Sally Ride Dead: First American Woman In Space Dies At 61

Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel into space, died Monday at the age of 61, the Associated Press reported.

The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, according to a statement posted on the website of Sally Ride Science, a science education company she founded in 2001. She had been battling the disease for 17 months.

On June 18, 1983, Ride became the first American woman to fly in space when she blasted off on the Challenger as part of the STS-7 crew, according to NASA.

She flew her second shuttle mission on October 5, 1984, again aboard the Challenger. That mission, STS-41G, was the first shuttle crew to include two women.

After she retired from NASA in 1987, Ride became a member of the faculty of the University of California, San Diego and the California Space Institute, according to a statement posted to Sally Ride Science.

According to its website, Sally Ride Science is “dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in science, math and technology.”

Ride is survived by her partner Tam O’Shaughnessy, as well as her mother, sister, niece and nephew.

via Sally Ride Dead: First American Woman In Space Dies At 61.

Space used to be a man’s world. Then came Sally Ride, who blazed a cosmic trail into orbit for U.S. women. With a pitch perfect name out of a pop song refrain, she joined the select club of American space heroes the public knew by heart: Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong and Aldrin.

Ride, the first American woman in orbit, died Monday at her home in the San Diego community of La Jolla at age 61 of pancreatic cancer, according to her company, Sally Ride Science. – link

Shock discovery: 248 human embryos found trashed in Russian forest

A fishing trip in Russia’s Urals ended with cries of horror as a man found canisters filled with human embryos, some already shaped to baby bodies.

­Lids on the bright blue containers apparently unlocked as the canisters hit the ground, and many embryos spilled out. The little bodies, no longer than 15 centimeters, shrank, turning into mummies.

“A friend of mine called at night and said he went fishing and wanted to get some wood for his fire. He found some abandoned water canisters and wanted to take them for his house. And when he came up, he saw… little baby bodies,” a local told Russia’s Channel 4.

Arriving Monday morning, police found 248 embryos aged 12-16 weeks in and around the four canisters. Labels attached to tiny hands and legs listed family names of assumed mothers and some digit codes, which may refer to the pregnancy period, date of abortion or the hospital where the body originated from.

The 50-liter canisters filled with formalin seem to have been thrown out of a vehicle not far from a road leading to Nevyansk, a town on the slopes of the Ural Mountains.

Nevyansk authorities immediately said the canisters could not have originated in their town.

“Our area is too small; we can’t have so many stillborns, miscarriages or artificial abortions,” they said.

Later it was revealed that the horrifying content was “biological waste” from at least three hospitals in Ekaterinburg, the region’s major city.

“It appears a waste disposal company has failed to carry out its duties properly,” remark local authorities as the investigation continues. The Ministry of Health has been requested to determine which companies provide embryo disposal services to Ekaterinburg hospitals.

In Russia, embryos are subject to immediate disposal as they are classified high hazard waste. Prior to disposal, they are to be kept in special packages, not in canisters with formalin. It is also out of practice to attach labels with any information, at least in Ekaterinburg hospitals.

But the bodies found near the Urals not only fall out of this description – the labels show they may have been stored for over ten years.

Some medical experts believe the embryos might have been meant for studies or other purposes, as they contain stem cells. The cells are widely used for immune illnesses treatment and in cosmetic procedures.

Prosecutors are talking tentatively of criminal charges, but most probably the guilty party will bear an administrative punishment. …

via Shock discovery: 248 human embryos found trashed in Russian forest (GRAPHIC PHOTOS) — RT.

Police order gardener to cut ‘offensive’ middle finger-shaped bush

A hedge clipped to look like an extended middle finger has landed one gardener in trouble after police ordered the offensive bush to be altered following a complaint.

Warwickshire Police have told creator Richard Jackson his cheeky garden humour must be altered as it is considered a public offence.

In response, neighbours in Tamworth, Staffordshire, have started a Save the Bush campaign.

‘I carved the bush into a middle finger eight years ago and there has only ever been one complaint about it, made recently,’ explained Mr Jackson.

‘I was contacted by the police and they said the council had been in touch because somebody had complained to them about it.

‘Apparently, one person was offended by it and the police said it was a public order offence.’

He added: ‘I don’t intend to change it though – I’m not a trouble maker and I don’t want to offend anyone but at the same time, it’s been here for eight years and I don’t see why I should have anybody telling me what to change in my garden.

‘If everybody else likes it and there’s only one complaint in eight years then I don’t think it is a public offence, as the majority aren’t offended.

‘I don’t think the policeman wanted to be here as much as I wanted him here, but he did ask me if I could make alterations to it – but I won’t.’

