Individuals with chronic insomnia have an elevated risk of death, says a new research.
"The most surprising result was the increased high risk for mortality among individuals with chronic insomnia versus those without insomnia," said Ms Laurel Finn, a biostatistician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"The other important finding was the non-differentiation between subtypes of insomnia with respect to mortality risk."
The study involved 2,242 participants in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study who completed two to three mailed surveys for the years 1989, 1994 and 2000.
Abused Moms May Have More Obese Kids.
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Children whose mothers reported chronic abuse at the hands of an intimate partner were more likely to be obese at age 5 than those from violence-free families, researchers found.
After controlling for several other factors, including maternal obesity and depression, children whose mothers reported chronic violence had 1.8 times the odds of being obese, according to Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett of Boston University and colleagues.
The association appeared to be magnified in girls and in families living an unsafe neighborhood, the researchers reported in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
"If substantiated, these findings may have implications for obesity prevention and reduction efforts," they wrote. "Therefore, interventions aimed at reducing obesity risk may be enhanced by incorporating strategies to address family violence."
After controlling for several other factors, including maternal obesity and depression, children whose mothers reported chronic violence had 1.8 times the odds of being obese, according to Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett of Boston University and colleagues.
The association appeared to be magnified in girls and in families living an unsafe neighborhood, the researchers reported in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
"If substantiated, these findings may have implications for obesity prevention and reduction efforts," they wrote. "Therefore, interventions aimed at reducing obesity risk may be enhanced by incorporating strategies to address family violence."
Microsoft changes Windows Phone Marketplace policies for attracting more developers and share.
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windows 7
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Today we’re introducing the new set of Windows Phone Marketplace policies that will govern the application submission and certification process as Windows Phone 7 comes to market. We’re taking the next step with Marketplace to attract a much wider range of developers, from large software companies down to students and hobbyists.
What is Yottabyte ?
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yottabyte
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A yottabyte is one septillion bytes. To save all those bytes you need a data center as big as the states of Delaware and Rhode Island. It doesn't seem like much, until they tell you the price tag: $100 trillion.
Steve Jobs unveils iPhone 4, 'biggest leap we've taken' since first model [Video].
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Wearing his usual black turtleneck and jeans, Jobs took the stage to a standing ovation from the audience and a shout of, "We love you Steve!"
The iPhone 4 would be available in two colours, black and white. It would be priced at $199 in the US for the 16GB model, and 299 for the 32GB model. Apple would start taking pre-orders next week and ship initially to only five countries - US, France, Germany, UK, Japan. Jobs promised to add another 18 locations to the list in July. The number could go upto 88 countries by the end of the year in what Jobs described as the 'fastest rollout ever'. There was however no mention of when the iPhone 4 would be available in markets like India.
In what should be welcome news for existing iPhone users, Apple would be offering free iOS4 upgrades for the 3GS, 3G on June 21. However the offer comes with a rider - not all features will be supported in the 3G handset.
Jobs promised over 100 new features, out of which he discussed nine in his keynote.
Abu Dhabi 'Capital Gate' now beats leaning tower of Pisa.
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record,
trivia,
wacky
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The 160-metre Capital Gate tower, developed by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, leans at 18 degrees over four times the angle of Italy's famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Khaleej Times reported.
ADNEC said the tower earned the record following an evaluation by Guinness World Records that began in January, the month the tower's exterior was completed, Gulf News reported.
Capital Gate was designed from the get-go to take an angled stance, unlike the Tower of Pisa, which slanted over with time.
The 35-storey tower's 18-degree angle is achieved by staggering the floor plates from the 12th floor up, the newspaper added.
Windows 7 can help save cost.
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Windows 7, the latest operating system (OS) from the Microsoft, can help businesses save about Rs 1,000 per PC annually on power, a study on Sunday said.
According to a report by Mindteck's Smart Energy Lab, companies can save about Rs 1,000 per computer a year on an average through Windows 7 as compared to older operating systems like Windows XP or Vista.
"Energy efficiency is a key factor that companies are concentrating on, and the research shows that the new OS helps companies to not only save money but also contributes to the various green initiatives they are taking," the Microsoft India director,Mr Sumeet Khanna, said.
"Optimising desktop power management is one of the simplest, yet effective, ways to reduce power consumption in an enterprise. Increasing energy efficiency on Windows 7 has been one of the core areas for Microsoft," he said.
