Dr. Dre Was A Pimp Before He Was 10

Dr. Dre was still pissing the bed and already getting more chicks than you ever will. The best part was indirectly telling the crowd that he’s moving in on his dad’s game. Classic.

San Francisco man becomes first in history to be ‘cured’ of AIDS

By Stephen C. Webster
From http://www.rawstory.com/

Timothy Ray Brown, a 45-year-old San Francisco man previously known to the medical community as “the Berlin patient,” has become the first person to ever be cured of AIDS.

After a stem cell bone marrow transplant, doctors say his HIV, the infection which causes AIDS, was eradicated.

His bone marrow donor was one of a very small percentage of people who are immune to HIV. He received a second bone marrow transplant after a resurgence of Leukemia, which he’s also since been cured of.

Doctors still aren’t exactly sure what part of his treatment allowed his body to purge the virus, but clinical trials are scheduled to begin in 2012.

This video is from CBS San Francisco, broadcast Monday, May 17, 2011.

Much-Anticipated Trailer for Steven Spielberg's 'The Adventures of Tintin' Arrives

By John Mitchell
From http://blog.moviefone.com/



Yesterday, we got a first look at the U.S. and U.K. teaser posters for director Steven Spielberg's Peter Jackson–produced 3D motion-capture animation adaptation of Belgian artist Georges "Hergé" Remi's comic book series 'The Adventures of Tintin.' Today, we get the trailer.

Aside from a few still images and the poster, Spielberg has kept 'Tintin' a mystery. But from the looks of things, the director's affinity for revolutionary special effects ('Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' 'Jurassic Park') has been put to good use here, with the motion-capture technology pioneered by Spielberg's real-life friend and 'Back to the Future' collaborator Robert Zemeckis looking sharper than ever.

However, one secret remains: Where is the rest of the film's title? The full title had been 'The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,' however, the subtitle is absent from both the poster and the trailer.

Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig star in the flick, which hits theaters Dec. 23. Check out 'The Adventures of Tintin' trailer after the jump.

The Bulletproof Dog That Stormed Bin Laden's Lair

BY Elbert Chu
FROM http://www.fastcompany.com/

If you see this dog coming for you, run. Thanks to his extensive training--and customized body armor that can cost upwards of $30,000--he's bulletproof, can hear through concrete, and can record high-def video of missions, even in the dead of night.

149diggsdigg Since the moment it was revealed that the "nation's most courageous dog" [Update: named "Cairo"] served alongside the 80 Navy SEALs who took out Osama bin Laden, America's fascination with war dogs has hit a fevered pitch. And while the heart-tugging photos of these four-legged heroes are worth a look, so is the high-tech gear that helps them do their job.

Last year, the military spent $86,000 on four tactical vests to outfit Navy Seal dogs. The SEALs hired Winnipeg, Canada-based contractor K9 Storm to gear up their four-legged, canine partners, which it has used in battle since World War I. K9 Storm’s flagship product is the $20,000-$30,000 Intruder, an upgradeable version of their doggie armor (you can check out the full catalogue here). The tactical body armor is wired with a collapsible video arm, two-way audio, and other attachable gadgets.

"Various special ops units use the vest, including those in current headlines," says Mike Herstik, a consultant with International K-9, who has trained dogs from Israeli bomb-sniffing units to the Navy SEALSs. "It is much more than just body armor."

The big idea behind the armor add-ons boils down to a simple one: the key to any healthy relationship is communication. Each dog is assigned one human handler. To operate efficiently in a tactical situation, they need to be connected.

So how much high-tech connectivity does a dog get for $30,000 anyway?

Using a high-def camera mounted on the dog's back, handlers can see what the dog sees, using handheld monitors. Jim Slater, who cofounded K9 Storm with his wife Glori, says footage is stable because the entire module is sewn into the vest. With unpredictable light conditions, like middle-of-the-night missions, the camera adjusts automatically to night vision. The lens is protected by impact-resistant shielding. And since we're talking about SEALs notorious for amphibious assaults, the system is waterproof.

In Abbottabad, the patented load-bearing harness would have enabled a Navy SEAL handler to rappel from the helicopter with his dog strapped to his body. Once in the compound, the dog could run ahead to scout as the handler issued commands through an integrated microphone and speaker in the armor. The proprietary speaker system enables handlers to relay commands at low levels to the dog. "Handlers need to see and hear how their dog is responding," said Slater. "In a tactical situation, every second counts." The encrypted signal from dog to handler penetrates fortified barriers like concrete, steel-fortified ships, and tunnels. That translates to standard operating ranges up to four football fields.

The armor itself protects against shots from 9mm and .45 magnum handguns. Slater is a veteran police dog trainer and built the first vest after a prison riot. He realized he wore full riot gear, while his K9 partner, Olaf, was basically naked. So he started making vests. The weave technology catches bullets or ice picks like a mitt wrapping around a baseball; knives and sharpened screw drivers wielded by prisoners require tighter weaves.

