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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Obama Hawaiian-born, Hawaii insists

"I have news for them,'' WH spokesman says of 'birthers:' "He's a citizen.''


Obama birth certificate.jpg

Barack Obama's birth certificate. Stop the presses: He's an American. (So is John McCain, born in the Panama Canal Zone of American parents.)

The Swamp

by Mark Silva and updated.

This just in from Honolulu:

President Barack Obama is still a citizen.

The White House says so, too.

State officials in Hawaii -- once again -- say they have checked and confirmed that the president of the United States was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen.

The official statement of the obvious is intended to quell a persistent and mischievious wave of chatter on talk shows and the Internet that Obama was born in Kenya and is, in the words of Watergate's G. Gordon Liddy, "an illegal alien.''

"I ... have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen," Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said in a brief statement. "I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago."

The so-called "birthers" who contend that Obama is ineligible to serve as president because he was allegedly born outside the United States have gotten more vocal lately, with the help of commentators such as CNN's Lou Dobbs on the radio.

Fukino issued a similar press release on Oct. 31, before the presidential election, but was prompted to speak out again because of the renewed attention on Obama's birth -- the state flooded in recent weeks with questions from individuals and several national TV news networks asking for proof that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, though state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone without a tangible interest.

Hawaii isn't the only party laying the issue to rest.

The U.S. House on Monday unanimously approved a resolution recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii becoming the 50th state. A clause was included that reads: "Whereas the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."

And the Obama White House confronted the question this week, with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledging that there is probably nothing that will "make the birthers go away,'' as a questioner put it. "The God's honest truth is no,'' he said.

"I almost hate to indulge in such an august setting as the White House -- and I mean this in seriousness -- the White House briefing room discussing the made-up, fictional nonsense of whether or not the president was born in this country,'' Gibbs said. "A year-and-a-half ago, I asked that the birth certificate be put on the Internet because Lord knows, you got a birth certificate and you put it on the Internet, what else could be the story?

"Here's the deal,'' Gibbs said. "If I had some DNA, it wouldn't assuage those that don't believe he was born here. But I have news for them and for all of us: The president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the earth. He's a citizen.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Windows 7 Ultimate activation cracked with OEM master key (Updated)

Windows 7 Ultimate has been cracked and activated via OEM instant offline activation. Other editions of the operating system have yet to get the same treatment.

Windows 7 Ultimate activation cracked with OEM master key (Updated)

Windows 7 Ultimate has been cracked. The pirate milestone, reached almost three months before Windows 7 is set to hit General Availability on October 22, 2009, was achieved via OEM instant offline activation that passes Windows Genuine Advantage validation and keeps the operating system permanently activated. Previous cracks weren't as solid: while they may be working now, they can easily be disabled by Microsoft. This one won't be so easy.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate can now easily be activated, according to My Digital Life. For Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Basic, and Windows 7 Starter, the OEM-System-Locked Preinstallation (SLP) keys haven't been leaked, so they cannot be OEM-activated yet. It won't be long before easy-to-use Windows 7 activation toolkits start appearing in the wild.

The story begins with a Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo leaking to a Chinese forum. The boot.wim file was then used to retrieve the OEM-SLP product key and OEM certificate for Windows 7 Ultimate. The SLP is a procedure used by Microsoft to preactivate the Windows operating system for mass distribution by major OEMs. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 use SLP version 2.1, which is backwards-compatible with version 2.0, the version Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 use. As such, after the OEM certificate and OEM product key were extracted, it was discovered that Windows 7 uses the same digitally signed OEM certificate, which has an .xrm-ms extension, that Vista uses.

The extracted Windows 7 Ultimate OEM-SLP product key can be used to activate an installed Windows 7 Ultimate system, and since the product key appears to be a master OEM-SLP product key for Windows 7 Ultimate, it can activate Windows 7 Ultimate from any OEM. Furthermore, even if the user already has a retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate installed, it can be converted to an OEM version with two simple commands, and then activated.

This is a major breakthrough for the Windows piracy world and a huge blow to Microsoft. Even if it was imminent, the fact that it has occurred so soon means pirates will have activated copies of Windows 7 a good week before even MSDN and TechNet subscribers get their hands on the RTM build on August 6, not to mention all the other groups Microsoft plans to give the build to. The Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 RTM build was compiled on July 13, 2009 and the official announcement was made on July 22, 2009.

