Push to overturn pig-human transplant ban
Australia's national health regulator is considering overturning the ban on transplanting animal cells and organs into humans.
The ban was imposed five years ago because of concerns about the risk of diseases being transferred between pigs and humans during the process, known as xenotransplantation.
But one key researcher behind the technology says he has had success overseas in transplanting pig insulin cells into humans and will now apply to the Australian regulator to conduct human trials in Australia.
The deputy director of Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council, Clive Morris, says the ban is due to expire at the end of the year.
"The risks of viral transmission from xenotransplantation at that time outweighed the potential benefits and recommended that xenotransplantation clinical trials shouldn't happen for five years," he said.
"There have been a lot of developments over the last five years and our council is going to be asked to consider all the scientific, technical and ethical issues that have come up over the last five years."
Professor Bob Elliott is the medical director of Living Cell Technologies. The company has already successfully transplanted pig insulin cells into humans both in Russia and in New Zealand.
It allowed people with Type 1 diabetes to manage their insulin levels and some of them no longer require daily insulin injections.
Professor Elliott says it is likely this international research will help overturn Australia's ban.
SMS spying ‘on way’ despite wire-tapping fears
Distributors for new software that allows parents to spy on their children's text messages say they are still hopeful, as they try to get approval for their product.
The software, which allows parents to see every text message their child sends and receives, was due to be on sale in August, but the earliest it will now be available is early next year.
Civil libertarians and technology experts have deep concerns about the privacy implications of the product.
Device Connections is the Australian agent for the US software and its managing director, Geoff Sondergeld, says that since its introduction in America it has caught a number of paedophiles.
'It's been very successful in both a law enforcement point of view as well as a consumer point of view," he said.
"Since March 2008, which was the initial trial, using the product the guys in the US have convicted 171 paedophiles."
Mr Sondergeld held talks yesterday with Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and said the Minister was enthusiastic about the product.
"Cyber safety and the overall cyber safety plan that the Federal Government has is obviously a key component of Mr Conroy's portfolio," he said.
New South Wales Nationals Senator John Williams is also a supporter of the software, called My Mobile Watchdog.
"I'm a dad of three - my children have grown up, the oldest is 20 years old - but we want the best for our children," he said.
"We don't want people out in our society that are not going to be good for our children, people who are going to send them pictures or emails or access to pornography.
"We don't want our kids being subject to that and when parents are paying the phone bill for the minor, they have a right to lay down the rules."
Hendra virus weapon fear
OVERSEAS researchers were investing in Hendra virus research, despite it occurring only in Australia, because of fears it may be used in biological warfare.
A Queensland Horse Council Hendra virus conference attended by horse owners and bat carers in Cleveland, on Brisbane's bayside, heard from Dr Peter Reid today.
Dr Reid, who was the veterinarian involved in the first known Hendra outbreak that claimed the life of horse trainer Vic Rail in 1994, said the virus and its relative, the Nipah virus, were so lethal that the US considered it a homeland security threat.
"Americans see it as a potential bioterrorism weapon that's why (the department of) Homeland Security are funding research into viruses in bats," Dr Reid said.
"There is no effective treatment or vaccine for Hendra or Nipah and the mortality rate is high.
"Bats are quite accessible and in the wrong hands it can pose quite a threat."
Bats are the host of both viruses, with the Nipah virus being the deadlier of the two, having killed hundreds in Malaysia, Bangladesh and IndiaThe virus was originally known to transfer from bats to pigs and from pigs to humans but there have also been bat to human transmissions and human to human transmissions, with a 70 to 75 per cent mortality rate.
Hendra, so far, is only known to be transmitted from bats to horses and from horses to humans.
Muslim minaret ban threatens Swiss harmony
SWITZERLAND'S biggest Jewish group has described a far-right push to ban the construction of minarets as a "threat" to religious harmony and the integration of Muslims.
"The referendum infringes religious freedom, a concept enshrined in the constitution," the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the Platform of Liberal Jews in Switzerland said.
It "also poses a threat to peaceful relations between the religions and inhibits the integration endeavours of Muslims in Switzerland", they added.
Swiss voters are to decide during a referendum on November 29 whether to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland, a proposal launched by right-wing groups and backed by the country's biggest political party, the hard-right Swiss People's Party.
The two Jewish groups said they "take seriously the fears of the population that extremist ideas could be disseminated in Switzerland".
"But banning minarets is no solution - it only creates in Muslims in Switzerland a sense of alienation and discrimination," they said.
The Swiss Government and all the other major political parties are recommending a 'no' vote.
In a historic move, local Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have also joined forces to reject a ban on minarets.
In September, the Roman Catholic community joined in the call urging voters to reject the ban.
Islam is the second largest religion in Switzerland after Christianity with 310,000 followers out of a population of 7.5 million.
Four minarets have been built and the construction of a fifth is planned.
The Missing Dialogues Episode 10
The Missing Dialogues Episode 10 (Eugenics, and Genetic property rights.)
This Episode we have Loreandlaw, Kobayashi, Rofaxon, and Slothen.
Putin to be cast in bronze for Arnie
A bust of Russia's muscle-flexing strongman Vladimir Putin is being created as a gift for ex-Hollywood bodybuilder and California's current governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The bust is currently being made in Mr Putin's home city of Saint Petersburg on an order of Russia's Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation and will be delivered to the movie star turned politician in March.
