There are a lot of different components that you will need to pay attention to when you?re dealing with classic cars today. Whether you?re looking to buy, sell, or even restore and collect, you will have to spend a great deal of time researching the concept. There are literally hundreds of different makes and models that fit into the classic category and millions of dollars are spent every year trying to buy them and restore them to their original look and feel. When looking at any aspect of this specialized niche, it becomes imperative that you look into specific details that will help you get familiar with the interesting world of older vehicles.
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First and foremost, if you?re looking to buy or sell classic cars, you will need to know what you?re dealing with. Make sure to investigate everything you can about the model that you either have or want to get. Knowing what the condition is, what shape the frame is in, and what the value is at auction is definitely helpful. Some classics can go for millions of dollars if restored to their original conditions. Some brands do better than others, but one thing is for sure, the original components are always something that are worth more. Knowing what you have will help you move forward properly.
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If you?re a collector than you will need to keep in mind the prices for the different options that you?ll have. You could either try to go to auction and out bid others to get the vehicle of your choice or you could restore on your own and look into selling it for profit. Regardless of whether you want to collect via restoration or original options, it?s imperative that you do some research into price, availability and more.
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One thing that many people are doing, and something that you can definitely get into if you?re serious about the classics is selling cars for profit. You?ll find that you can not only build up capital but you can also run across some interesting older models that are soon to be classic cars. Several options from the late 70s, 80s, and even some in the 90s have proven to be big time options for those that are looking for original vehicles to buy and sell. Whether it?s models from Ford, Chevy, Porsche, BMW, or others, you?ll find that there is a grand amount of opportunity out there to deal with, if you just look hard enough.
A group of men pray with tornado survivor Tim Wardwell. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
MOORE, Okla. ? Atop a pile of rubble that had been his home, Tim Wardwell choked back tears, grateful for the strangers who prayed with him to give thanks that he wasn?t among the 24 tornado fatalities.
Wardwell and his wife, Kelsey, had biked back to the house?which had collapsed on him and their two dachshunds?to survey the damage. They managed to recover their family birth certificates, a handful of photos and a few keepsakes for their children.
?The bear still squeaks,? said Kelsey, pointing to a tattered toy.
An upended car rests on what was once a house. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
Reuters reports the Oklahoma Emergency Management office estimates 2,400 homes were damaged or destroyed and about 10,000 people affected. The 200 mph twister cut a path of destruction 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide.
Economic experts fear the storm?s financial toll could top $3 billion. Donations have been coming in from kids with piggy banks to professional athletes. And charity groups said more cash will be needed for the months ahead.
"What this enables us to do is send those funds to the area where they're needed most immediately," Red Cross spokeswoman Anne Marie Borrego told Reuters.
The Moore Fire Department announced on Wednesday morning that its search for victims at the hard-hit Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven children reportedly died, had ended with no new casualties discovered.
Wednesday will be a big day in the recovery effort. With rescue missions for trapped victims winding down, authorities are allowing more residents back into devastated neighborhoods. Government officials are setting up disaster centers to help thousands of people begin the process of applying for aid.
And Mother Nature is finally cooperating. Sunny skies are forecast for Wednesday before a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms through Saturday.
?Take advantage of today?s good weather,? KFOR-TV meteorologist Emily Sutton told listeners.
On Wednesday morning, displaced residents swapped advice and encouragement in the breakfast room at a Hampton Inn.
Allen Anderson and his wife, JoAnn, had made it back to their demolished home on Tuesday. He said the piles of muddy broken bricks and boards make it difficult to determine what?s what.
?You can?t go through the house like you normally would,? Allen, 63, told Yahoo News.
The Andersons said their longtime insurance company dropped them last year when it decided to quit covering houses in Oklahoma. JoAnn said she breathed a sigh of relief when their new carrier immediately gave them emergency cash and approved the hotel for 31 days.
?We?re going to have to find a house to rent, and we?re going to have to find a car,? she said.
Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, Oklahoma, in the ... more? Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, Oklahoma, in the outskirts of Oklahoma City May 21, 2013. Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and thousands of survivors were homeless on Tuesday after a massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, wiping out whole blocks of homes and killing at least 24 people. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXZVON less? ?
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert congratulates his son Nick Gilbert after the team won the NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert congratulates his son Nick Gilbert after the team won the NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Members of the Cleveland Cavaliers delegation celebrate after winning the NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert poses with his son Nick Gilbert after winning the NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
NBA basketball team representatives sit onstage at the start of the NBA draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
NBA basketball players, from left, Detroit Pistons' Andre Drummond, Portland Trailblazers' Damian Lillard and New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis mingle onstage before the NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
NEW YORK (AP) ? What's not to like? Being in the lottery every year.
Nick Gilbert expects the Cleveland Cavaliers are through with it, and if so he sent them out a winner again.
The Cavaliers and their owner's son beat the odds for the second time in three years, winning the lottery Tuesday night to give them the No. 1 pick for the June 27 NBA draft.
Two years after charming viewers by responding to a question about being on stage by saying: "What's not to like?" the bowtie-wearing son of Dan Gilbert wore a stern look before this one. He said he expected he was done coming here and that he believed the Cavs would be in the playoffs next season.
Then they got a great jump on that goal, earning the first pick even though they had only the third-best odds to do so.
And 16-year-old Nick Gilbert delivered it, just as he did in 2011, when the Cavs used the pick to take eventual Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving.
