Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO, Buys Hawaiian Island of Lanai

Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison has agreed to buy 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, according to the current landowner and the state’s governor.

“It is my understanding that Mr. Ellison has had a long- standing interest in Lanai,” Governor Neil Abercrombie said in a statement. “His passion for nature, particularly the ocean, is well known specifically in the realm of America’s Cup sailing.”

Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth-largest island with an area of 141 square miles (365 square kilometers), is owned and developed by billionaire David Murdock’s Castle & Cooke Inc. since 1985. Ellison’s software industry rival Bill Gates married his wife Melinda on the island in 1994.

The sale includes two resort hotels, two championship golf courses and club houses, more than 88,000 acres of land including a 600-acre residential development, a solar farm, parks and utilities, according to an application filed by Castle & Cooke with Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission requesting interim approval for the sale by June 26 so it can close the transaction the following day.

No price was disclosed. The transaction is valued in the “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the application to the commission. In a statement, Murdock, 89, said he would keep his home on the island and retain rights to develop a wind energy farm there.

’Fresh Perspective’

“I believe that Larry Ellison will bring a new and fresh perspective to the island and its people,” Murdock said. “As a property owner on Lanai, I will continue to be a member of the community and will be looking forward to its future.”

Ellison is the world’s sixth-richest man, with an estimated net worth of $36.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates is the second-richest man with a fortune of $62 billion.

via Ellison Buys Most of Hawaiian Island of Lanai – Businessweek.

Buy anything interesting today?

Ancient African Cheese discovered

More than 7,000 years ago, prehistoric people in the African Sahara were making dairy products, such as butter, yogurt and cheese.

The discovery, based on the identification of dairy fats on ancient pottery shards found in Libya, is the first to provide a definitive date for early dairy farming in Africa. Adding to findings from Europe and the Middle East, the study points to milk products as a main reason why people in many places may have chosen to give up the hunter-gatherer lifestyle in favor of a more settled existence.

“What we’re really beginning to know is that cattle were incredibly significant to early peoples,” said Julie Dunne, an archaeological scientist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. “They gave a remarkably calorific source of food and allowed populations to expand dramatically. Milk and dairying seem to be so significant in human development, remarkably so.”

Plenty of research has documented the domestication of sheep, goats and cattle, as well as the use of dairy products, beginning around 9,000 years ago in parts of modern-day Turkey, 8,000 years ago in eastern Europe and 6,000 years ago in Britain.

In Africa, details have been murkier. Fossil evidence suggests the arrival of domesticated milk-producers in North Africa by about 8,000 years ago with an increase in animal numbers over the next 1,000 years, but remains are spotty. And even though archaeologists have discovered vivid rock art depicting cattle and even milking scenes in Algeria and other parts of the Sahara, it is impossible to accurately date those paintings.

For the new study, Dunne and colleagues analyzed organic residues on 81 well-dated pieces of pottery taken from the Takarkori rock shelter in the Libyan Sahara. The samples turned out to be incredibly well preserved, containing fat residues at high concentrations, probably because of the region’s dry conditions — though the climate there was much wetter during the period considered in the new study.

Evidence showed that some pots were used to hold plant oils. But many contained chemical signatures that were unambiguously from animal fats, the researchers report today in the journal Nature. Analyses revealed the remains of dairy products made from cow, goat and sheep’s milk, dating back to between 7,200 and 5,800 years ago. …

At that time, Africans had not yet developed the genetic mutations that allow people to digest milk, according to other research. So, the Sahara’s lactose-intolerant dairy farmers were likely making yogurt and cheese rather than drinking straight from the udders of their animals. Only after people learned to process dairy foods did their bodies develop the ability to drink pure milk — through mutations that appear to have happened independently as many as three or four times in Africa. …

via Ancient Africans Made Cheese, Settled Down : Discovery News.

Food We’ll Eat on Mars and Why Food Is Bland in Space

… One of the primary concerns about a human mission to Mars is: We simply don’t know how the human mind responds to spending months or years in an alien environment millions of miles from the other members of your species. “In space, you’re in a form of sensory deprivation,” says Kim Binsted, one of the HI-SEAS project leaders. “You don’t see the colors you’re used to. There’s no real-time communication.” So how can long-duration astronauts maintain a sanity-shielding link with humanity? Delicious, familiar food is crucial.But it’s not easy. In order to survive a trip to Mars, Earth food has to be shelf-stable for at least a year — dehydrated if possible, canned if not. Making matters worse, the human sense of taste and smell diminishes dramatically in space. Crewmembers on the ISS and other missions get in the habit of drenching every meal in hot sauce to compensate.

