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: a handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home. Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement

16-year-old student in Turkey turns bananas into plastic

"There’s nothing slippery about Elif Bilgin’s idea of using banana peels as a substitute for old-school petroleum-based plastics. The 16-year-old student from Istanbul spent two years perfecting a way to make a bioplastic out of discarded banana peels that could, in turn, be used for the electrical insulation of cables. In her research, Bilgin — who says 'science is my calling' — determined that if starch and cellulose from such food waste as mango skins can be used to make bioplastics, then banana peels ought to do the trick, too." Continue reading →

Continue Reading16-year-old student in Turkey turns bananas into plastic

UN agency tests long-lasting Ikea refugee shelter

"Ikea's philanthropist foundation has funded the project to the tune of $4 million, while a Sweden-based group called the Refugee Housing Unit has been working with the UN agency on the design. The prototypes, with their semi-hard plastic walls and roofs made from composite material and with room to house five people each, have cost $8,000 a piece, and UNHCR wants to wait for feedback from refugees before giving a green light to more wide-scale production. The new shelters have been guaranteed to last three years and will likely remain standing for longer than that. That is a big plus considering that refugees on average live in their UNHCR shelters for 12 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN agency tests long-lasting Ikea refugee shelter

3-year-old Japanese boy receives partial lung transplant from mother

"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 →

Continue Reading3-year-old Japanese boy receives partial lung transplant from mother

India launches first of seven navigation satellites

"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 →

Continue ReadingIndia launches first of seven navigation satellites

Scientists invent contact lenses that bestow telescopic vision

"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 →

Continue ReadingScientists invent contact lenses that bestow telescopic vision

U.S. decision delayed on easing gadget use on airplanes

"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 →

Continue ReadingU.S. decision delayed on easing gadget use on airplanes

New York to Tokyo in two hours

"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 →

Continue ReadingNew York to Tokyo in two hours

Attractively Priced Real Estate, Courtesy of Pablo Escobar

"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 →

Continue ReadingAttractively Priced Real Estate, Courtesy of Pablo Escobar