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The American actor, Kevin Costner gave $24 million for the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This only proves that he is a true nature lover. He has also invested 15 years for this condition and it is considered as a novel act. He started this act while working on his film “Waterworld” that was released in 1995.

Costner is working on a technology that will help save the gulf. Officials with Ocean Therapy Solutions stated that the machine works on the principle of centrifugal force. In this case, diesel fuel and water enter the machine together and are jettisoned separately, with water on one side and diesel on the other. The machine will clean the water up to 97 percent. Costner was very happy about the machine that they had created as he stated “I just am really happy that this has come to the light of day,” However it was heart breaking for him to see what is happening in the gulf, and he stated that he and his group will face this problem as a team.

Louisiana attorney John Houghtaling said the technology was originally developed with the help of Department of Energy. He further stated, “The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed. On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99% pure water.”
Actor Stephen Baldwin, who is producing a documentary about the oil spill and Costner’s device, stated “It certainly is an odd thing to see a ‘Kevin Costner’ and a ‘centrifugal oil separator’ together in a place like the Gulf of Mexico, but, hey, some of the best ideas sometimes come from the strangest places.”

As an active environmentalist, Costner is actually doing a great job. He has helped the environment for many times not only in movies but in reality.

Related posts:

1. Kevin Costner joins the fight against the oil spill
2. Oil Spill Gulf of Mexico 2010: Coast Guard to start oil burn today!
3. Mexico Oil Spill : Lives and Money

NBC’s “The Marriage Ref” season finale will feature Demi Moore, Kelly Ripa and comedian Jim Breuer lending their words of wisdom.

“The Marriage Ref” is a TV series hosted by the comedian Tom Papa. It is first aired on NBC on February 28, 2010. The premise of the show involves real-life couples who have been having an ongoing fight. A video clip is shown to the three member celebrity panel, showing both sides of the argument. The panel shall decide and vote who they think is right.

The all-star panel, composed of Jim Breuer, Kelly Ripa and Demi Moore will assess and observe classic marital tiffs and offer their unique opinions and engaging thoughts in an effort to help host and ‘marriage ref’ Tom Papa make the ultimate decision on who is right.

Breuer first rose to be famous as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1998. On SNL, Breuer’s characters included “Goat Boy” who hosted the very fictional MTV show “Hey, remember the 80’s?” and “Got talk” skits.

Related posts:

1. Tom Hanks’ Slip-up on the Regis and Kelly Show
2. Greg Giraldo As Celebrity Guest For NBC’s The Marriage Ref
3. Good Morning America, Jonas Brothers And Demi Lovato

Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES [5.17 p.m.]: After we celebrate Christmas Day we have a recovery day on Boxing Day, which was called originally the Feast of St Stephen. Stephen was the first Christian deacon and martyr. You can read about him and his death in Acts 6 and 7 of the Bible. Stephen was honoured wherever Christians served the poor, the widows and the orphaned, and where Christians died for their faith. The lovely old church across the road from Parliament House is also called St Stephens and has a fascinating history. It was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century by a group of dissenters from the Scots Presbyterian Church, which had been founded in 1823 by the brilliant Reverend John Dunmore Lang, who later became an outstanding parliamentarian in this very Legislative Council. In fact, it is said that Reverend John Dunmore Lang while in this Chamber is owed much of the credit for the development of New South Wales as a free country, rather than as a convict settlement, due to his foresight and vision.

But his approach to ministry apparently did not please everyone and the resulting dissenters first met in a small hall in Macquarie Place, later ending up in a building across from the Mint in the Wesleyan Chapel and then relocated to Pitt Street, where subsequently I became its minister. In 1848 the Presbyterian Church relocated to the independent chapel in Pitt Street near the School of Arts. Then during the Gold Rush years a prefabricated iron church was imported from Glasgow and erected in 1855 next to Parliament House, between here and the Mitchell Library. Such iron churches were very popular at the time in Britain, and of course we in the Legislative Council are sitting in one such church. The new iron church next door could seat 800 worshippers but, being made of iron, it was exceedingly hot in summertime, and bitterly cold in wintertime. Later it was moved to the Lidcombe hospital, where it became the chapel. In front of the new section of the Mitchell Library on the footpath there is a bronze picture-plaque of that church.

