Simple Browser: 4/1/08

Apr 30, 2008

Ultram and Pain

Suffering from severe pain? Consult your doctor, as you may need a good treatment. Your doctor may prescribe you Ultram, a pain reliever that is used to treat different types of moderate to severe pains. Doctors may also prescribe you an extended dose of Ultram if your pain needed a round the clock treatment.

If you need some good information about cheap ultram online, you can visit PlanetPat.com. This is an informative site dedicated to Ultram. Browse through their pages and find more about this pain reliever.

Ultram works like the nacrotic drugs, but without any bad side effects. It must be taken orally and as per the prescribed method. As Ultram is a narcotic-like drug, you must not take it, if you have ever been addicted to drugs or alcohol. Ultram also has some side effects that can hamper in your thinking. Overdose of Ultram can be fatal. So, take this pain reliever responsibly, under the guidance of your doctor.

The Helix Nebula and Knots

Take a look at the picture above! It is a fascinating image of the Helix Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This image shows tremendous detail of its mysterious gaseous knots. What actually causes these knots? One hypothesis for the fragmentation and evolution of the knots includes existing gas being driven out by a less dense but highly energetic stellar wind of the central evolving star.

The Helix Nebula, also known as NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years away towards the constellation of Aquarius. It is a good example of a planetary nebula created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star.

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World's Biggest Squid

Take a look at the image. It is the largest squid ever caught by human. The 495-kilogram (1,090-pound) colossal squid was accidentally caught by a fishing boat in Antarctic waters in February 2007. Now it has began to reveal its secrets! On Wednesday, scientists at the Museum of New Zealand discovered it's huge eyes that are the size of beach balls! Can you believe this?

The eyes measuring 27 centimetres (11 inches) across -- about 11 times the size of a human eye -- with lenses of 10 to 12 centimetres in diameter were likely the biggest ever known in the animal kingdom.

"We saw two of the most sensational eyes possible," Auckland University of Technology marine biologist Steve O'Shea said. Link

NGC 2207 and IC 2163 Galaxies

Take a look at the spectacular view of two galaxies. These two galaxies are known as NGC 2207 and IC 2163 and they are slowly pulling each other apart. So, billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right. NASA

Apr 23, 2008

Kid steals Dumper Truck!

An eight-year-old boy stole a big truck! Can you believe this? Though it sounds strange, it actually happened in Chorley, Lancashire. The kid wanted to play with a car and picked a huge dumper truck for it! The dumper truck with the keys left in parked outside a house undergoing construction work. The eight-year-old started the truck and went for a joyride that caused chaos in the town.

Later he was spotted by locals and caught by local police. As the boy is too young to be prosecuted he got away with a telling off from his parents. What's next for the kids of 21st century?

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Apr 11, 2008

Drug to block Radiation damage

A new drug may protect healthy tissue during exposure to radiation. Molecular geneticist Andrei Gudkov and colleagues report in Science this week that they protected mice from the cell-damaging effects of radiation by injecting them with a compound that helps cells resist apoptosis, or self-destruction. Known as CBLB502, this compound switches on a biological mechanism that helps healthy cells survive blasts of radiation.

Studies in animals suggest CBLB502 protects healthy cells in the bone marrow and digestive tract against radiation but does not seem to protect tumour cells which remain vulnerable to treatment.

Mice and monkeys injected with the drug between 45 minutes and 24 hours before being subjected to normally lethal radiation were more likely to survive or live longer than untreated animals, the researchers found.

The researchers found that the drug only worked if injected within an hour prior to exposure to high levels of radiation. It also showed some protective effects if injected after exposure to lower levels.

That means the drug, also known as Protectan, could be used, to protect patients undergoing bone marrow transplants or cancer treatments involving radiation. It could also be given in the event of a nuclear explosion or meltdown. But, before further use on human, it needs more research.

Apr 10, 2008

The Stickney Crater of Phobos

This is an image of Phobos, a moon of the planet Mars. This image shows the largest crater on the martian moon - the Stickney Crater. This image was sent by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon.

