Chinese forces break up Tibetan protest with tear gas: group (Reuters)

    Posted by on January 25, 2012 in changes | Short Link
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    BEIJING (Reuters) ? Chinese security forces fired tear gas to break up a protest by Tibetans in the southwest province of Sichuan, an advocacy group said, the latest flare-up of volatile unrest in the region.

    On Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency also confirmed a separate clash in Luhuo, a township in the heavily Tibetan western highlands of Sichuan, and said one protester was killed. Both confrontations erupted on Monday.

    Free Tibet, a London-based organization that campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, said in an email that troops fired the tear gas at Tibetan protesters in Meruma township, Aba County, called Ngaba County by Tibetans.

    “Tibetans had gathered to protest Chinese oppression on the occasion of Chinese New Year, having decided that they would not celebrate the lunar New Year because of the current repression in Tibet,” Free Tibet said.

    “Additional security forces have been deployed in the area and roads connecting Ngaba to the surrounding counties have been closed by the authorities.”

    Although the two clashes appeared to peter out by Tuesday, they laid bare the brittleness of Chinese control in the traditionally rebellious Tibetan highlands of Sichuan.

    This year, the main Tibetan traditional new year celebrations begin on February 22; the Han Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations began on Sunday.

    In 2009, protesting Tibetans and their supporters abroad also called for a boycott of the celebrations to show anger after deadly unrest a year earlier.

    Chinese security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents in which Tibetans set themselves on fire over the last year in response to growing resentment of Beijing’s controls on religion.

    Most of the incidents occurred in Sichuan. Some of the protesters have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader revered by many Tibetans.

    RIVAL ACCOUNTS OF DEADLY CLASH

    The confrontation in Aba came on the same day that, according to two advocacy groups, Chinese troops in another part of Sichuan’s mountainous western edge fired on thousands of Tibetan protesters, killing at least one and wounding more.

    Xinhua, citing local authorities, said dozens of people were involved and had clashed with police after rumors spread that three monks would set themselves on fire in protest.

    “The crowd, some wielding knives and hurling stones, attacked a police station. They smashed two police vehicles, two fire engines and stormed into nearby shops and a bank, damaging the bank’s cash dispenser,” Xinhua said.

    One protester died in the clash and others were injured, as were five police officers, said the report, which added that the violence ended on Monday evening.

    The Free Tibet group said the deadly shooting happened after protesting Tibetans gathered in Luhuo, about 590 km (370 miles) west of Sichuan’s capital of Chengdu, and marched on government offices, where security forces opened fire.

    An exiled Tibetan source, who said he had spoken to a contact in Luhuo, told Reuters that the protesters were partly roused to action by a leaflet spreading in the area.

    “The leaflet stated in first person ‘I am going to self immolate on 1st day of the Tibetan new year, I have two different purposes for the self-immolation: one is to show my solidarity with people who have self-immolated since 2009, and the second is, that I have the same resentment that the people who immolated themselves had’,” said the source, who requested anonymity to protect his contact.

    One resident — a 49-year-old Tibetan man called Yonten — was shot dead by government forces and another 30 or so residents were injured, said Free Tibet.

    Another advocacy group, the International Campaign for Tibet, said three people were killed and about nine injured when police fired into the crowd in Luhuo, which is called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans.

    A Tibetan resident of a village close to Luhuo told Reuters that he had not seen the clash, but had heard that 30 or more people were injured, and possibly three or four died.

    “Today seems calm so far, but I don’t know whether there’ll be big problems later,” said the resident, who asked that his name not be used out of fear of reprisals.

    An official from the propaganda office of Luhuo, however, denied that anything abnormal had happened there.

    “There’s nothing like that here,” she told Reuters.

    “Everything is normal. We’re all just enjoying the holiday,” said the official, who hung up without giving her name.

    After protests in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa mutated into deadly attacks on ethnic Chinese residents in 2008, unrest spread across many ethnic Tibetan areas, and western Sichuan was among the most volatile areas.

