The first British baby genetically screened before conception to be free of a breast cancer gene has been born, doctors said today.The baby girl grew from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA1 gene, which would have meant she had a 50-85% of developing breast cancer.A spokeswoman for University College London hospital said the mother and daughter were doing "very well", adding that the family did not wish to reveal when the little girl was born.Paul Serhal, the medical director of the assisted conception unit at the hospital, said: "This little girl will not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life."The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter.
The first British baby genetically screened before conception to be free of a breast cancer gene has been born, doctors said today.
The baby girl grew from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA1 gene, which would have meant she had a 50-85% of developing breast cancer.
A spokeswoman for University College London hospital said the mother and daughter were doing "very well", adding that the family did not wish to reveal when the little girl was born.
Paul Serhal, the medical director of the assisted conception unit at the hospital, said: "This little girl will not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life.
"The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter.
As well as giving an interesting speech at the New World, New Capitalism conference in Paris yesterday, a, Tony Blair found time to give a video interview to the editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber.On the advice of Patrick Hennessy at Three Line Whip, I've just been watching it. And my conclusion is that Blair is still very, very interested in becoming president of Europe.He didn't exactly put it like that, of course. But he was given four opportunities to dismiss the idea of being a candidate, and not once did he try to do so.I got the impression that he wants the job quite keenly: watch for yourself and make your own mind up. The issue comes up right at the end, after the questions on Gaza. Here is a transcript of the key exchange.
As well as giving an interesting speech at the New World, New Capitalism conference in Paris yesterday, a, Tony Blair found time to give a video interview to the editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber.
On the advice of Patrick Hennessy at Three Line Whip, I've just been watching it. And my conclusion is that Blair is still very, very interested in becoming president of Europe.
He didn't exactly put it like that, of course. But he was given four opportunities to dismiss the idea of being a candidate, and not once did he try to do so.
I got the impression that he wants the job quite keenly: watch for yourself and make your own mind up. The issue comes up right at the end, after the questions on Gaza. Here is a transcript of the key exchange.
The scrap trader was immovable, despite Wu Wenxiu's pleas. She would pay one yuan - roughly 10p - for a kilogram of plastic. Around the corner in Shi Yuhai's yard, the offer was no better. Wu shrugged his shoulders and began to heave bags from his tricycle on to the scales. "One kuai [yuan] here, one kuai there - everywhere's the same these days. This industry has broken down," he grumbled. Wu is one of 160,000 collectors in Beijing who make a living from the detritus of urban life - plastic sheeting, office printouts, bottles, radiators and scraps of cardboard. Recycling has become a global industry and China is the largest importer of the world's waste materials, taking in as much as a third of Britain's recyclables for example. Then came the slump, decimating the Chinese recycling industry and leaving Britain, the US and others grappling with growing volumes of recycled waste and nowhere to send it.
The scrap trader was immovable, despite Wu Wenxiu's pleas. She would pay one yuan - roughly 10p - for a kilogram of plastic. Around the corner in Shi Yuhai's yard, the offer was no better. Wu shrugged his shoulders and began to heave bags from his tricycle on to the scales. "One kuai [yuan] here, one kuai there - everywhere's the same these days. This industry has broken down," he grumbled.
Wu is one of 160,000 collectors in Beijing who make a living from the detritus of urban life - plastic sheeting, office printouts, bottles, radiators and scraps of cardboard. Recycling has become a global industry and China is the largest importer of the world's waste materials, taking in as much as a third of Britain's recyclables for example. Then came the slump, decimating the Chinese recycling industry and leaving Britain, the US and others grappling with growing volumes of recycled waste and nowhere to send it.
Yet recycling, under the current system, is less benign than it sounds. Dropping your old electronic gear off with a recycling company or at a municipal collection point does not guarantee that it will be safely disposed of. While some recyclers process the material with an eye toward minimizing pollution and health risks, many more sell it to brokers who ship it to the developing world, where environmental enforcement is weak. For people in countries on the front end of this arrangement, it's a handy out-of-sight, out-of-mind solution.
So I read the Guardian's article in full.
Recycling has become a global industry and China is the largest importer of the world's waste materials, taking in as much as a third of Britain's recyclables for example.
"Taking in" is a weasely phrase. What portion, I wonder, is recycled by Chinese buyers into packing sold domestically and internationally, say, a UK firm like Tesco; What portion is simply dumped in Chinese landfills? This article is a helpful companion in illustrating the marketing (i.e. distribution) of waste sorted and collected in the UK. It is a bit vague. I'll wander over to Closed Loop and the Waste and Resources Action Programme.
One thing is clear. Local manufacture of recycled products ought to be key beneficiaries of infrastructure and investment "recovery" plans. I really wish it weren't so difficult to find transparent, bipartisan consensus on that project. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Half of the world's population could face severe food shortages by the end of the century as rising temperatures take their toll on farmers' crops, scientists have warned.Harvests of staple food crops such as rice and maize could fall by between 20% and 40% as a result of higher temperatures during the growing season in the tropics and subtropics. Warmer temperatures in the region are also expected to increase the risk of drought, cutting crop losses further, according to a new study.The worst of the food shortages are expected to hit the poor, densely inhabited regions of the equatorial belt, where demand for food is already soaring because of a rapid growth in population.A study in the US journal Science found there was a 90% chance that by the end of the century, the coolest temperatures in the tropics during the crop growing season would exceed the hottest temperatures recorded between 1900 and 2006.