The Stickney Crater is named after Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planet's moons Phobos (mean diameter, 22.0 km) and Deimos (mean diameter, 14.0 km), in 1877.

Even though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than 1/1000th Earth's gravity, streaks suggest loose material has slid down inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the crater's rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may be related to the crater-forming impact. NASA

World's First Six-way Kidney Transplant

A medical team with more than 100 doctors have carried out the world's first simultaneous six-way kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. On Tuesday, hospital officials announced this news.

The transplants conducted Saturday were made possible when a so-called altruistic donor, who was willing to donate to anyone, was found to be a match for one of six transplant candidates. Five of the candidates had a willing donor whose kidney was incompatible with their particular friend or relative, but a match for another of the six.

The 10-hour mass transplant required six operating rooms and nine surgical teams working on 12 patients. The surgery is performed simultaneously to ensure none of the donors backs out after their loved one has received a kidney.

Robert Montgomery, head of the transplant center, said: "All 12 are doing great, the six transplanted kidneys are working well."

Apr 9, 2008

Man regains Eyesight after 66 years

Eyesight after 66 years! Surgeons have restored the sight of a man who was blinded in one eye since last 66 years. John Gray, 87, was injured during a bombing raid on Clydeside and was told he would never again see through his right eye.

As the years went by a friend's son, Frank Munro, qualified as an optometrist and began to see John for check-ups. He realised that John's retina was healthy - all the damage was to the lens. But it was too risky to attempt an operation - the part of John's brain that 'sees' through that eye hadn't been used for decades and might have become redundant.

Then, in 2007, he developed Macular Degeneration in his healthy left eye. Frank had to break the news that he would gradually lose his sight in his left eye until he was totally blind.

Now, the Southern General Hospital's eye surgeon Dr Ian Bryce removed John's scar tissue and inserted a new artificial lens in his right eye. At first it was blurred but now John's vision is good enough to read small print.

The 87-year-old is delighted as he can see now. He said that both his optometrist and his surgeon deserve a knighthood.

Flickr adds Video

In a bid to broaden the field of Flickr, Yahoo has added video feature to the popular photo sharing site. From now on, members of Flickr can post short video clips to their photostream. Presently, only Pro members can upload videos to Flickr. These videos can be viewed by anyone, provided they have permission.

Flickr video will be displayed alongside photos in search results, within new uploads from friends, in Explore, on the Map, in RSS feeds, and anywhere else that you are used to finding photos.

The company sees the videos in effect as "long photos," moving snapshots people take now that digital cameras (except SLRs) can record video as well as still images, said spokeswoman Terrell Karlsten Neilson. The hope is to populate the site with "authentic" videos, not clips from last night's TV shows, and Yahoo will police the site for violations of the terms of service, added Flickr product manager Shanan Delp..

Pro members of Flickr, who pays $24.95/year can post an unlimited number of clips, with a 150-MB maximum size for any one clip. Right now, the length of videos are limited to 90 seconds. Presently, Flickr supports AVI, WMV, MOV, MPEG and 3gp formats for videos.

The 2008 Pulitzer Prizes

The Pulitzer Prize, is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements and musical composition. It is administered by Columbia University in New York City.

The prize was established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the university's journalism school in 1912. The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on June 4, 1917, and they are now announced each April. Recipients are chosen by an independent board.

Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash reward. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal, which always goes to a newspaper, although an individual may be named in the citation.