"Kyrie is a hell of a player ... but this also felt almost as good," Nick Gilbert said. "That was the first time. This is the second time, but man does it feel good to get the first pick this last time. Get that last player to give us a push."
The Orlando Magic fell back one spot to No. 2, while the Washington Wizards vaulted from the No. 8 spot to third.
Ten years after winning the lottery that landed them LeBron James, the Cavaliers picked up another opportunity to help speed up the rebuilding process since his departure to Miami in 2010.
James' exit shook a franchise that had become a perennial contender with the Ohio native, but the Cavs aren't thinking about that now.
"It's so long ago already. I knew it is only three years but in NBA years it's like dog years. It seems like it is 15 or 20 years," Dan Gilbert said. "We've been just so focused on building the team the last few years, I can't look back. There is nothing you can do. I am just happy about today."
The potential No. 1 pick this year, Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel, is no James. But he could be a nice addition for the Cavs once he's recovered from a torn ACL ? if they keep the pick. They also have Nos. 19, 31 and 33 for new coach Mike Brown, who they rehired after firing Byron Scott following a 24-58 season.
"We were hoping regardless of what pick we got that this would be our last lottery," Dan Gilbert said. "We thought originally after everything had to be reset that it would be a three-year process. You never know. It could be four. We thought three years, but having No. 1 and 19, we've got a pretty good chance of this being the last one for a while."
Dan Gilbert and the rest of the Cavs entourage ? all wearing wine-colored bowties as well ? celebrated their latest victory, which came with 15.6 percent odds after they finished with the NBA's third-worst record at 24-58.
When they won the lottery in 2011, the Cavs had the eighth best odds.
"For everyone in Cleveland who has supported us through these three years, I think this is for them," Dan Gilbert said. "Is that right, Nick?"
"It feels good," said Nick, who was born with Neurofibromatosis (NF), a nerve disorder that causes tumors to grow anywhere in the body at any time.
Not even having four-time winner Pat Williams on stage and 25 percent odds could get the No. 1 pick for the Magic. The team with the best odds hasn't won since 2004, when Orlando won for the third time with Williams representing them and drafted Dwight Howard. The franchise hadn't been back since 2006.
"We had such a nice run up here, over the years. Yeah, we came to win, so when they turned Cleveland over it was like "How did that happen? Absolutely! How did that happen?" Williams said.
"We had a better shot, a better percentage. ... I think the Lord was looking out for that little guy from Cleveland."
Even heading back to their Hornets name couldn't change the luck of the Bobcats, who were lottery losers for the second straight year. Hours after owner Michael Jordan announced they were planning to get back the original nickname of the Charlotte franchise, the Bobcats fell from No. 2 to the fourth spot.
Last year, Charlotte had the best odds of winning after the worst season in NBA history but fell back one spot to second.
The lottery sets the top three teams, and the remainder of the 14 teams finish in inverse order of their record.
Phoenix will pick fifth, followed by New Orleans, Sacramento, Detroit, Minnesota, Portland, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Utah.
The Thunder got the Raptors' pick as payment of a previous trade because it didn't move into the top three. Bryan Colangelo represented the team on stage on the day the Raptors announced he would stay on as team president but they would hire a general manager.
Guards Ben McLemore of Kansas and Trey Burke of Michigan, the college player of the year, and Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. are considered other top available players.
With uncertainty at the top, this is another year when the No. 1 pick could've been a high school player if eligible. Kansas-bound prep star Andrew Wiggins may have been the choice, but the age limit requiring players to be 19 years old and a year out of high school will remain unchanged at least until the players' association has a new executive director to replace the ousted Billy Hunter.
The union would like the limit to be lowered or scrapped entirely, while the NBA has expressed interest in raising it to 20. It's on a list of "B-list" items from the 2011 collective bargaining negotiations that the sides still plan to discuss.
___
Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - "Will he or won't he?" is the question investors want answered at Wednesday's Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as suspense builds on whether the Fed will soon start tapering its bond-buying stimulus scheme - as hinted at by a Fed regional president last week.
The dollar inched higher versus a basket of currencies on Tuesday but stayed below a three-year high, as investors ponder if Bernanke might reveal the timing of any wind-down at his appearance before the Joint Economic Committee before Congress takes its Memorial Day recess.
A start to cutting the bond-buying program beginning in the northern summer was hinted at by San Francisco Fed President John Williams last week - putting the issue firmly on the economic committee's agenda.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, edged up 0.1 percent to 83.797 <.dxy>. On Monday, the dollar index had shed 0.6 percent, retreating from Friday's high of 84.371, its strongest level since July 2010.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> eased 0.2 percent.
Australian shares slipped 0.7 percent <.axjo> on profit-taking. In South Korea, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.ks11> eased 0.2 percent to 1,978.74, inching away from a closely-watched resistance level.
"The market atmosphere is pretty good, though it is still facing psychological resistance near 2,000 points," said Kim Young-june, a market analyst at SK Securities.
Japan's Nikkei share average slipped initially as a pause in the yen's weakness spurred profit-taking, but later showed resilience.
The Nikkei touched a 5-1/2 year intraday high as retail investors scooped up underperforming shares, and was last up 0.1 percent <.n225> on the day.
"Institutional investors are actually rather quiet today. It seems to be more retail-investor-driven today," said a senior trader at a foreign bank.
Against the yen, the dollar edged up 0.2 percent to 102.47 yen but remained below a 4-1/2-year high of 103.32 yen set on Friday.
Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,388.09. Gold drifted lower on outflows from exchange-traded funds and as the dollar firmed, putting pressure on bullion which has lost nearly a fifth of its value this year.
Brent crude edged up 0.1 percent to $104.86 a barrel.
Global equity markets had mostly pushed higher on Monday, driven up by a flurry of merger and acquisition activity, with MSCI's all-country world equity index <.miwo00000pus> touching its highest level since June 2008.
U.S. stocks ended little changed on Monday, but both the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow briefly hit all-time intraday highs. <.n/>
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau in Tokyo and Jungyoun Park in Seoul; Editing by Eric Meijer)
Tornado season has been relatively quiet this year. But within in the last week, tornado outbreaks have been erupting from North Texas to Minnesota.
Why do these tornadoes seem to be hitting all of a sudden?
An eastward advancing cold front is to blame. This pocket of cold air has run into warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. Like a wedge, the cold front has caused the warm air to rise, since it's less dense, said Jeff Weber, a scientist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
"It's kind of the perfect setup," Weber told LiveScience.
This rising warm air has created thunderstorms that have in turn spawned tornadoes, which draw their rotation from the system's abundant wind shear, which is a change in wind speed and direction with altitude. In this case, winds have blown north off the Gulf of Mexico, and interacted with currents moving east along with the cold front, Weber said. This helps create swirling gyres that can be flipped vertically and create tornadoes, he said. [Infographic: Tornado! How, When & Where Twisters Form]
This follows a relatively calm spring that saw few tornadoes, which is largely due to unusually cold temperatures throughout much of the country. The cold can in turn be blamed on the fact that the jet stream, the ribbon of wind that stretches across the Northern Hemisphere, dipped farther south than usual. This brought with it frigid Arctic air and prevented warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico from advancing northward.
Last week, with the jet stream shifting north and the atmosphere more conducive to tornado formation, an outbreak of an estimated 16 twisters erupted in North Texas on May 15. The tornadoes ranged in strength from an EF-1 in the town of Millsap that caused damage to roofs, to an EF-4 in Granbury that completely destroyed houses.
The Texas tornadoes were worsened by the fact that the jet stream dipped south during this outbreak, adding extra rotational power to the twisters, Weber said.
In the next few days, this system should soon weaken, Weber said. That's because the center of the cold front's circulation is now over Minnesota and Wisconsin, and warm air has filled the center of the country. This means there will be less interaction between masses of cold and warm air, which fuel tornadoes' destructive power, Weber said.
Email?Douglas Main?or follow him on?Twitter?or?Google+. Follow us @livescience, ?Facebook?or ?Google+. Article originally on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
New test better detects elephantiasis worm infectionPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caroline Arbanas arbanasc@wustl.edu 314-286-0109 Washington University School of Medicine
A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that can lead to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the currently used test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, where the infection is endemic.
The new test found evidence of the infection lymphatic filariasis in many more people that the standard test had missed.
The study, the first to independently evaluate the new test, was led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The infection affects 120 million people living in 73 countries, leaving some 40 million profoundly disfigured and incapacitated. Both tests detect the presence of worms that cause lymphatic filariasis, a devastating mosquito-borne illness also known as elephantiasis.
But the new test has significant advantages over the test that has been used for more than a decade not only to diagnose the disease, but to map, monitor and evaluate the success of a massive global public health program aimed at completely eliminating the disease by 2020.
Results of the study are published May 20 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"The older test has had a major impact, but the new one is even better," says lead author Gary J. Weil, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at Washington University School of Medine. "Annually, medication to treat and prevent the infection is distributed to more than 500 million people worldwide. The improved sensitivity of the new test will help determine whether the mass treatment program has been effective and also identify regions that need additional attention."
An accompanying editorial by Maria Rebollo, MD, and Moses Bockarie, PhD, at the Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases in the United Kingdom says the new diagnostic test "represents a major breakthrough for rapid diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis in the blood."
The new test also has a longer shelf life, estimated at two years without refrigeration, compared with three months for the older version, and is expected to cost less.
Weil's research team worked with colleagues at the Liberian Institute for Medical Research to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the new test strip and the currently used test. They evaluated the tests in 503 people ranging in age from 6 to 89.
Both versions of the test are manufactured by Alere Scarborough Inc. of Maine and detect the presence in the blood of a protein produced by the worm parasite Wuchereria bancrofti that causes lymphatic filariasis. The new test is performed by pricking the finger and placing a person's blood onto the test strip, which looks similar to an over-the-counter pregnancy test. Like many pregnancy tests, the lymphatic filariasis test is positive if two lines appear in the test window and negative if only one line shows.
The study's results show that the new test is highly sensitive, detecting nearly 26 percent more infections of lymphatic filariasis than the standard test (124/503 infections vs. 98/503 infections). The new test also was easier to perform and results were easier to read.
"This gives us some indication of the numbers of infections we were missing with the older test," Weil says. "On a global scale, it's a huge number of cases. We need to have an accurate test to be sure we are reaching all the people who have the disease or are at risk of developing it."
Worldwide, some 1.4 billion people are at risk of lymphatic filariasis, which is endemic in many countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and other tropical regions. Worm larvae deposited by the bite of an infected mosquito enter the body and migrate to the lymphatic system, where they mature into adult worms.
The thread-like parasitic worms can live and reproduce in the body for years. Ultimately, this damages the lymphatic vessels that drain fluid from the tissues and causes the enormous swelling and disabling deformity of the legs and in males, the scrotum.
