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You know — you grow….

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Sorry, when I think ‘Roman’ I don’t think ‘cavalry’.

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Fats and cholesterol that build up along the insides of blood vessels can limit the flow of blood around the heart, causing heart attacks or strokes. To treat this condition, called atherosclerosis, millions of Americans take drugs every day—the most popular of these, statins, alone cost up to $13 billion per year in 2014, and these don’t work for every patient. Now scientists have discovered that a compound already approved by the FDA can dissolve away this buildup in the blood vessels more effectively than existing treatments. The researchers published their study in Science Translational Medicine.

The compound is called beta-cyclodextrin, and it’s already used in some pharmaceuticals to bind the active drug to fatty acids in the body where it is most needed.

Now, here’s the good news: beta-cyclodextrin is also the main ingredient used to make powdered alcohol. Pour booze into a heap of cyclodextrin, and the alcohol molecules cling to the ring-shaped cyclodextrin molecules, making a fluffy dry powder that packs a punch.

Isn’t that special.

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I am not making this up.

Oprah is probably on her way over as you read this.

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The armor plating shown in the video is made in part from composite metal foams, or CMFs, which are both lighter and stronger than traditional metal plating used in body and vehicle armor.

…

The bullet used in the demonstration video is a 7.62 x 63 millimeter M2 armor-piercing projectile, and was fired using standard testing procedures established by the Department of Justice for evaluating armor types.

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Despite tight budgets at the Pentagon, the Navy wants to speed-up several shipbuilding programs — amphibious warships, destroyers, and submarines — and Congress seems inclined to give them the money. That’s testimony both to the perennial political popularity of shipbuilding, which employs a lot of voters, and to the rising strategic anxiety over the Chinese and Russian fleets, which is driving the Navy to reassess the number and types of ships it needs.

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Supposedly Marquette is a ‘Catholic” school, although you’d never know it — it’s run by Jesuits, so that may explain it.

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In 2014, a team of researchers in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University became the first to successfully eliminate the HIV-1 virus from cultured human cells. Fewer than two years later, the team has made further strides in its research by eliminating the virus from the genome of human T-cells using the specialized gene editing system they designed.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, the researchers show that the method can both effectively and safely eliminate the virus from the DNA of human cells grown in culture.

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Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama.

My, what a surprise! Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

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Therapies based on “induced multipotent stem” (iMS) cells could be tested in human trials as early as next year, according to Australian researchers.

The team, from the University of New South Wales, demonstrated a way of producing iMS cells by reprogramming bone and fat cells.

…

Unlike other kinds of stem cell that can differentiate into many types of tissue, iMS cells are not thought to run the risk of triggering cancer.

Lead scientist Professor John Pimanda, said: “We are currently assessing whether adult human fat cells reprogrammed into iMS cells can safely repair damaged tissue in mice, with human trials expected to begin in late 2017.

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On Saturday afternoon, the motorist lost control of his vehicle while driving along Malibu Canyon Road, leading the SUV to dangle off the side of the cliff, according to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Although the driver managed to climb out of the vehicle, he was then hit by a tour bus that was passing by.

Perhaps God is trying to tell him something.

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Cooked meat provided increased protein, fat and energy, helping hominins grow and thrive. But Mark G. Thomas, an evolutionary geneticist at University College London, and his colleagues argue that there was another important food sizzling on the ancient hearth: tubers and other starchy plants.

Our bodies convert starch into glucose, the body’s fuel. The process begins as soon as we start chewing: Saliva contains an enzyme called amylase, which begins to break down starchy foods.

Amylase doesn’t work all that well on raw starches, however; it is much more effective on cooked foods. Cooking makes the average potato about 20 times as digestible, Dr. Thomas said: “It’s really profound.”

Cooking would have made wild tubers much more nutritious to humans, he noted, “which is not to be sniffed at, especially if you’re a very hungry Pleistocene hunter-gatherer.”

Another clue to the importance of carbohydrates, Dr. Thomas said, can be found in our DNA. Chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, have two copies of the amylase gene in their DNA. But humans have many extra copies — some people have as many as 18. More copies of the amylase gene means we make more of the enzyme and are able to derive more nutrients from starches, Dr. Thomas said.

Dead cow and spuds are the basis of all true civilization.

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Researchers have identified speech patterns in a gorilla, previously thought to be impossible for apes.

A gorilla named Koko became famous for her ability to learn sign language in order to communicate with her keepers. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say that she is now displaying signs of being capable of speech.

