Dubai’s island builder to build artificial reefs

Nakheel, the Dubai property developer behind the emirate’s manmade islands, laid out plans Wednesday to build a string of artificial reefs off the city-state’s coast in a bid to attract more aquatic life.

The project aims in part to revitalize fishing prospects in the azure Persian Gulf waters that lap at Nakheel-built islands shaped like palm trees and a map of the world. The company’s island-building efforts, now halted, have been criticized for upsetting the Gulf’s natural environment.

Construction of more than 500 reefs could begin in a matter of months, likely using a combination of boulders and concrete structures, said Nakheel Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah. …

http://news360.com/article/35360577

Sticky goo on Pa. turnpike disables over 100 cars

PITTSBURGH—A flood of gooey muck dropped from a tanker truck disabled more than 100 cars and damaged an unknown number of other vehicles along a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, officials said.

A leaking valve on a tanker spread driveway sealant over the eastbound lanes of a long stretch of the Turnpike between New Castle and the Oakmont Service Plaza on Tuesday night, Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said. …

http://news360.com/article/35359145

Paracetamol warning: ‘Slightly too much can cause overdose’

Taking slightly too much paracetamol day after day can be fatal, experts have warned.

A dangerous dose might just be a few pills too many taken regularly over days, weeks or months, they said.

Researchers at Edinburgh University saw 161 cases of “staggered overdose” at its hospital over a six-year period.

People taking tablets for chronic pain might not realise they were taking too many or recognise symptoms of overdose and liver injury, they said.

The researchers told the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology that this life-threatening condition could be easily missed by doctors and patients.

Doctors may not initially spot the problem because blood tests will not show the staggeringly high levels of paracetamol seen with a conventional overdose, where someone may have swallowed several packets of the drug. …

The 161 who had taken a staggered overdose were more likely to develop liver and brain problems and need kidney dialysis or help with their breathing. They were also more likely to die of their complications.

Dr Simpson said: “They haven’t taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal.” …

via BBC News – Paracetamol warning: ‘Slightly too much can cause overdose’.

Bionic contact lens ‘to project emails before eyes’

A new generation of contact lenses that project images in front of the eyes is a step closer after successful animal trials, say scientists.

The technology could allow wearers to read floating texts and emails or augment their sight with computer-generated images, Terminator-syle.

Researchers at Washington University who are working on the device say early tests show it is safe and feasible.

But there are still wrinkles to iron out, like finding a good power source.

Currently, their crude prototype device can only work if it is within centimetres of the wireless battery.

And its microcircuitry is only enough for one light-emitting diode, reports the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

Our next goal is to incorporate some predetermined text in the contact lens” …

But now that initial safety tests in rabbits have gone well, with no obvious adverse effects, the researchers have renewed faith about the device’s possibilities.

They envisage hundreds more pixels could be embedded in the flexible lens to produce complex holographic images.

For example, drivers could wear them to see journey directions or their vehicle’s speed projected onto the windscreen.

Similarly, the lenses could take the virtual world of video gaming to a new level.

They could also provide up-to-date medical information like blood sugar levels by linking to biosensors in the wearer’s body.

via BBC News – Bionic contact lens ‘to project emails before eyes’.

Carbon nanotube ‘space camouflage’ coating invented

Tiny carbon tubes can be used to hide three-dimensional objects from view, according to a team of researchers.

The nanotubes are one-atom thick sheets of graphene wrapped into cylindrical tubes.

Engineers from University of Michigan found they could be used to obscure objects so that they appeared to be nothing more than a flat black sheet.

The team suggest “forests” of the material may one day be used to cloak spacecraft in deep space.

The group says the technology works because the nanotubes’ “index of refraction [is] very close to that of air”.

This means they slow down light to a similar degree.

As a result there is very little scattering of light as it passes from the air into the layer of nanotubes. …

via BBC News – Carbon nanotube ‘space camouflage’ coating invented.

Landmine use ‘highest since 2004′ despite record clearances

More countries deployed anti-personnel mines last year than in any year since 2004, an international survey of landmines has found.

The Landmine Monitor report says use of the weapons increased despite record areas of land being cleared of them.

Four countries which have not signed an international treaty outlawing the devices – Syria, Libya, Burma and Israel – laid new mines this year.

Armed groups in Afghanistan, Colombia, Burma and Pakistan also laid new mines.

On Tuesday, Colombian officials said three soldiers had been killed in the country’s south-west by landmines planted by leftist Farc rebels. The soldiers had been guarding workers destroying coca plantations.

The Landmine Monitor was created in 1998 by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Its latest report also says funding to clear mines, and to help victims of them, reached an all-time high of $637m (£407m) in 2010.

“In these tough times government are showing their strong commitment to ridding the world of landmines by continuing to fund efforts to clear mines and assist survivors,” said Jacqueline Hansen, programme manager for Landmine Monitor.

Eighty percent of the world’s countries (158 nations) have signed the Ottawa Treaty to ban mines, with several more countries preparing to join. …

via BBC News – Landmine use ‘highest since 2004′ despite record clearances.

‘Body man’ Reggie Love leaving ‘big brother’ Obama

Reggie Love, personal assistant to US President Barack Obama for four years, is leaving the White House to focus on his studies.Mr Love, a former college basketball player, has been already been studying part-time to receive his MBA at the Wharton Business School.Speaking to ESPN, he said the president is “like big brother to me”.Before working at the White House, Mr Love played on Duke University’s basketball team.As personal assistant, known as the president’s “body man”, the 30-year-old has performed roles as varied as personal valet, gatekeeper and basketball partner.”His ability to juggle so many responsibilities with so little sleep has been an inspiration to watch,” Mr Obama said about Mr Love in a statement. “He is the master of what he does.”

via BBC News – ‘Body man’ Reggie Love leaving ‘big brother’ Obama.