Pran Datta and colleagues at Vanderbilt University discovered that the loss of a single protein molecule called Transforming Growth Factor-b (TGF-b) may be responsible for 75% of all lung cancers.
"We've established for the first time that these important molecules are either missing or that their action is reduced in three quarters of all cases of lung cancer.
"When we restored the molecules in lung cancer cells in mice they reduced the ability of the cells to grow as tumours."
Gordon Rutter of Edinburgh, Scotland, has a private collection of weird - I mean really weird, stuff.
In addition to the two-headed duck on the left, he also has the Hand of Glory (you have to see it for yourself), a Buddist sacrificial holder, and more...
Visitors are fascinated by the world's biggest embroidery shoe at a shoe exhibition in Shenyang, N. China's Liaoning Province Saturday, April 15, 2006. The 2.8m-long, 0.71m-wide, and 0.84m-tall shoe is able to hold three litlle kids inside.
Japanese company tmsuk made this giant rescue robot called T-52 Enryu ("Rescue Dragon"). The giant robot has a bulldozer-like base and a 5-m long arms that can lift cars stuck in the snow.
In the tests, which began on February 1, T-52 Enryu showed off its avalanche prevention skills by removing accumulated snow from the edge of a cliff. The robot also demonstrated its ability to extract a car buried under a bank of snow. Remote control operation is being tested at avalanche sites, where extreme caution is required to prevent secondary avalanches.
Follow the rabbit tracks. BAM! The tracks suddenly end where the wing prints of an owl start. This picture was taken by a friend of a friend who teaches in Bethel, Alaska.
Artist Tom Phillips takes casts of human skulls and then cover them in his own hair clippings:
A work in (slow) progress features two casts of the skull covered in my own hair. Now at the transition stage on the way to the bus-pass years my pepper and salt hair represents all phases of my life past and (D.V.) future: the dark brown of youth can still be collected from my head whereas my beard yields almost pure white. The first of two projected works is shown in its present form; awaiting further growth. It represents the old artist meeting his younger self coming the other way, a sort of Bonjour, Monsieur Tom.
http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/sculptur/skulls/index.html (via Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society)
I've seen lots of metaphors about life in various places, but this is, by far, the most accurate one, as it reflects perfectly how fast everything passes and, at the same time, how beautiful this world is...
Check out the entire collection of custom ladies on latex - don't worry, safe for work: they're just painted dishwashing gloves! http://www.thetartgallery.com/gloves.html (via Jaf Project)
On Good Friday, Filipino Catholic devotees in Lenten, Philippines were nailed to the cross (for real) in an annual ritual. From the website:
Forty-five-year-old Ruben Enaje grimaces as he is nailed to the cross for the 20th time during annual lenten rites in San Pedro Cutud village, in San Fernando city about 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Manila on Friday April 14, 2006. Enaje said it is his way of thanking God for miraculously surviving a fall from a building when he was a construction worker. At least seven Filipino devotees were nailed believing that the sacrifice would save them from sin.
Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a modern day Noah's Ark!
The 47-year-old from Schagen, 45km (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands.
Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals.
Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands.
Although Mr Huibers has tried to remain true to the ark described in the Bible, Johan's Ark is constructed with American cedar and Norwegian pine, rather than "gopher wood".
The Getty Museum has a very cool interactive "edutainment" exhibition featuring vintage devices from the wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities) of 1600s to the 1800s.
This particular one is a French compound microscope c. 1751:
Luxurious microscope like this one were made for wealthy Europeans, who maintained collections of natural specimens in the manner of Renaissance Wunderkabinette (cabinets of wonder). This compound microscope possesses a micrometric stage and an ocular micrometer devised to allow measurement of specimens.
Designers at Plusminus.ru want to create this smartphone that looks like a comic speech balloon.
Smartphone featuring a color touchscreen - speech balloons are brought to real life from comic strips. Oh-yeah! The smartphone adapts to your favorite comics: talks to you in your favourite character's language, updates you on new series, contains tunes, ringing tones and games based on the comics. The tail of the balloon serves as a USB connector to interchage data between the smartphone and a computer.
Link (via Random Good Stuff, who also wrote me: checkout criticker.com - It's our new baby and replaced our day jobs - so we need that site to work out!!!! hint hint ;))
This is the first post that I am "co-blogging" with Hanan who blogs at grow-a-brain.
I don't know how Hanan came up with those fantastic links on a particular topic day after day after day - his kungfu is certainly better than mine (did you know that he also speaks English, Hebrew, Danish, Norwegian, and French?).
The topic of the day is Crime and Punishment:
Explore the life of 18th century English criminal, à la choose your own adventure.