Traditionally, it has been believed that vocal performance by apes has been limited to spontaneous noise expressed, for instance, at shock of seeing a predator or to intimidate a fellow mammal in a fight.

It was believed that beyond this, apes lacked the cognitive capacity and breathing control to engage in organised and premeditated speech.

Which doesn’t distinguish them from most teenagers, actually.

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“They do not have a personal knowledge like that,” explains Dato Akriani, one of the tiny number of people who have moved from the lowlands up to Pshavi, and who was initiated into the cult of Kopala 20 years ago. “They are the true inheritors and passers-on of the tradition, but they cannot explain it metaphysically. They cannot tell you why they are doing this or that and what it means. They cannot touch bears or wolves, touch chicken or eggs, or touch a woman when she has her period, but if you ask them why, they don’t know. It’s supernatural, it’s a mystery.”

We could draw a parallel with modern-day Africans, but that would be raaaaaaacist.

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New research settles argument about whether whether humans or climate change was responsible for the end of ‘megafauna’, it is claimed, and ‘debunks the myth of early humans living in harmony with nature’ New research settles argument about whether whether humans or climate change was responsible for the end of ‘megafauna’, it is claimed, and ‘debunks the myth of early humans living in harmony with nature’

Eh, scientists, what do they know? Most of them swallow ‘global warming’ — or say they do.

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That the doorless lift, which consists of two shafts side by side within which a chain of open cabins descend and ascend continuously on a belt, has narrowly escaped becoming a victim of safety regulations, has everything to do with a deeply felt German affection for what many consider an old-fashioned yet efficient form of transport.

In the UK, where paternosters were invented in the 1860s, only one or two are believed to be in use. In Germany which first adopted them in the 1870s, there are an estimated 250 and there was an outcry, particularly among civil servants, when they were brought to a standstill this summer while the legislation was reviewed.

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Potatoes, fat spreads and eggs are not as bad as you think and might actually be healthy, new research has found.

With fast changing nutritional guidelines, it is difficult to keep track of the latest health trend but a new study based on both old and current science breaks the stereotypes of what you should and shouldn’t eat.

Remember that the next time Nanny Government or ‘activists’ try to dictate what you eat.

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Several of the largest education publishers say they now generate most of their sales and revenue from digital products, but both analysts and some in the industry disagree on if the shift represents a transformation for the textbook industry or a forced rebranding.

Repulsor Flashlight.

Any Maerial UV Cold Welder.

ManCan backpackable beer keg.

Nerf Combat Creature Terradrone.

USB flash drive disguised as a stone.

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At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in May, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) will present a new infrared depth-sensing system, built from a smartphone with a $10 laser attached to it, that works outdoors as well as in.

Read it. And watch the video.

Traditional magnets have a north pole on one side and a south pole on the other. The magnetic field energy goes from one side of the magnet all the way around to the other side of the magnet, a reasonably long trip.

But magnet printing tech changed all that. Now we can have magnets with north and south on the same side of the magnet, very close together. This makes magnets that are much more efficient, much stronger, but even better, it makes magnets with some pretty magic behavior.

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Populations with vegetarian diets have a gene which can raise the risk of heart disease and cancer, scientists believe.

US researchers have found that people who have lead vegetarian lifestyles for generations in areas of India, Africa and East Asia have evolved a “vegetarian gene” variation, or allele.

Heh.

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Dallas is #1. Houston is #10. No sign of anything from Michigan.

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You’d be surprised.

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Taking advantage of the ground effect in aerodynamics, by which a vehicle flying fast and low generates lift under the wings and reduces drag, making the plane almost float above the surface of the sea. For decades Soviet engineers built special vehicles called Ekranoplans to take advantage of this ability over shallow water, lakes, and rivers. Boeing even looked into the design for a cargo vehicle.

The chief roadblocks to doing this sort of thing is, as you might expect, government regulation. The key is to keep the flight low enough that it doesn’t qualify as an ‘aircraft’ sufficient to bring it within the clutches of agencies like the FAA.

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For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that CO₂ captured from the air can be directly converted into methanol (CH₃OH) using a homogeneous catalyst. The benefits are two-fold: The process removes harmful CO₂ from the atmosphere, and the methanol can be used as an alternative fuel to gasoline. The work represents an important step that could one day lead to a future “methanol economy,” in which fuel and energy storage are primarily based on methanol.

Steve Sailer has the word.

