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Stunning Collapse of Iceland

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:07:11 GMT

clipped by: RecordSage
clipper's remarks: Very sad.

The Stunning Collapse of Iceland

Even after the government's seizure of top banks, Iceland may face bankruptcy, with dire effects for huge Icelandic investments overseas

To avert financial disaster, the country—which is a founding member of NATO—may turn to Russia for help. The Russian government has said it would consider lending Iceland $5.5 billion. "We have not received the kind of support that we were requesting from our friends," Haarde said. "So in a situation like that one has to look for new friends."

Home to just 304,000 people, tiny Iceland is emerging as the biggest casualty of the global financial crisis. On Oct. 9, the government took control of the country's largest bank, Kaupthing (KAUP.ST), and halted trading on the Reykjavik stock exchange until Oct. 13.

Mountain of Foreign Debt

In just five years, the banks went from being almost entirely domestic lenders to becoming major international financial intermediaries

A growing number of scientists argue: human evolution had all but stopped!

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:45:10 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: A growing number of scientists argue that human culture itself has become the foremost agent of biological change.

Clip Source: www.seedmagazine.com

A growing number of scientists argue that human culture itself has become the foremost agent of biological change.

When the previous generation of life scientists was coming up through the academy, there was a widespread assumption, not always articulated by professors, that human evolution had all but stopped. It had certainly shaped our prehuman ancestors — Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and the rest of the ape-men and man-apes in our bushy lineage — but once Homo sapiens developed agriculture and language, it was thought, we stopped changing. It was as though, having achieved its aim by the seventh day, evolution rested. "That was the stereotype that I learned," says population geneticist and anthropologist Henry Harpending. "We showed up 45,000 years ago and haven't changed since then."

the culture that we've created is, strangely, evolution's most powerful tool and its potential nemesis, the womb of human nature and perhaps its grave. By our own hand: this is how we evolve.

Why Do Only 10% Of Smokers Get Lung Cancer? Genetic Biomarker May Provide The Answer

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:13:41 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

Yale Cancer Center researchers have identified a genetic biomarker that may help to determine why some people are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer.

The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, could help identify smokers who should be carefully screened for lung cancer.

“Only 10% of smokers will develop lung cancer in their lifetime and genetic testing to determine the population of smokers who are most predisposed to develop the disease is needed to help guide better evaluation for these people,” explained Joanne B. Weidhaas, MD

"We looked for the effects of genetic variations within a human oncogene known to be affected by tiny RNA molecules, called microRNAs,” said Slack. These variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) predicted a significant increase in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) risk in non-smokers as well as people with a moderate smoking history.

Tags: smoking, 10%, cancer

Chimpanzees make spears to hunt bushbabies

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:21:15 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

It is midday in Senegal and a chimpanzee is on the hunt. Its target is a bushbaby, a small, cute and nocturnal primate that spends its days sheltered in the hollow of a tree, beyond the reach of predators like the chimp. But this hunter is not like others - it is intelligent, it is dextrous, and it has a plan. Snapping off a thin branch, the chimp strips it of twigs, leaves and bark. And with its teeth, it sharpens the tip into a murderous point.

Many animals, from insects to birds, are known to use tools, but chimpanzees are the most advanced non-human toolmakers of all. They crack nuts with hammers and anvils, and fish for termites using sticks. But fashioning weapons, and using them to hunt is a fresh and advanced trick, even for them, and a trait that was previously deemed to be uniquely human.

Usually hunting is a pursuit for adult male chimps, but Pruetz and Bertolani only saw females and youngsters spearing bushbabies.

implications for the origins of human tool use

Emotion-oriented computing, Humaine

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:05:52 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Looks like a very interesting site and concepts.

Clip Source: emotion-research.net

Not sure what HUMAINE is all about? Overwhelmed by the amount of information available? This page gives you a structured entry point.

Emotion-oriented computing is a broad research area involving many disciplines

The following figure is our proposed map of the thematic areas involved in emotion-oriented computing.

The central column represents the areas where purely technological challenges loom largest

The left hand column deals with issues where application is most obviously of concern

The right hand column contains the sub-areas with the strongest roots in psychology.

The task of synthesising agents that can interact emotionally is at the center because it summarises the state of the art – it cannot be done well without satisfactory progress in all the others.

either edge of the diagram are issues with a strong philosophical element which affect the whole enterprise – finding appropriate ways to describe emotions and emotion-related states, and the ethics of emotion-oriented systems.

Tags: computer, emotions

McSame-Supporting Racism Lives Here At Clipmarks, Too...

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:26:17 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: pkronfield makes racist remarks here on Clipmarks. Racism is wrong on the street and wrong here, too. You're sick, pkronfield.

Clip Source: clipmarks.com

pkronfield says:

Wake up America! Every so often this slippery character lets something slip. Do you want this ultra-liberal to "spread your wealth around"?

He might not raise your taxes per se, but there are many ways your will feel taxed to death. Repeal of Bush's tax cuts. Death tax. Take the FICA cap off. Increase fuel tax. Tax the oil companies (which will result in dramatically higher fuel prices at the pump), etc. etc. It will be a grave mistake to bring this trojan horse into the white house. The only ones who will benefit will be blacks and illegals.

BartendingBear

Wow! A McSame supporter making a racist comment right here on Clipmarks. You're sick, pk.

pkronfield

What racist comment?!

Have you examined Obama's extremist history, associating with a racist hate America church for 20 years? Have you looked at his wife's hate white America background? The only racists I see here are you and the Obamas.