Puerto Rico delegate seeks vote for statehood

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

PR-KidSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico AP — Puerto Ricos representative in Congress is seeking an unprecedented yes-or-no vote on whether the island should become the 51st state, submitting a bill Wednesday that riled many in the U.S. territory.The proposal by Pedro Pierluisi calls for a federally approved ratifying vote in which Puerto Ricans would be asked if they want their island to become a state. If the majority agrees, the bill calls for the president to submit legislation to Congress within 180 days.”I expect a clear and firm answer from Congress.

This cannot fall on deaf ears,” Pierluisi said. “We lack democratic rights … Its about time this issue be addressed.

“The White House announced last month it would seek $2.5 million from Congress to fund a vote on the islands future political status following disagreements about the results of a nonbinding, two-part referendum held in November.On the ballots first question, more than 900,000 voters, or 54 percent, said they were not content with the current commonwealth status.A second question asked voters to choose a status. Of the approximately 1.3 million voters who made a choice, nearly 800,000, or 61 percent, supported statehood. Some 437,000 backed sovereign free association and 72,560 chose independence. However, nearly 500,000 left that question blank…

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A Human Stem Cell Has Been Cloned For the First Time

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Almost two decades ago, scientists succeeded in cloning Dolly the sheep. Now, the same process has been allowed scientists to clone embryonic stem cells from fetal human skin cells for the very first time. There are no more barriers between us and creating human clones.

Cloning in and of itself has been within our reach for a while. Cloning non-human animals has been on the table for nearly two decades, dating back to Dolly the sheep way back in 1996. Cloning human cells has always been a bit rougher of a prospect, partly because it’s just hard, and partly because experimenting with it is ground that needs to be tread very very carefully.

This breakthrough accomplishment, performed by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University and his colleagues, makes use of a technique called nuclear transfer. In its most basic sense, nuclear transfer is the process of taking one cell—in this case a skin cell—and inserting it into an egg cell that’s had its DNA removed, which is then coaxed into dividing. Or in other words, it’s sort of like fertilizing an egg cell with a fully formed cell of another sort, instead of a sperm.

This process results in a ball of stem cells that can be grown into a full-fledged clone if it’s allowed to keep developing. That’s how we’ve gotten every successful clone to date, including Dolly back in 1996. But until now, that had never worked with human cells. As documented in the journal Cell, Mitalipov and company have managed to pull off the process using skin cells of a human fetus as fertilizer, creating a whole bunch of embryonic stem cells that could go on to grow into a cloned human being. Not that anyone’s planning to actually do that. Ever. These cells are for medical treatment. Stuff like treating nerve and heart damage.

via A Human Stem Cell Has Been Cloned For the First Time.

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8 Objects That Signal a New Industrial Revolution

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Are we on the verge of a third industrial revolution? The editors at The Economist certainly think so. But while rapid prototyping and the open source movement have been around for decades now, we had yet to see anyone take a truly comprehensive look at the transformation in manufacturing. That is, until the New Museum’s latest show, Adhocracy, came along.

Adhocracy is, in the word of its curator, Domus editor Joseph Grima, “an exhibition about people who make things.” In more specific terms, it’s a collection of 25 machines, printers, apps, and objects that illustrate how rapid prototyping and DIY culture is changing how we make and buy objects.

That can mean anything from a set of standardized joints that let the user build a bike out of nearly any material, to a solar-powered 3D printer that uses sand from the surrounding desert, to an opensource guide to repairing household appliances. The objects vary, but the ethos stays the same: making is no longer the purview of companies which manufacture millions of the same object. It’s the right of individuals, who are manufacturing one or two objects to fit their own unique needs, then passing along their code. Take a look at eight highlights below—or check out the show until July 7.

via 8 Objects That Signal a New Industrial Revolution.

