IN THE NEWS:

Pakistan's Capital Rocked by Hotel Bombing
A little-known Pakistani militant group called Fedayeen Islam has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s deadly suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. An explosives-laden truck was rammed through the hotel’s security gate and detonated, leaving a crater nearly 60 feet (18 meters) wide and 24 feet (7 meters) deep. The blast also caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the building on fire. At least 53 people were killed and more than 250 wounded in the attack. According to government officials, Pakistan’s president, prime minister, and a number of other cabinet members were scheduled to dine at the hotel that day, but a last-minute change of venue likely saved their lives.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Earth's Oldest Rocks Found in Canada
Scientists believe that our solar system was created some 4.57 billion years ago, and now they have discovered the oldest known rocks on Earth, dating to roughly 290 million years after the planet’s creation. Discovered on the eastern shore of Canada's Hudson Bay in northern Quebec, the 4 square mile (10 square km) tract of pinkish bedrock may actually be a remnant of Earth's primordial crust, formed as the planet cooled in the wake of the solar system’s creation. Scientists hope the rocks will help them learn about ocean formation on Earth, what temperatures were like at the time, and even about the origins of life on the planet

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Mathematicians Discover Huge Prime Number
By definition, prime numbers are positive integers that can be divided only by themselves and the number 1 without leaving a remainder. While some widely known examples of this are 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11, a group of mathematicians has discovered a lesser known number that fits these criteria, and it has nearly 13 million digits. The discovery of this number, the 46th known Mersenne prime, makes the group eligible for a $100,000 prize. A Mersenne prime is a specific type of prime number that is expressed as 2 to the power of P minus 1, with P being itself a prime number.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

SpaceX Launches Rocket into Orbit
After three previous attempts met with failure, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, has finally succeeded in sending a rocket into orbit around Earth. The company, founded by PayPal creator and Internet millionaire Elon Musk, is the first private venture to put a rocket into Earth's orbit. The 70-foot-long Falcon 1 rocket was launched carrying a dummy payload, but the company plans to begin providing cargo services to the International Space Station in the near future. SpaceX aims to substantially reduce the cost of space transportation while improving the reliability of launch vehicles and spacecrafts.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Diamonds Useful in Cancer Treatment
The popular saying "diamonds are a girl’s best friend" took on new meaning this week, when a research team announced the development of a diamond studded drug patch that may one day aid in cancer treatment. The patch, a thin microfilm, is embedded with tiny diamond specks that can release a chemotherapy drug called doxorubicin slowly over a period of time, minimizing patients’ exposure to the treatment’s toxic side effects. The patch will be used to treat a localized region after a tumor has been removed and where residual cancer cells might remain. These fragments of diamond dust known as nanodiamonds are already widely used in the automobile and electronics industries.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

First Double Arm Transplant Patient Doing Well
A German farmer who lost both of his arms in a corn shredder accident six years ago is feeling whole again after a ground-breaking double arm transplant operation. A team of 40 medical professionals was on hand for the 15-hour procedure to replace the farmer’s missing limbs this past July. Ever since his arms were amputated, Karl Merk has needed round-the-clock care; but the success of his operation has given him hope that he will one day be able to dress and feed himself again. While it may be two years before he relearns how to use his hands, he is already performing simple tasks like opening doors and turning lights on and off

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Alcohol Use and Breast Cancer

A survey of 2,000 men and women in the UK found that most are unaware of the link between drinking alcohol and breast cancer risk. While the hereditary factors associated with the disease are widely known, less than one in five people surveyed knew that alcohol consumption can raise breast cancer risk. Women who drink two glasses of wine a day boost their breast cancer risk by one third, and those who drink three large glasses raise their risk by more than 50 percent.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Barak Obama, 44th US President

After months of campaigning, the most groundbreaking election in recent US history ended last night with the momentous selection of the country's first African-American president. Democratic candidate Barack Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and white woman from Kansas, will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009. American war veteran and Republican candidate John McCain conceded defeat and pledged to support Obama as he leads the country through the coming challenges

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Blind pilot guided to land by RAF

The pilot lost his sight as he flew this Cessna aircraft back from a holiday
A pilot who suddenly went blind while flying his plane at 15,000ft (4,572m) was guided in to land by an RAF plane.