Update

"We’re aware of reports of activation exploits that attempt to circumvent activation & validation in Windows 7, and we can assure customers that Microsoft is committed to protecting our customers and partners from counterfeit and pirated software," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "Microsoft strongly advises customers not to download Windows 7 from unauthorized sources and downloading Windows 7 from peer-to-peer Web sites is piracy, and exposes users to increased risks - such as viruses, Trojans and other malware and malicious code—that usually accompany counterfeit software. These risks can seriously harm or permanently destroy data and often expose users to identity theft and other criminal schemes."

Free Beats: Beatboxing on the Streets


Free Beats was created and produced by Chris Sullivan with the support of the Sierra Mist Creative Lab which promotes emerging comedy talent.

On the Seventh Day He Legislated: Strange Sunday Laws

In many U.S. states, there are special laws that apply only to Sundays, usually designed to help keep the Sabbath holy. While most of these laws involve the prohibition of alcohol sales, gambling, and business, some states have laws that are simply inexplicable. If you’re traveling in the states, you might want to brush up on some of these weird laws—after all, no one wants to get caught playing pinball in New York on a Sunday.


Alabama: Dominoes may not be played on Sunday. Cabbage can’t be sold on Sunday.




Arkansas: It’s unlawful to walk one’s cow down Main Street after 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Linda N. (cc)




Florida: An unmarried woman may not parachute on Sunday (or she risks arrest, fine, and/or jailing) Photo courtesy of divemasterking2000. (cc).




Georgia and New York: No one may carry an ice cream cone in his back pocket if it’s Sunday. (And in Oregon, it’s illegal to eat ice cream at all on Sunday.) Photo courtesy of mollypop. (cc)



Idaho: Riding a merry-go-round on Sunday is considered a crime. Photo courtesy of Stepheye. (cc)



Illinois
: Humming on public streets is prohibited on Sunday.

Massachusetts and South Carolina: All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.

Michigan: It’s illegal for a man to scowl at his wife on Sunday.

Montana: It’s illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sunday, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all.

New Hampshire: On Sunday, citizens may not relieve themselves while looking up. (Presumably, while making direct eye contact with God?)

Ohio: It’s illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.


East New Jersey: The “singing of vain songs or tunes” is illegal on Sunday.


New York
: Pinball machines may not be played on Sunday.

Rhode Island: You may not sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer on a Sunday.

South Carolina: Dance halls may not operate on Sunday. Musical instruments may not be sold on Sunday.


Tennessee: The sale of bologna is prohibited on Sunday.

Virginia: No animal may be hunted on Sunday with the exception of raccoons, which may be hunted until 2:00 a.m.

West Virginia: It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the courthouse steps on Sundays.

Washington: No one may buy a mattress on Sunday.

Individual state governments, however, are not the only ones to have a field day with strange Sunday laws; some cities have their own unusual Sunday laws.

Buckner, Missouri: Yard waste may be burned any day except Sunday.


St. Cloud, Minnesota: Hamburgers may not be eaten on Sunday.


Colorado Springs
, Colorado: It’s permissible to wear a holstered six-gun within city limits, except on Sunday, Election Day, or holidays.


Hartford, Connecticut: It’s illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday.



While most of these laws seem a little extreme—and seem not to have much to do with preserving the Sabbath—it certainly would make a good story were you to be arrested for singing a “vain song.” While one might wonder how some of these laws came to be, one thing is certain: Sunday is a bad day for pregnant women with cravings in Oregon.

Sources: dumblaws.com, lawguru.com


Olivia Munn At Comic-Con: Hoochie Mama!


Olivia Munn Comic Con

Here’s Attack of The Show’s Olivia Munn stealing the show at this year’s Comic-Con… to no one’s surprise. Olivia dropped everyone’s jaw and induced seizures when she dressed up as all sorts of shwingtastic comicbook babes, including Wonder Woman, LaraCroft, and the X-Men’s cleavage-popping Emma Frost.