It was around this time that the traditional name of St Stephen’s was chosen for this church opposite Parliament House. It was considered to be traditional because Westminster Parliament in England had met in its St Stephen’s Chapel at Westminster for many hundreds of years. The very fact that members of Parliament sit opposite each other on benches is because the first Parliament in Britain sat in the choir chapel of St Stephen’s. By 1875 the Presbyterian congregation of St Stephen’s combined with another meeting in Phillip Street and became the leading centre of Presbyterianism. It was not until 1935 that St Stephen’s opposite Parliament House became a handsome, newly built church building, which stands on its present position. As members can easily see, the church is currently having a sandstone facelift.

The church has seen some outstanding churchmen in its history, one of whom was John Ferguson. In August 1894 Ferguson was inducted into St Stephen’s, which was by then the largest Presbyterian congregation in Sydney. Ferguson’s first address, which was later published as The Economic Value of the Gospel, caused enormous controversy and was highly praised and distributed by Labor Party and trade union leaders. The Labor politician Billy Hughes, who later became the Prime Minister of Australia, said at the time that Reverend Ferguson “grapples with the problems of poverty, he insists on justice being done, though the heavens fall. I advise every citizen to read every word of it!”

St Stephen’s most famous minister was Reverend Gordon Powell, the extremely popular Australian preacher. More than 1,000 people would attend his Wednesday lunchtime services and Sunday mornings were always packed. Another contribution worth mentioning is that for many years St Stephen’s in Macquarie Street, Sydney, had a brilliant choir led by Peter Dodds McCormick, who was the author of the anthem Advance Australia Fair, which was first sung in St Stephen’s on St Andrew’s Day in 1878. St Stephen’s in Macquarie Street later became a part of the Uniting Church in Australia upon the union of the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in 1977. Since its beginnings it has played a significant part in the heart of Sydney’s business and political districts. With God’s blessing, it will continue its ministry for years to come.

Another hospitalization for Bret? Michaels is “up, walking, talking, continuing his daily rehab and very happy to be alive,” and he hopes to make a full recovery. But what did really happen to him?

In Los Angeles California, the rockstar and “Celebrity Apprentice” cast Bret Michaels was reconfined to the hospital due to complaints of heart attack like symptoms. It is reported that the new condition is not related nor similar to the stroke or the so-called “brain attack” that he suffered few weeks ago. Although it was called by the doctor to be a “warning stroke” , reports say that it is a kind of a patent foramen ovale of the heart. “Foramen ovale” is an opening in the heart present in prenatal periods and is supposed to close after the early hours of neonatal period or after birth when the blood flow direction in the heart reverses. There are infants whose foramen ovale won’t close, a kind of a disease called PDA, causing a mixing of oxygenated and unoxygenated blood in the heart therefore decreases the efficiency of the tissue oxygenation. It was called a warning stoke most probably since a deacrease in oxygenation in originating from the heart follows a decrease in oxygenation in the brain. Before the actual stroke happened, pain over the chest, numbness and weakness over the left or right arm with radiation to the jaw may be experienced.

Related posts:

1. Brett Michaels back in hospital after a “Warning Stroke” – Update in his Condition
2. Bret Michaels Has A ‘Warning Stroke’
3. Update On Bret Michaels Condition

I ask the Hon John Robertson on behalf of Hon Frank Sartor, Minister assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) the following question without notice: Is the Minister aware that the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has just released their projections of the number of gynaecological cancers that are likely to occur in New South Wales by the year 2015? Is the Minister aware that the specialist staff to diagnose, treat and provide ongoing care for women with these cancers, including ovarian, uterine, and cervical, is already less than optimal? Can the Minister please indicate what steps will be taken to provide specialist medical personnel to cope adequately for the future needs of the women of NSW who will be diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer?

The Turanor is preparing for its journey around the world. And no, we aren’t talking about anything or anyone related to The Lord of the Rings. This Turanor is a solar powered yacht, greener then the technology in JRR Tolkein’s trilogy of supernatural creatures. The world’s largest solar powered yacht, the brainchild of skipper Raphael Domjan, is 30 meters long and boasts 536 square-meters of photovoltaic panels. That’s as big as two tennis courts. These photovoltaics will help the Turanor on its circumnavigation of the earth. The catamaran type vehicle costs a sweet $16 million and travels at an average speed of 7.5 knots.