Warwickshire Police said if they receive a direct complaint about the hedge they would deal with it proportionately.

via Police order gardener to cut ‘offensive’ middle finger-shaped bush | Metro.co.uk.

Video: Rollerman skates down Chinese mountain

The self-styled “Rollerman” successfully completed the 6.5 mile run, which includes 99 hairpin bends, in under 20 minutes.

The inventor wore a 34-wheel roller suit for the stunt. As it is unpowered, Blondeau had to use his body to steer and adjust his speed down the steep road.

After crossing the finish line on this knees, the 42-year-old French designer jumped up and punched the air.

“Everything is okay. Just a strap went out. The wheels are still a little bit warm, but everything is still okay,” Blondeau said.

His feat comes after American wingsuit flier Jeb Corliss successfully flew through a hole in Tianmen Mountain in September last year.

via Video: Rollerman skates down Chinese mountain – Telegraph.

Tip: This one is what the full screen option was made for.

Microsoft fixes ‘big boobs’ coding gaffe

Microsoft has swiftly fixed an embarrassing gaffe which saw a chunk of code labelled “big boobs”.

The hexadecimal string 0xB16B00B5 was discovered lurking in code that helps a Microsoft program work with Linux open source software.

The controversial string came to light on a mailing list for developers who oversee the core, or kernel, of Linux.

The string was used every time the Microsoft program ran a virtual version of Linux.

Kernel hacker Paolo Bonzini posted a message about the string on the Linux Kernel mailing list saying “Somone (sic) was trying to be funny, I guess”.

Microsoft was alerted to the mistake and swiftly issued a statement.

“We thank the community for reporting this issue and apologise for the offensive string,” it said to Network World.

It added that it had prepared a patch that would change the spelling of the string in an update.

Commenting on the gaffe, developer Dr Matthew Garrett noted that the first version of the Microsoft code used a similar string of 0x0B00B135 – a form of letters that roughly translates to “boobies”.

“Puerile sniggering at breasts contributes to the continuing impression that software development is a boys’ club where girls aren’t welcome,” Dr Garrett wrote.

His comments, and those on the Linux mailing list, have started a huge debate about whether use of the string was sexist and how male developers should conduct themselves.

On his blog, Dr Garrett also wondered how easy it would prove to change the string. Other services, such as access to Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, are believed to make extensive use of it. …

via BBC News – Microsoft fixes ‘big boobs’ coding gaffe.

Global CO2 emissions rise 3 percent in 2011

According to the report, published Wednesday by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, nations cannot emit more than 1.500 trillion tonnes of CO2 between 2000 and 2050 to meet the threshold recommended by a U.N. scientific panel.

“If the current global trend of increasing CO2 emissions continues, cumulative emissions will surpass this limit within the next two decades,” the JRC said in a statement.

The study said 420 million metric tons (463 million tons) have already been pumped into the atmosphere since the turn of the century.

According to the report, China’s emissions rose last year by 800 million tonnes of CO2 to 9.7 billion tonnes, an increase of 9 percent.

Meanwhile, U.S. emissions fell by 110 million tonnes, or 2 percent, to 5.42 billion tonnes of CO2.

China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest of emitter of carbon dioxide in 2009, and now represents 29 percent of global emissions versus 16 percent for the U.S., the report said.

The EU accounts for 11 percent, India 6 percent, Russia 5 percent and Japan 4 percent.

Soaring emissions in China, the world’s second biggest economy, means the country’s per capita emissions now have reached 7.2 tonnes, higher than EU nations such as France, Italy and Spain.

Beijing has set itself a target of reducing its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, but its rapid economic growth means the country’s emissions continue to skyrocket in absolute terms.

However, Australia remains the world’s biggest emitter of CO2 emissions per capita among major nations at 19 tonnes, followed by the U.S. at 17.3 tonnes and Saudi Arabia at 16.5.

The report is available here.

via Global CO2 emissions rise 3 percent in 2011: report | Reuters.

Facial recognition tech is rocketing ahead of laws that can control it

“Many Americans don’t realize they’re already in a facial recognition database,” Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Wednesday in a hearing on the technology. Addressing Senator Al Franken and the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, Lynch pointed out that there is a painful disconnect between how little personal action is required to capture a face and how much personal information can be associated with it. All that, thanks to the Internet. As it is, Lynch said, “Americans can’t take precautions to prevent the collection of their image.”

Senator Franken called the hearing out of concern for the speed at which facial recognition technology is progressing as its use remains unregulated. Dr. Alessandro Acquisti, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said facial recognition could soon become a casual pursuit as computers get smaller, more powerful, and cloud computing costs come down. “Within a few years, real-time, automated, mass-scale facial recognition will be technologically feasible and economically efficient,” Acquisti wrote in a statement; for companies, for friends, and for law enforcement.

