News Stories

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Solace

^ My first thought too. But this part made me raise an eyebrow:


People are already leery of processed food. There's been enough scares that people are questioning if all of those hormones and such are affecting our food supply in unhealthy ways. Plus there's always contamination fears like mad cows or e.coli getting into the market. I think it would be a very tough sell despite the good intentions behind it.

Personally I think the Star Trek food replicator would be a better technology to aspire to anyway.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Wouldn't food growing in a controlled environment (rather than all the randomness found in the natural world) be less likely to carry strange viruses?

And really, if people are hungry enough, they'll eat anything. And if they're British, they'll cook some really disgusting stuff for no discernable reason.

I don't see the BM replacing real meat anytime soon but for fast food and can/process meat i doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference. just open a can of spam and you swear it was made form a vat of "stuff you don't want to know about". And if people can make soybean into something that taste like meat they can probably do something with the BM to get it the right texture.

[hinakatbklyn]

Originally Posted by killer3000ad

Spoiler for tidy:

UN orders doctors to leave Haiti quake victims

I doubt the doctors themselves would choose to leave injured or ill by choice even if the victims can't afford it or for that matter even if their own lives depended on it.

Spoiler for Left hidden so as not to jinx myself:

Question now is instead of Hati who is in this disaster, would this happen if New York or any other major city had a similar or a worse earthquake (or any other major disaster) and they were in the same position as Hati (Since there are both rich and poor living here)?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by hinakatbklyn

I doubt the doctors themselves would choose to leave injured or ill by choice even if the victims can't afford it or for that matter even if their own lives depended on it.

Spoiler for Left hidden so as not to jinx myself:

Question now is instead of Hati who is in this disaster, would this happen if New York or any other major city had a similar or a worse earthquake (or any other major disaster) and they were in the same position as Hati (Since there are both rich and poor living here)?

???
look up 1989 loma-prieta if you want to look at the US response to a Major Earthquake in a major metropolitan area.

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by hinakatbklyn

I doubt the doctors themselves would choose to leave injured or ill by choice even if the victims can't afford it or for that matter even if their own lives depended on it.

Spoiler for Left hidden so as not to jinx myself:

Question now is instead of Hati who is in this disaster, would this happen if New York or any other major city had a similar or a worse earthquake (or any other major disaster) and they were in the same position as Hati (Since there are both rich and poor living here)?

I'd actually have to question what kind of violence they're talking about. Considering that doctors and rescuers are just about the only people who give a damn about the victims, I doubt rioters would attack just about the only people who are left trying to help them.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I'd actually have to question what kind of violence they're talking about. Considering that doctors and rescuers are just about the only people who give a damn about the victims, I doubt rioters would attack just about the only people who are left trying to help them.

i wouldn't count it out, anything can happen in riot with a angry and desperate mob, add in the night and no police or authority of any kind.

[Haruka_Kitten]

I agree with Meo, what is this security breach that has caused the UN to ask the medical team to fall back?

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I'd actually have to question what kind of violence they're talking about. Considering that doctors and rescuers are just about the only people who give a damn about the victims, I doubt rioters would attack just about the only people who are left trying to help them.

If there is no one else to take the brunt of the emotional high that gets there, that is possible. You can have people who are genuinely angry and are rioting to protest what they see as "unfair" treatment, and you can also have those... hooligans who are rioting either for fun or to make a fast buck (like break storefronts to steal goods).

Would the 2nd group attack someone who is in their way, esp. if they thought (1) they could get away with it or (2) no one would recognize or prosecute them once things calm down? For the 1st group, while you would hope they would not attack doctors, nurses or other medical personnel there to help, you can't say for sure what people would do in the heat of the moment if and when emotions are running high, esp., for example, if doctors start to triage patients because of low supplies.

The article is somewhat biased, though, IMHO. It doesn't say why the security concerns were raised, which could be due to gangs robbing and selling supplies to UN personnel being extremely negligent and uncaring.

[Haruka_Kitten]

Okay, I'd say that was a valid hazard, and I guess the UN were cringing when they had to make that decision: risk the doctors getting hurt and not being capable of caring for patients, or issue a mandatory retreat order to keep them safe at the risk of lives.

(on a semi-related note, I hope this wasn't the result of the pressure that "Lambassador" Sam Kekovich trying to lobby International Australia Day. That really isn't happening, is it?)

[killer3000ad]

Bit of an update on that. Apparently the UN did not order the medical team to leave. INstead the doctors felt there was a security hazard and asked for UN security, but the UN said the blue helmets could not provide that security and could only evac them.

Security concerns cause doctors to leave hospital, quake victims

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Earthquake victims, writhing in pain and grasping at life, watched doctors and nurses walk away from a field hospital Friday night after a Belgian medical team evacuated the area, saying it was concerned about security.

