Tuesday, September 18, 2007

P

September 17, 2007 10:24am

A NEW Zealand pro-cannabis groups says it has scientific evidence that cannabis can stop the development of mad cow disease.

It was not clear whether the findings applied to both cows and humans.

The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said a French study showed cannabidiol might be effective in preventing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, the New Zealand Press Association reported tpday.

Scientists at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France found cannabidiol - a non-psychoactive ingredient - may prevent the development of prion diseases (progressive neurodegenerative disorders), the most well known of which is BSE, Norml said.

Researchers found cannabidiol inhibited the accumulation of prion proteins in infected mice and sheep.

Norml spokesman Chris Fowlie said the discovery added to the scientific evidence supporting a bill from a New Zealand Greens MP to legalise the medicinal use of cannabis.

"(It) should be supported by any MP with a clear head. Unfortunately most politicians act like mad cows whenever cannabis is mentioned," Mr Fowlie said.

Eneloop

Sanyo Eneloop

A low self discharge nickel metal hydride battery made by Sanyo, available in AA (2000 mAh) and AAA (800 mAh) sizes. They are sold pre-charged and due to the low self discharge, can usually be used immediately after purchase. Eneloop batteries are ideal for photography and other high energy requirement applications.

Sanyo claims that Eneloop batteries retain 90% of their charge after six months, 85% after a year and 70% after two years, when stored at 20 degrees Celsius (68 °F).

External links

Eneloop Europe site

Eneloop North America site

Eneloop at Amazon

Chismillionare loves the RC helicopters

AH-64 "FERALBEAST" Apache RC Helicopter

With a 30m ceiling and a flight range of 20m, it's probably the most fun a guy can have with a battery-operated toy.

WIRED Fast. Scary to everyone except operator. Hovering capability great for enclosed areas. Sturdy controller. Simple set-up means you'll have it in the air seconds after taking it out of the box. Free replacement blades?you'll need 'em after your first few crashes.

TIRED Lightweight construction materials make chopper flimsy. Battery discharges fast, limiting range. It?s a mini Apache attack helicopter, where?s my mini minigun?

$100, hobbytron.com

9 out of 10

List of artificial objects on the Moon

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Map of the moon showing some landing sites. (Click to enlarge)

Lunokhod 1 exploration vehicle

Surveyor 3 on the moon, photographed by Alan Bean

Grid showing location of artificial objects on the moon (axis shows latitude and longitude)

The following table is a partial list of artificial objects on the surface of the Moon. They have been abandoned after having served their purpose. The list does not include smaller objects such as the retroreflectors and Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package. Nor does it include several commemorative or personal objects left there by Apollo astronauts, such as the golf balls from Alan Shepard's lunar driving practice during Apollo 14, flags, or the Fallen Astronaut statuette left by the crew of Apollo 15.

Five third stages of rockets of the Apollo program form the heaviest pieces. While humankind has left over 170,000 kg of Earth on the Moon, only 382 kg of the Moon has been returned to Earth by Apollo and Luna missions.

The only artificial objects on the Moon that are still in use are the retroreflectors for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment left there by Apollo astronauts.

Note that objects listed as being higher than 90 degrees east or west are on the far side of the moon. These include Ranger 4, Lunar Orbiter 1, Lunar Orbiter 2 and Lunar Orbiter 3.

click here for full article:

List of artificial objects on the Moon

Perfect drill around the house and in tight spaces.

Bosch PS10 I-Driver? Clutch Performance Sans Clutch

By limiting the I-Driver?s torque output electronically, Bosch gets rid of the bulky mechanical clutch that keeps other models out of tight spaces. Small as it is, though, it?s no lightweight: it drove 279 1-inch wood screws on a single charge ? more than any other driver in our test group.

WIRED Large, comfortable trigger. Variable speed. Removable battery. Quick charger actually charges the battery in 15 minutes, even immediately after a complete discharge.

TIRED High price. Fat-barreled handle is too big for small hands.

$145, boschtools.com

Indian doc develops enzyme that can destroy HIV

Priyanjana Dutta / CNN-IBN

Time Published on Friday , September 14, 2007 at 15:56 in Health section

Bangalore: Dr Indrani Sarkar has has every reason to be excited. Her PhD thesis, which started in 2002 at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, has thrown open the doors for developing enzymes that can destroy the dreaded Human Immuno-deficiency Virus or HIV within infected cells permanently.

Indrani and a team of scientists have developed an enzyme called Tre. Tre is a custom enzyme capable of detecting, recognising and destroying HIV, much like a pair of molecular scissors.

"In laymans terms, it's an engineered enzyme which recognises sequences in the HIV genome that is duplicated, integrated virus and by the process of recombination, it cuts out the virus from the genome," says she.

The biggest challenge with treating HIV today is that the virus becomes dormant and often develops resistance to HIV drugs.

The only way then to cure HIV is to get rid of the virus completely and Tre, the enzyme that Indrani constructed after a year and its 126 "cycles of mutation" totally deplete HIV in the human genome in three months in laboratory conditions.

"It's a beautiful approach, but like any other drug, this one too will take a few years to reach clinics — anywhere between five and 20 years actually. A lot of research has to be done because since one is working with a novel enzyme, one has to engineer the enzyme," says she.

According to the latest statistics given out by UNAIDS and WHO, there are close to 39.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world and though it will be a while before an imminent cure is likely, Dr Indrani Sarkar's findings certainly hold out hope for the millions who are battling the disease across the globe.

Crazy Piano Player on Guitar

For Chismillionaire

I'll work on a beer primer, but here's a couple tidbits to get you started:

German Beer Festival - in Boston this weekend, but its a pay event.

A good place for German beers here in town (or at least it used to be) is Jacob Wirth's over in the Theater district. Browsing their site shows that not only do they have a "monthly beer club" but that going on right now is their Oktoberfest celebration:

"From September 21 to October 13, we’re celebrating Oktoberfest with a special three-course German smorgasbord, a frosty mug of Hofbrau beer and more – for only $26.95!"

Sounds like a great deal!

Finally - for something not too far from home from the Chis, check out Julio's Liquors on Route 9 in Westborough. This place is unreal - over 200 beer varieties to chose from and you can mix and match 6 packs of both 12 and 22 ounce bottles. Its overwhelming, kind of like Toys R Us for beer.

In particular, check out Julio's event calendar - on September 30th is the "Fall Beer Classic" - over 200 beers available for tasting for FREE! I'll be there with friends, and so should you!

Bonus: Julio's has a full service cigar shop inside the store, and there also Cigar Dinners scheduled regularly!

Wired Geekipedia

Better than Wikipedia because it tells you what you need to know instead of did you know? Anything with 7 pages on the Flinstones and one page on Homer's epics is suspect in my opinion.

Geekipedia

Coca Cola readying self-chilling soft drinks?

POCKET SODAS, if can get a soda to chill, why can't we get a burger to heat up?

Coca Cola readying self-chilling soft drinks?

Posted Sep 17th 2007 3:33PM by Darren Murph

And you thought non-stick chewing gum was the heat. Turns out, Coca Cola may be plotting a new version of Sprite that actually chills itself upon opening. Apparently, the drink has to be kept at a specified temperature before being snapped up, and once the oh-so-thirsty consumer pops the top, "a mechanism inside creates ice made from the drink, so it is not diluted." Reportedly, the beverage would sensibly be called Sprite Super Chilled, and if it does indeed hit the UK (and prove successful) by "early next year," the technology could then be passed along to Coke, Diet Coke or even "super cold alcoholic drinks, particularly beers."