Weil has been active for years in efforts to eliminate lymphatic filariasis via mass drug administration, an approach that involves giving antifilarial drugs to everyone in areas with high infection rates. Organizers of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, launched in 2000, coordinate periodic, repeated mass drug administration of antifilarial medications to more than 500 million people annually, making it the world's largest public health intervention program based on mass drug administration.
###
The research is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Weil GJ, Curtis KC, Fischer K, Majewski AC, Fischer PU, Fakoli L, Gankpala L, Bolay FK, Lammie P, Pelletreau S and Won KY. Laboratory and field evaluation of a new rapid test for detecting Wuchereria bancrofti antigen in human blood. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. May 20, 2013.
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New test better detects elephantiasis worm infectionPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caroline Arbanas arbanasc@wustl.edu 314-286-0109 Washington University School of Medicine
A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that can lead to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the currently used test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, where the infection is endemic.
The new test found evidence of the infection lymphatic filariasis in many more people that the standard test had missed.
The study, the first to independently evaluate the new test, was led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The infection affects 120 million people living in 73 countries, leaving some 40 million profoundly disfigured and incapacitated. Both tests detect the presence of worms that cause lymphatic filariasis, a devastating mosquito-borne illness also known as elephantiasis.
But the new test has significant advantages over the test that has been used for more than a decade not only to diagnose the disease, but to map, monitor and evaluate the success of a massive global public health program aimed at completely eliminating the disease by 2020.
Results of the study are published May 20 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"The older test has had a major impact, but the new one is even better," says lead author Gary J. Weil, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at Washington University School of Medine. "Annually, medication to treat and prevent the infection is distributed to more than 500 million people worldwide. The improved sensitivity of the new test will help determine whether the mass treatment program has been effective and also identify regions that need additional attention."
An accompanying editorial by Maria Rebollo, MD, and Moses Bockarie, PhD, at the Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases in the United Kingdom says the new diagnostic test "represents a major breakthrough for rapid diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis in the blood."
The new test also has a longer shelf life, estimated at two years without refrigeration, compared with three months for the older version, and is expected to cost less.
Weil's research team worked with colleagues at the Liberian Institute for Medical Research to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the new test strip and the currently used test. They evaluated the tests in 503 people ranging in age from 6 to 89.
Both versions of the test are manufactured by Alere Scarborough Inc. of Maine and detect the presence in the blood of a protein produced by the worm parasite Wuchereria bancrofti that causes lymphatic filariasis. The new test is performed by pricking the finger and placing a person's blood onto the test strip, which looks similar to an over-the-counter pregnancy test. Like many pregnancy tests, the lymphatic filariasis test is positive if two lines appear in the test window and negative if only one line shows.
The study's results show that the new test is highly sensitive, detecting nearly 26 percent more infections of lymphatic filariasis than the standard test (124/503 infections vs. 98/503 infections). The new test also was easier to perform and results were easier to read.
"This gives us some indication of the numbers of infections we were missing with the older test," Weil says. "On a global scale, it's a huge number of cases. We need to have an accurate test to be sure we are reaching all the people who have the disease or are at risk of developing it."
Worldwide, some 1.4 billion people are at risk of lymphatic filariasis, which is endemic in many countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and other tropical regions. Worm larvae deposited by the bite of an infected mosquito enter the body and migrate to the lymphatic system, where they mature into adult worms.
The thread-like parasitic worms can live and reproduce in the body for years. Ultimately, this damages the lymphatic vessels that drain fluid from the tissues and causes the enormous swelling and disabling deformity of the legs and in males, the scrotum.
Weil has been active for years in efforts to eliminate lymphatic filariasis via mass drug administration, an approach that involves giving antifilarial drugs to everyone in areas with high infection rates. Organizers of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, launched in 2000, coordinate periodic, repeated mass drug administration of antifilarial medications to more than 500 million people annually, making it the world's largest public health intervention program based on mass drug administration.
###
The research is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Weil GJ, Curtis KC, Fischer K, Majewski AC, Fischer PU, Fakoli L, Gankpala L, Bolay FK, Lammie P, Pelletreau S and Won KY. Laboratory and field evaluation of a new rapid test for detecting Wuchereria bancrofti antigen in human blood. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. May 20, 2013.
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BAGHDAD (AP) ? A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 34 people on Monday, Iraqi officials said.
The attacks are the latest in a recent spike of bombings that has hit both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the past week. The bloodshed has raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence of 2006-2007 that brought the country to the edge of civil war.
In the Iraqi capital, nine car bombs went off, striking at bus stops, market places and in the streets of Shiite areas during the busy morning hours, killing 24 people and wounding 112, according to police officials.
In the southern city of Basra, two car bombs ? one near a restaurant and the other at a bus stop ? killed at least 10 people and wounded 27, according to police officials in the oil-rich city.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but such large-scale bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Hospital officials in Baghdad and Basra confirmed the casualty tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Tensions have been intensifying In Iraq since the country's minority since Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect.
The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the country's north on April 23.
Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.
___
Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.
Recent studies show that lately students rely on Internet trends when preparing their school papers, using user-generated content that?s being shared on the popular social networks. Professionally published content is receiving less of their attention. Supported by these numbers certain experts argue that these popular social websites are bad for students, how they shorten students? attention span, encourage selfishness and inspire instant gratification.