You Have Chosen to Incite a Riot
You are a textile worker in a small village a two day's trip from London. The recent harvest has produced much less than was previously expected ... you won't be able to afford food for your family!
You organize a meeting that is attended by most of the town ... You decide that there are two options afforded to you. First, you can organize a price riot where you all determine a "fair" price for grain and then, with threats of violence, force the farmers to set the price there ... Secondly, you could simply blockade and seize the shipment of grain that is leaving town and distribute that grain to everyone.
LONGVIEW, TX—Area pedophile Dwight Sanderson said Monday that his interest in getting to know and eventually meeting MySpace.com member "Courtneee" has significantly declined after a closer read of the "lame" hobbies and "self-involved" blog entries on the 13-year-old's profile.
From the website:
The collection of confiscated knives, spears and points grows daily at Pelican Bay State Prison. Prisoners, alone in their cells 23-hours a day, have plenty of time to contruct weapons from rudimentary materials.
Supermax and maximum security prisons. Pictures taken in Pelican Bay Prison.
Jack the Ripper Trivia game:
"Jack the Ripper" is the popular name given to a serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and "Leather Apron."
Large jars of peanut butter have been banned in Tennessee's 15 state prisons because inmates were hiding guns, drugs and other contraband in the 18-ounce containers, state corrections officials said.
The ban came after an investigation revealed that George Hyatte, a prisoner in Knoxville, had concealed a smuggled cell phone in a jar of peanut butter at the prison where he was being held and used it to coordinate a deadly breakout while being taken to court in August.
Diversion Safes - Hide your stuff in plain sight
The Chicago Crime Commission states that a burglar spends an average of 8 minutes in a victims home. Put the odds in your favor... hide your valuables in plain sight! The diversion safes are a unique home-security product. We offer a wide variety of personal care, household products and food containers with removable tops and bottoms to use as secret safes. Valuables can be discreetly stored inside these look-a-like containers and kept in their seemingly rightful places. Each is undistinguishable from the genuine product and is even weighted to feel full.
As murders in major cities across the United States continue at a relatively unaltered rate, we have formed a task force to analyze the surrounding community to see if we could find any patterns. What we found was disturbing to say the least. The common bond? Within 1 mile of each murder scene we able to locate a McDonald's restaurant. Coincidence? We thought so, until further investigation provided more evidence to link McDonald's to a campaign of murder.
The notes, in 300, 600 and 1,000 euro denominations have a ring of 12 hearts instead of the usual EU stars and feature hunky men and big-breasted nude women.
Instead of the word 'Euro' being printed in the corner these notes have 'Eros' - the Greek god of love.
How to Make a Fake. Buy a mid-level Gauguin. Duplicate it. Slap the original papers on the copy. Sell both paintings to gullible collectors, while the art world looks the other way
“I am not an expert in the artist’s work,” she later wrote in an e-mail, “but the painting didn’t evidence the signs of age one would normally expect. It looked almost comically fresh and new.” (She leaned in closely to see if she could smell fresh paint, but her nose was overwhelmed by Sakhai’s cologne.) She advised her client against buying the painting. Another gallery owner, Y. Mano, also met Sakhai at the hotel, where he was shown works by Monet and Laurencin. He, too, declined: “Fake,” he says bluntly. “No good.”
Real life Chinese Robotcop
A new Robotcop, Hong Kong's first locally made animated robot, has joined the Police to raise kids' crime-prevention awareness.
Jointly developed by the Police and the University of Science & Technology, this third-generation Robotcop employs advanced computer, electronics, mechanics and digital-imaging technologies.
The new Robotcop is capable of moving its arms, tilting its head, walking, dancing, moving in any direction and detecting obstacles.
A bait car is a generic term used for a vehicle that has been rigged by the police with the intent of capturing car thieves
Auto theft in Nanaimo has dropped by 17% in the three month period since the bait car program was launched throughout Vancouver Island on April 1, 2005. Auto theft in Victoria, British Columbia's capital, has dropped by 36% over the same period compared to the same three month period in 2004.
If you see a sale price in the newspaper, don't fall for it. You will probably pay much more than the regular price at an honest dealer. We know of a major store in Florida that marked gold chains up from $100 cost to $500 regular price, then marked them half-price during a sale. That means the customer paid $250, thinking it was a great price. This same thing happens with diamonds on sale. Liquidation and "going out of business" sales are usually no different. We heard of one store in New York City that has been going out of business for 15 years.
My own suggestion: Don't buy diamond - it's not a rare stone at all.
Crime, Web 2.0 Style. Let's say you wanted to commit a criminal act, but needed a significant amount of money to successfully commit the act. Let's say the commission of the act was the important thing, and that getting caught afterward would be acceptable, if not preferable…