According to a report by Mindteck's Smart Energy Lab, companies can save about Rs 1,000 per computer a year on an average through Windows 7 as compared to older operating systems like Windows XP or Vista.
"Energy efficiency is a key factor that companies are concentrating on, and the research shows that the new OS helps companies to not only save money but also contributes to the various green initiatives they are taking," the Microsoft India director,Mr Sumeet Khanna, said.
"Optimising desktop power management is one of the simplest, yet effective, ways to reduce power consumption in an enterprise. Increasing energy efficiency on Windows 7 has been one of the core areas for Microsoft," he said.
FIFA 2010 has £6.2bn insurance, says Lloyd's
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The 2010 World Cup in South Africa has been insured for more than £6.2bn, according to Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market.
Football world governing body Fifa, national teams, broadcasters and other firms with a stake in the tournament's success have all taken out policies.
Stadiums and training venues for the World Cup matches are covered to the tune of £3.2bn, underwriters say.
But other business opportunities linked to the event account for another £3bn.
Football world governing body Fifa, national teams, broadcasters and other firms with a stake in the tournament's success have all taken out policies.
Stadiums and training venues for the World Cup matches are covered to the tune of £3.2bn, underwriters say.
- Property - £3bn
- Contingency - £3bn
- Liability - £200m
Source: Lloyd's
But other business opportunities linked to the event account for another £3bn.
Stephen Fry crowned the most beautiful tweet.
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The most beautiful tweet ever tweeted has been announced by broadcaster Stephen Fry.
Fry, whose musings on micro-blogging site Twitter have attracted 1.5 million followers, announced the winner at the Hay Festival.
The winning tweet read: "I believe we can build a better world! Of course, it'll take a whole lot of rock, water & dirt. Also, not sure where to put it."
Marc MacKenzie, 41, from Canada, said he was "pleasantly surprised" to win.
"The recognition and knowing Fry picked my tweet is a huge honour."
Fry, whose musings on micro-blogging site Twitter have attracted 1.5 million followers, announced the winner at the Hay Festival.
The winning tweet read: "I believe we can build a better world! Of course, it'll take a whole lot of rock, water & dirt. Also, not sure where to put it."
Marc MacKenzie, 41, from Canada, said he was "pleasantly surprised" to win.
"The recognition and knowing Fry picked my tweet is a huge honour."
US mom finds missing kids using Facebook.
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San Bernardino: A Southern California mother whose two children were reported missing 15 years ago has tracked them down in Florida using Facebook.
San Bernardino Deputy District Attorney Kurt Rowley says Faustino Utrera, the father of the boy and girl, took off with them in 1995 when they were ages 2 and 3.
Rowley says recently the mother typed one of the children's names into Facebook and a listing for her daughter, now a teenager, came up.
The mom contacted authorities, who tracked the Facebook profile to Orlando, Florida.
Utrera was arrested and charged with kidnapping and violating child custody orders. The Florida Department of Children & Families says themom is trying to build a new relationship with the children.
San Bernardino Deputy District Attorney Kurt Rowley says Faustino Utrera, the father of the boy and girl, took off with them in 1995 when they were ages 2 and 3.
Rowley says recently the mother typed one of the children's names into Facebook and a listing for her daughter, now a teenager, came up.
The mom contacted authorities, who tracked the Facebook profile to Orlando, Florida.
Utrera was arrested and charged with kidnapping and violating child custody orders. The Florida Department of Children & Families says themom is trying to build a new relationship with the children.
3 idiots sweeps the IIFA 2010 awards.
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The film was directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidu Vinod Chopra. The Film got the much hype from the media due to Glitz cast and some payment and intellectual difference between the film makers and the and the book author.
The Movie 3 IDIOTS broke all most all the film records of Hindi Film industry.
'iPhone vs Android' report finds Apple has three times Google's market share but Blackberry still has a good lead.
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Between Q4 ’09 and Q1 ’10, Android and iPhone’s share of the smartphone market grew by 2% each. At the same time, smartphone leader Blackberry lost 2% share to fall to 35% of all smartphones while Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS also lost 2% to fall to 19%.
Generating power from your own heart.
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biotech,
technology
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A tiny, nearly invisible nanowire can convert the energy of pulsing, flexing muscles inside a rat's body into electric current, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have shown. Their nano generator could someday lead to medical implants and sensors powered by heartbeats or breathing.
