HoodedHawk

A team of paleontologists and zoologists have found the “missing link” fossil, showing the progression from water to land. The researchers report in the April 6, 2006 issue of Nature that they found the 375-million-year-old fossils in the Canadian arctic (in an area once a balmy river delta ). They’ve dubbed the new beast Tiktaalik roseae, which is Inuit for “big freshwater fish”.

So, the standard anti-evolution argument that such “missing links” are not found can be laid to rest. This animal is partway betwwen a fish and early tetrapods. It has lost some of the bones that fuse the head to the shoulders in fish (i.e., it has a neck). And its front “fins” have bone structures similiar to “wrists”.

Some 300-500 million people suffer from malaria every year, and over a million die from it. The most effective drug for treatment, artemisinin, is derived from a species of Chinese wormwood. The process of extracting and purifying artemisinin from this plant is costly, so those that need it most can’t afford a treatment course. Also, the supply is very limited so even if they could afford it, there isn’t enough of the drug to go around.

The April 13, 2006 issue of Nature has a paper by researchers at UC Berkeley reporting they have tweaked yeast into creating artemisinic acid, a precursor of artemisinin. Creating artemisinin from the precursor acid is relatively straight-forward. So, scaling up this process may well result in reducing the cost of the drug by 10-fold, bringing a course of treatment within the reach of those who need it.

The current cost of a course of treatment is US $2.40.

That’s less than the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Wednesday night I went to hear Christopher Moore give a talk (and booksigning) at Olsson’s bookstore in Arlington, VA. I’ve only read “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal” so far, but it was hysterical, so I’ve grabbed “Fluke” (a whale), “The Stupidest Angel“, and his latest, “A Dirty Job“. I recorded his talk – give it a listen; he is a really funny guy and a lively speaker. At right, he’s showing the backside of the page in a local newspaper where the ad for his book, “A Dirty Job” ran. Escort Services. Hilarious!

Windows Tips and Tricks for Mac Users
————————————-
by Kevin van Haaren kevin @ vanhaaren.net

FROM:
TidBITS#826/17-Apr-06

http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-826.html
ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2006/TidBITS#826_17-Apr-06.etx

—–
It has been possible to run Windows in virtual machines on Macs
for many years. However, with the recent switch to Intel chips
and the beta releases of Apple’s Boot Camp and Parallels
Workstation for Mac OS X, interest among Mac users in running
Windows has expanded significantly. This article is intended
to help new – and perhaps even long-time – users of Windows with
a few tips I’ve learned over the years of suffering at the help
desk of a Windows-using corporation.

http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08494
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08495
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/

(more…)

I heard this on a Scientific American podcast I was listening to on the way in to work this morning. Hysterical! And *soooo* true; I’ve often wondered about the budgets of these CSI teams, and have often commented about scenario 2. Enjoy!

CSI agent 1: “I’ve got some trace evidence for you to analyse. Run Sample A through the Mass Spec.”

CSI agent 2: “We don’t have a Mass Spec”.

CSI agent 1: “OK, run Sample B through the gas chromatograph”.

CSI agent 2: “Um, we don’t have one of those, either”.

CSI agen 1: “Well, let’s do a DNA analysis of Sample C”.

CSI agent 2: “OK, we can do that. I’ll send off the sample; we should have the results back in about a month”.

CSI agent 1: “Well, can we run these fingerprints through a database to look for a match?”

CSI agent 2: “Sure, but we only have access to the state db; our system doesn’t really connect well with other states’ or the national registry…”

*sigh*

CSI agent 1: (2pm) “I’m entering the house now…” *click*, *click*, *click*. “Damn, my flashlight has dead batteries”.

CSI agent 2: “Um, why don’t you just, um, flick on this here light switch?”