Current Events

[antiaircraft]

Basically this is a thread for members to post articles on interesting current events in the real world. Here's one to start us off:

 

Surgical success linked to skill at video games

It is the ultimate excuse for every video-gamer accused of spending too long hunched over a console: "I'm not addicted. I'm just honing my surgical skills."A study has found a direct link between skill at video gaming and skill at keyhole, or laparoscopic, surgery. Young surgeons who spent at least three hours a week playing video games in the past made 37% fewer errors, were 27% faster, and scored 42% better overall than surgeons who had never played a video game at all.

 

The research, conducted at the Beth Israel medical centre in New York, focused on 21 junior doctors with an average of three years' experience, and 12 more senior with almost 13 years.

 

Each was questioned on their video-game playing habits and then assessed as they took part in a one-and-a-half day course that scores surgeons on time and errors during simulated surgery drills. Gaming skills were also assessed as they played three video games for 25 minutes.

 

Of those taking part, 42% had never played a video game but 30% had played almost every day at one time.

 

There was a direct correlation between playing video games and skill at laparoscopic surgery, with those who scored highest on the video games performing the best on the simulated surgical course.

 

"Current video game players made 31% fewer errors, were 24% faster and scored 26% better overall than their non-player colleagues." Those in the top third of video gaming skill made 47% fewer errors, performed 39% faster and scored 41% better overall than those in the bottom third.

 

This has led the authors to suggest that video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons. But the Royal College of Surgeons said research, conducted by Professor Ara Darzi, from the surgical unit at St Mary's Hospital, London, showed no correlation between video games and performance in surgery.

Full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2016992,00.html

 

I'll post more if interest is shown.

[Chipmonker]

Good idea there antiaircraft!

 

And I'm not stalling and quickly looking for a current event b/c I accidently hit the accept button when I didn't mean too!!!

US 'Iran attack plans' revealed

 

USS John C Stennis is being deployed to the Persian Gulf

US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country's military infrastructure, the BBC has learned.

 

It is understood that any such attack - if ordered - would target Iranian air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centres.

 

The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

 

The UN has urged Iran to stop the programme or face economic sanctions.

 

But diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran.

 

That list includes Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. Facilities at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr are also on the target list, the sources say.

 

....continued here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6376639.stm

I found a current event...the BBC blowing hot air - and already setting off waves of anti-americanism X.x

 

So anyway, the jist of this topic is to post riviting current events or somematt?

[antiaircraft]

Okay, I guess that's interest from one member.

 

Cooked Chicken hissis Join Tainted-Food Recalls

 

The drumroll for tainted food continued Monday with a nationwide recall of Oscar Mayer chicken hissi strips for bacterial contamination.

 

The recall by Carolina Culinary Foods of West Columbia, S.C., involves 52,650 pounds of fully cooked chicken hissis produced on Jan. 9 and distributed nationwide to retailers.

 

The six-ounce packages are labeled "OSCAR MAYER/LOUIS RICH CHICKEN hissi STRIPS WITH RIB MEAT, GRILLED, FULLY COOKED -- READY TO EAT." Each package has the number "P-19676" inside the USDA inspection mark on front and a use-by-date of "19 Apr 2007" on back.

Full article at http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/fe...cout602044.html

 

Erm, I think one of the words triggered a filter. Ignore the 'hissis'.

[Izzy ♥]

Surgical success linked to skill at video games

:D I love that! I'm going to e-mail it to mum, she's always going on about how my video-game obsession gets in the way of my study (I'm at medical school). Do you have a link to the article?

[antiaircraft]

So anyway, the jist of this topic is to post riviting current events or somematt?

Basically this thread is for posting interesting news.

 

Ok, here's another one:

 

Sydney gives Queen Mary II 'world's warmest welcome'

 

The company that owns the Queen Mary II says Sydney's welcome to the ocean liner was one of the warmest it has ever received entering a port.

 

The world's largest passenger ship has docked at the Garden Island naval base in the harbour.