But this isn?t always true. In fact, the advantages are much greater than these potential negative aspects of?being social. Popular social media websites can be used as truly extensive research tools, complimentary to the traditional methods, to help students prepare even better when writing their essays and student papers. Here are some of the best social networks and how they can help improve your essay writing skills:
Facebook
Though Facebook is usually considered as the baddest of all when concerning the previously mentioned negative aspects, this social network isn?t completely harmful for students. You can successfully use Facebook as a research tool, searching through the popular groups where your interest topic is shared and discussed, or using the Facebook questions feature to gather ideas, ask for opinions, or even conduct small surveys.
You ask me how? Answer is easily:
Try to search over the web for the?idea holders on the topic you are researching. Search for them on Facebook, engage and ask questions. Try not to be pushy, people have some work to do. And ask, ask, ask questions. This method is going to increase your mark significantly.
If you want to conduct a small survey use Surveymonkey. Promote the link for your survey to your friends. Try to keep your questions straight and easy to understand.
Twitter
Twitter can also be a great research tool for students essay writing. You can search previous conversations on a certain subject using #hashtags, ask up to 140 characters long questions, start your own discussions, search through the archive and library Twitter feeds, or look for bloggers debating on your topic or experts in the field and maybe ask for their assistance and professional opinion. Just by using the search tool. Easy!
YouTube
This global video library with thousands of music videos, films, documentaries, news and interviews uploaded each day has a truly great value for students as an immense source of knowledge they can certainly find useful when writing their essays. There also are great educational YouTube channels you can turn to for inspiration like YouTube EDU, TEDTalks, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and many more, and you can also reference these official sources in your student papers. You can contact the channel owners directly and enhance your essays with proof of your research.
eHow
eHow is a question-and-answers website and maybe one of the most useful social media tools for getting fast and relevant information on almost any subject you may be interested in. Students can research a certain topic, or look for specific answers provided by people from all over the world who are sharing their thoughts and personal experiences, as well as providing expert opinions on questions related to their profession.
Edublogs
Edublogs are primarily created for educational purposes, for students to share their ideas, participate in discussions, find classrooms and educators to collaborate and learn from. They can also use the large educational blogs directory to research on their essay topics or find ideas to include in their writing.
Digg
When writing about current events and topics, students can search Digg for the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet at the moment. You can look up any topic for the best matched or most recent stories, and even search results only related to a certain date range. This social bookmarking website can help you find great ideas you can later use and elaborate on in your papers.
Students writing essays on literature can find these next book-related social websites very useful:
Shelfari
Shelfari is a global community of book lovers where students can discover popular books, create their own bookshelves, participate in online book groups, share and discuss, connect with and learn from like-minded peers and/or admired authors.
Goodreads
Goodreads is another great social space for bookworms where students can get access to a large network of peers, friends and total strangers with whom they can share their literary inclinations. You can find great ideas on what next to read, see what your friends are reading or discussing about, follow the latest bestsellers in your particular fields of interest and enhance your overall reading experience.
Anobii
Anobii is similar to the previous social cataloguing websites. You can also create virtual bookshelves, get book recommendations, exchange opinions and express interests, as well as read and write review and rate and share books with other people. Of these three social media websites, Anobii is the only one where users can also buy and download ebooks.
The development of the Internet and online communication brought information closer to everyone, but quantity isn?t always quality, and that?s why it is crucial for students to only use official and authoritative websites when researching their essay topics and doing other school assignments.
Alex is one of the writers from bestessays.com. He has MBA degree at Wisconsin International University.
Scientists think they've created the smallest drops of liquid ever ? the size of only three to five protons.
The droplets were made inside the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, where particles are sped up to near light speed and then smashed together. When researchers collided protons with lead nuclei, they were surprised to find that the result was teeny,?tiny droplets of liquid.
These liquid drops are minuscule, measuring about one-100,000th the size of a hydrogen atom or one-100,000,000th the size of a typical virus. [Dazzling Droplets: Photos Reveal Mini Worlds]
The researchers consider the droplets liquid because they flow more like a liquid than like any other state of matter.
"With this discovery, we seem to be seeing the very origin of collective behavior," Vanderbilt University physicist Julia Velkovska said in a statement. "Regardless of the material that we are using, collisions have to be violent enough to produce about 50 subatomic particles before we begin to see collective, flowlike behavior," added Velkovska, who is a co-convener of the heavy-ion program of the Compact Muon Solenoid, the?LHC detector?where the droplets were made.
In fact, the droplets appear to be tiny bits of one of the hottest liquids known, called?quark-gluon plasma. This plasma, essentially a?soup of quarks and gluons?(the subatomic ingredients of the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei), has been made at LHC and other particle accelerators before.
When quark-gluon plasma was first discovered in the early 2000s?inside the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, physicists initially thought it would behave as a gas does. Instead, they found it had liquid properties. Scientists think this plasma represents the state of the whole universe just moments after it was born in the Big Bang, when the universe was extremely hot and dense.
The first artificial quark-gluon plasma was produced by smashing two gold nuclei together, and was later re-created with collisions of two lead nuclei. The CMS researchers wanted to test whether quark-gluon plasma could also be made by colliding a lead nucleus with a proton, which is 208 times less massive than lead; they expected these impacts would not be energetic enough to produce the plasma.
"The proton-lead collisions are something like shooting a bullet through an apple, while lead-lead collisions are more like smashing two apples together: A lot more energy is released in the latter," Velkovska said.
The results of the experiment were unexpected. In about 5 percent of collisions ? those that were most violent ? enough energy was released around the "bullet hole" where the proton smashed through the lead that some of the protons and neutrons there melted. This material seemed to form droplets of liquid about one-tenth the size of the quark-gluon plasma batches created by lead-lead and gold-gold impacts.