Keeping the armor strong, but light, is a priority. "Every gram counts for our clients. So we prefer advanced fibers and innovative textiles," said Slater. "The entire communication module is 20 ounces." The average armor weighs between three to seven pounds, depending on the size of the dog and the level of protection.

They’ve even gone stealth. A silent hardware system prevents any metal to metal contact--you won't hear any jangling or see any reflective give-aways. K9 took the average 150-gram V-ring and developed a 5-gram version made of a Kevlar, poly-propylene, and nylon fiber blend. "It’s actually stronger, rated to 2,500 pounds. Completely silent, and ultralight," said Slater.

Of course, these systems don't come cheap--and it's the dogs themselves that are the real investment. The Navy’s first Master Military Working Dog Trainer (a trainer of other dog trainers), Luis Reyes emailed from Afghanistan: "There are many products that help MWDs [military work dogs] and many are ‘cool’ but not necessary. No amount of money can replace the life of a canine that saves the precious lives of our troops in harm's way."

Although new tech is the buzz, what put K9 Storm on the map is dedication to customization. Its mainstay dog armor is the more-affordable $2,000-$3,000 base model. Each vest they make is custom sized for the dog. "The fit has to be perfect or it will flop around," said Slater. That hinders mobility, or worse, can cause injury.

Clients can measure dogs themselves, or Slater will fly out for dog fittings. They’ve done 15-pound West Highland Terriers--which look like playful white puffballs but were bred to scare badgers out of holes, and are helpful in drug raids with confined spaces like air ducts. On the other end are St. Bernards, which push 240 pounds.

K9's client list spans 15 countries, from China to Switzerland. Buyers include SWAT teams, police and corrections agencies, security firms, search and rescue units, and border patrols. Slater and 12 employees spent years developing a proprietary computer-assisted design program to translate measurements into accurate patterns, which are hand sewn. However, it's as much a tech company as it is an armor manufacturer.

The next phase of development includes plans for remote-delivery systems and enhanced accessory functionality. They describe a system that would help dogs transport medical supplies, walkie-talkies, or water into constricted areas like rubble. They're also planning new appendages like air-level quality meters for mines.

No word on mounting mini heat-seeking missiles just yet. So, for now, bad guys will only have to tussle with highly-trained fangs exerting 700 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Follow @fastcompany on Twitter.

[Image courtesy K9 Storm]

Web-Financed Space Nazi Comedy Iron Sky Will Open in 2012

by Jen Yamato
from: http://www.movieline.com/

As the saying goes, it takes a village… and when the long-gestating Nazi comedy Iron Sky finally hits theaters next year, we’ll have many folks to thank. (Including crowdfunding backers and financiers from the U.K., Australia, Germany, and Finland.) Iron Sky explains that the Nazis didn’t just disappear when World War II ended — they relocated to the moon to regroup and hatch a space invasion of Earth (or, “meteorblitzkrieg”) in 2018. After the jump, the latest grindhouse-y teaser!

Added bonus, of course: Iron Sky stars the incomparable Udo Kier, Mauser from The Matrix films (Christopher Kirby), and a giant space zeppelin. So, you know. Totally there come April 2012.

Full synopsis from the Iron Sky website:

Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, and it’s the time for the first American Moon landing since the 70′s. Meanwhile the Nazi invasion, that has been over 70 years in the making, is on its way, and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom. The three main characters of the story are Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), Klaus Adler (Götz Otto), and James Washington (Christopher Kirby).

And an explanation of the unique community “cloud financing” that made Iron Sky possible:

What makes Iron Sky special is the wide ranging collaboration with fans and community: the movie project fans join in creating ideas and content for the movie in a collaborative movie making platform called Wreckamovie, give the film publicity by sharing information online, even fund the movie by designing and buying merchandise and other means. One million euros of the budget comes from fan funding.

According to the teaser, Iron Sky will arrive April 4, 2012 although specifics on North American distribution have yet to be announced.

[THR, Iron Sky Official Site]

Archaeologists Bring Mona Lisa’s Top Model to Light

From: http://www.history.com/

Archaeologists in Florence, Italy, are digging for the bones of the woman who may have sat for Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic and enigmatic “Mona Lisa,” which now hangs in the Louvre. With the help of ground-penetrating radar machines, they are on the verge of unsealing a tomb thought to contain the remains of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the most widely accepted candidate for the world-renowned painting’s model. The team hopes that facial reconstruction technology will finally put a name to one of the most recognizable and cryptic expressions in portraiture.

