Mainstream News

Pakistan TV preacher defends Ramadan baby give-away

"A charismatic Muslim preacher criticised for giving out babies to childless couples live on prime-time Pakistani television denies he is crudely seeking top ratings. Aamir Liaqat Hussain spoke to AFP as a charity involved in the process said a third baby is due to be given away in the coming days. Hussain broadcasts a marathon 12-hour show each day during the holy month of Ramadan, watched by millions of viewers across the country. He mesmerises his audience with celebrity interviews, game shows, by providing in-studio meals to the needy — and, on two consecutive weeks, handing out baby girls to childless couples." Continue reading →

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Motorola’s Moto X: First Impressions

"Ordering a phone to your own specs takes four days in most cases, but that time frame can shift by a day or two if, say, everyone wants an olive-green phone with orange accents. Making this type of customization a reality is a smartphone assembly plant in Fort Worth, the only one of its kind in the U.S. Motorola purchased the facility (it had once been a Nokia (NOK) plant) and employs around 2,000 people there to put together phones based on specs coming out of Motomaker, as well as standard-issue devices in black or white. Motorola says it doesn’t know how much of the production will be taken up by custom orders." Continue reading →

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Guitarist completes first-ever paddleboard journey from Cuba to U.S.

"A Tennessee musician on Friday became the first paddleboarder to cross the Florida Straits between Cuba and the United States, making the 110 mile journey in 28 hours as his father watched from a support boat. Ben Friberg, 35, arrived in Key West dehydrated and exhausted but otherwise in good shape. Before leaving Cuba on Thursday, Friberg said he was 'doing this to promote peace and understanding between Cuba and the United States and to promote a healthy lifestyle.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuitarist completes first-ever paddleboard journey from Cuba to U.S.

Google’s Sergey Brin bankrolled world’s first synthetic beef hamburger ‘for animal welfare reasons’

"The man who has bankrolled the production of the world’s first lab-grown hamburger has been revealed as Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The internet entrepreneur has backed the project to the tune of €250,000 (£215,000), allowing scientists to grow enough meat in the lab to create a burger – as a proof of concept – that will be cooked and eaten in London on Monday. Brin, a computer scientist who set up Google with university colleague Larry Page, is one of the wealthiest men in the world and has a history of backing projects that sound as though they belong in science fiction movies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle’s Sergey Brin bankrolled world’s first synthetic beef hamburger ‘for animal welfare reasons’

Woolly mammoth DNA may lead to a resurrection of the ancient beast

"The pioneering scientist who created Dolly the sheep has outlined how cells plucked from frozen woolly mammoth carcasses might one day help resurrect the ancient beasts. The notional procedure – bringing with it echoes of the Jurassic Park films – was spelled out by Sir Ian Wilmut, the Edinburgh-based stem-cell scientist, whose team unveiled Dolly as the world's first cloned mammal in 1996. Though it is unlikely that a mammoth could be cloned in the same way as Dolly, more modern techniques that convert tissue cells into stem cells could potentially achieve the feat, Wilmut says in an article today for the academic journalism website, The Conversation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoolly mammoth DNA may lead to a resurrection of the ancient beast

Scientists cook world’s first lab-grown, in-vitro hamburger

"The in-vitro burger, cultured from cattle stem cells, will be fried in a pan and tasted by two volunteers. The burger is the result of years of research by Dutch scientist Mark Post, a vascular biologist at the University of Maastricht, who is working to show how meat grown in petri dishes might one day be a true alternative to meat from livestock. The meat in the burger has been made by knitting together around 20,000 strands of protein that has been cultured from cattle stem cells in Post’s lab. The tissue is grown by placing the cells in a ring, like a donut, around a hub of nutrient gel, Post explained." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScientists cook world’s first lab-grown, in-vitro hamburger

State Department ends ban on visas for same sex spouses of American citizens

"U.S. officials paved the way on Friday for same-sex spouses to visit or live in the United States, announcing the State Department will give equal treatment to visa applications of gays and lesbians who want to travel with their partner. Secretary of State John Kerry said the shift will allow the department to start processing requests from married gay couples the same way it handles those from heterosexual spouses. The move would help U.S. citizens live and travel with their same-sex spouse in the United State as well as allow married couples from other countries to visit the United States." Continue reading →

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Countries with the world’s most libertarian laws

"In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to decriminalise possession of all drugs for personal use. The country introduced state-funded therapy programmes for abusers which have seen record number of people seeking help. Rates of HIV infection and drug-related deaths have also halved in the ten years since the new legislation. But it is in fact the Czechs that have the most liberal laws when it comes to personal use. Citizens can legally be in possession of up to half an ounce of marijuana, 40 ‘magic mushrooms’, four tabs of LSD or Ecstasy and one gram of cocaine." Continue reading →

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Did cops need to kill a 95-year-old veteran with a Taser, riot shield and shotgun?

"When John Wrana was a young man, fit and strong and fighting in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps, did he ever think he'd end this way? Just a few weeks shy of his 96th birthday, in need of a walker to move about, cops coming through the door of his retirement home with a Taser and a shotgun. The old man, described by a family member as 'wobbly' on his feet, had refused medical attention. The paramedics were called. They brought in the Park Forest police.First they tased him, but that didn't work. So they fired a shotgun, hitting him in the stomach with a bean-bag round. Wrana was struck with such force that he bled to death internally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDid cops need to kill a 95-year-old veteran with a Taser, riot shield and shotgun?