Quark-gluon plasma is still a mysterious form of matter, and the scientists can't be absolutely sure yet that what they saw were liquid droplets. Further tests should help differentiate between that interpretation and other possible explanations of the results, the researchers said.
Velkovska and her colleagues detailed their findings in a paper submitted to the journal Physics Letters B.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on?Twitter?and?Google+. Follow us?@livescience,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
People who happen to have ear issues no longer have to deal with the problem of having to bear with the condition and the inconveniences that it brings alone. These days, people can now choose to get special devices that will allow them to enjoy the joys of being able to hear once more, all they have to do is find the right hearing aids.
There will be a lot of things that one is expected to do before he should determine if indeed these devices would be the best choice for him. He cannot just walk through clinics offering these instruments and have one be attached to his ears right away. There will be preparations that need to get done first.
Check ups are crucial before people should opt for the use of these devices. They cannot just choose to start wearing these appliances because they feel like they wanted to. They need to make sure that they get to see a reliable ear doctor first before they should decide whether wearing one is a god idea or not. Though theirs is the final decision, it is up to the doctor to recommend whether the appliance is necessary.
People should know that there have been many instances when problems like these have been checked by ear doctors and it turned out that they are only temporary. This is a good thing as oftentimes, with the right prescription medicines issued by the medical providers, it will be easier for people to properly cope with the situation. So, proper check up is always highly necessary.
You need to rely on the suggestions of your ear doctor if he will find whether the hearing aids are going to be beneficial for you or not. It is up to him to decide whether it would best for you to start wearing it. Thus, consulting with a really reliable professional, a highly qualified provider and an efficient ear doctor is always crucial towards making sure that you get the most out of the experience.
Be sure to take note of the specifications of these devices. You cannot expect to find a certain unit lying around and expect it to offer you the kind of relief that you require just to ensure that you will have your issues properly corrected. No. It doesn?t always work that way. You need to make sure that you will get one suitable for your current condition first for it to even work.
You need to check out the style in which these devices are made of. Sure, you are buying them for the practical purposes that they serve. However, , ore importantly, you want to ensure too that when you start wearing them, they won?t be as noticeable as possible. Some people might jeer at you or throw snide comments at you for your handicap. So, making sure that you get to lie low on things will often help.
Buy hearing aids which you will be able to easily afford. You would prefer to be going for units that are considered competitively priced. This way, you are confident that the item you will need to purchase will be something which you shouldn?t have a hard time covering for. Financially, that is.
You can visit the website www.hearsource.com for more helpful information about Tips Before Buying Your Own Hearing Aids
U of T Engineering researchers, working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, have published new insights into how materials transfer heat, which could lead eventually to smaller, more powerful electronic devices.
Integrated circuits and other electronic parts have been shrinking in size and growing in complexity and power for decades. But as circuits get smaller, it becomes more difficult to dissipate waste heat. For further advances to be made in electronics, researchers and industry need to find ways of tracking heat transfer in products ranging from smart phones to computers to solar cells.
Dan Sellan and Professor Cristina Amon, of U of T's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department, investigated a new tool to measure the thermal and vibrational properties of solids. Working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, they studied materials in which heat is transferred by atomic vibrations in packets called phonons. Their results were recently published in Nature Communications.
"In an analogy to light, phonons come in a spectrum of colors, and we have developed a new tool to measure how different color phonons contribute to the thermal conductivity of solids," said Jonathan Malen, an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at CMU.
According to the researchers, the new tool will give both industry and academia a clearer picture of how an electronic device's ability to dissipate heat shrinks with its size, and how materials can be structured at the nanoscale to change their thermal conductivity.
For example, in the initial demonstration, the team showed that as silicon microprocessors continue to shrink, their operating temperatures will be further challenged by reduced thermal conductivity.
"Our modeling work provides an in-depth look at how individual phonons impact thermal conductivity," said Sellan, who undertook his research as a PhD Candidate in Professor Amon's lab. Currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, Sellan is developing experimental techniques for thermal measurements.
Professor Amon, who is also Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at U of T, said Sellan's insights will allow researchers to design nanostructured thermoelectric materials with increased efficiency in converting waste heat to electrical energy. This work has exciting implications for the future of nano-scale thermal conductivity research."
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University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering: http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/home.htm
Thanks to University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
The former manager has admitted that Bayern Munich are stronger than Borussia Dortmund and is looking forward to a great encounter
Ottmar Hitzfeld feels that it is great for German football that Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have reached the final of the UEFA Champions League this season. Bayern downed Barcelona in the semi-final whereas Dortmund got
rid of Real Madrid at the same stage.
The former Bayern and Dortmund manager claimed that the Bavarians have a slight edge over their rivals as they have great quality in their squad and have had an exquisite season as well. He is expecting a mouth-watering encounter
and is confident that the fans will not be disappointed with the game.
?This is a dream for German football that there is this final. And then, for me, also with Dortmund and Bayern being my former clubs. I believe that Bavaria are the slight favourites, but both meet at eye level,? he was quoted
as saying in an interview.
The former tactician added that it is exceptional for Dortmund to reach the final as nobody had expected them to beat the likes of Malaga CF and Real Madrid.
?Dortmund reaching the final is sensational [but at Bayern] the situation is different. One team craves the Champions League and after losing two finals, one team just wants to go win the match,? he continued.