    China’s Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators “terrorists” and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.

    (Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao and Chen Aizhu in Beijing and Abhishek Madhukar in Dharamshala, India; Editing by Ron Popeski)

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_china_tibet

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    EU raises stakes with Iran oil embargo

    Posted by on January 24, 2012 in changes | Short Link
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    British Foreign Minister William Hague waits for the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    British Foreign Minister William Hague waits for the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speak with journalists prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    Italian Foreign Minister Guilio Terzi di Sant’Agata speaks with the media prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    British Foreign Minister William Hague, left, speaks with Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    British Foreign Minister William Hague, right, speaks with Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are set to impose an embargo on Iranian oil to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

    BRUSSELS (AP) ? The European Union and Iran raised the stakes Monday in their test of wills over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, with the bloc banning the purchase of Iranian oil and Iran threatening to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude is transported.

    The escalating confrontation is fraught with risks ? of rising energy prices, global financial instability, and potential military activity to keep the strait open.

    The EU’s 27 foreign ministers, meeting Monday in Brussels, imposed an oil embargo against Iran and froze the assets of its central bank, ramping up sanctions designed to pressure Iranian officials into resuming talks on the country’s nuclear program.

    EU officials say the tighter sanctions are part of a carrot-and-stick approach, an effort to increase pressure while at the same time emphasizing their willingness to talk.

    In Washington, Department of State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner welcomed the EU decision, calling it “another strong step in the international effort to dramatically increase the pressure on Iran.” In their joint statement, they said the EU sanctions, combined with earlier ones imposed by the U.S. and the international community, ‘will sharpen the choice for Iran’s leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations.”

    But the initial response out of Tehran, the Iranian capital, was harsh.

    Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called the economic sanctions “illogical and unfair” saying: “It is only understandable in the framework of propaganda and psychological war.”

    Mehmanparast was quoted by website of state broadcasting company as saying, “Pressure and sanctions against a nation that has a strong logic and reason for its policy is a failed method.”

    He said due to the world’s long-term need for energy, “It is not possible to impose sanctions on Iran,” which has huge resources of oil and gas.

    And two Iranian lawmakers threatened that their country would close the strait in retaliation for the EU embargo.

    Lawmaker Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, deputy head of Iran’s influential committee on national security, said Monday the strait “would definitely be closed if the sale of Iranian oil is violated in any way.”

    The strait ? just 34 miles (54 kilometers) wide at its narrowest point ? runs alongside Iran and is the only way to get from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. Tensions over the potential impact its closure would have on global oil supplies and the price of crude have weighed heavily on consumers and traders. The U.S. and Britain both have warned Iran not to disrupt the world’s oil supply.

    After news of the EU move, benchmark crude for March delivery rose 90 cents on the day to $99.23 a barrel in early morning European time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude was down 35 cents at $109.51 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

    Many analysts doubt that Iran would maintain a blockade for long, but any supply shortages would cause world oil supplies to tighten temporarily. But Kowsari said that, in case of the strait’s closure, the U.S. and its allies would not be able to reopen the route, and warned America not to attempt any “military adventurism.”

    An American aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Gulf on Sunday without incident to conduct scheduled maritime security operations, and U.S. warships frequently operate in the Gulf. But when the carrier USS John Stennis departed the Gulf in late December, Iranian officials warned the U.S. not to return. The British Ministry of Defense said British and French warships joined the U.S. carrier group transiting through the Strait of Hormuz “to underline the unwavering international commitment to maintaining rights of passage under international law.”

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the sanctions are a severe mistake likely to worsen tensions. “It’s apparent that in this case there is open pressure and diktat, aimed at ‘punishing’ Iran for uncooperative behavior. This is a deeply mistaken policy, as we have told our European partners more than once,” the ministry said in a statement. “Under pressure of this sort, Iran will not make any concessions or any corrections to its policies,” it said.