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Oldest Water Cache Ever Discovered May Hold 1.5 Billion-Year-Old Life

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

After kindly asking a group of Canadian miners for a sample of some water theyd struck, a team of scientists who had been investigating similar finds discovered that the fluid they were looking at may have been sealed up for 1.5 billion years.And thats just the lower limit. The decaying radioactive atoms in the potential primordial soup told them that this cache of water the oldest ever discovered could actually have been waiting patiently in that rock for anywhere up to 2.5 billion years.But this prehistoric time capsule isnt just toting stale water, its also full of hydrogen which, as luck may have it, acts as food for certain microorganisms. Even better—the rock is able to supply a steady flow of hydrogen into its cozy little crevice, which may just have been enough to sustain at least some form of life for all this time.So should it contain the descendants of ancient microbes—which it very well may—not only do we have a perfectly preserved specimen of ancient life, but well also be able to glean a better idea of how we evolved. Because the potential life held within has been so isolated, it would have most likely evolved in distinctly different ways from our own microbial ancient ancestors.

via Oldest Water Cache Ever Discovered May Hold 1.5 Billion-Year-Old Life.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico delegate seeks vote for statehood – Americas Wires – MiamiHerald.com

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

PR-KidSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricos representative in Congress is seeking an unprecedented yes-or-no vote on whether the island should become the 51st state, a bill that is riling many in the U.S. territory.The bill that Pedro Pierluisi filed Wednesday calls for a federally approved ratification vote in which Puerto Ricans would be asked if they want their island to become a state. If the majority agrees, the bill calls for the president to submit legislation to Congress within 180 days.Pierluisis bill comes a month after the White House announced it would seek $2.5 million from Congress to fund a vote on the islands future political status.There has been no agreement on the meaning of the results of a nonbinding referendum in November.

via SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico delegate seeks vote for statehood – Americas Wires – MiamiHerald.com.

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Campaign Mocks A&F CEO by Donating Brands Clothes to Homeless [VIDEO]

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

An online campaign is attempting to “rebrand” Abercrombie & Fitch by donating its clothes to the homeless, after an author alleged that company CEO Mike Jeffries “doesnt want larger people shopping in his store.”The comments, made by Robin Lewis, were included in a Business Insider article published earlier this month. The piece also referenced, and breathed new life into, a 2006 Salon article in which Jeffries admits that A&F markets to “cool kids,” while excluding those who are unattractive or overweight.“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”Since the comments went viral, an online campaign to undermine A&Fs “cool kids” image has gained steam. Los Angeles-based writer Greg Karber launched the campaign, which uses the hashtag #FitchTheHomeless, in a video posted to YouTube on Monday.”I was really upset by the Abercrombie & Fitch CEOs comments, and I wanted to do something to turn that negative energy into a positive social good,” Karber told Mashable in an email.In the video, which has since attracted nearly 400,000 hits, Karber encourages viewers to donate their Abercrombie & Fitch clothing to a local homeless shelter, and then share what theyre doing on social media.His goal? To make Abercrombie & Fitch “the worlds number one brand of homeless apparel.”Abercrombie and Fitch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.What do you think of the #FitchTheHomeless campaign? Tell us in the comments, below.

via Campaign Mocks A&F CEO by Donating Brands Clothes to Homeless [VIDEO].

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New keyboard shortcuts for Windows 8 and Windows RT – Microsoft Windows

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

With Windows 8 and Windows RT, you can use the keyboard shortcuts you’re already using, and you’ll find new ones too. For example, the easiest way to search on the Start screen is to simply start typing. Not on the Start screen? Press the Windows logo key‌ and you can quickly switch between Start and the app you’re in.

If you’re not familiar with keyboard shortcuts—or you’d like to see a list of shortcuts in one place—see the bigger list of keyboard shortcuts.

Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for Windows.

Press this                                                     To do this

Windows logo key‌ +start typing     Search your PC

Windows logo key‌ +C                       Open the charms

Windows logo key‌ +F                      Open the Search charm to    search files

Click here for a pdf with a full list of 100 shortcuts

via New keyboard shortcuts for Windows 8 and Windows RT – Microsoft Windows.

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