On the other hand, the current Swiss national team manager added that Pep Guardiola will have a great squad at his disposal when he joins the team at the end of the season. He added that the former Barcelona manager ticks all the
boxes and will be a great success at the Bavarian club.
?He can look forward to taking over an intact, world-class team that he can continue to develop and can bring many titles,? he concluded.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will face each other on May 25 at the Wembley Stadium in London. The Reds have reached their third Champions League final in four years and have lost on the previous two occasions to the likes
of Inter Milan and Chelsea.
Last week, when Smith + Gill Architects unveiled its design for Imperial Tower, which will become Mumbai?s tallest building (by a lot!), their description of the project confounded many critics. ?The building,? the architects explained, ?is designed to confuse the wind.? Huh? Curious to know exactly what that meant, I got in touch with the Gordon Gill, one half of the Chicago-based office.
Legal ease is the last thing you need when you?ve suffered a personal injury. Read over this article and learn how you can improve the chances of winning your personal injury case. Pay attention to what your lawyer and doctors say and be up-to-date on your case until it is finished.
Be as detailed as possible when describing an accident. Explain every injury, from simple cuts and abrasions to broken bones. Continue documenting all bumps and bruises as they appear. Remember also to include mental problems that may emerge down the road, such as a fear of driving.
Finding the right lawyer can be difficult for your personal injury case. Don?t let this deter you, though; just make sure that you?re looking harder for the best lawyer available. Their experience will help you win.
You want to write everything down in detail following an accident. Carefully explain all your injuries, regardless of whether it?s a broken leg or just a small cut. Include any bruises which come up the next day too. Also identify emotional and mental issues that may occur after an injury or accident, like being afraid to get behind the wheel again.
Talk to a personal injury attorney to see if a settlement can be agreed upon before your lawsuit hits reaches the court. This will save you some time, stress and money spent on court fees.
Remember, the lawyer is working for you, so require that you?re treated respectfully and feel free to ask questions. A lawyer who is incapable of treating you like a human being is simply not worth your time and effort. In addition, if you struggle to get ahold of your attorney, then you likely need to find another one.
During your first meeting with your attorney, be sure to ask them any questions you have. These questions should consider your overall expectations so that you?re aware of everything involved. Asking questions will make you more comfortable.
A good place to find a competent attorney is with your state?s American Bar Association. This association will share recommendations and give you some details on the accomplishments of the lawyers you are interested in.
When you need a lawyer, get a retainer agreement. This sets out how much you are going to be liable for in legal fees, as you don?t want any sudden surprises later. Make sure there is an option for payment plans within the agreement, and have a severance clause clearly laid out in case you wish to part ways at a later time.
Don?t hire a lawyer who doesn?t specialize in personal injuries. You may think that goes without saying, but many folks are not as wise. A lawyer specializing in personal injury will be more experienced to handle your specific type of case, which will give you the best odds in court. If you don?t, you could be at a disadvantage.
A good lawyer can make your lawsuit go much smoother. When you understand the length of time that is often involved in personal injury lawsuits and pursue the advice we offer, you will be able to cope better. Ultimately, you will prevent similar cases happening to others while also gaining money you deserve.
Look online to discover a well respected lawyer. This should give you a lot of information to work with while trying to make a decision. To get the outcome you want, be sure the lawyer you pick is experienced and has past success with cases similar to yours.
Kevin and Marina Krim with their daughter Lulu in 2012. (via Live Journal)The parents of two young children killed last fall allegedly by their nanny announced on Thursday that they are expecting a baby this fall.
Kevin and Marina Krim broke the news on a Facebook page established in the memory of their children, Lulu, 6, and Leo, 2, who were found stabbed to death in their Manhattan home in October.
?We are very happy to let you know that Marina is expecting a baby in the fall,? the Krims wrote. They added that their surviving daughter, Nessie, 3, ?can?t wait to welcome her new baby brother.?
?We are filled with many emotions as we look to the future, but the most important one is hope,? the Krims wrote.
The announcement comes just a month after Yoselyn Ortega, the family?s nanny, was declared fit to stand trial for the murders of Lulu and Leo. Marina Krim has told police she came home from Nessie?s swim practice and found her two other kids dead in a bathtub while Ortega stood nearby stabbing herself in the throat.
Ortega has not entered a plea. She is currently being held without bail in a New York City jail.
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian rescuers work at the site of a factory collapse in Kai Ruong village, south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2013. The ceiling of the factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ? The ceiling of a Cambodian factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry.
About 50 workers were inside the factory, south of the capital Phnom Penh, when the ceiling caved in, said police officer Khem Pannara. He said heavy iron equipment stored on the floor above appeared to have caused the collapse.
Two bodies were pulled from the wreckage and seven people were injured, he said. Rescuers combed through rubble for several hours and after clearing the site said that nobody else was trapped inside.
"We were working normally and suddenly several pieces of brick and iron started falling on us," said an injured 25-year-old Kong Thary, crying on the telephone as she recounted the scene from a nearby clinic.
Chea Muny, chief of a trade union for factory workers, identified the factory as a Taiwanese-owned operation called Wing Star that produces Asics sneakers for the Japanese sportswear label. He said shoes made at the factory were imported to the United States and Europe.
The factory complex, which opened about a year ago, consists of several buildings. The structure where the collapse occurred was mainly used as a storage warehouse for shoe-production equipment but had a small work area where people were gathered when the collapse occurred, Chea Muny said.