Actually, targeting for imprisonment and deportation the small-time operator foot soldiers in the big gangs is a key innovation, which may help explain the declining Hispanic crime rates seen by American Renaissance’s new report The Color of Crime 2016 versus its 2005 version of the same report.

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Schizophrenia can present itself with any number of symptoms, from disorganized thinking or motor behavior, to hallucinations or delusions. Together these manifestations often leave a patient unable to function normally and with very few effective treatment options. And though researchers had not been able to figure out the underlying cause of the disease, they’ve learned a lot in the past few years—genetic mutations probably play a role, as does the immune system and the microbiome. Now scientists have identified a genetic variant in schizophrenic patients that links many of these previous observations, according to a study published today in Nature. If the researchers have in fact discovered the underlying biological cause for schizophrenia as they claim, it could lead to better treatments for the condition.

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One way libraries are opening their secret worlds to everyone is by putting some of their most curious or majestic items online. Oxford’s Bodleian, one of Europe’s greatest and oldest libraries, is the latest to do so with digital.bodleian giving users unprecedented opportunities to browse precious volumes and their wondrous illustrations from our armchairs, if anyone still has armchairs, or cafe stool or even in a punt (it’s Oxford after all).

You can do all the online things people love to do online, from assembling your own collection of favourites to taking a selfie with Cicero (except the latter), but the most intriguing aspect of this and other digital rarity collections is that it changes the nature of research. Instead of an arduous activity undertaken by determined scholars, visiting the digital Bodleian is a pleasant browse through the virtual past that all of us can undertake. It is like something out of a story by the librarian and fabulist Jorge Luis Borges in which all the great books and philosophies of the world have become one walk-through art gallery, their strange languages fusing into brilliant illuminations. That is to say, this way of consulting a library replaces reading with seeing.

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Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

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What’s the difference between a letter-openier, a page-knife, and a page turner?

Instant-Dry Umbrella.

Undersea Aquahoverer.

Beer briefcase.

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I am not making this up.

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For the most part, colleges and universities have changed very little since the University of Bologna gave the first college lectures in 1088. With the exception of Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs—free lectures and courses on the Internet—most university learning still requires students to put their butts in seats for a certain number of hours, complete a list of courses, and pass tests demonstrating that they learned from those courses (or were able to successfully cram for over the course of a few days).

But a new model is upending the traditional college experience, and has the potential to change the way universities—both new and old—think about learning.

Called competency-based education, this new model looks at what students should know when they complete a certain degree, and allows them to acquire that knowledge by independently making their way through lessons. It also allows students who come into school with knowledge in a certain area to pass tests to prove it, rather than forcing them to take classes and pay for credits on information they already know.

And about fargin time, too.

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And that’s a good thing.

Cataracts, a protein buildup that clouds the lens of the eye, is the leading cause of blindness around the world. In most cases the patient will eventually need surgery to replace the clouded lens with an artificial one, and for the 20 million people worldwide per year who get the surgery, it doesn’t always fully repair their vision—many patients still need glasses or contacts. Now researchers have designed a surgical technique that uses the body’s own stem cells to regenerate a functional lens, a less invasive procedure than the current treatment.

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The past few months have been desperately sad for the music industry with the loss of the likes of Motörhead’s Lemmy, David Bowie and The Eagles’ Glenn Frey.

To ‘celebrate’ their lives, one man has set up a radio station that only plays hits by dead musicians. The criteria to be played on the online-only station, called Radio Dead, is for one member of the group to be deceased. According to Sky News, former Capital and Virgin Radio DJ Steve Penk is behind the ‘joyous’ station.

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Billy Maddox planted 100 acres of Roundup Ready soybeans this year. The big news is he didn’t pay Monsanto a dime.

It’s been 20 years since Monsanto developed its first genetically modified crops. Now some of its early patents are starting to expire, leading to the first “generic GMOs”—off-patent seeds that cost half as much and which farmers are free to save and replant.

Maddox is a seed dealer who works with conventional varieties. This year was the first time he ever sold any GMOs. From the acres he planted he was able to collect thousands of bags of seeds genetically engineered to resist glyphosate, the weed killer Monsanto markets as Roundup.

“We cleaned it, bagged it, and sold it. I tried to make a little bit of money,” says Maddox, speaking in a Southern drawl as he drives down a road somewhere near Jonesboro, Arkansas. “Oh yeah, the farmer saves money. If they buy it from me this year, they can plant for themselves next year.”

