Acupuncture may increase the success rates of fertility treatment, according to a study. The Dutch and US research, published in the British Medical Journal, found for every 10 IVF cycles with acupuncture, there would be one extra pregnancy. However, the study, which looked at more than 1,300 women, hinted that patients at European clinics might not benefit as strongly. A UK alternative medicine expert said he was not convinced by the results. On the face of it, these results sound fantastic. I would, however, be very cautious, said Dr Professor Edzard Ernst, Peninsula Medical School Approximately 10% to 15% of British couples have difficulty conceiving at some point in their lives and look for specialist fertility treatment. IVF involves fertilising the egg with sperm outside the woman’s body then putting the resulting embryo back into the womb. Some couples face repeated expensive attempts to achieve a pregnancy. Acupuncture has been used for centuries in China to regulate female fertility, and in recent years, scientists have been looking at whether it could boost IVF chances. Studies have been mixed, with some showing benefits, and some even showing a reduced chance of conceiving. […]
Nabila Mango, a therapist and a U.S. citizen who has lived in the country since 1965, had just flown in from Jordan last December when, she said, she was detained at customs and her cellphone was taken from her purse. Her daughter, waiting outside San Francisco International Airport, tried repeatedly to call her during the hour and a half she was questioned. But after her phone was returned, Mango saw that records of her daughter’s calls had been erased. A few months earlier in the same airport, a tech engineer returning from a business trip to London objected when a federal agent asked him to type his password into his laptop computer. ‘This laptop doesn’t belong to me,’ he remembers protesting. ‘It belongs to my company.’ Eventually, he agreed to log on and stood by as the officer copied the Web sites he had visited, said the engineer, a U.S. citizen who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of calling attention to himself. Maria Udy, a marketing executive with a global travel management firm in Bethesda, said her company laptop was seized by a federal agent as she was flying from Dulles International Airport to London […]
Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these ‘green’ fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded. The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy. These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development. The destruction of natural ecosystems - whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America - not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces. Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas contribution is significant. […]
It’s not over. A new bidder has emerged for the most attractive group of frequencies that the government is auctioning off, the C Block, which would allow for nationwide wireless service. The bid emerged through features of the byzantine auction rules the government has created. First, we’ll get to the bottom line. Then, for those who care, the details of the auction and how I come to these conclusions. The bidding now stands at $4.74 billion, slightly higher than the $4.71 billion bid Thursday. We know that there are at least two companies bidding. One presumably was Google, which said it would bid. Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said the other is most likely Verizon, but it could be AT&T or some other company. The government keeps the names of the bidders secret until the end of the auction. One more broad point: The auction seems to be going well from the government’s point of view. Bidding is up to $18.8 billion. The most active bidding is in the B block a collection of licenses covering small geographic areas. This implies, Ms. Arbogast said, that much of the activity is by existing cellphone carriers […]
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says a future Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated with the Iraqi government will not include a formal arrangement requiring the United States to defend Iraq. VOA’s Dan Robinson reports on testimony by Gates to Senate and House committees on Capitol Hill. U.S. and Iraqi officials hope to conclude a bilateral agreement on military, political and economic cooperation, including the role of U.S. forces, within the next six months. However, the issue is controversial, with congressional Democrats and other critics accusing the Bush administration of negotiating the accord, and a declaration of principles signed late last year, without seeking approval or guidance from Congress. The matter was among the first mentioned by Senate Armed Forces Committee chairman Carl Levin. LEVIN: Is it the intention as far as you know, to submit any agreement which is negotiated with the government of Iraq to the Senate for its advice and consent, if there is any commitment in such an agreement to defend Iraq beyond the term of this administration? GATES: I am certainly no lawyer but I would say that any elements in the agreement, in any agreement that is […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
