*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
German university students staged demonstrations across the country on Thursday to protest recent reforms to the country's degree system and tuition fees. They also complain that colleges are underfunded and understaffed. By 2010, Germany will follow the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate format as part of the EU's Bologna reforms, aimed at synchronizing Europe's higher education standards. But critics say the new system will be too intense, as the time to complete one's degree will be shorter.
German university students staged demonstrations across the country on Thursday to protest recent reforms to the country's degree system and tuition fees. They also complain that colleges are underfunded and understaffed.
By 2010, Germany will follow the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate format as part of the EU's Bologna reforms, aimed at synchronizing Europe's higher education standards. But critics say the new system will be too intense, as the time to complete one's degree will be shorter.
Russian Orthodox Church leaders have threatened to cut ties with Germany's Protestants for electing a divorced woman as the head of their church. The election has been described as a "sign of crisis in Western society."
Three players from Algeria's national football team were injured when their bus was stoned in Egypt. Algeria and Egypt are set to play a highly charged World Cup qualifier in Cairo on Saturday.
THE FOSSIL remains of a hitherto unknown species of dinosaur that is being hailed as the missing link between prehistoric two-legged animals and those that walked on four legs has been discovered in South Africa.The researchers found the remains of two juvenile skeletons of the newly named Aardonyx celestae, a heavy, slow-moving herbivore that lived near Senekal in the northern Free State province around 950 million years ago. The Aardonyx, which had short, broad feet and a big midriff, was at least 7m long and as tall as a 6ft man even when juvenile.
THE FOSSIL remains of a hitherto unknown species of dinosaur that is being hailed as the missing link between prehistoric two-legged animals and those that walked on four legs has been discovered in South Africa.
The researchers found the remains of two juvenile skeletons of the newly named Aardonyx celestae, a heavy, slow-moving herbivore that lived near Senekal in the northern Free State province around 950 million years ago. The Aardonyx, which had short, broad feet and a big midriff, was at least 7m long and as tall as a 6ft man even when juvenile.
around 950 million years ago.
The correct dating is 195 million years ago. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A "significant amount" of frozen water has been found on the moon, the US space agency said heralding a giant leap forward in space exploration and boosting hopes of a permanent lunar base. Preliminary data from a dramatic experiment on the moon "indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater," NASA said in a statement. "The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," it added, as ecstatic scientists celebrated the landmark discovery. "Yes indeed we found water and we did not find only a little bit but a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the 79-million-dollar LCROSS mission. .... One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour. The rocket was followed four minutes later by a spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the initial impact, which sent a huge plume of material billowing up from the bottom of the crater, untouched by sunlight for billions of years. "In the 20- to 30-meter (66- to 100-foot) crater we found maybe about a dozen, at least, two-gallon buckets of water. This is an initial result," Colaprete told reporters.
"The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," it added, as ecstatic scientists celebrated the landmark discovery.
"Yes indeed we found water and we did not find only a little bit but a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the 79-million-dollar LCROSS mission.
....
One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour. The rocket was followed four minutes later by a spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the initial impact, which sent a huge plume of material billowing up from the bottom of the crater, untouched by sunlight for billions of years.
"In the 20- to 30-meter (66- to 100-foot) crater we found maybe about a dozen, at least, two-gallon buckets of water. This is an initial result," Colaprete told reporters.
Scientists have zeroed in on one apparent key to long life: an inherited cellular repair mechanism that thwarts aging and perhaps helps prevent disease. Researches say the finding could lead to anti-aging drugs. The study involves telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that have been likened to the plastic tips that prevent shoelaces from unraveling. Telomeres were already known to play a key role in aging, and their discovery led to this year's Nobel Prize in medicine. The new study, which focused on Ashkenazi Jews, finds those who lived the longest had inherited a hyperactive version of an enzyme called telomerase that rebuilds telomeres. .... In the new study, Suh and colleagues studied Ashkenazi Jews, a homogeneous population whose genetics are well-studied. Three groups were part of the research: A very old (average age 97) but healthy group of 86 people; 175 of their offspring; and a control group of 93 offspring of parents who lived a normal lifespan. "Our research was meant to answer two questions," explained said Einstein researcher Gil Atzmon in a statement. "Do people who live long lives tend to have long telomeres? And if so, could variations in their genes that code for telomerase account for their long telomeres?" "Yes" on both accounts, the scientists conclude.
The new study, which focused on Ashkenazi Jews, finds those who lived the longest had inherited a hyperactive version of an enzyme called telomerase that rebuilds telomeres.
In the new study, Suh and colleagues studied Ashkenazi Jews, a homogeneous population whose genetics are well-studied. Three groups were part of the research: A very old (average age 97) but healthy group of 86 people; 175 of their offspring; and a control group of 93 offspring of parents who lived a normal lifespan.
"Our research was meant to answer two questions," explained said Einstein researcher Gil Atzmon in a statement. "Do people who live long lives tend to have long telomeres? And if so, could variations in their genes that code for telomerase account for their long telomeres?"
"Yes" on both accounts, the scientists conclude.
PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States' first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration's move to relax policing of medical use of the drug. The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it -- as long as they are out of public view -- despite a federal ban. "This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members," said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization. "Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," said Martinez. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis." The cafe -- in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers -- is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card. Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don't buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from "budtenders". Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license. There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.
"This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members," said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization. "Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," said Martinez. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."
The cafe -- in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers -- is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.
Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don't buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from "budtenders". Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.
There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.