The 2008 Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism:

PUBLIC SERVICE: The Washington Post
BREAKING NEWS REPORTING: The Washington Post Staff
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING: Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING: The Chicago Tribune Staff
EXPLANATORY REPORTING: Amy Harmon of The New York Times
LOCAL REPORTING: David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
NATIONAL REPORTING: Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post
INTERNATIONAL REPORTING: Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post
FEATURE WRITING: Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post
COMMENTARY: Steve Pearlstein of The Washington Post
CRITICISM: Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe
EDITORIAL WRITING: No Award
EDITORIAL CARTOONING: Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily
BREAKING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY: Adrees Latif of Reuters
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: Preston Gannaway of the Concord Monitor

The 2008 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music:

FICTION: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books)
DRAMA: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
HISTORY: What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press)
BIOGRAPHY: Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson (W.W. Norton)
POETRY: Time and Materials by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins)
POETRY: Failure by Philip Schultz (Harcourt)
GENERAL NONFICTION: The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins)
MUSIC: The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang (G. Schirmer)
SPECIAL CITATION: Bob Dylan

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Korea's first Astronaut heads for ISS

On Tuesday, South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-Yeon blasted off into space on a Russian Soyuz TMA-12 spaceship. The launch took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A few minutes after the launch, Russian space control confirmed the Soyuz spacecraft with three astronauts on board had successfully reached orbit.

As the Russian Soyuz rocket soared into the clear blue sky from Baikonur cosmodrome, the Korean's mother, Jung Kum Sun, let out a piercing scream and fell to the ground before being led away by doctors.

This mission, the 17th International Space Station venture, is comprised of three cosmonauts: Commander Sergei Volkov, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, and Yi So-yeon, the nanotechnology engineer from South Korea.

A $25 million contract signed in 2006 by the South Korean government gave Yi the right to ascend into space. She is excited about taking some Korean culture into space by singing a song at a dinner party on April 12th at the International Space Station and serving traditional kimchi spicy cabbage.

Yi’ will conduct some scientific experiments during the 11 days of her stay at the International Space Station. She will make the return to earth with members of the 16th expedition. Volkov and Kononenko will spend six months on the space station.

Apr 8, 2008

Pizza.com sold for $2.6 Million

How much you will pay for a domain name? The pizza.com domain has been sold by an American for $2.6m on an online auction. Can you believe this? Believe it! Chris Clark (43) from Maryland sold his domain name "pizza.com" to an unnamed bidder. Chris Clark registered the domain in 1994 and spent $20 annually to keep it. But when he saw, 'vodka.com' going for a phenomenal $3 million, he decided to sell it. He posted a "for sale" notice for the domain on the site. When he received six-figure offers, he decided to contact Sedo, an online auctioneer of domain names.

The first bid was for $100 on March 27 and interest grew in intensity as bidding passed the $2 million mark, which Clark had set as his lowest price for the domain. It hit $2.6 million last week.

Pizza.com isn't the most costly domain site ever sold, but it is in the top ranks. While most sites considered valuable enough to be auctioned sell for around $2,000, Sex.com sold for $12 million in cash and stock and Fund.com sold for $10 million.

Apr 4, 2008

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4

The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by popular car maker Lamborghini. The car is named after a famous breed of fighting bull. The Spanish word 'gallardo' means 'gallant' in English. The Gallardo is Lamborghini's most-produced model to date, with 5,000 built in the first three years of production.

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 was revealed at this year's Geneva Auto Show. It is powered by a new 5.2L V10 with FSI direct injection, making 552hp and 398lb-ft of torque. The engine is heavily based on the new Audi RS6 V10.

The powerful heart of the Gallardo LP560-4 is the new 5.2 litre V10 engine with an output of 560 PS (412 kW) at 8000 rpm. The increase of 40 PS compared with that of the previous Gallardo, and the approximate 20 kilogram reduction in weight, improves the power weight ratio to 2.5 kilograms per PS (hp) and thus enhances performance. The LP560-4 accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, its speed at 11.8 seconds is 200 km/h and its top speed lies at 325 km/h.

The 4 at the end of the name refers to the Gallardo's permanent all-wheel-drive system. Pricing of the Gallardo LP560-4 will start at around US$222,000.

Underwater Rugby Competition

A new game, that is played under water! Switzerland has recently started an underwater rugby competition with dozens of teams signed up for the new sport. Underwater rugby is a six-a-side game for both men and women who are equipped with flippers, a snorkel and goggles.