"Putin is such a complex personality. He's left no-one indifferent," Alexander Chernoshchyokov, a Saint Petersburg-based sculptor who has been working on the Putin bust since June, said.
In 1991 the Russian artist made a sculpture of Mr Schwarzenegger and Vladimir Dubinin, the president of the bodybuilding federation, personally delivered the gift.
The two Russian men soon learned the Hollywood action hero collected sculptures, Mr Dubinin said.
His collection however lacked figures of Communist-era leaders so a few years later Mr Chernoshchyokov made the sculptures of Stalin and Lenin.
"Then we brought him the busts of Gorbachev and Yeltsin," said Mr Dubinin, referring to the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the late Russian president Boris Yeltsin.
A sculpture of Mr Putin, a former president and current Prime Minister, was the next logical step, he added.
Capturing Mr Putin's features proved difficult however. "He's changing every day. His features even change during the day," said Mr Dubinin.
The sculptor said he took up the work even though he did not agree with everything Mr Putin does. "A true member of the intelligentsia is always in opposition to power," said Mr Chernoshchyokov.
He said he had recently sent a message to Mr Putin asking him to come to Saint Petersburg and sign the bust for Mr Schwarzenegger. But he has not received a reply so far.
Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was not aware of the bust but said Mr Putin would not approve because he has always been against attempts to turn his popularity into a personality cult.
"Nothing has changed," Mr Peskov said.
Mr Putin is known for his own muscular physique and in recent years has allowed himself to be photographed showing off his naked torso during holiday expeditions in the Russian wilderness.
- AFP
Asteroid blast reveals holes in Earth’s defences
As the US government ponders a strategy to deal with threatening asteroids, a dramatic explosion over Indonesia has underscored how blind we still are to hurtling space rocks.
On 8 October an asteroid detonated high in the atmosphere above South Sulawesi, Indonesia, releasing about as much energy as 50,000 tons of TNT, according to a NASA estimate released on Friday. That's about three times more powerful than the atomic bomb that levelled Hiroshima, making it one of the largest asteroid explosions ever observed.
However, the blast caused no damage on the ground because of the high altitude, 15 to 20 kilometres above Earth's surface, says astronomer Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Canada.
Brown and Elizabeth Silber, also of UWO, estimated the explosion energy from infrasound waves that rippled halfway around the world and were recorded by an international network of instruments that listens for nuclear explosions.
The explosion was heard by witnesses in Indonesia. Video images of the sky following the event show a dust trail characteristic of an exploding asteroid.
The Slightly Indifferent Product Review Episode 6
The Slightly Indifferent Product Review Episode 6
Hosted By Slothen
Testers - Kobayashi, Loreandlaw, the 470m1c W17ch.
Product - Nasoya Silken Creations Dark Chocolate Dessert, Yves Meatless Deli Turkey.
Ending Song - Glorious(SuperSloth) by Patient Zero
Stem cell scientist guilty of research fraud
A South Korean court has given a suspended two-year jail sentence to disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk after finding him guilty of fraud in a case that shocked the global scientific community.
His work raised hopes of finding cures for diseases such as Alzheimers, but three years ago an investigation found some of his work had been faked.
After a long legal process, a court of law has now found him guilty of using his fabricated research to embezzle state funds, some of which it says were diverted for his personal use.
But his suspended prison sentence will be a disappointment for prosecutors, who were seeking a four-year jail term.
In his defence, Hwang has denied ordering his researchers to fake results, claiming at least one of them deceived him, and he has continued to argue that he could still prove he had created the world's first cloned human stem cells.
-BBC
Ares I-X ready for first test flight
A ROCKET that aims to replace the ageing space shuttle fleet and carry astronauts into low-Earth orbit is poised for its first test flight, amid deep uncertainty over the program's future.
Barring bad weather, countdown for the rocket that carries hopes of returning humans to the moon and for the first time to Mars will begin at 1am (17:00 AEST), with a four-hour launch window opening at 8am (midnight AEDT).
"The Ares I-X flight test vehicle is poised on Kennedy Space Centre's launch pad 39B and is ready to fly," the US space agency said.
But while NASA scientists said they had "no issues" with the 100m prototype, the world's largest at present, the weather could still throw a spanner in the works.
The forecast for tonight showed only a 40 per cent chance of favourable weather.
NASA needs 15 minutes of good weather to launch.
If weather concerns cloud the test launch, the next window would be from 1200-1600 GMT (midnight-06:00 AEDT) tomorrow, when the forecast was for 60 per cent "go".
If that fell through, the world would have to wait until next month to get its first look at the launch vehicle.
NASA will gather data collected by more than 700 sensors placed throughout the rocket during the ascent of the integrated stack.
Only the first stage of Ares I-X - a modified solid-fuel motor from the shuttle program - will be tested, while the upper stage and capsule are mock-ups.
Data obtained during the two-and-a-half-minute flight will help the US space agency determine whether the prototype is safe and stable in flight before the new generation of launch vehicles is used to take astronauts into orbit.
A team of experts has projected that will not happen before 2015, leaving a five-year gap after the shuttle is retired in 2010