To that end, Binsted and her collaborators, including Spies, a senior lecturer at Cornell’s hotel school, and Jean Hunter, a professor of biological engineering who helped develop the process for manufacturing Pop Rocks, are working with the carefully selected crew to explore ways of making dehydrated space food compelling. Teaching the crew to cook is essential, providing variety and choice in the diet, as well as a focused, pseudo-domestic communal activity for the team. The kitchen in the simulated habitat will include equipment chosen for energy efficiency and minimal space requirements: a convection oven, an induction cooktop, a pressure cooker, an immersion blender. They can cook whatever they want and are encouraged to experiment — within certain engineering limits.

“Deep frying is not compatible with life in a remote habitat on Mars,” says Hunter: with atmospheric pressure on Mars being about half of what it is on Earth, reduced air resistance to spattering oil would result in droplets throughout the confined crew quarters. In the Hawaiian simulation, the crew will be permitted 8 minutes of showering per week, and the habitat, while not completely sealed, will have very limited air exchange, so the atmosphere is expected to be far from fresh.

That, Binsted explains, is a possible explanation for astronauts’ reduced sense of smell, which is not fully understood. It could be simple saturation, that the nose’s sensitivity shuts down when it’s cooped up with strong odors. Binsted was a simulated astronaut herself in an FMARS mission in 2007, when, she recalls, “when the final bell rang, we all went outside and breathed the fresh air for an hour or so; and then, as soon as we got back into the habitat, we realized it stank!” …

via This Is the Food We’ll Eat on Mars | Popular Science.

An Octopus Joyriding On A Dolphin

These are a couple shots captured by scientists studying dolphins as part of the Ionian Dolphin Project off the coast of Greece. They show an octopus that’s attached itself to a dolphin’s … genital slit, presumably to avoid being eaten by the mammal. …

via Get Off Of Me!: An Octopus Joyriding On A Dolphin | Geekologie.

Wesley Warren Jr: Man with 100-pound scrotum REJECTS free $1m corrective surgery

A Las Vegas man who suffers from a rare condition that made his scrotum swell to 100 pounds is basking in the fame that his giant organ has brought him.

In fact, the attention is proving so intoxicating that Wesley Warren Jr turned down an offer to perform the $1 million corrective surgery for free because he would have had to give up the rights to his story. A second doctor has agreed to waive most of the cost for the procure, but Mr Warren still hasn’t taken him up on the offer.

The watermelon-size scrotum Mr Warren carries between his legs has landed him on the Howard Stern Show and the Comedy Central program Tosh.0 and made him a local celebrity in his hometown.

Firecracker Films, the company behind ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’ has already signed a contract to make a documentary about him.

He also shot a segment for TLC.

When Mr Warren spoke with a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in October, he became emotional as he described the pain and humiliation of carrying the deformed genitals. He said he suffered from deep bouts of depression and health complications. He must wear a hooded sweatshirt on his legs when he’s out of public to contain his enormous scrotum. His penis is buried so deeply in the abnormal growth that he is forced to urinate on himself.

He only wanted, he said six months ago, to urinate like a normal man and have a romantic relationship with a woman. … He said he didn’t take the TV program up on its offer because Howard Stern wanted him on his show again. The stars in Mr Warrens eyes might not be the only thing holding him back, though.

The surgery is highly complicated and he fears he could die on the operating table. The massive swelling is caused by fluid building up in his scrotum. Doctors must remove the excess tissue and then completely rebuild his scrotum. There’s also a chance, and not a small one, that complications could force the surgeons to cut off his penis and testicles if his scrotum won’t stop bleeding. …

via Wesley Warren Jr: Man with 100-pound scrotum REJECTS free $1m corrective surgery | Mail Online.

What a choice. Would you risk death and dis-memberment, so to speak, or stick with the 100 lb family jewels that make you wet yourself? Good luck Mr. Warren.

China news confuses rubber vagina/anus for special rare mushroom

Some people in China dug this up in their yard and did not know what it was. The local news did some checking on line and determined it is a special mushroom. The video is ROTFL funny. (Click the “mushroom” for video on YouTube)

China news confuses rubber vagina/anus for special mushroom (SUBTITLED) – YouTube.

“

Checking online sources, it is called “taishui”. Among the people it is known as meat lingzhi. … This type of herb has been discovered in many parts of China … There is a rumor that Emperor Qingshi while looking for the secret to longevity found this herb to be one of its important ingredients.”

Photos: Actual Lingzhi mushroom and  Chinese face palm.

Youtube Comment: “Wow I really wan’t to watch that follow up and see how the Chinese scientists react to it.”

Man who died laughing at Goodies had Long QT syndrome

The bricklayer from King’s Lynn, Norfolk was said to have guffawed so hard at the BBC sketch show that his heart gave out. Decades on, doctors have established that he really did die laughing.

