CLONING

Scottish embryologist Ian Wilmut presented Dolly, the cloned sheep, to a surprised world, ethicists and policymakers have been striving with the settling implications of his study. For years, cloning of adults, animals or humans has been largely the stuff of science invention. Because the successful cloning of a six-year-old sheep, many of the assumptions and questions being raised have roots in the fictional: Could Hitler or the Incan Ice Mummy brought back to life? Would humans be cloned only to cannibalize their organs?

Uses of Cloning

• The production of animals engineered to take human genes for the making of certain. proteins that could be used as drugs; the proteins would be take out from the animal’s
milk and used to treat human diseases

• The mass creation of livestock that have been hereditarily customized to possess certain desirable behavior.
• The upholding of endangered species.
• The production of offspring by infertile couples.
• The production of offspring frees of a potentially disease-causing genetic fault carried by one member of a couple; the person without the defect could be cloned.

From few years now India may not have goa beach.

One of the India's most beautiful beaches is the Goa beach.

One monsoon night in the year 2000, a 240 m long ship, River Princess, broke its anchor and got stuck ion cost . Since then it hasn't budged and the result? Twenty thousand tonnes of rusting metal, on Goa's beaches. This has led to an environmental disaster as these beaches are now almost on the verge of disappearing as the ship interferes with the natural movement of sand.

The Goa government has been accused for not taking any action to remove this ship. Now, 9 years later, just before this monsoon, the government seems to have woken up. The government is placing massive tubes, which they hope will serve as artificial sand dunes, like shock-absorbers between the land and the sea. Tubes cost Rs 6 crore.

The government even introduced a new law that enabled them to remove the ship.
They have permitted this to deliberately degrade and that is the shameful part.
But the damage is more widespread. Scientists say, while Goa thrives on tourism, the industry is also answerable for coastal degradation.

With no one to check its 100 kms seashore line sand dunes and plants on the beaches have been wiped off destroying much of the coasts natural security system.

Swine Flu: HK Quarantines Hundreds At Hotel

Hundreds of tourists and employees were under quarantine in a downtown Hong Kong hotel Saturday after a Mexican guest tested positive for swine flu. With the outbreak on its doorstep, China suspended direct flights from the Latin American country.

Hours after the first confirmed case in Asia was reported, the continent got its second: Tests showed a South Korean woman also had the disease. She has been under quarantine since returning earlier this week from Mexico, the epicenter of the disease.

Sixteen people in Mexico and one toddler in the U.S. have died from the disease. More than 650 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with 397 in Mexico. Canada, Israel, New Zealand and more than a half-dozen European countries have also confirmed cases.

Source: http://www.boston.com/

Car Crashes

Fashion Life

Not content with offering cut-price lobsters and champagne Aldi supermarkets have ventured into the beauty world. And the product that’s hitting the headlines is called Lacura Wrinkle Stop and costs £6. And why is it causing a commotion? For two reasons - it claims to be the new Botox and it contains a form of snake venom.

This isn’t the first time a “snake venom” like substance has been used in creams, the featured image is of Planet Skincare’s daily moisturiser which costs up to £60 per pot. It literally flew off the shelves when Selfridges first introduced it, and top starlets including Hilary Swank are said to be fans.

The chemical involved isn’t exactly snake venom, but a synthetic form based on the paralysing effects of the Asian temple viper snakes. Yes that’s right paralysing effects, hence why it’s the new Botox, the idea is that it stops those pesky nerve signals so your face doesn’t contract which means you can’t get lines. The synthetic venom is called Syn-Ake. Testers claimed that with a twice daily application for four weeks a 52% reduction in the appearance of wrinkles was noted.

It is very interesting, and is sure to cause bedlam in Aldi supermarkets on 20th April. I’m personally a bit of a sceptic about these things, I believe in daily moisturising and SPF 15 every day. But there is no doubt that we all want to look younger and this is preferable to Botox as there’s no injecting poisonous chemicals into your skin. What do you make of anti-aging products? Are they real or just a scam? Will you be trying this snake venom cream?

Source: http://www.myfashionlife.com/

Scared Silly

Sri Lanka Military Says It Pushes Back Rebels

Sri Lanka's military said Thursday it had brushed off a Tamil Tiger counterattack by killing 30 guerrillas, pinning the rebels in a rapidly shrinking area and moving closer to ending the quarter-century-long civil war.

Ethnic Tamil lawmakers, meanwhile, rejected the president's invitation for talks, urging the government to first ensure the safety of civilians trapped in the war zone.

The latest fighting took place on the edge of an enclave controlled by the rebels, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged north. The rebels tried to attack government lines at the village of Iranaippalai, the military said.

"We successfully repulsed the attack and over 30 LTTE cadres were reported killed," military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Nanayakkara said a number of soldiers were wounded in the battle, but did not give details.

Access to the war zone is restricted and it was not possible to confirm the report.

The rebels have been battling since 1983 for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka where it once controlled a large swath of territory, but a series of major victories by government forces in recent weeks has pushed them into a small pocket on the coast.

The rebel holdouts — along with tens of thousands of terrified civilians — are confined to just 8.4 square miles (21 square kilometers) of jungle and beach on the northeastern coast.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa invited the Tamil politicians for talks Thursday evening to discuss the situation in the north. The Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party for ethnic Tamils, said it told Rajapaksa it would not participate until the government halts its military campaign and gives more food and medicine to people trapped in the war zone.

"Any political dialogue can be meaningful only when the humanitarian crisis comes to an end," TNA lawmaker Rajavarothayam Sambanthan told a news conference, adding that about 50 civilians are killed in the fighting daily.

The United Nations and European Union have recently voiced concern over the fate of civilians in Sri Lanka's conflict.

The government has rejected criticism it has not done enough to help them, and Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management Mahinda Samarasinghe said Thursday that "sufficient food and medical supplies" had been sent to help the people. The government last week sent 10 tons of medicine — enough for two weeks, he said.

"We will ensure that there will be no shortage," he told a news conference.

John Holmes, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, said Thursday that the international organization estimates between 150,000 and 190,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting and cannot escape, resulting in dozens of deaths each day.

The government says the number is 50,000 to 60,000, and accuses the rebels of using them as human shields in a bid to avoid defeat.

U.S. diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo said the U.S. has urged Sri Lanka's government to cease shelling in areas where there are large numbers of civilians, including hospitals.

"We've had promises, but we need to see results," she said. "The government of Sri Lanka must pay more attention to protecting the civilians in this conflict."

Sri Lanka's U.N. ambassador Hewa M.G.S. Palihakkara told reporters he would recommend his government consider a pause in fighting if the rebels are cooperative.

"If the LTTE's ready to let these people go, I will posit it to my government to let these people go," Palihakkara said.

The military says more than 55,000 civilians have escaped since the beginning of January.

All are being put into temporary camps, and Samarasinghe said the government decided to transfer the management of camps from the military to a civilian agency, upon the recommendation of Holmes.

Red Cross and ICRC and UNHCR officials will be present when people are screened to make sure they are not rebels, he said.

The rebels could not be reached for comment, because communication with their stronghold has been severed.

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