New gold for a scary new world
"Divisible gold 'Combibar' can easily be broken into one gram pieces and used as payment in emergency." Continue reading →
How a $5 gravity-powered LED could revolutionize cheap lighting
"An LED light that runs on rope pulls and gravity has been developed, which could be good news for developing countries without access to stable lighting. GravityLight, a crowdfunding campaign and product created by British designers Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves, allows a cheap LED kit to run for up to thirty minutes — for free — through no more than a three-second pull on a rope. The energy source after this? Something free that everyone has access to — gravity." Continue reading →
Santa Monica residents push city council to rein in outdoors fitness classes
"The city is considering a proposal that would require fitness trainers running their classes on city grounds pay a $100 fee and 15 percent of their gross revenues. Classes may also be limited to no more than two students per trainer, unless instructors working in larger venues provide proof of insurance on top of paying the fees. But some trainers have responded that while they don’t pay rent for teaching outdoors, they already pay the city for the proper permits and licensing to operate their businesses, on top of their own insurance and CPR certification fees." Continue reading →
Brain scans reveal fructose link to overeating
"People who consume fructose instead of sugar derived from cane or other natural sources feel less satisfied by their food and tend to consume more, according to research published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Stacked next to brain scans of individuals who consumed glucose, the results showed a clear divergence in areas of the brain regulating appetite and reward processing. It is the first scientific literature to directly link fructose consumption to obesity-causing behaviors. Similar research published in November found that use of high fructose corn syrup correlates to significantly higher rates of type 2 diabetes." Continue reading →
Poland bans genetically modified maize and potatoes
"Poland on Wednesday imposed new bans on the cultivation of certain genetically modified strains of maize and potatoes, a day after an EU required green light for GM crops took effect. The centre-right government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk imposed farming bans on German BASF’s Amflora strain of potato and US firm Monsanto’s MON 810 maize or corn, according to a government statement Wednesday. The ban on specific strains essentially uses a legal loophole to circumvent the EU’s acceptance of such products." Continue reading →
MontCo school suspends 6-year-old for pretend gunshot
"The 6-year-old, who attends Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring, made a gun with his hands, pointed it at another student and said 'pow,' according to Robin Ficker, the boy's attorney. He was given a one-day suspension, with a conference on the matter planned for Jan. 2, the day students return to school from winter break. According to a letter sent by Assistant Principal Renee Garraway to the child's parents, this was not the first time something like this had happened. 'Your son ... was involved in a serious incident,' Garraway wrote. '[He] threatened to shoot a student. He was spoken to earlier today about a similar incident.'" Continue reading →
Pharma firms paid East German state to test drugs on population
"Major Western pharmaceutical companies carried out tests of medications in the 1980s on patients in communist East Germany, in some cases without the subjects’ knowledge. A newspaper, which examined the documents, reported that more than 50 Western firms had contracts with East Germany’s Health Ministry to carry out a total of 165 medical tests between 1983 and 1989. In exchange, the communist authorities were paid up to 860,000 deutschmarks (around 430,000 euros today or $567,000), according to the report, at a time when East Germany was desperate for hard currency." Continue reading →
U.S. developed ‘tsunami bomb’ during World War II
"The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city. The top secret operation, code-named 'Project Seal', tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland. The plans came to light during research by a New Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files buried in the national archives." Continue reading →
Where to Be Born in 2013
"Economist Intelligence Unit has calculated where are the best places to be born in 2013. Its quality-of-life index links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys—how happy people say they are—to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. Not surprising, Switzerland, perhaps the freest country in the world, tops another list of best country to live in." Continue reading →
U.S. Birth Rate Falls to a Record Low; Decline Is Greatest Among Immigrants
"The U.S. birth rate dipped in 2011 to the lowest ever recorded, led by a plunge in births to immigrant women since the onset of the Great Recession. The overall U.S. birth rate, which is the annual number of births per 1,000 women in the prime childbearing ages of 15 to 44, declined 8% from 2007 to 2010. The birth rate for U.S.-born women decreased 6% during these years, but the birth rate for foreign-born women plunged 14%—more than it had declined over the entire 1990-2007 period. The birth rate for Mexican immigrant women fell even more, by 23%." Continue reading →