 

The ocean liner is too big to fit under the Harbour Bridge or to dock at Circular Quay.

 

The president of the Cunard Line, Carol Marlow, says thousands of people cheered as the ship made its way into the harbour this morning.

 

"The came round into the harbour this morning and the crowd just went mad and the champagne bottles and the champagne corks went," she said.

 

"This is her maiden world voyage and this is her 10th port of call and she's had wonderful warm welcomes right the way round, but I have to say, this morning was quite extraordinary."

Full article at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1851906.htm

 

And two more:

 

2 GIs Killed In Iraq Attack

 

Insurgents launched an attack on a U.S. combat post in Iraq Monday, sending in a suicide bomber and clashing with American troops, the military and residents said. Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 wounded, the military said.

 

The target was an Iraqi police station that U.S. soldiers use as a base in the town of Tarmiyah, a violent Sunni Arab stronghold about 25 miles north of Baghdad, reports CBS news chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.

 

The attack came on a day when a string of car bombings and other attacks claimed at least 34 Iraqi lives in Baghdad and elsewhere, including a late afternoon mortar attack in the capital which killed 11, according to police.

Full article at http://wcbstv.com/topstories/topstories_story_050084703.html

 

Cholesterol boosts women’s stroke risk

Healthy women with no history of heart or artery disease face a significantly increased risk of stroke if they have high cholesterol levels, researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found.

 

“Otherwise healthy women with high cholesterol were more than twice as likely to suffer a stroke compared to healthy women with lower cholesterol levels,” said researcher Dr. Tobias Kurth.

 

“This strongly supports the notion that cholesterol levels are a biologic risk factor for stroke and that avoiding unfavorable cholesterol levels may help prevent stroke.”

Full article at http://theedge.bostonherald.com/healthNews...rticleid=183893

[Ellie_Penguin]

this is fun and it helps me keep informed. Here's something very interesting and I'm sure Tyler knows more about them, but yes it grabs my attention because last week I heard of the San Andreas fault earthquake (the "big one").

 

Asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036

U.N. urged to take action on asteroid threat

 

Here's the full article

 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/02/19/a...reut/index.html

[antiaircraft]

I remember reading that one. I already have a plan for dealing with an asteroid impact. RUN! j/k

 

At least 66 killed in train bombings

 

Authorities yesterday decried synchronized bomb blasts that demolished two cars on a Pakistan-bound train and killed at least 66 persons as an attempt to obstruct peace efforts between the two countries.

 

Thirteen persons were injured in the Sunday night blasts, which authorities swiftly blamed on Muslim extremists. The bombings came ahead of scheduled peace talks in New Delhi today with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

 

It was the deadliest attack since a series of bomb blasts on commuter trains and railway stations in Bombay in July, which killed more than 180 and temporarily halted peace efforts by the nuclear neighbors.

Full article at http://www.washtimes.com/world/20070219-105419-3987r.htm

[Midtime]

Interesting articles! Unfortunately, I don't really kep up with current events so I can't be bothered to post one.

Keep posting!

[antiaircraft]

Check this one out:

Tiny miracle is 'most premature baby ever' A baby said by doctors to have been the most premature ever born will finally leave hospital today.

 

Amillia Taylor was delivered after less than 22 weeks in the womb, far less than a full 37 to 40-week pregnancy, and weighed just 10 ounces (284 grams). She was less than 10 inches long and medics gave her litte chance of survival.

 

Amillia, who was conceived by IVF, had trouble breathing and suffered a mild brain haemorrhage and digestive problems.

Full article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...20/nbaby120.xml

 

And this one:

Hot and bothered Australia sees the light on bulbs

 

Incandescent light bulbs will be banned in Australia from 2010 under a programme to phase in energy-saving fluorescent alternatives to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

 

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday it was the world's first initiative to eliminate the 125-year-old energy- inefficient incandescent bulb.

 

'If the rest of the world supports us, does what we've been doing here, follows our lead, this will reduce an amount of energy - in effect make the world more energy efficient - to the tune of five times as much energy as Australia consumes,' Turnbull said. 'It's a little thing, but it's a massive change.'