Zinc oxide nanowires show the piezoelectric effect, producing electricity when they are under mechanical stress. Georgia Tech professor of materials science and engineering Zhong Lin Wang and his group first demonstrated these nanowire generators in 2005. Since then they have made devices that can harness the energy of a running hamster and tapping fingers, and have also combined their piezoelectric nanowires with solar cells.
Private Rocket Has Successful First Flight.
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Matt Stroshane/Getty Images
The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, SpaceX for short, launched the 154-foot, 735,000-pound Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, heading east over the Atlantic. The nine first-stage engines ignited at 2:45 p.m. and burned for three minutes before dropping into the ocean while the second-stage engines burned about six minutes to place a dummy payload capsule almost perfectly into the target orbit 155 miles above the Earth.
“We achieved 100 percent of our objectives on the mission,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive.
The launching was pushed back almost four hours after the countdown hit a few snags, including a delay to fix a problem in the rocket’s self-destruct system and a last-minute abort, at 1:30 p.m., because of an engine reading outside the acceptable range. SpaceX engineers reset the systems and resumed the countdown before the launching window closed at 3 p.m.
The success was a major boon to those supporting President Obama’s proposal to turn the launching of astronauts over to private companies.
Scientists breed goats that produce spider silk.
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Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats, allowing the researchers to harvest the silk protein from the goats’ milk for a variety of applications. For instance, due to its strength and elasticity, spider silk fiber could have several medical uses, such as for making artificial ligaments and tendons, for eye sutures, and for jaw repair. The silk could also have applications in bulletproof vests and improved car airbags.
Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and other researchers decided to put the spiders’ dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only make the protein in their milk. Like any other genetic factor, only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and purify the spider silk protein into “much, much higher quantities,” Lewis said.
Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and other researchers decided to put the spiders’ dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only make the protein in their milk. Like any other genetic factor, only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and purify the spider silk protein into “much, much higher quantities,” Lewis said.
Wind-powered car goes down wind faster than the wind.
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The Thin Air Designs car, called the Blackbird, was built by Rick Cavallaro, an aerodynamicist, paraglider and kitesurfer, who was alerted to the DWFTTW debate by his employer at Sportvision Inc., Stan Honey, a world-class sailing navigator. Cavallaro is chief scientist with the company. He made some calculations that convinced him the feat was possible and then built a model to prove it. When skeptics remained unconvinced, Cavallaro and a friend decided to build a full-size version.
The “Faster than the Wind” team was able to attract sponsorship from wind turbine company Joby Energy and Google, and worked in collaboration with the aero department of the San Jose State University to build their ultra-light vehicle, which is made largely of foam. The car has a passing resemblance to a Formula 1 racing car, except for the five meter high propeller mounted on the back, and it is this propeller that holds the key to how it is possible for the car to travel down wind faster than the wind.
2010 on track to become warmest year ever.
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Figures from US scientists show Arctic sea ice is at a record low, while land temperatures are likely to hit new highs.
New data from some of the world's leading climate researchers and institutions suggest that 2010 is shaping up to be one of the warmest years ever recorded.
Scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Centre Data Centre (NSIDC) report today that Arctic sea ice – frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface – is now at its lowest physical extent ever recorded for the time of year, suggesting that it is on course to break the previous record low set in 2007.
Satellite monitoring by the NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado, shows that the melting of sea ice has been unusually fast this year, with as much as 40,000 sq km now disappearing daily.
The melt season started almost a month later than normal at the end of March and is not expected to end until September.
Meanwhile, research from the polar science centre at the University of Washington suggests that the volume of sea ice in March 2010 was 20,300 cubic km, 38% below the 1979 level when records began.
Global surface temperatures may also be at a record high, according to leading climate scientist James Hansen and colleagues at the National Aeronautic Space Administration (Nasa).
In a paper which is yet to be peer-reviewed but has been submitted to the journal Reviews of Geophysics, they suggest that the Earth has been 0.65C warmer over the past 12 months than during the 1951 to 1980 mean, and that the global temperature for 2010 will exceed the 2005 record.
New data from some of the world's leading climate researchers and institutions suggest that 2010 is shaping up to be one of the warmest years ever recorded.
Scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Centre Data Centre (NSIDC) report today that Arctic sea ice – frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface – is now at its lowest physical extent ever recorded for the time of year, suggesting that it is on course to break the previous record low set in 2007.