The garment industry is Cambodia's biggest export earner. In 2012, more than $4 billion worth of products were shipped to the United States and Europe.
About 500,000 people work in more than 500 garment and shoe factories throughout the country.
The accident comes about three weeks after a building collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1,127 people in the global garment industry's deadliest disaster. Bangladesh is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy.
"This shows that the problem is not only isolated to Bangladesh, and that companies (elsewhere) are trying to drive prices down by taking shortcuts on workers' safety," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
A scientist removes the nucleus from a human egg using a pipette. This is the first step to making personalized embryonic stem cells.
Courtesy of OHSU Photos
A scientist removes the nucleus from a human egg using a pipette. This is the first step to making personalized embryonic stem cells.
Courtesy of OHSU Photos
Scientists say they have, for the first time, cloned human embryos capable of producing embryonic stem cells.
The accomplishment is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of embryonic stem cells to treat many human diseases. But the work also raises a host of ethical concerns.
"This is a huge scientific advance," said Dr. George Daley, a Harvard stem cell scientist who wasn't involved in the work. "But it's going to, I think, raise the specter of controversy again."
The controversy arises from several factors. The experiments involve creating and then destroying human embryos for research purposes, which some find morally repugnant. The scientists also used cloning techniques, which raise concerns that the research could lead to the cloning of people.
Ever since human embryonic stem cells were discovered, scientists have had high hopes for them because the cells can morph into any kind of cell in the body. That ability means, in theory, that they could be used eventually to treat all sorts of illnesses, including diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and spinal cord injuries.
So for years, scientists have been trying to use cloning techniques to make embryonic stem cells that are essentially a genetic match for patients. The idea is that such a close match would prevent their bodies from rejecting the cells.
"It's been a holy grail that we've been after for years," says Dr. John Gearhart, a stem cell pioneer at the University of Pennsylvania.
But every previous attempt ended in failure or fraud, leading many scientists to wonder if the goal might be impossible to reach.
Making Personalized Stem Cells
Scientists report Wednesday that they have successfully cloned human embryos from a person's skin cells. Here's how they could eventually use the technology to create new therapies for a patient.
However, Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University and his colleagues never gave up. They succeeded in mice and monkeys. And in this week's issue of the journal Cell, Mitalipov's team reports they finally did it in humans.
"I'm very excited," Mitalipov says. "It's a very significant advance."
The researchers first recruited women who were willing to provide eggs for the research. Next, they removed most of the DNA from each egg and replaced the genetic material with DNA from other peoples' skin cells.
Then, after a long search, they finally found the best way to stimulate each egg so that it would develop into an embryo without the need to be fertilized with sperm. The key turned out to be a combination of chemicals and an electric pulse.
"We had to find the perfect combination," Mitalipov says. As it turned out, that perfect combination included something surprising: caffeine.
"The Starbucks experiment, I guess," quipped Daley. "This little change in the cocktail was what really allowed the experiment to really ultimately succeed."
Shoukhrat Mitalipov, of Oregon Health & Science University, first cloned monkey embryos before trying his method on human eggs.
Courtesy of OHSU Photos
Shoukhrat Mitalipov, of Oregon Health & Science University, first cloned monkey embryos before trying his method on human eggs.
Courtesy of OHSU Photos
That ingredient, plus other tweaks in the process, including using fresh eggs and determining the optimal stage of each egg's development, Mitalipov says.
The researchers showed that the resulting embryos could develop to a stage where they could produce healthy stem cells containing the genes from the skin cells. They even showed that the stem cells could be turned into other types of cells, including heart cells that in a laboratory dish could pulse like a beating heart.
The work drew immediate criticism because of ethical concerns.
First of all, the Oregon researchers compensated women financially to donate eggs for the experiments ? something many in the field have considered ethically questionable.
But beyond that, the creation and destruction of a human embryo is morally repugnant to people who believe an embryo has the same moral standing as a human being.
"This is a case in which one is deliberately setting out to create a human being for the sole purpose of destroying that human being," says Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, a professor of medicine and a bioethicist at the University of Chicago. "I'm of the school that thinks that that's morally wrong no matter how much good could come of it."
Moreover, Mitalipov used the same method that researchers used previously to clone Dolly the sheep. That approach raises the possibility that scientists could try to clone a human being.
"This raises serious problems because it is the first actual human cloning," Sulmasy says. "We already know there are people out there who are itching to be able to be the first to bring a cloned human being to birth. And I think it's going to happen."
But Mitalipov dismisses those concerns. He says the embryos he created aren't the equivalent of a human being because they weren't fertilized naturally. And his experiments with monkeys indicate that it's unlikely that they could ever develop into a healthy baby.
"The procedures we developed actually are very efficient to make stem cells, but it's unlikely that this will be very useful for kind of reproductive cloning," Mitalipov says.
Other researchers agree with him and argue that the possible benefits of the research outweigh the concerns. "Where you can improve [a patient's] quality of life tremendously through this kind of technology, I personally believe that it is ethical to use material like this," Gearhart says.
The scientists acknowledge that it will be years before anyone knows whether this step will actually result in treatments that might help patients. In the meantime, it's clear that the intense debate over embryonic stem cells is far from over.
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Public release date: 20-May-2013
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Recent studies show that lately students rely on Internet trends when preparing their school papers, using user-generated content that?s being shared on the popular social networks. Professionally published content is receiving less of their attention. Supported by these numbers certain experts argue that these popular social websites are bad for students, how they shorten students? attention span, encourage selfishness and inspire instant gratification.