Over the years, scholars have debated the true inspiration behind what may be the most famous half-smile in history. Proposed sitters for the “Mona Lisa” have included da Vinci’s mother Caterina, Princess Isabella of Naples, a Spanish noblewoman named Costanza d’Avalos and Cecilia Gallerani, who posed for an earlier painting, “The Lady With an Ermine.” Some of the more provocative theories emphasize the subject’s masculine facial features, suggesting that da Vinci based the portrait on his own likeness or that of his longtime apprentice and possible lover, Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salai, who inherited the work after his mentor’s death. (In February 2011, the art historian Silvano Vinceti, who is leading the current dig, intriguingly pointed out that the title “Mona Lisa” could be interpreted as an anagram for “Mon [French for ‘my’] Salai.”)

In 2008, researchers at Heidelberg University announced they had cracked the puzzle of Mona Lisa’s identify after finding a handwritten note in the margin of a 500-year-old manuscript, penned by a Florentine clerk who admired da Vinci. The note, dated October 1503, states that the artist was working on a portrait of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant’s wife whom art historians have long considered the leading candidate for the famous painting’s model. When da Vinci bequeathed the portrait to Salai, he referred to it as “La Gioconda,” the Italian word for playful, which may also have been a pun on the feminine form of Gherardini’s married name.

One year before the note’s discovery, an amateur historian tracked down a death certificate for Gherardini—who became a nun during her widowhood—showing she had died at 65 on July 15, 1542, and was buried in Florence’s Saint Ursula convent. The site, which dates back to 1309, was converted into a tobacco factory in the 19th century and sheltered World War II refugees during the 1940s and 1950s. Saint Ursula later fell into disrepair and remained empty until recent weeks, when archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar machines to search for graves under the three-story complex’s concrete floor. They broke ground on May 9, uncovering a layer of ancient bricks and what they believe to be steps leading to Gherardini’s tomb.

Once they unseal the crypt, the team hopes to hand over skull bones to the paleoanthropologist Francesco Mallegni, who will use them to reconstruct Gherardini’s face and try to discern the haunting features of the “Mona Lisa.” The researchers will also attempt to verify Gherardini’s identify by comparing the remains’ genetic material to DNA from her children, who are known to be buried at Florence’s Santissima Annunziata church.

While this exercise may help determine just whose eyes millions of observers have been staring into for five centuries, it did not immediately sit well with Gherardini’s descendants. In late April, Natalia Guicciardini Strozzi, a member of one of Florence’s oldest noble families, told the The Telegraph that the excavation was “a sacrilegious act.” After visiting the site and meeting with Silvano Vinceti and his team, however, she shed some of her earlier reservations, saying, “At first the thought of the dig horrified me but now I am fascinated.”

SETI Turns Radio Telescopes Toward Kepler Candidate Planets, Listening for Signs of Life

Listening to places where conditions are right for life

By Rebecca Boyle

From http://www.popsci.com/

Is There Anybody Out There? The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, is listening to 86 Kepler candidate Earth-like planets in the hopes of hearing from alien life. Wikimedia Commons

A gigantic radio telescope in Virginia has started listening to 86 Earth-like planet candidates identified by the Kepler Space Telescope, hoping to hear signs of alien life. Astronomers aren’t even sure the stars to which they are listening actually harbor planets, let alone radio-communicating extraterrestrials, but hey, we might as well bend an ear, right?

The SETI Institute is looking at Earth-like (rocky) planets with a focus on those with temperatures between 0 and 100 °C (32° and 212 °F), where liquid water can exist. As far as our Earth-biased science can tell us, that’s a crucial ingredient for life.SETI has been listening to parts of the sky for decades, but pointing directly at Kepler findings stands among the project’s best-informed attempts yet. The Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico looks at stars like the sun, hoping they might have planets around them.

“But we’ve never had a list of planets like this before,” said physicist Dan Werthimer, director of the SETI project at Arecibo, in an interview with AFP.

In February, Kepler scientists announced they had found 1,235 potential planets orbiting sun-like stars in the Milky Way, including 68 approximately Earth-size and 288 super-Earth-size. Scientists have been verifying and refining the measurements in the months since.

The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope will gather 24 hours of data on each of 86 planets identified this spring by the Kepler space telescope science team as potential Earth-like planets in “Goldilocks” orbits, where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water.

SETI has its own telescopes, too, but apparently they’ve gone dark for a lack of funding, according to the AFP — SETI announced last month it was shutting down its 42-dish Allen Telescope Array because of a budget shortfall, AFP reports. While the 4-year-old, $50 million project is on hiatus, the Green Bank telescope will assume its responsibilities.

While Arecibo will also keep listening, Green Bank can hear a lot more — it scans 300 times the range of frequencies that Arecibo can, so it can collect as much data in one day as Arecibo could in one year.

The Kepler listening project will take about a year, AFP reports. SETI@home users will help crunch the data; the program uses small bits of unused processing power from idle Internet-connected computers to run calculations. You can find out more, and sign up to help, by clicking here.

[AFP]