How this game will be played? The rugby ball is filled with salt water and weighs 13lbs, and the aim of each team is to place it in the basket of the opposing team on the ground of the swimming pool. Players have to come to the surface to breathe.

The game was first developed in Germany to help train divers and has become the new hit sport in Switzerland. The Swiss Underwater Sports Union says it's been flooded with requests from people wanting to learn the game.

Aureum Chaos of Mars

Take a look at the image above. This is not an ocean! Seen here in a false-color image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera, they are actually layered rock outcrops found in Aureum Chaos. The larger Aureum Chaos region is a chaotic jumble of eroded terrain in the eastern part of Mars' immense canyon Valles Marineris.

Distinct layers composing these outcrops could have been laid down by dust or volcanic ash settling from the atmosphere, sand carried by martian winds, or sediments deposited on the floor of an ancient lake. This close-up view of the otherwise red planet spans about 4 kilometers, a distance you might walk over flat ground in less than an hour. NASA

Balancing Spoons on the Face

Joe Allison, a 9 year-old boy broke the world record for balancing tablespoons on the face, by hanging 16 tablespoons off his face! According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Tim balanced one on each ear, two on each cheek, three on his chin, two on his lips, one on his nose and three on his forehead.

The previous world record belongs to Tim Johnston, 16, who balanced 15 stainless steel spoons on his face for 30 seconds at Havens High School, Piedmont, California, on May 28, 2004.

A Guinness spokesman said photographs and video of Joe's record attempt would be examined before the record is made official. DailyMail

Jules Verne docks with ISS

On Thursday, Europe's first unmanned space freighter, the cargo ship Jules Verne, made its successful docking debut at the International Space Station (ISS). Jules Verne successfully docked at the orbiting laboratory at about 10:40 a.m. EDT (1440 GMT) under the watchful eye of station commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko. The Jules Verne ATV was launched on March 8, with the help of an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's South American-based spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

About the size of a London double-decker bus, Jules Verne is the first of the ESA's class of Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) spacecraft to fly to the ISS. The agency spent some 1.3 billion Euros ($1.9 billion) over more than a decade to develop and build Jules Verne, and plans to launch as many as seven ATV freighters to resupply the station as payment for astronaut slots on future ISS crews.

Jules Verne's successful docking filled the last open Russian docking port aboard the ISS, with a Progress cargo ship and Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft taking up the other two slots. On April 7, the Russian cargo ship Progress 28 will move away from the station's Pirs docking compartment to clear a berth for a new Soyuz spacecraft due to ferry the new Expedition 17 crew to the orbiting lab on April 10. Link

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Apr 3, 2008

Lung Cancer Gene Discovered

Researchers have found the genes that may explain why some smokers get cancer and others do not, and why some people who never smoke also get the disease. Three independent research teams in the United States, France and Iceland analyzed the DNA of thousands of white smokers and non-smokers of European descent,with and without lung cancer. They identified three genetic variants that if inherited, increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer from 30 to 80 percent compared to those who do not have the genes.

While cigarette smoking is considered the number one risk factor for lung cancer, only fifteen percent of smokers eventually develops the disease, leading doctors to suspect genetics. Mark Lathrop, co-author of one of the three studies, says it appears many more genes play a role in lung cancer but have yet to be identified.

This new finding can lead to development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent lung cancer. Link

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Apr 1, 2008

World's Largest Mobile Phone

Mr Tan, a Chinese claims that he has created the world's largest working mobile phone. Take a look at the image above. It is 3ft high and weighs 48lbs. Mr Tan, who lives in Songyuan city, says that it works and it is an exact, but 620 times bigger copy of his own phone. he hopes to get a name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Tan says it has all the functions of a normal phone, with a built-in camera and internet access but has to be plugged into the mains as he hasn't managed to build a big enough battery. It took him six months to build this 3ft tall mobile phone.

A local journalist tested the huge mobile phone by making calls and sending text messages and declared it completely functional, reports City News.