Basically, it was a fanboy’s fantasy fest. I actually have unconfirmed reports that Olivia in Emma Frost’s costume was responsible for several deaths at the show. Check out the video to see all of this hotness in motion, and check out Oliva’s website for more pictures and videos from the show. Enjoy!

Click here to see the Video

Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con

Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con Olivia Munn Comic Con

Bonus Galleries:
Olivia Munn Bikini Pictures Olivia Munn Bikini Pictures Olivia Munn Bikini Pictures Olivia Munn Bikini Pictures

ROBIN WILLIAMS LOVES DEAD ASPHYXIATED SON

This is the latest trailer for World’s Greatest Dad, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and starring Robin Williams. It made the festival rounds to pretty good reviews earlier this year and will get a theatrical release beginning August 21st. If you don’t want to wait that long, it’ll also be available on On Demand starting this week.

When his son dies in the throes of autoerotic asphyxiation, dad (Williams) makes it look like a suicide and proceeds to use it to launch his own writing career. [Cinematical]

Robin Williams is at his best when he isn’t overtly trying to be funny, and in light of David Carradine’s death, the autoerotic asphyxiation plot seems practically choked from the headlines. I mean, most directors would STRANGLE themselves for a STROKE of luck like that. Anyway, I hope to see this and get a review up some time in the next couple weeks, if I’m not too busy choking myself while I masturbate.


Hertz Turns to Plant Oils to Squelch Stinky Cars



One of the most common complaints in the car rental industry is the smell of some vehicles, which can make you wonder what went on behind the wheel before you were handed the keys.


The Hertz Corp. is tackling the dilemma with a biodegradable, non-toxic product that saps the stench from stinky rental cars without comprising air quality or aggravating allergies -- and so safe that the sales team of its maker, OMI Industries, will spray it into their own eyes to prove a point. Hertz is rolling out its odor-free fleet program with Fresh Wave IAQ, a product that will be used at 72 North American airport rental locations, 1,000 off-airport locations and 170 licensee locations in the U.S.

“We wanted to take a progressive approach toward odor neutralization by finding an innovative partner that provides a green technology to help us meet these demands, and Fresh Wave IAQ was clearly the best choice,” Kent Seavey, Hertz’s North American division vice president of operations support, said in a statement Monday.

Fresh Wave IAQ from OMI Industries is made up of water and plant oils, primarily lime, anise seed, cedar wood and clove. The plant oils are positively charged and attracted to negatively charged malodor molecules, explained Bob Dunklau, OMI’s director of business development. The plant oil molecules absorb the malodor molecules and begin the process of breaking them down until the smell is gone, rather than masking it as most air fresheners do.
Fresh Wave IAQ is OMI's commercial odor abatement product.
Images courtesy of OMI Industries

The smell of cigarette smoke is the top customer complaint, according to Hertz spokeswoman Paula Rivera, followed by heavy fragrances, and pet and trash odors.

Hertz expects the program will have a positive impact on its bottom line, Rivera said. "Economically, the technology OMI is providing us will enable us to keep our cars on the road longer," she said. "We'll have less downtime due to cleaning issues."

The product is also beneficial for customers with respiratory allergies and for vehicle service attendants who will now be protected from exposure to chemicals found in air fresheners, such as alcohol, Dunklau said.

Fresh Wave IAQ is OMI's commercial product, but the company also makes formulations for residential and industrial use, such as paper mills. All have undergone human and fish toxicity testing, emboldening its sales team to demonstrate its harmlessness by spraying Fresh Wave IAQ into their own eyes.

“That’s our confidence in our product … We’re legends for it,” Dunklau said.

The company didn’t start off marketing its products as being green when it was founded in 1988, Dunklau said.

“It was for odor abatement,” he said. “The fact that we’re green, the world has sort of come to us.”

Rearview mirror image -- CC licensed by Flickr user Looking Glass.

How to Turn Bike Parts Into an Awesome Table


Click here for a step by step guide.........How to Turn Bike Parts Into an Awesome Table

Shared via AddThis

Solar Blimp to Fly from NYC to Paris, Rests on Land or Water

Solar Airship

A Spanish company called Turtle Airships is working on plans to build a luxurious solar-powered blimp which can take passengers from New York to Paris.

Perhaps the only thing cooler than being powered by lightweight photovoltaic cells, this airship is also designed to rest on land or water.