Full article at http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapac..._light_on_bulbs

 

Personally I'm glad to see at least one country moving on.

[Ellie_Penguin]

Amillia Taylor was delivered after less than 22 weeks in the womb

 

o_O woah that's VERY VERY small. I'm glad she was able to make it!

[Awesome_Paul]

Interviews for first-time passport applicants will be "vital" in helping crack identity fraud, officials say.

The Identity and Passport Service has defended changes which mean that from April first-time adult applicants will be called to a face-to-face interview.

Some 69 centres are being set up across the UK, with round-trip journey times for applicants of up to two hours.

Officials hope it will stop attempts to falsify passports, but some experts say professionals will not be deterred.

The problem of identity fraud costs the UK an estimated £1.7bn a year.

Campaign group NO2ID said the move was to aid the introduction of ID cards, not primarily to make passports more secure.

All new applicants, some 600,000 a year, will have to be interviewed by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS).

But the Home Office say the new system will be introduced gradually so not all first-time applicants will have to take part from April.

"Customers not contacted by IPS within eight working days from receipt of a completed application form will not need to have an interview," a spokesman said.

From 2009, interviews will also be compulsory for the millions more people who apply to renew lost, stolen or expired passports each year.

IPS said the new system was an inconvenience, but it was vital to the battle against the growing fraud problem.

Chief executive James Hall said: "We all as citizens recognise that we have to be inconvenienced by airport security but it's in our collective benefit that we are.

"I think people will recognise that its appropriate once in their lifetime to go through a little bit more inconvenience in order that we can ensure the integrity of the passport document."

 

Not intrusive

Questions in the 10-20 minute interviews will centre on information like previous addresses and bank details.

It is hoped the measure will make people think twice about committing passport fraud, about 75% of which is believed to involve first-time applicants.

Fraud expert Prof Michael Levy said: "It's ratcheting up the level of knowledge that you need about your pretended self in order to get that passport, compared to the present situation where you have a free hit."

Some experts argue that the test may deter "chancers", but that "hardcore" passport fraudsters will not be put off.

Tom Craig, a former Scotland Yard fraud officer, said checking of passports at banks and building societies was a bigger issue.

"My suggestion to the Home Office would be let's try and educate more people, raise the awareness in relation to the banks and building societies, so that they can check the passports presented to them."

"A lot of these passports we're getting now they're actually doctored, so they've got a genuine passport, they change the biographical page in some way or form or they create a completely new page."

 

PASSPORT INTERVIEWS

About 610,000 applicants will be interviewed per year - approx 10% of all applications

1,700 confirmed frauds were detected last year

74% of fraudulent cases were first-time adult applications

The IPS aim is that 99% of the population will be within an hour's travel of an office; more than half within 15 minutes

Source: Home Office/IPS

Mr Craig added that finding fraudulent applications was like "looking for a needle in a haystack". He said while interviews would help stop fraud they were just one facet amid a "raft of things that need to be achieved".

Many passports were sold on to criminals after being obtained legitimately, he said, while others were stolen.

And to be effective, interviewers would have to be well trained, he added.

"If you are not good at interviewing you are not going to pick out the bad suspect," he said.

NO2ID general secretary Guy Herbert said: "It is being misrepresented as essential for passports, but it is identity card work by the back door."

The group is launching a campaign to get young people to apply for their first passport before April in order to avoid the interviews.

 

Secure chip

The Home Office said it aimed to ensure that 99% of the population would be within an hour's travel - one way - of an office, and more than half within 15 minutes.

Applicants living in remote areas will be interviewed via a secure webcam link.

A spokesman said interviews would not be "intrusive", but aimed at ensuring the applicant was who they said they were.

From 2009, all those who want to renew their passports will have to visit one of the centres to have their fingerprints and photographs taken, in preparation for the biometric passport.

And some may also face a similar but shorter interview.

Since October, all Britons applying for passports have been issued with the new, more expensive, ePassport.