    The EU sanctions include an include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products. Existing contracts with Iran will be allowed to run until July.

    Last month, the U.S. enacted new sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad, but it has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling.

    Other countries are steering clear of such measures altogether. China also does not support an embargo, and Japan’s finance minister, Jun Azumi, has expressed concern about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on Iran ? not to mention their potential impact on Japanese banks.

    Some 80 percent of Iran’s foreign revenue comes from oil exports and any sanctions that affect its ability to export oil would hit its economy hard. With about 4 million barrels per day, Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC.

    “It means that we will paralyze, bit by bit, Iran’s economic activity and keep the country from using a major part of its resources,” said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. “You can be skeptical, but it is better than making war.”

    At the heart of the dispute is international unease about Iran’s nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but the United States and other nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran is now under several rounds of U.N. sanctions for not being more forthcoming about its nuclear program.

    Late Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a joint statement urging Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear activities.

    “Our message is clear,” the statement said. “We have no quarrel with the Iranian people. But the Iranian leadership has failed to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program. We will not accept Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

    Iran’s denials of military intent have utterly failed to convince EU officials.

    “The recent start of operations of enrichment of uranium to a level of up to 20 percent in the deeply buried underground facility in Fordo near Qom further aggravates concerns about the possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program,” the foreign ministers said in a statement Monday.

    That accelerated enrichment is in violation of six U.N. Security Council resolutions and 11 resolutions by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, “and contributes to rising tensions in the region,” the statement said.

    British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the embargo part of “an unprecedented set of sanctions.”

    “I think this shows the resolve of the European Union on this issue,” Hague said.

    The EU also decided to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank. Together, the two measures are intended not only to pressure Iran to agree to talks but also to choke off funding for its nuclear activities.

    Before Monday’s decision, negotiators worked hard to try to ensure that the embargo would punish only Iran ? and not EU member Greece, which is in dire financial trouble and relies heavily on low-priced Iranian oil.

    The foreign ministers agreed to a review of the effects of the sanctions, to be completed by May 1. And they agreed in principle to make up the costs Greece incurs as a result of the embargo.

    ___

    Raf Casert in Brussels, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Matthew Pennington in Washington, and Gregory Katz in London contributed to this report.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-EU-EU-Iran/id-17eaffefe3724211a088b96738316fb9

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    University of Vienna researchers quantum leap into the cloud, ensure privacy for distributed computing

    Posted by on January 23, 2012 in changes | Short Link
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    Afraid of the cloud? You’re not alone, as rising concerns surrounding the security of distributed computing have led University of Vienna researchers to seek out quantum mechanics as a privacy fix. The team’s findings, soon to be published in the journal Science, prove that an end user’s data can remain encrypted throughout its journey to and from remote servers, essentially rendering the quantum computer’s calculations as “blind.” So, how exactly does this evasive entanglement work? Qubits (or quantum bits) containing the pertinent information are transmitted to a central facility where they’re processed according to a specific set of measurements, leaving the resultant computations readable only by the original user. Not obtuse enough for you? Then check out the source below for a more detailed walkthrough.

    University of Vienna researchers quantum leap into the cloud, ensure privacy for distributed computing originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink EurekAlert!  |  sourceUniversity of Vienna (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

    Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/21/university-of-vienna-researchers-quantum-leap-into-the-cloud-en/

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    New advice for preventing breast cancer | Washington Examiner

    Posted by on January 22, 2012 in changes | Short Link
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    You wouldn’t take a bath in paint-thinner or breathe gas fumes for fun, but small “everyday” doses aren’t OK either. A big new report on breast cancer and environmental toxins has terrific advice. You didn’t get to read all 300 pages? We YOU Docs dug in for you. Here’s the key stuff on protecting you and yours from environmental chemicals that promote breast cancer.

    The news must have been tough reading for reporters on deadline, because plenty of media accounts got this important story wrong, concluding, “It’s too soon to tell”; it’s not. The Institute of Medicine’s concise message: “Limit or eliminate your exposure to chemicals that are plausible contributors to breast cancer risk.”