Facial recognition has two characteristics that alarmed most members of the panel. First, faces (unlike other common information gatekeepers like passwords or PIN numbers) can’t be changed for protection. Second, neither permission nor interaction is required for one person to capture the face of another. If they’re in public, their visage is fair game. Facial recognition “creates acute privacy concerns that fingerprints do not” because of the ease of collection, Franken said.

But facial recognition itself is less of a concern than the supplementary data that drives it. Several panelists described scary and intrusive applications of facial recognition: a random person takes a photo of another and an app pulls up their address and the names of family and friends; a camera in a pharmacy recognizes your face and asks loudly whether you need more Imodium—and here’s a dollar-off coupon toward your purchase. “It’s the aggregation that frightens people,” said Dr. Nita Farahany, a professor at the Duke University School of Law. “We don’t stop the flow of information, or say certain applications are limited or permissible.”

Representing the aggregation-happy end of the facial recognition spectrum was Rob Sherman, a privacy manager for Facebook. Franken took Facebook to task for its use of facial recognition, used in its “Suggested Tags” for photos. Franken pointed out that the page explaining the feature made no mention of the fact that it uses facial recognition technology, and that information was buried six clicks deeper in the Help Center. Franken asked Sherman if his reading of the Learn More and Help sections were correct. “I’m not sure about clicks,” Sherman said.

“And you’re the head of this?” Franken said.

Sherman insisted that while Facebook did collect facial imprints of its users for suggested tags (the feature has been taken down temporarily for maintenance), they were only used to suggest tags between people who are already friends with each other. The stakes are low. Presumably, if you upload an incriminating photo of your friend and suggested-tag them, the resulting fallout is a problem with your friendship. Facebook will have no part in it.

Sherman also stated that the files could not be read outside of Facebook’s proprietary software and so they did not pose a risk to privacy. Franken asked Sherman if Facebook would consider keeping the software private in order to preserve the sensitive facial imprints of its users. Sherman said that while he couldn’t make promises as to how Facebook will do its business five or ten years down the road, the company is in close communication with privacy groups like EPIC and the EFF. If Facebook makes changes that are of concern to user privacy, it’s certain to hear about them, according to Sherman. …

via Facial recognition tech is rocketing ahead of laws that can control it | Ars Technica.

It DOES make a difference which wins the race: Scientists scan 100 sperm from one man – and find huge DNA differences

The ‘race’ betweeen human sperm to the eggs might just look like a bunch of wriggling tadpoles – but it makes a big difference which sperm wins.

Even sperm cells from the same man have big genetic differences, a study has shown.

For the first time, scientists have obtained genetic blueprints of almost 100 sperm from a single individual.

The results confirm what scientists already know, that every sperm is different because of the way their inherited DNA is shuffled.

The process, known as recombination, mixes up genes passed down by a man’s mother and father and increases genetic diversity.

Each of the 91 sperm studied showed an average of 23 recombination, or mixing, events. But individual sperm varied greatly in the way they experienced spontaneous genetic mutations.

Every sperm contained between 25 and 36 ‘new’ mutations, not seen in other body cells.

Two sperm were found to be missing entire chromosomes, the protein-bound packages of DNA that contain the genes.

Random mutations create genetic variation, but can be harmful if they occur in the wrong places.

The cells were donated by a 40-year-old man who has healthy offspring and normally functioning sperm.

‘For the first time we were able to generate an individual recombination map and mutation rate for each of several sperm from one person,’ said Professor Barry Behr, from Stanford University in California, US.

‘Now we can look at a particular individual, make some calls about what they would likely contribute genetically to an embryo, and perhaps even diagnose or detect potential problems.’

Genetically sequencing sperm could provide a ‘new kind of early detection system’ to identify men who may have trouble conceiving, he added.

The research is published today in the journal Cell.

Most cells in the human body have two copies each of 23 chromosomes, containing DNA inherited from both parents. However, sperm in men and eggs in women only have single copies.

Recombination occurs before the chromosomes are partitioned. During a process called meiosis, pairs of chromosomes line up along the midsection of the cell. Portions of the chromosome pairs may then be randomly swapped, mixing up the inherited DNA elements.

This generates much more genetic variation than would be possible if only intact chromosomes were segregated into reproductive cells. It helps ensure that a baby inherits a blend of DNA from all four of his or her grandparents.

Sperm and egg chromosomes pair up to produce the usual two-copy compliment after fertilisation. …

via It DOES make a difference which wins the race: Scientists scan 100 sperm from one man – and find huge DNA differences | Mail Online.