The first blimp prototype will be propelled in two nontraditional ways. The outside of the ship will be covered with Cadmium-Indium-Germanium (CIG) photovoltaic cells, picked for their their light weight. The cells should generate enough power to move the blimp at around 40 mph in average conditions, or at around 70 horsepower. Meanwhile, a diesel drivetrain will generate the rest of the power, and ideally the designers will look to an adapted hybrid electric model for that. And because blimps fly at low altitudes, they don’t have to deal with problems that plague diesel engines at elevations over 30,000 ft.

The only thing currently keeping this visionary project from flying is funding. But Turtle Airships hopes that will change after the completion of a genuine prototype that will demonstrate the project’s viability to funders. “Our goal in flying this remote control model is to get some video of it onto the Web and hopefully attract some financing that will enable us to move on from there to a genuine, manned, demonstration model of a Turtle Airship,” said one spokesperson.

The folks at Turtle Airships don’t like calling their aircraft a ‘blimp’: “It is a rigid shelled, amphibious, solar powered, all weather, FAST aircraft that is lifted by helium, but it is not a blimp.”

Even so: it’s a blimp.

Though that doesn’t take anything away from the ingenuity of its design. Their idea is certainly not one short on vision. And who wouldn’t want to take a transatlantic ride on a flying luxury cruise ship powered by sunshine?

Nasty memories of the Hindenburg aside, it may not be long before passengers are flying comfortably from New York to Paris– and beyond– aboard Turtle Airships.

Source: Wired

Create an iPhone Document Scanner from Cardboard

You might need a scanner every so often, but they're far too big for their occasional usefulness. If you've got an iPhone and some time to cut cardboard, you can ditch some paper and capture documents without the glass bed.

University of Cincinnati student Kyle A Koch frequently synced his iPhone and backed up his iPhoto library, but wasn't so hot with the paper and study material organization. Since he knew he was reliable with iPhone images, he put his industrial design studies into practice and crafted cardboard-based docks that elevate the phone just enough to properly frame and capture 8.5x11 documents.

You can order a customized, pre-assembled version of Koch's scanner apparatus in cardboard or medium density fibreboard, but Koch also includes a free EPS file for downloading and DIY building. It builds roughly 15 inches tall and long, and would seem to be pretty cheap to build. Combined with a universal capture/OCR tool like Evernote and the powerful camera on an iPhone 3G S, it's definitely a work-able scanner solution for those who only need a few documents in digital form now and again.

Amazing Surf Photography


clark little 5

Mondays are always hard, especially during the summer when you’d rather be out adventuring. So if you’re wasting a bit of time at work today by checking out the Wend blog, here’s a little Monday inspiration from surf photographer Clark Little.

clark little 1

More pics after the jump.

clark little 2

clark little 3

clark little 4

[Via: Webdesigner Depot]

First glimpse of Branson's new toy: The aeroplane built to launch a ship into space.. with tourists on board

By Mail Foreign Service


The grin on Richard Branson's face says it all.

Hundreds of air show spectators watched in awe as he revealed his latest toy - the WhiteKnightTwo, the aeroplane built to launch a ship in to space.

It was the first glimpse the public had of the plane, which was made by Virgin Galactic as part of its effort to jump-start commercial space travel.

Enlarge Virgin Mothership Eve, designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Richard Branson, approaches the Wittman Field site of the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin yesterday

WhiteKnightTwo, designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Richard Branson, approaches the Wittman Field site of the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin yesterday

Enlarge We did it: Burt Rutan, right, and Richard Branson are all smiles as the WhiteKnightTwo flies

We did it: Burt Rutan, right, and Richard Branson are all smiles as the WhiteKnightTwo flies

Branson, along with engineer Burt Rutan, watched and smiled from the tarmac as the twin-fuselage craft, looking like two planes connected at the wing tips, circled the runway several times on Monday before touching down at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Air Venture annual gathering.

It was 'majestic,' said 13-year-old Alura Law of Reddick, Florida.

Virgin Galactic's plan calls for WhiteKnightTwo to lift SpaceShipTwo, a pressurized spacecraft, into the atmosphere from a base in New Mexico. When they reach 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), the spaceship would detach and blast into space at four times the speed of sound.