    Sure, there’s a lot we don’t know yet. Cancer can take decades to develop, and over decades, we’re all exposed to thousands of compounds. Connecting the dots isn’t easy. But here’s what we do know:

    ? About 34,000 cancer deaths a year are due to environmental pollutants.

    ? The report found the strongest evidence for a) secondhand smoke; b) chemicals in gas fumes, car exhaust and some work environments; and c) solvents in dry cleaning, paint and paint thinners.

    ? Hormone-like chemicals in plastics, pesticides and elsewhere could also be a problem.

    Don’t shrug off these warnings. Instead, take these five steps. They’ll lower your exposure to many toxins that threaten breasts most.

    1. Don’t breathe in this gunk: tobacco smoke, gasoline fumes, car exhaust. They have the strongest links to breast cancer risk. So steer totally clear of other people’s tobacco smoke. (YOU don’t smoke, right?) Avoid inhaling gas fumes when you fill up at the pump. Open garage or storage shed doors for a few minutes before going in. Fumes build up in closed spaces where you keep cars, mowers, blowers and other gas-powered equipment. Avoid vehicle exhaust.

    2. Keep and try to use this stuff outside: organic solvents in paints, paint strippers, glues. Air out fresh dry-cleaning in the garage or on a porch before bringing it in. Try to find a “green” dry cleaner who doesn’t use trichloroethylene or perchloroethylene; both solvents are health worries. If solvents are reported in your local water supply, add a carbon filter to your taps.

    3. Sidestep hormone disturbers. The most famous one, BPA, is linked to a protein found in up to 30 percent of women with breast cancer. Fortunately, BPA has been removed from virtually all hard plastic bottles, glasses and pitchers, but most tinned foods still come in cans lined with BPA-laced material (it excels at blocking spoilage and can contaminates). Also, most thermal receipts from places like fast-food restaurants and gas stations are BPA-laden. No widely available substitute has been found for can liners or receipts, but the hunt is on. Meanwhile, try to buy fresh or frozen foods, look for BPA-free cans — about 20 percent are (usually from organic lines) — and don’t take thermal receipts you don’t need. If you do, stash ‘em, and wash your hands before touching food.

    4. Be choosy about personal-care and household products. Choose nontoxic cleaners — the Green Seal is one good guide (greenseal.org); try baking soda and vinegar, too. There’s plenty of carcinogen controversy about certain chemicals in cosmetics, soaps, shampoos and more. The Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) has a cosmetics database of worry-free products.

    5. Start early. Take steps 1-4 when you’re conceiving, breast-feeding and raising kids to protect young tissue during vulnerable development periods.

    It’s not just toxins. To really cut breast cancer risk, keep your weight healthy and your waist under 33 inches. Stay active. Stick to one alcoholic drink daily; if you’re at above-average risk, don’t drink alcohol. Consider hormone replacement therapy for tough menopausal symptoms IF you’re not at extra risk for breast cancer and heart disease. We believe taking bioidentical estrogen, micronized progesterone and two low-dose aspirin daily both cools hot flashes and lowers breast cancer odds. Even without menopausal issues, talk to your doc about low-dose aspirin to counter breast cancer, colon cancer and stroke. Take aspirin with half a glass of warm water before and after. Got it?!

    The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz, host of “The Dr. Oz Show” and Mike Roizen of Cleveland Clinic, are authors of “YOU: Losing Weight.” For more information go to www.RealAge.com.

    Source: http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/health/2012/01/new-advice-preventing-breast-cancer/2115471

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    GameFly PC client enters public beta, Direct2Drive acquisition put to use

    Posted by on December 19, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    GameFly announced this morning that its PC client has entered public beta, with the highlight of the app being the Unlimited PC Play library for GameFly members.