The batteries can store enough power to last 72 hours, if the sun decides to ditch the journeymen on their way. The solar-powered giant took around 14 months of sweat and labor to construct. We wish it a Bon Voyage!

[CNN]

The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing, so what better way to show team spirit then by wearing a pair of NHL inspired headphones.  Coloud has released six pairs of officially endorsed headphones sporting colors and logos of NHL teams such as the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, NHL Montreal Canadians, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Each one retails for $39.95 and even if your fav team isn’t one of the headphones available from Coloud, its a great gift for your girlfriend who has to endure going with you. That way she can listen to her iPod.

Eco Factor: Solar panel designed in the shape of a leaf.

Solar power is definitely green and companies like Greendix have started efforts to make these panels look green as well. The company has developed the world’s first leaf-shaped crystalline silicon solar panel in the world via new proprietary technology.

Greendix’s breakthrough new patented technology allows the manufacturing of custom shaped crystalline silicon solar panels. Greendix solar panels are also available in a variety of colors, so designers are not longer restricted by the usual rectangular shapes and dark colors.

Greendix’s new patented process offers designers unlimited new ways to integrate solar technology into their projects. This leaf-shaped solar panel is the first of many products showcasing this new technology. Greendix states that the company wanted to revolutionize existing technology so that it can seamlessly merge with our surroundings.

Greendix’s solar tree concept not only provides aesthetic advantages, but also serves as a viable alternative to traditional solar panels in the generation of electricity from the sun. The company also plans to develop several new custom shaped solar panels in the near feature to show case the potential of this new market.

Via: Greendix [Press Release]

Toyota and Tesla will become partners to produce electric vehicles at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., a plant that Toyota last year ruled too inefficient to keep open.

Tesla will acquire the now-closed NUMMI property and employ 1,000 people building unspecified electric vehicles in a partnership with the world’s largest automaker, the companies announced today in Palo Alto, Calif.

Toyota will invest $50 million in the small California-based electric sports maker in exchange for Tesla’s common stock when the EV company completes its planned initial public offering.

Speaking at the announcement, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he admired the entrepreneurial spirit at Tesla and hoped the venture will teach Toyota about quick decision-making and flexibility.

“Decades ago,” Toyoda said, “Toyota was also born as a venture business. By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that venture business spirit, and take on the challenges of the future.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company would spend “a couple of hundred million dollars” preparing NUMMI for the project.

NUMMI, a former joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, closed earlier this year amid a storm of criticism from the plant’s UAW work force.

Musk said the negotiations to acquire the closed plant concluded yesterday.

He said that Tesla’s next model, a Model S that will debut in 2012, will only account for about 20,000 units a year, but said other models will follow off of the Model S platform.

“We’re going to be occupying a little corner,” Musk said.

He said that eventually the project would account for 10,000 jobs, including supplier jobs.

Tesla’s Model S is being made possible thanks to a $465 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. Until that product appears, Tesla is marketing a two-seat electric sports car that retails for more than $100,000.

Tesla has said that the Model S will sell for closer to $40,000.

Until now, Toyota has expressed little interest in electric cars. The Japanese automaker has staked considerable research and marketing investment on its popular hybrid-drive vehicles, including the Prius and hybrid Camry.

For more

Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

Biking champion Lance Armstrong crashed today during the Tour of California cycling race Thursday.

During the race, a rider in the main group skidded on some gravel and fell, causing others, including 7-time Tour De France champion, Lance Armstrong to crash.

Armstrong was evaluated by Race doctor Ramin Modabber and Team doctor Dag Van Elslande in the Team bus. Armstrong suffered an inch-long gash below his left eye and a severe bruise on his left elbow. Doctors have administered eight stitches below his left eye. Then, Armstrong was taken to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital for precautionary X-rays. He is negative for broken bones.

There were allegations that Lance Armstrong was doping before the crash happened. But he denied the accusations. Armstong was disappointed for not finishing the race. He even tried to resume riding but soon gave up due to his injuries.

“It was a shame to have to abandon early and not be able to help Levi to another victory,” Armstrong said in a statement. “It was one of those crashes that put a bunch of us down.”

Related posts:

1. Lance Armstrong accident in Amgen Tour of California
2. Landis Drags Armstrong On PED Confession
3. Greg LeMond’s Side on Landis vs Armstrong

Eco Factor: Vintage car propelled by lead acid batteries.

