I swear, Zach is reading my mind. Click to read the punch line.
But I imagine what would really happen is that this would only get fully funded as long as the LHC had an abstinence-only provision on daughter particles.
These Flying High Voltage Line Repairmen Are Crazy [Electricity]
You need insulated gonads of steel to get into a harness and let a helicopter fly you into a high voltage cable to service them. That's precisely what the technicians from Air2 do for utilities companies nationwide. [Air2 via Flightglobal] More »
HTC Desire Review: An Even More Desirable Nexus One [Android]
You could say we've already reviewed the HTC Desire. After all, it's essentially a jumped-up Nexus One with a few minor changes, right? Wrong. HTC Sense, Adobe Flash support and an optical trackpad make it a brand new experience. More »
What If Adobe Flash Is Bundled With Google Chrome? [Rumor]
Curious, possibly weird: ZDNet editor-in-chief Larry Dignan says Adobe and Google are planning to announce tomorrow that they're bundling Flash with Google's "Chrome browser and or operating system." I'm not sure how much it move would really change the current Flash/no-Flash internet calculus, since Chrome still has just a tiny (but growing) portion of the browser market, you can already get Flash on Chrome (presumably everybody with Chrome has Flash already) and there are other forces at work in the internetosphere. More »
15 iPads Per Best Buy Means the Lines Will Be Short [Unconfirmed]
According to a leaked Best Buy iPad playbook, each store getting the iPad for D-day is supposed to receive exactly 15—five each of the 16, 32 and 64GB versions. Again, they won't be on the website, and there might be another round of iPads on April 11, if Apple doesn't hold stock back for its own needs. In other words, Best Buy isn't much of a backup plan if you haven't already pre-ordered, and if you're gonna camp out, you're probably better off at an Apple Store. [TUAW] More »
One Day We’ll All Have a Living Room Lamborghini [Garages]
"I want a 9 car garage and be able to enjoy viewing one of them in the living room." And so it came to pass, and the people rejoiced. I love it when rich people go bonkers, don't you? More »
Protecting Precision Tools From Humidity-Induced Corrosion
I have many precision measuring tools and a shop that has high humidity, especially in the winter time. I would like to keep my tools in the shop where I have access to them when I work. I presently have to keep them in the house. Can you suggest a way that I can provide protection for my tools from
Radar Displays and Layering
I am doing a project where in I am simulating the Radar display... I need to write the code using advanced opengl (Layering concept).... But I am not finding the right person to guide me for this project.... Can I know whome I should contact for this...???
Thank You...
How the iPhone Could End Up In Second Place [Smartphones]
Here are the US mobile web traffic figures for iPhone OS and Android, getting ready to collide: Android, on its way up; iPhone, on its way down. So when will Android overtake the iPhone? Try next month. More »
iTunes 9.1 Is All About Books and Making Genius Mixes Smarter [Rumor]
With the iPad comes new iTunes. MacRumors hears that 9.1 will have a minor overhaul, organized around books, and smarter, more customizable Genius mixes. More »
Driving Screws at 90 Degrees
I am having problems with some lab equipment. The distance between the case and the part I want to remove won't let me use even my shortest screwdriver. I am about to cut part of the handle of the screwdriver, but want to check if there is some kind of "elbow screwdriver" for this kind of job.
Google’s Solution to Android Fragmentation: Break It Apart [Rumor]
Android's problem: There's a lot of Androids out there! 1.5, 1.6, 2.0 and 2.1, just to name the major current versions. A problem, 'cause spiffy apps that'll run on 2.0 won't run on 1.5, and now everybody's confused. Google's solution? More »
‘Vincere’ stars Futurist Art
Apparently. I will see it this week and report back…
Released in Italy May 20, 2009.
Chimp Bones & Monkey Blood: Folk Medicine Threatens 101 Primates | 80beats
Last week’s meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) put the spotlight on marine species like the bluefin tuna and some endangered sharks, as the meeting failed to protect them from being overfished to extinction. But a new survey published in the UK journal Mammal Review reminds us that it’s not just marine animals that are endangered by humans, but also primates.
