New breakthrough in AIDS research could present a cure
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under health, science
“We’ve discovered the weak spot of HIV,” declared Dr Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School in Houston on Thursday.
Current HIV drugs cannot destroy the virus because of its ability to mutate and adapt to drugs by changing its coating. Eventually the virus prevails and the infected person succumbs to the infection.
But Dr Paul believes they have cracked the “Achilles heel” of the HIV virus — a small region where the virus cannot change its coating because it is the attachment point to T lymphocytes, the key cell in cell-mediated immunity. If that region is targeted, the virus can be destroyed.
The researchers have tested their findings by arming the immune system with their new weapon that lab tests and animal trials show WORKS.
via US researchers say they may have found Aids cure.
Tags: cure, health, HIV, science
Music Monday – Bloc Party – So Here We Are
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under music, music monday, video
Enjoy Music – This one reminds me of when I first met my wife, Diana.
Tags: bloc party, music, music monday, video
Price gouging on text messaging
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under technology
Once one understands that a text message travels wirelessly as a stowaway within a control channel, one sees the carriers’ pricing plans in an entirely new light. The most profitable plan for the carriers will be the one that collects the most revenue from the customer: unlimited messaging, for which AT&T and Sprint charge $20 a month and T-Mobile, $15.
Customers with unlimited plans, like diners bringing a healthy appetite to an all-you-can-eat cafeteria, might think they’re getting the best out of the arrangement. But the carriers, unlike the cafeteria owners, can provide unlimited quantities of “food” at virtually no cost to themselves — so long as it is served in bite-sized portions.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to pay $20/month for text messaging when you can get unlimited access to the internet from your phone for $20/month. How does that line up? I want to be involved in some of these class action suits… must find.
via Digital Domain – What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting – NYTimes.com.
Tags: cell phone, lawsuit, price gouging, providers, text messaging
Scientists will ignite man-made star to help create energy
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under science
In the spring, a team will begin attempts to ignite a tiny man-made star inside a laboratory and trigger a thermonuclear reaction.
Its goal is to generate temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius and pressures billions of times higher than those found anywhere else on earth, from a speck of fuel little bigger than a pinhead. If successful, the experiment will mark the first step towards building a practical nuclear fusion power station and a source of almost limitless energy.
This sound safe to anyone? I have a feeling this may be similar to the spooky communication between particles in that the properties can only be maintained while it’s something very small (or big in this case). But I guess we shall see.
via Scientists plan to ignite tiny man-made star – Telegraph.
Contra Now Online
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under Games
I remember way back in the day of my trusty NES playing Contra for hours on end. It never seemed possible to beat that game with the original 3 lives. Luckily there was the code. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start. It was one of the first codes I remember entering. At any rate, you can play the old Contra online here. Enjoy.
Our best decisions are made unconsciously
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under science
According to this article, our best decisions are made unconsciously. It makes me wonder if we will be able to use this information to make the best decisions possible.
Our unconscious brain makes the best decisions possible.
Tags: decisions, unconscious