If you think that electric cars are a feat of modern automobile engineering, it’s time for you to think again. Check out this 1920 Milburn Electric, a beautiful antique vehicle that could be considered modern even by today’s standards. The vehicle features swappable battery tech, a DC charge port, a 20mph top speed and an all-electric range of 100miles.

(more…)

Any regular readers of this blog know where I stand on this issue. (Hint: I’m a pretty big fan of synthetic biology.)

From the first link, the release:

Press Release: Moral Issues Raised by Synthetic Biology Subject of Hastings Center Project

Project completes third workshop as news of first synthetic bacterial genome announced

(Garrison NY) A Hastings Center workshop examining moral issues in synthetic biology completed its third meeting as the J. Craig Venter Group announced that it had created the first viable cell with a synthetic genome. “Synthetic biology certainly raises deep philosophical and moral questions about the human relationship to nature,” according to Gregory Kaebnick, a Hastings Center scholar who is managing the project. “It’s not clear what the answers to those questions are.  If  by ‘nature’ we mean the world around us, more or less as we found it, we may well decide that synthetic biology does not really change the human relationship to nature—and may even help us preserve what is left of it.”

Nor is it clear that the questions raised by synthetic biology are new ones. According to Thomas H. Murray, president of The Hastings Center and the project’s principal investigator, “We have come up against similar problems in other domains—most notably, in work on nanotechnology and gene transfer technology—but synthetic biology poses them especially sharply and pressingly.”

The Hastings Center has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into ethical issues in emerging technology. The synthetic biology project is funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation . Project participants include synthetic biologists, bioethicists, philosophers, and public policy experts. The Center’s work is part of a comprehensive look at synthetic biology by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Other participants in the initiative are the J. Craig Venter Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

This post is part of the IT Innovation series, sponsored by Oracle & Intel. Read more at ITInnovation.com.
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iamtheky sends in the story of a UC San Diego Professor, Ricardo Dominguez, whose focus of research is “electronic civil disobedience,” (for which he received tenure and a fellowship from his university), but who is now potentially facing discipline or even criminal charges from the university for staging a “virtual sit-in” to protest budget cuts. It certainly raises questions about the line between telling people to visit a website and a hack attack to take down a website. It’s difficult to see how just telling people to go to a website should ever qualify as any kind of attack, but the University is said to be contemplating criminal charges.

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Dennis C. Blair will resign Friday as the US Director of National Intelligence after a term damaged by the failures of U.S. spy agencies to detect insurgencies.

Retired U.S. Navy admiral Dennis C. Blair leaves his office 16 months after President Barack Obama surprisingly appointed him as Director of National Intelligence. Blair was offered to resign after a private phone conversation with President Obama on Thursday.

According to ABC News, President Obama has been holding serious conversations about Blair’s resignation and has interviewed candidates to replace him.

Dennis Blair had been charged with carrying out Obama’s campaign pledge to move the country away from controversial programs such as CIA’s use of harsh interrogation methods. He also make public comments that revealed his disappointment with the way the intelligence community works.

Officials said Blair was asked to step down because the dissatisfaction President Obama and the National Security Staff had with Blair’s ability to share intelligence in a tight, coherent and timely way. They were dissappointed with Blair as the principal intelligence adviser to the president.

Related posts:

1. President Obama Replaces Resigned Dennis Blair
2. Dennis Blair resigns as director of U.S. National Intelligence
3. Obama Mistress, Vera Baker and Barack Obama President’s first mistress?

There were some lucky dogs in my home when we opened up our sample of The Honest Kitchen Wishes treats.

Wishes are suitable for both cats and dogs, and can be used as a general reward or aid to training. Wishes are made with 100% wild caught Haddock from Iceland using sustainable fishing practices.

Iceland places a strong emphasis on the protection of its marine habitats and manages the waters off its coasts to prevent over-fishing. Icelandic haddock stocks have risen dramatically in the past 5 years.

They’re grain-free, delicious and perfect for sensitive pets who suffer from allergies or intolerance to certain foods such as grains and proteins.

Ingredients

100% human-grade, wild caught Icelandic Haddock.

When you open this bag, the fish smell exudes, which was my first clue these treats are what they claim to be. My dogs hungrily ate these treats begging for more. My only complaint is the bag is a little small when you have three large dogs, but these are high quality treats!