    The Unlimited Play section is a nice bonus for members. While there’s a lot of dreck to sift through, there’s good stuff like Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed and World of Goo … oh, wait, that’s World of Zoo. Our bad.

    “We are thrilled to finally be able to open up the beta so anyone interested in video games can start using the client, and we are hard at work expanding our catalog of PC titles for our users to play for free in the Unlimited PC Play section,” said Sean Spector, GameFly co-founder and SVP of Business Development and Content.

    The client will also allow the company to begin selling PC games at GameFly.com (and through its iOS and Android Apps) with over 1,500 Windows and Mac games for sale. The company didn’t buy that Direct2Drive infrastructure for nothin’.Continue reading GameFly PC client enters public beta, Direct2Drive acquisition put to useGameFly PC client enters public beta, Direct2Drive acquisition put to use originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Thanks to video games

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    A Cinnamon-Glazed Porridge From Norway

    Posted by on December 10, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    Linda Wertheimer introduces a new dish from the holiday food series: the traditional Norwegian porridge, rommegrot. Listener Christine Bielke relays how her family serves up the cinnamon- and butter-topped dish every holiday season.

    Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: Now to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the home of listener Christine Bielke. When we recently asked you to tell us about foods you enjoy during the holidays, Bielke told us about a traditional Norwegian porridge called Rommegrot. CHRISTINE BIELKE: Rommegrot is a cream pudding that is cooked over a double boiler for pretty much the whole day. And then we put it in small dishes and cover it with melted butter and cinnamon and sugar and then we eat it as an appetizer. WERTHEIMER: Sounds perfect for a cold, wintery day. As with many dishes brought over from the old country, the Bielke family has tweaked the recipe. BIELKE: I think traditional Rommegrot is made with just cream and flour, but we use rice instead of flour to thicken it. I have no idea when that started and I have no idea why, but that’s the way my family’s always made it. WERTHEIMER: Christine Bielke says it’s the first thing her mother puts on the stove for holiday meals. And as it simmers, more cream is added to the mixture throughout the day. BIELKE: It’s a great dish for a time when you’re in the kitchen cooking all day anyway because you just put it on the back burner and it cooks all day and it doesn’t take a whole lot of extra to be able to cook it and have it ready. WERTHEIMER: With all that cream, you hardly know whether to eat it or rub it on. If you would like to serve up some Rommegrot, you can find the recipe for this and other holiday dishes at npr.org. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) WERTHEIMER: You’re listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR’s prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio.

    A Cinnamon-Glazed Porridge From Norway

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    Mates Of State: Tiny Desk Concert

    Posted by on December 8, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    “Sway” “Desire” “My Only Offer”

    Mates of State‘s music isn’t the stuff of unplugged busking in subway stations, or of singing listeners to sleep. It’s big, broad and bold — voices shouting in unison over arrangements that swell and billow. In short, it may be too expansive to fit behind Bob Boilen’s desk, let alone find an appropriate showcase at noontime on a fall day with lots of natural light. Muted to a fraction of their usual volume, the four musicians here — playing a synthesizer, a drum, a trumpet and a guitar — strained to find the proper balance between quiet and loud, with leaders Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel singing in unison and trying to split the difference between whispers and screams. Something about the way these players form a small circle, about the way they perform into each other rather than letting their songs unfurl out into the audience, creates a vibe of ragged, awkward intimacy. Taken as a whole, Mates of State’s 10-minute set here might seem a little… small. But the modesty of the performance both suits and complements a band whose music is about generosity of spirit, forgiveness of failing, and the celebration of all things hard-won enough to be worth celebrating.

    Mates Of State: Tiny Desk Concert

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    Jackson’s family calls for stiff sentence for doc (AP)

    Posted by on December 1, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    LOS ANGELES ? A lawyer for Michael Jackson’s family has told a judge sentencing the doctor who caused the singer’s death that the family is not seeking revenge but wants a stiff sentence that serves as a warning to opportunistic doctors.

