Two antibodies that enabled the severed spinal nerves of rats to be regenerated are to be tested in humans. The antibodies have helped rats with damaged spinal cords to walk again, by blocking the action of Nogo, a protein that stops nerve cells sprouting new connections. But there were concerns about whether blocking Nogo would lead to uncontrolled neuronal rewiring in the brain or spinal cord and it was also unclear how such a therapy could be given to humans
The French courts have ruled that using peer-to-peer networks (P2P), providing you are doing so for personal rather than commercial reasons, is legal. The decision comes just as the French Parliament meets to discuss whether internet users should pay a voluntary tax or surcharge of €5 a month to use P2P networks. The decision was actually made back in December but has only just been made public
Authorities are seeking a burglar who allegedly took the time to make coffee, cook and eat meals, take showers, pick out a change of clothes, watch television and check his e-mail while inside three rural Washington County homes this month
Australian researchers are developing a new surface coating which has the potential to realise the utopian dream of a self-cleaning bathroom. Researchers at the University of NSW are currently testing out a number of properties that might help to create the new coating with the goal of rolling out test products within the next year or so. Their research is based on nanoparticles already being incorporated into self-cleaning glass which comprise a tiny coating of titanium dioxide. When the particles interact with natural light the electrons become activated and oxidate the surface, effectively cleaning it
George Deutsch, the loony fundie who tried to muzzle top NASA climate scientist James Hansen and ordered NASA web designers to add the word theory
to every mention of the Big Bang, has resigned. NASA has declined to discuss the reasons for his resignation, but it came the same day that Texas A&M University, from which Deutsch claimed on his resume to have graduated, revealed that he had attended the university but did not complete his degree
Egyptian authorities gave a peek Friday into the first tomb uncovered in the Valley of the Kings since 1922. US archaeologists said they discovered the tomb by accident while working on a nearby site. The tomb, believed to be some 3,000 years old and dating to the 18th Dynasty, does not appear to be that of a pharaoh
The US Justice Department asked a judge to approve Patriot Act e-mail monitoring without any evidence of criminal behaviour and now e-mail surveillance has been approved
Last month, Johannas Pope, 61, was found dead, wearing a white gown, and propped up in her chair in front of the television. She had been placed there way back in 2004 by her caretaker. After a long investigation, the coroner announced yesterday that Johannas had died naturally of heart disease. Pope told her caretaker, Kathy Painter, she didn’t want to be buried because she believed she would come back to life — via Boing Boing
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said Friday the Bush administration’s domestic spying is within the retarded monkey boy‘s inherent power under the Constitution
A team of British scientists investigating whether a tiny tropical hookworm could provide a cure for asthma and hay fever have committed the ultimate act of bravery by infecting themselves with the parasite to observe the effects. It was fairly itchy when they first go through the skin,
he admitted — via digg
Senators have voted in favour of a bill removing control over the abortion drug RU486 from the federal health minister, a noted loonie fundie. Senators were given a rare conscience vote on the bill, with 45 voting in favour of the change and 28 voting against. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives and if passed will end the Health Minister’s power to ban RU486 and allow the Therapeutic Goods Administration to make a decision on the drug. It is the first conscience vote since 2002
Alexander Franklin Mayer, a physicist at Stanford, has just recently published a peer review website for several physics lectures focusing on a single underlying idea that time is not a single dimension of spacetime but rather a local geometric distinction in spacetime. The science is presented quite clearly and originally uses GPS systems as a point of focus — via Slashdot
Andrew Carol has built a version of the Babbage Difference Engine No 2 out of Lego — via digg
In an effort to crack down on search engine abuse, Google has eliminated the German site of BMW from its index, charging the company with violating webmaster guidelines. Office equipment giant Ricoh has also now found itself on the end of Google’s search sanctions in Germany but some critics of Google’s death penalty
say companies are being punished unfairly for having the savvy to make Google’s system work for them. Others joining the debate however have praised Google for keeping large multinational companies in check
Google is tightening the link between Gmail and Google Talk by allowing users to conduct instant messaging text chat sessions from within the Web mail service’s interface. To use Google Talk from within Gmail, users don’t need to download any additional software nor a separate application
The US military is considering testing the principle behind a type of space drive which holds the promise of reaching Mars in just three hours. The problem is it’s entirely theoretical and many physicists admit they don’t understand the science behind it — via digg
Fluorinex Active has developed a new technology that can protect the tooth from cavities for five years with one simple electrical treatment. The company is currently working on a small device which, together with a gel, will impose an efficient ion exchange process through an electro-chemical reaction in which fluor ions displace the Hydroxide ions at the outer layer of the tooth. This is intended to produce a new mineral layer with significantly improved chemical and physical resistance to the aggressive bacteria and the resulting acidic environment in the mouth
An astonishing mist-shrouded lost world
of previously unknown and rare animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea has been uncovered by an international team of scientists — via digg
iiNet is investigating problems with its popular Internet telephony service which have seen some customers lose signal in mid-call
Carbon nanotubes being used to make memory chips. As the name suggests, carbon nanotubes are extremely small cylinders of carbon, and they have some similar properties to the extremely fine hairs on the feet of Geckos that enable the lizards to climb walls and hang from ceilings. The new chips work faster than current technologies, and hold their data without needing a power source
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