A group of scientists have used human neural stem cells to rebuild damaged spinal cord tissue in mice. This is very promising as it would help to regenerate tissue needed by those with broken backs. The cells themselves helped to rebuild what needed to be there on their own.
Month: September 2005
Third World First?
There arent that many things you expect to see unvieled in third world countires for their first global appearance. Luckily the Institute for OneWorld Health aims at reversing this trend for life saving drugs. With a business model thats a capitalists nightmare, the institute is a non profit organization that aims at developing drugs and other medicines specifially for third world diseases, at an affordable price. Currently their most promising drug is against visceral leishmaniasis, a disease spread by the bite of an infected sand fly that is associated with fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anemia. If left untreated, it is fatal to up to 200,000 people a year. It very encouraging to know serious funds directed towards common diseases that affect large numbers of people of little income are finally being addressed.
Plane With Broken Wheels Lands Safely
JetBlue Flight 292 ran into trouble yesterday before landing – its front landing gear was twisted 90 degrees. With great skill the pilot was able to land the plane with slight physical damage to the plane and there were no reported injuries!
Wal-Mart Starting to Sweat
A suit has been filed in Los Angeles against Wal-Mart for overlooking sweatshop working conditions in a few countries. Workers in six countries launched the class-action lawsuit and lists 15 workers in Bangladesh, Swaziland, Indonesia, China, and Nicaragua.
The plantiffs claim that they were beaten, forced to work overtime – unpaid. Four California planitiffs are also listed, who at first glance seem to have a much weaker case since they claim that Wal-Mart forced their employer to cut wages and benefits.
The class action suit could cover 100,000 to 500,000 workers.
Math Made Easier, More Accurate
Dr Norman Wildberger has created a new framework for trigonometry that is easier to learn and more accurate. No more sines, cosines and tangents; they have been replaced by “spread” and “quadrance.”
Simple algebra can be used to better figure out triangles, which means that students have less to learn and don’t need a calculator.