The document features a secure chip storing an image of the holder's face and "relevant biographical details" and costs £66 - a rise of £15.

The Lib Dems' Simon Hughes said the move would disrupt the lives of working people.

"Most people do not have the time or the inclination to have to travel, probably quite a long way from where they live...to keep the Home Office happy."

 

so now, instead of applying for a passport, you now have to go to a face to face intereview, have your fingerprints taken etc. i think it will reduce identity fraud

[Ellie_Penguin]

so is that for the ones who are getting a new passport, or does that apply for a passport renewal?

[Awesome_Paul]

i think its only for first time users but they may do it for everyone, at first then if your renewing it after that then your safe.

 

even if i was renwing, i would rather go to a 20 minute interview if my identity could be stolen.

[Ellie_Penguin]

yea true XD. I think it's a pretty good idea and I agree if it is going to protect our identity. I've also heard about Health Cards getting stolen from the Mail.

[Awesome_Paul]

whoa, one bad thing is most banks have been bad, and just throwing away peopels bank details and putting them in rubbish without shredding them etc so anyone could get ahold of them

[Ellie_Penguin]

good thing i haven't been a victim of identity theft <_<, but my aunt has and she had to go through tons of papers just so she can cancel her old credit cards and open new ones.

[antiaircraft]

I really hate the concept of identity theft.

 

Beware of peanut butter pathogens

 

THINGS are not quite right in Neverland. A salmonella outbreak that has been growing since August and now has nearly 300 cases was recently linked to peanut butter, specifically the Peter Pan and Great Value brands made by ConAgra in their Georgia plant (noted by a product code on the lid beginning with "2111.") A salmonella outbreak isn't that strange. What is strange is its relation to peanut butter.

 

The type of salmonella most commonly linked with humans is Non-Typhoidal Salmonella. Another rarer form of salmonella is called Typhoidal Salmonella. The first is usually contracted by ingesting raw or undercooked eggs, or from animals such as chicken or cattle. The second can only be contracted through direct contact with the fecal matter of an infected person. Neither of these, I think, reside in peanut butter. So what is ConAgra putting into their stuff?

 

According to the Peter Pan ingredient label, the product contains roasted peanuts, sugar, vegetable oil and salt. No chicken, beef, eggs or milk. And I most certainly hope not feces.

Full article at http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp...91&pid=1551

[webpixie]

i was really disapointed when i ehard about hte peanut butter thing i had been wanting toget some for sandwatches lately and pertpan is my brand of choice *sniffle*

[Awesome_Paul]

there was salmonella in cadburies items, i work part time in a store, and when we heard about it, we had to take the freddos and other cadburies stuff, but i took the freddos as soon as there were children in, they got so upset but i justb said "its for your own good" im a evil person

[antiaircraft]

Hospitals Test Intel-Developed Tablet PC For Nurses

 

The University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, is testing a mobile data-entry device that was developed by Intel Corp. and Motion Computing with the goal of saving nurses time during patient visits and reducing human error.

 

The hospital was one of several test sites for a handheld device called the C5. Sporting a 10.4-inch display screen, the portable PC was manufactured by Austin, Texas-based Motion. The partnership also marks Intel's entry into hospital-focused mobile computing.

 

With the device, the hospital says nurses working in acute care units can now input data into a computer, rather than on notepad paper first, which would be typed into a laptop later. The latter scenario, according to UCSF officials, can lead to a delay of as much as two and a half hours in getting patient data into the medical center's database, and can sometimes lead to errors that could hurt the patient.

Full article at http://www.informationweek.com/news/showAr...cleID=197007535

 

Now I suddenly feel like going to hospital... Joking, I'm attracted to electronic stuff.

[Izzy ♥]

This was fairly amusing...

 

"Fart Bomb" Closes Postal Centre, Roads

A smelly `fart bomb' had postal staff and firefighters holding their breath today when it burst at a postal sorting centre on Auckland's North Shore.