The decision left CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta as the only doctor at the hospital to get the patients through the night.

CNN initially reported, based on conversations with some of the doctors, that the United Nations ordered the Belgian First Aid and Support Team to evacuate. However, Belgian Chief Coordinator Geert Gijs, a doctor who was at the hospital with 60 Belgian medical personnel, said it was his decision to pull the team out for the night. Gijs said he requested U.N. security personnel to staff the hospital overnight, but was told that peacekeepers would only be able to evacuate the team.

He said it was a "tough decision" but that he accepted the U.N. offer to evacuate after a Canadian medical team, also at the hospital with Canadian security officers, left the site Friday afternoon. The Belgian team returned Saturday morning.

Gijs said the United Nations has agreed to provide security for Saturday night. The team has requested the Belgian government to send its own troops for the field hospital, which Gijs expects to arrive late Sunday.

Responding to the CNN report that Gupta was the only doctor left at the Port-au-Prince field hospital, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Saturday that the world body's mission in Haiti did not order any medical team to leave. If the team left, it was at the request of their own organization, he said.

Edmond Mulet, the U.N. assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters later that local security officers deemed the makeshift hospital unsafe.

"It seems that we've heard some reports in the international media that the United Nations asked or forced some medical teams to not work any more in some clinic -- that is not true, that is completely untrue," Mulet said Saturday.

CNN video from the scene Friday night shows the Belgian team packing up its supplies and leaving with an escort of blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers in marked trucks.

Gupta -- assisted by other CNN staffers, security personnel and at least one Haitian nurse who refused to leave -- assessed the needs of the 25 patients, but there was little they could do without supplies.

More people, some in critical condition, were trickling in late Friday.

"I've never been in a situation like this. This is quite ridiculous," Gupta said.
........................

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by killer3000ad

Bit of an update on that. Apparently the UN did not order the medical team to leave. INstead the doctors felt there was a security hazard and asked for UN security, but the UN said the blue helmets could not provide that security and could only evac them.

Security concerns cause doctors to leave hospital, quake victims

That goes with the saying : If you are scared, don't do any charity work.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I am quite lost in your query for my argument part, so I'll just ignore it.

You're saying "it can't work because if it does, it'll replace real meat". Which is basically "it can't work, because if it does, it'll work".

Minced meat and sausages comes from cutting the size of large chunks of meat into smaller sizes, so if they can make small chunks of meat equivalent to minced ones, why not larger chunks in properly controlled environments? This is what will replace natural meat.

For the same reason you can't make whole potatoes out of a bowl of mashed potatoes.

Then again, it might not be possible. My next explanation will answer that.



Erm I think you have been misinformed. I remember this biology experiment I had which we have to breed amoeba. We have strict regulations on the equipment we use, and the optimum yield across all of the students are pretty standard. Organisms at microscopic level are very susceptible to heat and pressure, even a single degree or pascal can determine their morphology.

In an incubator, stem cells are to be bred in small and limited numbers. So, I SERIOUSLY doubt that they can produce much with little money.



Cultivating from stem cells are not as easy. There are two main kinds embryonic and adult stem cells. From what I have read, they must have used the adult stem cells which are lineage restricted and are limited in cell division, i.e can only subdivide a couple or three times before differentiating itself. There are lots more limitations, but been too many years and I am rather out of touch with biology. No offense, but RTFW (Read The Fine Wikipedia) .

No offense, but try to understand what they're trying to do. Yes, they used stem cells as their starting point. It doesn't mean they have to stay stem cells all the way to plate. They're trying to make meat, which is mostly muscle.

If you read what the genetics expert said, obviously he is an idiot when it comes to market and economic psychology.

And just as obviously, he's not the one who'll actually try to sell it to the consumer. So?

Please don't reiterate his words because that niche hardly exists in abundance other than in third worlds, war zones and military camps,

So, plenty of potential consumers, then? You're also forgetting the poor in rich nations, for that matter. Plenty of them, too.

and also, some soldiers would rather go hungry than to eat the rations.

And some people will eat some stuff that'd really disgust them if they thought about what it is. So they don't, and everyone's happy. (Not that I think vat grown meat is particularly disgusting, for that matter. It's the future! I'd prefer jetpacks and robots, but whatever.)

There are size limitations per vat due to miniscule stuff like electrical conductivity, storage space, shape (surface area), which can affect the internal pressure and temperature INSIDE the vat. The growth of each cell is to be taken seriously, making it tougher and less cause effective. Why? Cancer.

I don't think it is feasible to build a large vat due to scientific and harvesting problems, and building many small vats is neither as cost or space effective. We have housing problems, eviction notices, security, staffing, monitoring, etc etc. Why don't these scientists use their talents to breed a catgirl instead?