The survey showed that despite CITES’ tight trade regulations for primates, more than a hundred primate species, from gorillas to monkeys to tiny lorises, are endangered by traditional medicine. The survey found that animals across the world were being hunted and killed for their perceived magical or medicinal values–of the 390 species studied, 101, or more than a quarter, are regularly killed for their body parts, with 47 species being used for their supposed medicinal properties, 34 for use in magical or religious practices, and 20 for both purposes [BBC].
The survey found that people still use primate parts to treat a wide variety of ailments. In Bolivia, spider monkey parts are used to cure snake bites, spider bites, fever, coughs, colds, shoulder pain, and sleeping problems; in India, the survey found that many people believe that macaque blood is a cure for asthma. Other monkeys or lorises have their bones or skulls ground up into powder administered with tea, or have their gall bladders ingested or blood or fat used as ointments [BBC]. Monkeys are also valued in Sierra Leone, where a small piece of chimpanzee bone is tied to a child’s waist or wrist, as parents believe it will make the child stronger as he grows older.
But even as primate body parts are considered valuable, local customs and beliefs can sometimes be instrumental in helping save the species, the survey found. In parts of Asia, Hindu beliefs help protect species such as long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Bali or grey langurs (Semnopithecus spp) in India. While in the village of Bossou in the Republic of Guinea, the Manon people consider chimpanzees sacred [BBC].
Apart from the indiscriminate hunting, the survey noted that other pressures like loss of habitat, subsistence hunting, and trade in bush meat are also leading to the decline in primate numbers. Of the 101 primate species studied in detail, the researchers found that 12 were classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as being critically endangered, 23 as endangered, and 22 as vulnerable.
The survey comes even as the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) issued a statement this month urging its members not to use tiger bone or any other parts from endangered wildlife, as they had no proven medicinal value. The use of tiger bones was also removed from the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacopeia in 1993 when China instituted a domestic trade ban on tiger parts. But despite, the internal ban, the survey notes, trade in tiger bones still continued.
Related Content:
80beats: It’s Hard Out Here for a Tiger, World Bank Says
80beats: Bushmeat Debate: How Can We Save Gorillas Without Starving People?
80beats: New Threat to Primates Worldwide: Being “Eaten Into Extinction”
DISCOVER: Extinction—It’s What’s for Dinner
Image: iStockphoto
See WK2 and SS2 fly in New Mexico this October
Well, at least flyby overhead. The organizers of the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) announced today that the two vehicles will put in an appearance in the skies over Spaceport America in New Mexico on October 22, the day after the two-day ISPCS. “This will be the first long distance test flight of the VG spaceship and mothership system as part of the celebrations inaugurating the completion of the runway at Virgin Galactic’s future home – Spaceport America,” the announcement states. The two vehicles made their first captive-carry flight last week.
To get a feel for what it (hopefully) will be like, here’s video I shot last June in Las Cruces as WhiteKnightTwo made a low pass over the runway at the local airport, after a planned flyby of Spaceport America the previous day was scrubbed because of a technical problem with the aircraft:
All the iPad Video Tours You Need [Ipad]
Get Snow Leopard 10.6.3 Now, It Fixes Lots of Things [Apple]
Snow Leopard 10.6.3 is waiting for you to grab it via Software Update—it fixes lots of things, from QuickTime X to OpenGL to "reliability of 3rd party USB devices." If it does anything else magical, we'll let you know. More »
Cornered Glass Spider Trap [Design]
This Cornered Glass was designed by James Laurie for nature lovers. Those who, whenever they see a giant spider in their homes, want to catch it to free it outside the house. I will keep using my method: More »
CMS IntelliCAD – Upgrade Advice
Hello Guys & Gals,
I really could use some advice from you that also use CMS IntelliCAD. I'm only looking to upgrade my older version of the software and not looking to switch to another brand. I like what I do have installed, but it's getting a little old in the tooth, so I'm s
The iPad Is Coming, and So Are iPad Posts. Here’s How to Skip ‘Em [Announcements]
It's iPad week! Like it or not, this is gonna be the biggest story of the next few days. If you'd prefer to not see iPad or Apple posts, here's how: More »