The six passengers would experience about five minutes of weightlessness and get a glimpse of Earth. The spaceship would glide back to Earth much like the space shuttle. Take-off to landing is expected to take about 2 1/2 hours.

Virgin Galactic doesn't have a launch date yet, but has taken 300 reservations at $200,000 each and is holding $40 million in deposits. Customers include scientist Stephen Hawking and 'Superman Returns' director Bryan Singer, according to Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn.

'Superman Returns' even features a sequence involving two aircraft much like WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo. In the movie, Lois Lane boards a launcher jet with a space shuttle-like vehicle attached. The jet lifts the shuttle into the atmosphere, but the plane ends up plunging to Earth and Superman must race to save it.

Virgin Galactic officials say safety will be their 'guiding star'.

'We not only have to do it safely, we have to give (passengers) a good time,' said Virgin Galactic's commercial director, Stephen Attenborough.

The plan came about after Rutan partnered with Virgin Group chairman Branson. Rutan had made history in 2004 when his SpaceShipOne became the first private manned craft to reach space with help from launcher plane WhiteKnightOne. The feat earned him the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

Enlarge WhiteKnightTwo is pulled into the show grounds yesterday

WhiteKnightTwo is pulled into the show grounds yesterday

Enlarge Richard Branson gives a thumbs up as he gets pre-flight instructions in preparation to fly on WhiteKnightTwo yesterday

Richard Branson gives a thumbs up as he gets pre-flight instructions in preparation to fly on WhiteKnightTwo yesterday

WhiteKnightTwo has now made 16 test flights, Attenborough said. The company will keep testing it until fall, when tests will begin on SpaceShipTwo. Branson himself plans to take the first trip and bring his 92-year-old father and 89-year-old mother with him.

The WhiteKnightTwo, nicknamed 'Eve' in honor of Branson's mother, sports a painting of a woman in a space helmet on both fuselages and looks like nothing so much as a gleaming white half of the letter 'E'.

'Most people never really believed it would be a reality,' said Branson. 'By just trying these things, new things come out of it.'

Matthew Pritzker, a science fiction fan since his youth, has his trip booked. The 27-year-old from Chicago, who runs his own investment firm, is looking forward to being weightless and said he's no more nervous that he would be getting on a roller coaster.

Pritzker said he wants to walk on the moon someday, and SpaceShipTwo marks a step toward that.

'This venture will prove to be a huge, huge turning point in the world of travel,' he said. 'It means so much to people who grew up looking at the stars.'

Watch the video below:



In France, a New Generation of Women Says Non to Nude Sunbathing

A woman sunbathes on the beach during the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival in May 2009
A woman sunbathes on the beach during the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival in May 2009
Kristian Dowling / Getty

For decades, the French have relished any opportunity to mock Americans for their supposed childish Yankee puritanism when it comes to matters of sex. These days, though, France is experiencing its own blush of youthful prudishness as an entire generation of younger French women says "Non, merci," to the summer tradition of topless sunbathing.

Since France's summer vacation season kicked off in early July, the French press has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the shrinking number of topless women on the nation's beaches. As eagle-eyed reporters have made quite clear, the prevailing trend among sun-loving women these days is to use both pieces of their bikini. Le Monokini, C'est Fini! , shouted Le Parisien in its report from a Mediterranean beach. "Nude Breasts Are Less Trendy" concurred free daily Metro France. "The practice has become common, and therefore less compelling as a fashion," says sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann. "When the local baker takes off her top despite her 60-year age and sagging breasts, the gesture loses its social distinction as one of youthful beauty." Some note that the return to more modest costumes is in part a response to rising concerns about skin cancer. (Read "In France, a Government-Led Revolution in Entrepreneurship.")

But the trend is also part of a wider social movement by younger French women who are shunning the less-inhibited habits of previous generations. If burning bras and going topless were the ways French women of the 1970s and '80s demonstrated their freedom, their daughters and grand-daughters seem less comfortable with exposed flesh. "The values of our time are more conservative, traditional and familial," says Kaufmann.