Satellite monitoring by the NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado, shows that the melting of sea ice has been unusually fast this year, with as much as 40,000 sq km now disappearing daily.
The melt season started almost a month later than normal at the end of March and is not expected to end until September.
Meanwhile, research from the polar science centre at the University of Washington suggests that the volume of sea ice in March 2010 was 20,300 cubic km, 38% below the 1979 level when records began.
Global surface temperatures may also be at a record high, according to leading climate scientist James Hansen and colleagues at the National Aeronautic Space Administration (Nasa).
In a paper which is yet to be peer-reviewed but has been submitted to the journal Reviews of Geophysics, they suggest that the Earth has been 0.65C warmer over the past 12 months than during the 1951 to 1980 mean, and that the global temperature for 2010 will exceed the 2005 record.
Fifa video game comes to Facebook.
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The latest video game in the Fifa football series has launched on Facebook rather than on games consoles.
The popularity of social media games has risen in recent years with up to 250 million global players logging on to various games each month.
Previous console Fifa games have retailed at around £30 but FIFA Superstars is free to play online.
The footballers making up each player's team are purchased in packs at a cost of £1 - £2 per pack.
Players pit their teams against those belonging to their Facebook friends.
As the tournament progresses, each player earns points which can also be used to purchase team members.
Unlike console-based versions of Fifa games in which the player can decide to play as a manager, a player or both, on Facebook players can only be managers of virtual teams made up of real players from around the world.
The popularity of social media games has risen in recent years with up to 250 million global players logging on to various games each month.
Previous console Fifa games have retailed at around £30 but FIFA Superstars is free to play online.
The footballers making up each player's team are purchased in packs at a cost of £1 - £2 per pack.
Players pit their teams against those belonging to their Facebook friends.
As the tournament progresses, each player earns points which can also be used to purchase team members.
Unlike console-based versions of Fifa games in which the player can decide to play as a manager, a player or both, on Facebook players can only be managers of virtual teams made up of real players from around the world.
Mixing young blood with old may help reverse ageing effects.
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A new study led by scientists from Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston has shown that mixing blood from young people with the one from elderly might help reverse effects of ageing.
Lead researcher Amy Wagers discovered that the blood of the young animals seemed to rejuvenate ageing blood stem cells in the bone marrows of the older mice.
It also revitalised so-called "niche" cells in the bone marrow, which nourish, support and stimulate blood stem cells. Although old mice make more blood stem cells and more niche cells than young mice, many are faulty.
"The reason the old animals have too many is probably an attempt to compensate for these flaws," New Scientist quoted Wagers as saying.
Old mice also make too many myeloid blood cells, which contribute to inflammation and the development of cancer, and too few lymphoid blood cells, which orchestrate tissue repair.
Lead researcher Amy Wagers discovered that the blood of the young animals seemed to rejuvenate ageing blood stem cells in the bone marrows of the older mice.
It also revitalised so-called "niche" cells in the bone marrow, which nourish, support and stimulate blood stem cells. Although old mice make more blood stem cells and more niche cells than young mice, many are faulty.
"The reason the old animals have too many is probably an attempt to compensate for these flaws," New Scientist quoted Wagers as saying.
Old mice also make too many myeloid blood cells, which contribute to inflammation and the development of cancer, and too few lymphoid blood cells, which orchestrate tissue repair.
A dash of humour keeps you healthy.
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humour,
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A dash of humour keeps people healthy and increases their chances of reaching the retirement age.
But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humour decrease, according to researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The study is based on a comprehensive database from the second Nor-Trøndelag Health Study, called HUNT 2, which comprises health histories and blood samples collected in 1995-97 from more than 70,000 residents of a county in mid-Norway.
"There is reason to believe that sense of humour continues to have a positive effect on mental health and social life, even after people have become retirees," says project leader Sven Svebak, a professor of neuroscience at NTNU.
But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humour decrease, according to researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The study is based on a comprehensive database from the second Nor-Trøndelag Health Study, called HUNT 2, which comprises health histories and blood samples collected in 1995-97 from more than 70,000 residents of a county in mid-Norway.
"There is reason to believe that sense of humour continues to have a positive effect on mental health and social life, even after people have become retirees," says project leader Sven Svebak, a professor of neuroscience at NTNU.
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