Yes, they'll obviously need some real estate. But will they have the same climate and soil constraints as the guys needing pastures? And will they need the same quantities? Not likely.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by hinakatbklyn

I doubt the doctors themselves would choose to leave injured or ill by choice even if the victims can't afford it or for that matter even if their own lives depended on it.

Spoiler for Left hidden so as not to jinx myself:

Question now is instead of Hati who is in this disaster, would this happen if New York or any other major city had a similar or a worse earthquake (or any other major disaster) and they were in the same position as Hati (Since there are both rich and poor living here)?

You should have seen New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Local, State, and Federal Governments were completely inept, there was massive looting(even some done by police!), and rescue workers(police, fire, etc) were even shot at by New Orleanians during the whole thing.

[TinyRedLeaf]

NOT FORGOTTEN: Kobe residents praying on Sunday morning for victims of the huge tremor
that rocked the city. The bamboo lanterns at Higashi-Yuenchi Park were arranged to spell
out "1995" and "1.17", the date on which the quake occurred. (PHOTO: AFP)

Japan mourns 1995 Kobe quake

Tokyo (Jan 17): Millions of people across Japan paid homage today to the people who lost their lives in the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which levelled the western port city of Kobe 15 years ago.

Ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake began yesterday across the country, with local primary school pupils from Kobe's neighbouring Amagasaki City banding together to build 49 small "kamakura" snow huts in Tachibana Park, to commemorate the 49 residents of the city who lost their lives in the 1995 disaster.

Up to 30 tonnes of snow was used to build the mini-igloos and, alongside the primary school children, a solo workman from Akita Prefecture also created a 3m-high snow hut, further adding to the poignancy of the monument and the moment.

At 5.46pm, exactly 12 hours before the time the earthquake struck 15 years ago, candles were lit inside the snow huts — the warm incandescent glow evoking mixed feelings of grief, pain, solace and hope in the hundreds of onlookers.

In another touching tribute, just before sunrise on Sunday hundreds of people gathered at Higashi-Yuenchi Park in central Kobe to light bamboo lanterns. The lanterns were arranged to spell out "1995" and "1.17" — ceremoniously marking the year and date the earthquake devastated the city and surrounding areas.

People prayed and mourned the loss of loved ones in front of the lanterns, but along with the torrents of tears was a shared sense of optimism that the lives lost in the disaster were not completely in vain. The citizens of Kobe and the city's surrounding areas, particularly the survivors and the bereaved, are a testament to how communities can not only bond together to rebuild shattered lives, but also act as a source of hope and encouragement to individuals, cities and countries around the globe, like the people of Haiti who are currently suffering unimaginable hardships following last Tuesday's massive earthquake that decimated the Republic.

- XINHUA

[andyjay729]

Quite touching, that.

What kind of aid has Japan sent to Haiti for its quake?

[Haruka_Kitten]

Irrelevant, but I have some breaking news that is to warm the hearts of all fellow Victorians in Australia. Lynne Kosky has finally resigned as Minister of Public Transport.

Victorian Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky Resigns

This couldn't have come at a more useful time. Public Transport in Victoria is the number 1 most complained about thing to the Victorian State Government. Calls for Kosky to resign have been in order since Hong Kong MTR was rumoured to be the new operator of Melbourne's rail network.

[mg1942]

anime references flood american airwaves!
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...hows-this-week

[SaintessHeart]

Legendary Seiyuu Daisuke Gori Commits Suicide

Why are the oldies in the anime/manga industry dying off one by one abruptly? First Crayon Shinchan's artist takes a freefall of a cliff, and now him. Who's next then?

[-Sho-]

Yeah , its sad RIP !
But his suicide is kinda weird though .
Knife on his back ...

[Tiberium Wolf]

I didn't get it. He slit his writs and then fall down with face towards the floor and with the knife placed in his back? This is weird if it's like how I understood from the news.

[Xellos-_^]

The United Nations must investigate and clarify the dominant U.S. role in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, a French minister said Monday, claiming that international aid efforts were about helping Haiti, not "occupying" it.
U.S. forces last week turned back a French aid plane carrying a field hospital from the damaged, congested airport in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, prompting a complaint from French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet. The plane landed safely the following day.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned governments and aid groups not to squabble as they try to get their aid into Haiti.
"People always want it to be their plane ... that lands," Kouchner said Monday. "(But) what's important is the fate of the Haitians."
But Joyandet persisted.
"This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti," Joyandet, in Brussels for an EU meeting on Haiti, said on French radio.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i070845S59.DTL

what is cooperation minister?

PS. if our french friends want to spend the next 10 yrs and a few billion to rebuilt Haiti just let US know. Americans would be more then happy to let the French shows how Nation building is really done.