A survey titled "Women and Nudity" by polling agency Ifop captures the mood. It found that younger French women not only have a problem with nudity — but actually consider themselves prudish. Fully 88% of the women questioned qualified themselves as pudique — a term that can mean anything from "modest" or "prim" to "priggish." And they aren't joking. Though 90% said they get naked with their husband or partner, 59% avoid being nude around their children. Sixty-three percent said they refused to undress around female friends; 22% said they considered a woman in her underwear already naked. (See TIME's France covers.)

With sensitivities like those, it's little wonder the poll found French women had strong opinions about public nakedness. Nearly 50% said they were bothered by total nudity on beaches or naturist camps, and 37% said they were disturbed by publicly exposed breasts or buttocks. Forty-five percent of respondents reported they'd prefer to see a lot less flesh hanging out in full view — male or female.

Those attitudes got even more pronounced with respondents aged 18-24. A quarter of women within that group described themselves as very pudique, and 20% saw any nudity as tantamount to indecency. That, sociologists say, explains the changing scenery on French beaches. Younger women disinclined to baring themselves make up the majority of female sunbathers; those still willing to go topless are usually older French women. (See pictures of sunbathing in France on LIFE.com.)

"There aren't any rules, but, yeah, it's true when you're at the beach and look around, the only topless women anymore are older," says Elodie, 19, as she visited an artificial beach along the Seine known as Paris Plage recently. Elodie pointed out that a municipal fine — and frequently lousy weather — make going topless at Paris Plage a nonstarter. When asked whether she went topless on vacation beaches — and what factors made her decide when she did and didn't — Elodie's reply was as chilly as it was logical. "All those things," she said, "are personal concerns."

The contrast with U.S. practices is hard not to notice. American women visiting France these days have few qualms about going topless. And plenty of young American women are only too happy to playfully flash their wares in exchange for a few beads. In some ways, the puritanical swimsuit now seems to be on the other torso — a new French squeamishness that will doubtless leave some Americans, well, titillated.

Blue M&Ms 'mend spinal injuries'

The food dye that gives blue M&Ms their colour can help mend spinal injuries, researchers have claimed after tests on rats.


Blue M&Ms 'mend spinal injuries'
On the downside, the treatment causes the skin to temporarily turn bright blue and BBG needs to be injected soon after the trauma

The compound Brilliant Blue G blocks a chemical that kills healthy spinal cord cells around the damaged area - an event that often causes more irreversible damage than the original injury.

BBG not only reduced the size of the lesion but also improved the recovery of motor skills, the rodent tests showed.

Those treated with BBG were later able to walk, although with a limp. Rats that did not receive the BBG solution never regained the ability to walk.

On the downside, the treatment causes the skin to temporarily turn bright blue and BBG needs to be injected soon after the trauma. The test injections were given within 15 minutes.

The new findings by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York build on work reported five years ago by the same team.

They discovered that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - a chemical that keeps our cells alive - quickly pours into the area surrounding a spinal cord injury.

But they found it overstimulated otherwise healthy neurons and caused them to die from metabolic stress, creating a secondary injury.

Injecting oxidised ATP into the site of the injury helped stop this, they found.

But neurosurgeon Prof Maiken Nedergaard, who led the research, said: "No one wants to put a needle into a spinal cord that has just been severely injured so we knew we needed another way."

The new approach of using BBG has answered this problem because it can be administered intravenously.

More tests will be needed to prove the safety of BBG before human clinical trials can begin.

But researchers are optimistic new treatments for acute spinal cord injuries could emerge in the next few years.

Exemplary Mom Builds 98-Inch Screen Inside Kid's Bedroom Ceiling


This is what great parents do when they want to take good care of their son, giving him all he needs to grow into a cultured, social, healthy young man: A 98-inch TV mounted flush inside his bedroom's ceiling.

The job was not easy: Admirable mom Patti Deni wanted the 98-inch StarGlas60 screen to be aligned straight with the ceiling of her kid's bedroom. Above the bedroom, Stereo Advantage—an audio/video specialty company in Williamsville, NY—had to place a NEC video projector and projection mirrors. In total, the whole solution weighted more than 300 pounds, so they had to make a new reinforced ceiling frame to support it.

According to this laudable woman, her son spends a lot of time playing and editing his own videos, which now will include a YouTube time lapse of him progressively getting fatter and fatter while he plays in bed, and his brain liquifies into a puddle of green goo. [Electronic House]