Cardiologists believe Mr Mitchell suffered from a rare heart rhythm disorder, Long QT syndrome, which can induce cardiac arrest when triggered by exertion or adrenaline. They came to the conclusion after his granddaughter, Lisa Corke, was diagnosed with the syndrome.

Mrs Corke, 23, suffered a cardiac arrest at her home last month and was saved by her husband administering life-saving CPR before the ambulance arrived.

Once admitted to hospital, tests showed that Long QT syndrome was hereditary on her father’s side.

Mrs Corke said: “My granddad died one of the most famous strange deaths. I think at the time they probably thought he suffered a heart attack caused by the laughter but doctors realised he died from a cardiac arrest caused by LQT syndrome after examining me.

“His death has been talked about for years and made all the papers at the time. I never knew him but it’s strange to think we both had this life-threatening condition.”

The curious case of Mr Mitchell made headlines after he settled down to watch The Goodies on March 24, 1975.

The ‘Kung Fu Capers’ episode featured Bill Oddie as a blackbelt in ‘Ecky Thump’ – a little-known Lancastrian martial art which involved pelting opponents with black pudding. Tim Brooke-Taylor played a Scotsman who defended himself with a set of bagpipes.

According to his wife Nessie, Mr Mitchell, 50, was in stitches throughout the episode then “gave a tremendous belly laugh, slumped on the sofa and died”. She later sent a letter to the Goodies thanking them for making her husband’s final moments so happy.

via Man who died laughing at Goodies had Long QT syndrome – Telegraph.

Cops called on student who won’t stop studying

A school has been forced to call police on a student who refused to stop studying in its library.

Jamie Gagliardi, 18, from Crawley in the UK was escorted by police from his community college library after he refused orders to leave.

Jamie was ‘obsessed with revising’ for his A Levels (the English equivalent of a HSC), and had previously been kicked out of the library for interrupting a teacher.

He returned the next day claiming he had nowhere else to revise for his upcoming tests.

Jamie, who attends a school with a 100% A Level pass rate, was reportedly feeling the pressure ahead of his upcoming psychology exam.

He had been banned from the library for 24 hours after interrupting a teacher during a meeting, but returned early the next morning.

He allegedly began causing a disturbance when he was asked to leave, and staff felt their only option was to call the police on the studious student.

Police say the teen won’t be charged over the incident, but Jamie feels the school has punished him for working hard.

“I have been punished for wanting to do well,” he told The Daily Mail.

“I am a hard-working and dedicated student and this could have such an impact on my future.”

“The college has overreacted in what is probably the most important week of my school life.”

The school has defended its actions, saying Jamie became a ‘nuisance’ when he wasn’t allowed to study.

But a spokesman for the school has expressed confidence in Jamie’s abilities, describing him as a top student who will do well.

Even if he’s not allowed in the library again. …

via Cops called on student who won’t stop studying – Seven News Queensland.

Our beautiful planet is under threat

Pushed the green button.

From: Jason Mraz <info>
Date: June 20, 2012 2:33:34 PM PDT
To: Xeno <xeno735>
Subject: Our beautiful planet is under threat

The Climate Reality Project

Gold Slumps Most in Two Weeks After Fed Expands Operation Twist

Gold posted the biggest drop in almost two weeks after the Federal Reserve said it would extend its Operation Twist program, while refraining from announcing additional debt purchases.

The central bank will expand its program to replace short- term bonds with longer-term debt by $267 billion through the end of the year in a bid to reduce unemployment and protect expansion, policy makers said today in a statement. The Fed bought $2.3 trillion in assets through June 2011 in two rounds known as quantitative easing.

“The market is disappointed, and we are seeing some sell off,” Bart Melek, the Toronto-based head of commodity strategy at TD Securities Inc., said in a telephone interview. “The market had begun unwinding in the past few sessions since expectations were mixed, so I think the sell off will not be a very huge one.”

Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.5 percent to settle at $1,615.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York, the biggest slump since June 7.

Prices extended losses in after-hours electronic trading, falling 1 percent to $1,607 at 3:50 p.m. in New York.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said access to credit remains a “major issue” without specifying additional stimulative measures during a press conference after the close of floor trading.

“If we don’t see continued improvement in the labor market, we’ll be prepared to take additional steps if appropriate,” Bernanke said at a news conference.

“The Fed leaving the doors open without actually going through them has disappointed the market,” said Michael Gayed, the chief investment strategist at New York-based Pension Partners LLC, which advises on more than $150 million in assets.

via Gold Slumps Most in Two Weeks After Fed Expands Operation Twist – Bloomberg.

Ha! Sold mine last week.  What’s up with silver right now? Could go either way.