Half of the world's population could face severe food shortages by the end of the century as rising temperatures take their toll on farmers' crops, scientists have warned.
Harvests of staple food crops such as rice and maize could fall by between 20% and 40% as a result of higher temperatures during the growing season in the tropics and subtropics. Warmer temperatures in the region are also expected to increase the risk of drought, cutting crop losses further, according to a new study.
The worst of the food shortages are expected to hit the poor, densely inhabited regions of the equatorial belt, where demand for food is already soaring because of a rapid growth in population.
A study in the US journal Science found there was a 90% chance that by the end of the century, the coolest temperatures in the tropics during the crop growing season would exceed the hottest temperatures recorded between 1900 and 2006.
Zimbabwean soldiers are being given elephant meat for their rations, a wildlife campaigner has told the BBC. Jonny Rodrigues from the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said that several soldiers had complained to him that was the only meat they were given. Zimbabwe is believed to have some 100,000 elephants - more than its parks can sustainably hold and its economy is in freefall.
Zimbabwean soldiers are being given elephant meat for their rations, a wildlife campaigner has told the BBC.
Jonny Rodrigues from the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said that several soldiers had complained to him that was the only meat they were given.
Zimbabwe is believed to have some 100,000 elephants - more than its parks can sustainably hold and its economy is in freefall.
An American surgeon is demanding that his estranged wife returns a kidney he donated to her or pays him $1.5m in compensation. Dr Richard Batista has gone public with the demand saying he is fed up with how long it is taking for his divorce to be finalised.
An American surgeon is demanding that his estranged wife returns a kidney he donated to her or pays him $1.5m in compensation.
Dr Richard Batista has gone public with the demand saying he is fed up with how long it is taking for his divorce to be finalised.
Rare footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists. Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew; it can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite. Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species. Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed. The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic - one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti).
Rare footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists.
Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew; it can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite.
Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species.
Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed.
The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic - one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti).
A nine-year-old girl, allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother, has been found using a mobile phone signal and Google Street View. A police officer and a firefighter in Athol, Massachusetts, joined forces after authorities were alerted that Natalie Maltais had been taken. Officers used GPS in the girl's mobile phone to find her approximate location. They fed the co-ordinates into Google Street View, pinpointing a hotel where the child was subsequently found.
A nine-year-old girl, allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother, has been found using a mobile phone signal and Google Street View.
A police officer and a firefighter in Athol, Massachusetts, joined forces after authorities were alerted that Natalie Maltais had been taken.
Officers used GPS in the girl's mobile phone to find her approximate location.
They fed the co-ordinates into Google Street View, pinpointing a hotel where the child was subsequently found.
US President-elect Barack Obama is to appear on the cover of a special edition of a Spider-Man comic. A six-page story, with the superhero saving the day when an imposter tries to take Mr Obama's place as president, will hit shelves next Wednesday. Marvel Comics editor Joe Quesada said the idea for edition came after Mr Obama admitted he was a Spider-Man fan. "How great is that? The commander-in-chief to be is actually a nerd-in-chief," Mr Quesada said. Mr Obama's fan status was revealed by his campaign team, who released 10 little-known facts about the Democrat. "Right at the top of that list was he collected Spider-Man comics," Mr Quesada said.
US President-elect Barack Obama is to appear on the cover of a special edition of a Spider-Man comic.
A six-page story, with the superhero saving the day when an imposter tries to take Mr Obama's place as president, will hit shelves next Wednesday.
Marvel Comics editor Joe Quesada said the idea for edition came after Mr Obama admitted he was a Spider-Man fan.
"How great is that? The commander-in-chief to be is actually a nerd-in-chief," Mr Quesada said.
Mr Obama's fan status was revealed by his campaign team, who released 10 little-known facts about the Democrat.
"Right at the top of that list was he collected Spider-Man comics," Mr Quesada said.
By HOLLAND COTTER Published: January 8, 2009 In the 17th century the Netherlands was the most prosperous country in Europe. Then at midpoint of the century, partly because of a draining war, the bubble burst. The Dutch art market, at its zenith, collapsed. People thought, "Oh, it's just a phase." It wasn't. The golden age of Dutch art was over. Rembrandt was hit especially hard. A decade earlier he had been a star, with a client waiting list a mile long. Amsterdam, like New York today, was a town of culture-craving burghers who had to have -- had to have -- a Rembrandt in their homes. So he turned himself into an art machine, piled on assistants to finish off work, and became very rich.
In the 17th century the Netherlands was the most prosperous country in Europe. Then at midpoint of the century, partly because of a draining war, the bubble burst. The Dutch art market, at its zenith, collapsed. People thought, "Oh, it's just a phase." It wasn't. The golden age of Dutch art was over.
Rembrandt was hit especially hard. A decade earlier he had been a star, with a client waiting list a mile long. Amsterdam, like New York today, was a town of culture-craving burghers who had to have -- had to have -- a Rembrandt in their homes. So he turned himself into an art machine, piled on assistants to finish off work, and became very rich.
A rice planting robot developed by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan is the grand prize winner of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 2008 Robot Awards. There were some other hardware awards, but the only other really interesting winner was (I'm pretty sure) this little guy. Anyway, the ricebot is the first one in the world to be completely automated, using GPS and gyros to figure out its position in the field and keep the rice planted in nice, tidy lines.
