Non-invasive early test for Alzheimer's

And, heeeee's back!

Lee Goldstein, an neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, may have discovered a non-invasive test for Alzheimer's disease, allowing treatment to begin before the onset of brain damage.

In 2003, Goldstein and his colleagues discovered that the exact same malformed amyloid beta proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are also found in the eye's lens and its surrounding fluid. Now, they have created two noninvasive tests that scan the eye for these telltale molecules to potentially detect the disease in its earliest stages.

Both tests safely and painlessly shine a low-power near-infrared laser into the eye. One test scans for clumps of the amyloid beta protein in part of the lens where they collect to form cataracts. In the other test, special eye drops that bind only to the molecules are used. They glow when hit by the laser. While the eye-drop test provides more detailed molecular information about the proteins, the other test yields more biophysical data, such as the number and size of the particles.

Man-Chimp breakup pinpointed

By using genetic markers, scientists think they've found the point at which humans diverged from chimpanzees.
According to the new theory, the two groups split about 10 million years ago. then the two groups, um, reunited for a while, until a final split about 6 million years ago.
"It's a totally cool and extremely clever analysis," said Daniel Lieberman, a professor of biological anthropology at Harvard. "My problem is imagining what it would be like to have a bipedal hominid and a chimpanzee viewing each other as appropriate mates, not to put it too crudely."
You've obviously never met a shepherd. Not to put it too crudely.

Hamas sanctions

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that the suspension of Western aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority would neither bring down his Hamas-led government nor break his people.

Why do people keep trying this?
It hasn't worked against Cuba, despite the fact that a) Cuba's an island, b) It's right beside the main blockading power, and c) it's been kept up for over a generation.

It has been said that insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different results.

April 1

Today is April Fool's Day.
I doubt you'd believe anything I wrote anyway, so No News Today.
Enjoy yourselves, and don't fall down.

The US spites it's face again - Castro and Katrina

Cuba finished 2nd in the World Baseball Classic. This normally would mean that the Cubans would have received 7% of the profits. Castro said he wanted to donate the money from the World Baseball Classic to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
But U.S. officials say Cuba isn't getting any prize money, in accordance with the 1962 U.S. trade embargo.

Talk about sour grapes! Hasn't this Castro-hatefest gone on long enough? The USA has made up with war criminals easier - and earlier - than this!
Another chance lost for America to prove they can be big about things.
At this rate, I'm going to start thinking that they can't be big about things.

Better a Refugee than a Pensioner

This is in fact a forwarded message I received, but it seems to fit the format.

"Do not apply for your old age pension. Apply to be a refugee instead.
It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00.
This compares very well to a single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Canada for 40 or 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement. Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees! Let's send this thought to as many Canadians as we can and maybe we can get the refugees cut back to $1,012.00 and the pensioners up to $2,470.00 , so they can enjoy the money they were forced to submit to the Canadian government for those 40 to 50 years."

Pentagon developing cyborg bugs.

The Pentagon's defense scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions.
The idea is to insert micro-systems at the pupa stage, when the insects can integrate them into their body, so they can be remotely controlled later.
This is the latest brainstorm from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which has a budget of $2 billion, and a mandate to keep US military technology ahead of rivals.

Well, now we know where some of the budget's $8 trillion is going.