    Attorney Brian Panish did not specifically request the maximum term of four years in jail for Dr. Conrad Murray, but said Tuesday the cardiologist should be punished in a way that reminds physicians that they cannot sell their services to the highest bidder.

    Panish represents family matriarch Katherine Jackson and the singer’s three children in a civil lawsuit.

    The statement by Panish at a sentencing hearing included elements representing the views of Jackson’s children, parents and siblings.

    Murray was convicted on Nov. 7 of involuntary manslaughter.

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_en_mu/us_michael_jackson_doctor

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    Google continues its massive facelift, intros new persistent nav bar (video)

    Posted by on November 30, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    Google Bar

    We hope you’re enjoying that new Gmail and Reader interface, because Google isn’t done repainting every nook and cranny just yet. The next bit to get a facelift is the Google Bar. The thin dark gray strip of text is going away, and in its place is a new persistent UI element that combines search and Google+ tools, including a share button and notifications. There’s still quick access to other services available in the Google menu — just hover over the logo and you’ll be presented with a bunch more links. Love it? Hate it? Doesn’t really matter… it’s coming, so you might as well embrace it. Get a preview after the break.

    Continue reading Google continues its massive facelift, intros new persistent nav bar (video)

    Google continues its massive facelift, intros new persistent nav bar (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink   |  sourceOfficial Google Blog  | Email this | Comments

    Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/google-continues-its-massive-facelift-intros-new-persistent-nav/

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    Wi-Fi-Connected Laptop Hurts Sperm, Study Suggests (LiveScience.com)

    Posted by on November 30, 2011 in changes | Short Link
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    A computer with a wireless Internet connection hurts sperm, but not because the machine can heat up your lap, a new study suggests.

    The findings showed that sperm cells collected in lab dishes and placed beneath a laptop with a wireless Internet connection for four hours had less motility and more DNA damage than sperm placed in another room, away from electronic devices but kept at the same temperature.

    “It is well-known that increased temperature may decrease sperm quality, and the use of portable computers on the lap increases scrotal temperature,” the researchers wrote in their study.

    But the findings suggested it wasn’t the temperature beneath the laptop that was affecting sperm; instead, the radiation from the laptop was slowing the swimmers, according to the study. ?

    Laptops emit radiation

    The researchers in Argentina and Virginia used semen samples from 29 healthy men, whose average age was 34. The laptop was set to download and upload information over the course of the experiment, so the wireless connection was actively being used. The temperature under the laptop was held constant at 77 degrees Fahrenheit by an air-conditioning system. ?

    Wireless Internet connections use radio-frequency electromagnetic waves. When the researchers measured the radiation coming from a laptop wirelessly connected to the Internet, they found it was at least three times higher than an unconnected laptop, and seven to 15 times higher than radiation in a general setting, according to the study, though the levels varied over the course of the experiment, depending on the flow of information coming to or from the computer.

    There was no difference between the sperm samples held under the laptop and those kept away from it in terms of the percentage of sperm that were dead at the end of the experiment, according to the study.

    Still, sperm motility and having undamaged DNA are important for fertilizing an egg.

    “We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the Internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

    Why sperm cells are vulnerable

    Sperm cells are different from other cells in the body ? their DNA is highly condensed into a small area, the researchers noted. This could make them more vulnerable to the effects of such radiation.

    It’s plausible that the magnetic and electromagnetic fields produced by the radio waves damage molecules in sperm called phospholipids, which are a needed to keep membranes within a sperm cell intact, the study researchers wrote.

    It is not known whether all laptop computers might have the same effects as those seen in this study, nor is it known what other factors might heighten or lessen the damage, the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

    “However, we cannot discard the possibility that damage to sperm is caused by the low radiation produced by the computer without Internet connection,” they wrote, and this possibility should be studied further.

    The study was published online Nov. 23 in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

    Pass it on: Radiation from wireless internet connections might damage sperm cells.

    This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook.

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111129/sc_livescience/wificonnectedlaptophurtsspermstudysuggests

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