Science

She Blinded Me With,

Skin in the Game
L'Oreal has developed an artificial human skin product they call Episkin, grown from donor skin left after cosmetic surgery.

The reason? So they can test products on it instead of animals.

Tests have shown it gives more accurate results than animal skin.

The new skin has been cleared for use and will now be available to use in the cosmetic industry.

Dr Estelle Tinois-Tessonneaud, who led the research said: "It was very important because following regulation in 2009 the cosmetic industry will not be allowed to sell a cosmetic with raw materials that have been tested on animals so it was absolutely fundamental that we get this model."

...

From next year, EU laws will ban animal testing of cosmetics across Europe.

But we all know that regulation kills innovative private industry! This cannot be so!

Damn you Europe!!!

Source: Sky News

Spinal Tap
US scientists, on the other hand, have taken a step forward in the fight to fix the spine after injury to restore function in paralyzed patients.

According to a report in New Scientist today, in experiments on rats with spinal injuries, a team led by John Martin, a neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York, cut away a nerve from just above the injury that normally stretches into the body to control abdominal muscles and reattached it to the spine below the injury. The rats went on to show an increase in movements of previously-paralysed limbs, Martin told a meeting of the New York state spinal cord injury research programme.

Again, science isn't always nice, and I feel badly for the rats, but still. Progress.

Nobody knows if this will actually translate into useful results, yet, though.

Anderson, who was not involved in the research, said: "It's quite an exciting response, it's novel and no one's achieved quite that before.

"The exciting thing is that it's got some distinct physiological evidence for functional circuits being formed. Whether that would enable an animal to consciously produce a movement they wanted is guesswork."

All in all, though, hooray for science.

Source: The Guardian

Social Studies
As it turns out, Britons are in need of a refresher course on history.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

That is, for the record, almost the whole blurb/article.

I mean, about Churchill, a lot of his life has been... shall we say, creatively embellished after his WWII successes (ignoring completely his humiliating, Bush-grade idiocy in Turkey in World War I, for example). But as far as being a myth? They show the guy on tv constantly. He's probably in half the programming on the Hitler/History Channel.

Source: Raw Story

Celestia
Science-related, at least.

Celestia is a nifty sounding tool for displaying astronomical images and data. I'd probably just use it to create gorgeous shots for my desktop wallpaper.

Need to get computer fixed up... Need to abuse science.... for pretty....aghghghg

Source: Wikipedia

Just look at this... aghghghg

Oops, Should Have Looked Up That Word
The Italian parliament is apparently about to accidentally legalize P2P mp3 trading. The reason?

. According to Italian lawyer Andrea Monti, an expert on copyright and Internet law, the new Italian copyright law would authorize users to publish and freely share copyrighted music (p2p included). The new law, already approved by both legislative houses, indeed says that one is allowed to publish freely, through the Internet, free of charge, images and music at low resolution or "degraded," for scientific or educational use, and only when such use is not for profit. As Monti says in the interview, those who wrote it didn't realize that the word "degraded" is technical, with a very precise meaning, which includes MP3s, which are compressed with an algorithm that ensures a quality loss. The law will be effective after the appropriate decree of the ministry, and will probably have an impact on pending p2p judicial cases.

This is getting a bit non-sciency, but it's always important to know what a word means, folks.

There's that rhyme about drinking H2SO4 that springs to mind...

Source: Slashdot

Random News Update

Oh I'm ready for it...

Come on bring it!

Sense of Humor Missing in China
So the French carmaker Citroen made an advertisement poking gentle fun at the bloodthirsty lunatic despot Mao for the Chinese market. This produced neither the expected chuckles of amusement, nor perhaps the embarassment at being reminded that the founder of their current government was howl-at-the-moon crazy.

No, there's a wave of anger that people poked fun at the mass murderer. Wha?

Citroen apologised for the "inappropriate" ad, which Chinese chatroom users had complained "hurts our national pride".

"This is no small thing," said one visitor to a chatroom about the ad - based on the famous portrait of Mao which hangs in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

"It has an influence on the whole country. It damages the whole Chinese people."

...

Nearly 32 years after his death, Chairman Mao remains revered by some Chinese, despite his promotion of policies such as "Great Leap Forward" which ended in the deaths of millions, and the profound social and economic changes China has since seen.

I'm trying to think of a witty comment here, but it's coming up blank.