 

The fart bomb was a giveaway in an internet magazine but when other postal items were placed on top of the magazines being posted out, the sachet bomb burst and released its contents shortly after daybreak.

 

Worried postal staff called the fire service and the New Zealand Post sorting centre in Albany was evacuated and roads in the area were closed.

 

Acting deputy chief fire officer for the North Shore, Mike McEnaney, said the bomb was harmless but smelly and staff had no choice when they called the fire service.

 

"Until you can identify what the substance is you have got the potential there for a hazardous chemical incident."

 

He said once it had been identified, firefighters and postal staff kept their distance.

 

"It was definitely a smell of sulphur.

 

"If you were a firefighter in Rotorua it would have been a run of the mill day but to the postal staff in Tawa Drive, they thought someone was having a real bad day at work," he said.

 

The postal centre and surrounding roads were reopened when the smell was identified.

Full article: http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6976853,00.html

 

 

 

And this is really sad, I feel so sorry for the people who got the organs :(

HIV-Infected Organs Transplanted In Italy

Italian doctors mistakenly transplanted organs from an HIV-positive donor into three recipients, the head of a Florence hospital said.

 

Doctors at Careggi hospital told reporters that an infected woman's liver and kidneys were transplanted after a laboratory biologist incorrectly wrote on her medical records that she had tested negative for HIV.

 

"This was a tragic human error," said Careggi's chief Edoardo Majno.

 

Doctors said the 41-year old woman, who died of a brain haemorrhage, was probably unaware that she was HIV-positive and that her relatives had agreed to donate the organs.

 

The likelihood that the three recipients would now become infected with HIV/AIDS was very high, Majno said.

 

"Fuelling an alarmist reaction after this case of human error, which luckily is extremely rare, could have negative consequences for many people who are on a waiting list for a transplant," said Franco Filipponi, director of transplants for Florence's Tuscany region.

Full article: http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11965-6976247,00.html

[Ellie_Penguin]

Woah, I hope I never get a transplant. That's sad.

[antiaircraft]

I wouldn't mind getting a fart bomb myself...

 

This is intriguing:

Space telescope analyses exoplanetary atmospheres

NASA scientists have for the first time identified constituents of the atmosphere of an exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system) by using the Spitzer space telescope.

 

Spitzer is equipped with a spectrograph which splits light into different wavelengths. Different chemicals are associated with particular patterns of wavelengths, so analysis of this data indicates the makeup of the object being observed.

 

The problem is capturing sufficient light reflected by an exoplanet to allow such analysis. "This is an amazing surprise," said Spitzer project scientist Michael Werner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We had no idea when we designed Spitzer that it would make such a dramatic step in characterising exoplanets."

 

The 'trick' is that Spitzer is an infrared telescope, and planets are relatively bright in these wavelengths so they are not swamped by the light from their stars as they are in the visible wavelengths. When one of these planet passes behind its sun, the dip in the infrared light is big enough to be detected, and the 'missing' light must be that coming from the planet. Subtracting one set of measurements from the other provides the spectrum of the planet.

Full article at http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9812/1066/

[Ellie_Penguin]

Here's something for you guys to learn about Peruvian Cuisine.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/02/21/p...reut/index.html

[antiaircraft]

Oh man, now I'm hungry again.

 

Iraq Insurgents Use Chlorine in Bomb Attacks

 

A truck bomb that combined explosives with chlorine gas blew up in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, and officials said it might represent a new and deadly tactic by insurgents against Iraqi civilians.

 

It was at least the third truck bomb in a month to employ chlorine, a greenish gas also used in World War I, which burns the skin and can be fatal after only a few concentrated breaths. The bomb killed at least two people and wounded 32 others, many of them sent to hospitals coughing and wheezing, police and medical officials said.

 

Iraqi and American officials said the use of chlorine seemed aimed at bringing a new level of fear and havoc to Iraq as a new security plan for Baghdad takes shape.

Full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/world/mi....html?ref=world

 

 

 

Can't these guys just quit it? People who have nothing to do with the war are getting killed/injured!