Last week, Harvard scientists announced that they have begun a privately funded program aimed at creating the world’s first cloned human embryonic stem cells. Their goal, they said, is to use the cells to study the development of several devastating diseases like diabetes and genetic blood disorders and, hopefully, to find treatments for them. Scientists say that embryonic stem cells hold the most promise for developing innovative new treatments for diseases, since the cells may be changed into any of the human body’s cells. But the process is not without controversy. To get the cells, scientists destroy days-old embryos, which religious and conservative critics equate with taking human lives. In 2001, President George W. Bush cut off federal funding for new embryonic stem-cell development and research. So Harvard and the University of California at San Francisco, which relaunched its embryonic stem-cell program earlier this year, must depend on private funding. That’s not the only challenge that U.S. embryonic stem-cell researchers face. Late last year, a South Korean scientist admitted that he had falsified research, after he and his team published a paper in the journal Science claiming to have produced 11 stem cell lines from cloned human embryos-an achievement hailed […]
Here is a list of the tax credits offered by the IRS: * 2005 Toyota Prius – $3,150 * 2006 Toyota Prius – $3,150 * 2006 Toyota Highlander 4WD Hybrid – $2,600 * 2006 Toyota Highlander 2WD Hybrid – $2,600 * 2007 Lexus GS 450h – $1,550 * 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid $ 2,600 * 2006 Lexus RX400h 2WD – $2,200 * 2006 Lexus RX400h 4WD – $2,200 * 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid Front WD – $2,600 * 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 4 WD – $1,950 * 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4 WD – $1,950 * 2005 Honda Insight CVT – $1,450 * 2006 Honda Insight CVT – $1,450 * 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid MT and CVT – $1,700 * 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT – $2,100 * 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid AT and […]
NEW YORK — While smoking is a well-known cause of heart disease and lung cancer, the rates of these diseases have remained inexplicably low in Asian countries where smoking is common. But researchers say there is growing evidence that green tea is one piece of the puzzle. Writing in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Yale University researchers detail the body of evidence linking green tea to better heart health and a lower risk of cancer. No one is suggesting that smokers ignore the danger of the habit and simply drink green tea. But research indicates that the tea’s high concentration of antioxidants called catechins may offer a range of health benefits, according to Dr. Bauer E. Sumpio and his colleagues at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. Antioxidants help quench molecules known as oxygen free radicals that, in excess, can damage body cells and potentially lead to disease. Free radicals are natural byproducts of normal body processes, but they are also generated by external sources like tobacco smoke. Common social custom In Japan, China and other Asian countries, it is a social custom to drink green tea, which is […]
A careful and balanced evaluation of Mahmoud Abbas’s new strategy is tremendously important. While in some respects it represents a step forward, it is also couched in the tricky double meanings Palestinian political groups have used to conceal their continuing goal of total victory in eliminating Israel. Moreover, nothing is likely to come out of it. There are four important loopholes in the proposal: First, its main purpose is not to recognize Israel, but to outmaneuver Hamas in terms of domestic politics. Abbas’s terms were that the referendum would go ahead only if Hamas did not reach agreement with Fatah. Moreover, of course, the main goals are to promote Palestinian unity and make international public relations gains. Second, the plan very consciously leaves open the idea that gaining an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem is only the first stage in wiping Israel off the map. Third, the priority given to the demand for a ‘right of return’ as a condition of equal importance to gaining a state reveals the preceding point. The invocation of UN Security Council resolution 194 as a basis for this claim (a half-century-old, non-binding resolution intended […]
The suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amount to acts of war, the US military says. The camp commander said the two Saudis and a Yemeni were ‘committed’ and had killed themselves in ‘an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us’. Lawyers said the men who hanged themselves had been driven by despair. A military investigation into the deaths is now under way, amid growing calls for the detention centre to be moved or closed. Walter White, an international lawyer who specialises in human rights, told the BBC the Guantanamo camp was likely to be considered a ‘great stain’ on the human rights record of the US. There have been dozens of suicide attempts since the camp was set up four years ago – but none successful until now. The men were found unresponsive and not breathing by guards on Saturday morning, said officials. They were in separate cells in Camp One, the highest security section of the prison. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of warfare waged against us They hanged themselves with clothing and bed sheets, camp […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