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The researchers have created a novel nanosheet – a thin layer of semiconductor that measures roughly one-fifth of the thickness of human hair in size with a thickness that is roughly one-thousandth of the thickness of human hair – with three parallel segments, each supporting laser action in one of three elementary colors. The device is capable of lasing in any visible color, completely tunable from red, green to blue, or any color in between. When the total field is collected, a white color emerges.

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Samaritan Ministries is an organization of devout Christians who eschew traditional health insurance to pool their money and cover each other’s catastrophic medical bills. It’s one of the very last mutual aid societies in the U.S., in which a community of individuals with shared beliefs band together to form a voluntary social-safety net. A century ago, an estimated one-third of American men belonged to mutual aid societies, but most faded away with the expansion of the welfare state.

For which they will be penalized by Obamacare, because Democrats don’t like individual freedom if it means living some way of which they don’t approve.

The E-Reader Pillow.

SlotDog.

Snowcaster pusher shovel.

SeatRack cargo rack inside your car.

Darth Vader toothpick dispenser. It’s actually rather clever.

Sand-Off same wipe-off mitt.

BlueFire Pro Extreme Protection Cooking & Grilling Gloves. The perfect thing for that recalcitrant tibicena.

Butter Sprayer. I am not making this up.

Double-Barreled Pistol disguised as a smartphone.

‘Stealth’ socks.

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An eavesdropping technique allows scientists to instantly find, map, and classify whales over enormous stretches of ocean.

If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

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Bet you didn’t know that.

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With their beloved baguette already available 24 hours a day, it seems only logical that Parisians can now get the Bayonne ham and Basque pate that goes so well with the bread from the first meat vending machine installed in the French capital.

In a city filled with small shops where long lunches remain a crucial part of the French “art de vivre,” the gleaming red machine set up on the lively Rue de Charonne in eastern Paris seems a bit incongruous.

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Chicken embryos that have legs nearly identical to those of prehistoric extinct dinosaurs were created recently by inhibiting the activity of a single gene.

The success of the project, outlined in the journal Evolution, brings scientists a step closer to creating “Dino-Chicken,” a chicken fully reverted to one of its dinosaur ancestors. That isn’t what this research team is after, though.

Pity. That would be kinda cool.

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I love the smell of conspiracy in the morning.

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Far from a pristine forest stretching for mile upon mile, the Amazon was once home to millions of people who domesticated huge swathes of land before the arrival of Europeans caused their societies to collapse, according to a new study.

An international team of researchers concluded that the minimum population in 1492 would have been about eight million, with an “unlikely” upper figure of 50 million. Their findings suggest the forest returned to wilderness after the civilisations were wiped out by disease and conquest brought by the Europeans.

The researcher’s conclusions are partly based on one of the few remaining signs of the civilisations – the dark, fertile soil produced by farming techniques and waste. Some of theses sites are only accessible because of deforestation.

The research tallies with reports from some of the first Europeans to visit South America, which have been dismissed by some at the time as nothing more than propaganda.

So the eco-Nazis are full of shit … as usual.

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Because they can?

Taking a cruise is, as the old saying goes, the pursuit of the “newly wed, the overfed and the nearly dead”. It seems also to be growing in popularity, so much so that we report today on one American enthusiast who has spent eight years on a cruise ship. Apparently she finds time to do plenty of needlepoint, which is just as well, as even the best appointed of these floating towns have a finite amount of entertainment available. How many performances of Fogwell Flax’s comedy routine, renditions of Grease, or Rob “this is the life” Brydon throwing shapes on the dance floor can one flesh-and-blood cruiser take?

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The Airlander 10 – part-plane, part-airship, and all of 90m long – is being assembled by the firm Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) on a site that has been associated with airships since 1915 when Shorts built the first giant hangar to build the R-31 and R-32.

The craft is nearing completion and later this month, if wind conditions permit, HAV’s chief test pilot, David Burns, will take the huge lighter-than-air craft east towards the A1M motorway. Passing drivers could witness the beginning of a revolution in air travel, cargo transport, military surveillance and even disaster relief.

The Airlander 10 prototype, which HAV hopes will be the first of 1,000 craft, is 25 per cent larger than a Boeing 747 and is designed to remain airborne for up to five days.

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A new treatment for a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer can make tumours “disappear” in just 11 days, scientists have said, as they hailed a “mind-boggling” breakthrough in the fight against the disease.

A trial of the use of two drugs in combination found that tumours were completely cleared in 11 per cent of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and were reduced to a “minimal” size in a further 17 per cent. Nearly 90 per cent saw a reduction in the number of cancer cells.