Street display spins electromagnetic dots, bares clues (w/ Video)

TNT’s promotion of a crime-solving show Perception is turning out to be a Manhattan pedestrian show-stopper with its electromagnetic-dot display. The recently introduced sidewalk display raises eyebrows on what technology can bring to the effort of messaging large audiences. Call it sign technology of the future planted in the here and now. A giant screen made up of 40,000 physical dots fast-spinning from black to white has been rolled out and on to the streets of Manhattan at Herald Square at 885 Sixth Avenue and 32nd Street.

The 23×12 foot display’s 44,000 spinning dots have a unique interactive mission with pedestrians. The dots react and the screen reflects back a unique image of anyone walking by the screen. Also, if you move your hand, arm, or any other body part, you hear the movement back, like a roomful of poker chips shuffling down.

The TNT-promoting clicker is that through people’s body movements, whether they are darting back and forth or waving their arms or doing a more complex move–can literally erase words from the screen – baring instead clues, mysterious sounding word statements, such as “She can’t sense time.”The technology concept builds on the audible clackety flip-boards on the walls of train-stations, which the technology team behind the sign, Brooklyn-based Breakfast, raised to another level.

They built the wall display at the Breakfast site and got the dots to run 15 times faster than originally designed to create the word clue-finding experience for people in the city. “Transporting the screen over here was like moving a 500-pound butterfly..and very sensitive. It was nerve-wracking,” commented one Breakfast staffer.

The sign has caused no small sensation, as users get to see a unique black-and-white reflection of their movements, and to listen to what their movement sounds like, and to witness the words being pushed back as they move, with the thousands of dots spinning rapidly back and forth. …

via Street display spins electromagnetic dots, bares clues (w/ Video).

How New ‘Mood Ring’ Glasses Let You See Emotions

Evolution has tailored the human eye for detecting red, green, blue and yellow in a person’s skin, which reveals areas where that person’s blood is oxygenated, deoxygenated, pooled below the surface or drained. We subconsciously read these skin color cues to perceive each other’s emotions and states of health. Rosy cheeks can suggest good health, for example, while a yellowish hue hints at fear.

Now, researchers have created new glasses, called O2Amps, which they say amplify the wearer’s perception of blood physiology, augmenting millions of years of eye evolution.

“Our eyes have been optimized to sense spectral changes in skin color,” said Mark Changizi, an evolutionary anthropologist and director of human cognition at 2AI Labs in Boise, Idaho. “It turns out you can do even better, because other parts of the spectrum that we perceive in skin are just noise (they don’t provide useful information). If you get rid of the noise, you’re amplifying the signal.” [Red-Green & Blue-Yellow: The Stunning Colors You Can't See]

Based on Changizi’s color perception research, he and his colleagues have designed three versions of O2Amps, which are currently being sold to medical distributors and will hit wider markets in 2013.

Each of the three designs filters light in a different way, for a specific purpose: “Vein-finders” increase visibility of red, oxygenated blood by heightening the contrast with green, deoxygenated blood, in order to help nurses and clinicians quickly locate patient’s veins. “Hemo-finders” exaggerate the color difference between blue-toned skin regions where blood is pooled and yellowish regions drained of blood, giving people a “zombie appearance,” Changizi said. Those are intended for use by paramedics and other emergency personnel.

The third kind, “health-monitors,” enhance the wearer’s perception of contrasts between red and green and between yellow and blue skin. These glasses will be used by doctors, who cite skin color when making about 15 percent of their diagnoses, but they’ll also enable people in general to more easily detect health and emotional cues in those around them, by “enhancing the natural health-sense we evolved,” Changizi, author of “The Vision Revolution” (BenBella Books, 2009), told Life’s Little Mysteries.

“If you’re angry, you get red. When you’re showing weakness, the opposite is true — your blood becomes deoxygenated and your skin appears greener,” he said. “Yellow is associated with fear because the blood gets pulled out of your extremities and flows into your organs. The opposite of being yellow with fear is being blue, which your skin exhibits when you’re sedate. These are the kinds of things that are being signaled with these color signals. And whereas muscular facial expression signals can be faked, it’s harder to fake actually being red in the face with anger, or feeling weak.”

Expect to see these “mood-ring” sunglasses in stores sometime next year. “We’re in conversations with Maui Jim, Luxottica (which owns Oakley) and other companies,” Changizi said. “Color enhancement is something these companies are already interested in. Well, color vision evolved among primates to help us understand emotions and signals in skin. Now that we know what color vision is for, we can design eyewear specifically for it.” …

via How New ‘Mood Ring’ Glasses Let You See Emotions | LifesLittleMysteries.com.