Disclosure: I was sent free samples of these products to review. No prior assurances were given as to whether the review be positive or negative.

Via Headlines – David Icke Website

Read more: US House Backs Israel Missile Aid Bill

Google I/O started off a little slow on Wednesday, but boy did Thursday take over, with the announcement of Android 2.2 — Froyo — and Google TV. Here’s what we’ve posted thus far. And while we’re headed home from San Francisco, we’re not done with the news just yet. More to come.

Day One

• Android Writers Roundtable: Predictions for Google I/O
• Official Google I/O T-shirt has a few surprises
• Google IO Keynote liveblog — live at noon EDT / 9 a.m. PDT
• Sports Illustrated shows what print publications can (and should) do online
• What else is going on at Google IO?
• Hands-on with the Android Kindle app
• Seesmic shares new Android beta with Google I/O attendees, with support for Google Buzz
• The Great Wall of Android

Day Two

• Today: Froyo; tomorrow (er, Q4): Gingerbread
• Hands-on with the Chevy Volt OnStar Android app
• Google IO Day 2 Keynote: Froyo time!
• Android: 100,000 units per day, 2nd in smartphones, 1st in usage
• Google takes plenty of shots at Apple at Google IO
• Android to stream your desktop music over the air.
• Google shows off new mobile ad formats
• Most 2010 HTC Android phones will get Froyo …in 2010
• Android 2.2, Froyo, officially announced, but no release date in sight
• Google Announces Google TV, coming Fall 2010 (Update: Video demo)
• Adobe explains Flash 10.1 on Android
• Logitech + Google TV details: specific remote, Video calling software
• Android 2.2 / Froyo to bring Bluetooth voice dialing
• Hands-on with Laminar Research’s X-Plane Android flight sim
• Why the Google phone store didn’t work out (and what happened to the Sprint and Verizon Nexus Ones)

Here’s the latest version of ant512’s handy GUI library for creating user interfaces for DS homebrews, Woopsi. Find out what’s the new changes in version 0.99 after the jump.
 
 
Download: Woopsi v0.99

A study showed that there is a link between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. On the other hand, scientists are now developing an eye test that can be useful for people because it can detect Alzheimer’s disease.

A research proposed last January 15, in London, U.K that a simple eye test could detect the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease early in life, thus early treatment can be given. Now a research was again conducted and the new five year study, which is published in Journal pLos One, looked at the links between dementia and cataracts in people with Down’s syndrome. Dr Lee Goldstein, of Boston University’s Alzheimer’s disease Centre stated that “People with Down’s syndrome develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s-type dementia often by the age of 30. This is because they have an extra copy of a key Alzheimer’s gene that leads to increased amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain. We discovered that this same protein starts to accumulate very early in the lens of the eye, even in children.”

The researchers discovered and supposed that the same protein could be found in the eyes of people without Down’s syndrome who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The results were striking as stated by Dr David Hunt, an Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital Boston and Vice Chairman.

How can the eye test detect Alzheimer’s disease? In the research that was proposed earlier in London, the researchers stated that the test involves applying eye drops or injection and then clicking a photograph of the eye with an infra-red camera. A chemical marker is then used to highlight the nerve cell damage. How ever, with the results of the recent study, the scientists say they are developing an eye scanner to measure amyloid beta in the lens.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia among old people. It is very serious since it affects the ability of the person to perform daily activities. Down syndrome also affects the person mentally and knowing now that they have connection, it is a good thing that they are planning for ways in preventing it, like the use of Eye test.

Related posts:

1. Forget Me Not Darling
2. Dementia “Contagious” Between Spouses
3. Diet can influence risk of Alzheimer’s

A major distance breakthrough in “teleporting” quantum entanglement.

From the link:

Scientists in China have succeeded in teleporting information between photons further than ever before. They transported quantum information over a free space distance of 16 km (10 miles), much further than the few hundred meters previously achieved, which brings us closer to transmitting information over long distances without the need for a traditional signal.

Quantum teleportation is not the same as the teleportation most of us know from science fiction, where an object (or person) in one place is “beamed up” to another place where a perfect copy is replicated. In quantum teleportation two photons or ions (for example) are entangled in such a way that when the quantum state of one is changed the state of the other also changes, as if the two were still connected. This enables quantum information to be teleported if one of the photons/ions is sent some distance away.