Source: BBC News

Into the Void
Both the void of space, and the void of space science left by NASA throwing all its budget at pointless moon missions, thanks to El President. The ESA announced its mission slate for 2008, and it's so nerdy and hard-science focused that it's scary. Amongst other highlights are a pair of telescopes for Big Bang studying, Herschel and Plank, that will study the Big Bang's cosmic aftereffects in great detail in the infrared and microwave backgrounds, respectively. Plank is crucial for evaluating the Great Void mentioned in an earlier post, that the Great Old Ones most likely are using to invade and destroy our world.

Well, perhaps not. But the void part is true; it'll help figure out exactly why there's a giant hole in space, and that'd be good to know. The ESA is also going to send up the core science module for the rather showboaty International Space Station, so that it can finally, perhaps, start to earn its keep.

Check out just how nerdy these guys are though:

In May, GOCE, a satellite billed as "the Ferrari of micro-gravity fields," is scheduled to be taken aloft from ESA's space base in Kourou, French Guiana, with the goal of monitoring ocean circulation -- a key factor in the climate-change question.

The Ferrari of micro-gravity fields. Yeah. Honestly guys, I appreciate the hard work, but you might want to take a break... go outside once in a while... it can be nice out there.

Source: Raw Story

In Which I Disagree with the ACLU
I know, I know; Hell has frozen over. But the ACLU is defending foot tapping pervert Larry Craig in court, arguing that, at least under Minnesota law, there's a right to privacy in having sex in closed public restroom stalls.

Wha?

See, here's my problem with that. Closed door, open door, it's still not THAT private. But worst of all, Craig had no idea who he was trying to solicit an H-J from when he did his little tap routine... so if he gets away with it on this excuse, you can never use the toilet outside your own home in peace again.

The ACLU also noted that Craig was originally charged with interference with privacy, which it said was an admission by the state that people in the bathroom stall expect privacy.

Precisely so! He violated both public order and privacy at the same time! He's a Republican, which means he's extra good at lawbreaking!

Seriously, ACLU, there's no noble principle to defend here. Our socio-political discourse does not require turning mens' rooms into brothels for Republican senators.

Source: Raw Story

Popey Go Home
So the new Pope (Motto: Ratlike Nazi Apologist Makes Not Quite Good) has annoyed the scientific community so badly with an old speech stating that Galileo received a 'fair trial' that he's been forced to withdraw from a public appearance at Italy's largest university, after a teacher's revolt on the subject and angry student campaign.

Why don't you just do us all a favor, Benedict, and stay home where you can play with your pretty dresses and Prada shoes. Nobody out here likes you much.

Source: The Guardian

Religious Nuts
Speaking of reactionary, backward religious figures, we have the Seventh Day Adventists and some strict Jewish factions complaining about the Democratic Nevada caucus being held on a Saturday.

If it was held on a Sunday, of course, Christians would complain; a weekday and turnout goes way down. The religious groups want absentee ballots so they can observe their 'stay at home and do nothing useful' rituals. Riiight. If you're so dedicated to your sky-wizard that you think it's a grave sin to, you know, participate in the democratic process, I'm not sure we need you. Scratch that; I think we're better off without your input.

Generally I'm in favor of absentee ballots, but this is just getting a little ridiculous. We shouldn't have to schedule EVERYTHING around religious demands in this damn country.

Source: Raw Story

This Should Be the Top Story In Every News Broadcast for Weeks

It won't be of course.
In a just-declassified government report on intelligence and counterintelligence during the Vietnam War, the government in essence admits that the Gulf of Tonkin attacks that supposedly provided the justification for the Vietnam war did not happen.

We now have everything but a recording of LBJ ordering the fakery. Fairly incontrovertible proof that the United States was lied into a war that cost 50k+ lives of our soldiers, something like a million Vietnamese dead, and god knows how many maimings.

But he said that probably the "most historically significant feature" of the declassified report was the retelling of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.

That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to president Lyndon Johnson's sharp escalation of American forces in Vietnam.

The author of the report "demonstrates that not only is it not true, as (then US) secretary of defense Robert McNamara told Congress, that the evidence of an attack was 'unimpeachable,' but that to the contrary, a review of the classified signals intelligence proves that 'no attack happened that night,'" FAS said in a statement.

"What this study demonstrated is that the available intelligence shows that there was no attack. It's a dramatic reversal of the historical record," Aftergood said.

We. Were. Lied. Into. Vietnam.

And yet, your top stories? Stuff about the primaries, which are admittedly important, and stupid celebrity news, and local crap about road construction and the occasional murder... gah.

What is WRONG with people?

Source: Raw Story