A plane was scrambled from the RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire to help stricken pilot Jim O'Neill, 65.

He was flying a two-seater Cessna aircraft from Prestwick airport in Scotland to Colchester, Essex, when he suffered a stroke and lost his sight.

The RAF plane flew alongside Mr O'Neill and the pilot shepherded him to the base with instructions over the radio.

Mr O'Neill, who has 18 years' flying experience, was overhead at RAF Leeming in Northallerton when he encountered difficulty and sent a mayday alert last Friday.

We are not used to shepherding blind pilots, which is what makes this amazing

Wing Cdr Paul Gerrard

Operations commanding officer at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Wing Cdr Andy Hynd, said: "At first he believed he was being blinded by sunlight because he had difficulty seeing his instruments and so he declared an emergency.

"He was handed over to us from Leeming and when we spoke to him he said he was happy to continue flying.

"However, air traffic control noticed his aircraft was descending and turning and he was asked again whether he wanted to continue at which point he said no."

Despite air traffic controllers' efforts, Mr O'Neill was unable to land the plane at nearby Full Sutton Airfield near York and was directed to RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Mr Hynd said: "He still couldn't see the runway here and he was starting to get distressed so we thought it was best to send a plane to him."

Wing Cdr Paul Gerrard, chief flying instructor, flew his Tucano T1 about 50m next to the Cessna to bring Mr O'Neill safely down.

Mr Hynd said: "He used his voice to guide him [Mr O'Neill] down by telling him to turn left and right, to lower the plane and to do his pre-landing checks.

"At very short range he still couldn't see the runway and it was only at the last minute that he could. He landed about halfway down and came to a halt just at the end.

"The RAF routinely practises shepherding but we are usually shepherding lost aircraft, we are not used to shepherding blind pilots, which is what makes this amazing.

"It was a fantastic team effort from all those involved and we're proud that we could get him to the ground safely."

Mr O'Neill was checked over by RAF medics before being transferred to Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex where he is believed to be seriously ill.

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care

God blesses those who help others......

And prayers go out for his recovery........

Amazing what we can do when in distress......

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

God blesses those who help others......

And prayers go out for his recovery........

Amazing what we can do when in distress......

According to his son who was interviewed by the press all he was worried about was that he made a less than perfect landing.The fly boys still reccon that ANY landing that you can walk away from is perfect.

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care

God blesses those who help others......

And prayers go out for his recovery........

Amazing what we can do when in distress......

According to his son who was interviewed by the press all he was worried about was that he made a less than perfect landing.The fly boys still reccon that ANY landing that you can walk away from is perfect.

Which 'flies in the face' (no pun intended) of those who choose to jump out of a perfectly good airframe........

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Adirondack Forty-Sixers
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers is a club whose members have successfully climbed all 46 of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. The first "46ers" devised the criteria for the club in the early 20th century, selecting only those summits that rise more than 4,000 ft (1,219 m) above sea level and have at least 300 ft (91 m) of vertical rise on all sides. In 2002, Ted Keizer climbed the 46 in record-breaking time

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Nerve Regrowth Stimulated in Mice Brains
When nerve fibers in the peripheral nervous system are severed, they can regrow and repair themselves; but those in the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord, do not regenerate. Thus, spinal and brain injuries often result in permanent deficits and paralysis. By blocking proteins believed to keep nerve growth in check, however, researchers were able to stimulate nerve regrowth in mice with damaged optic nerves in just two weeks. A number of inhibitory factors have been linked to the prevention of nerve regrowth, but in this experiment, the mice were genetically engineered to lack just the PTEN and TSC1 proteins

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

AIDS Patient “Cured” with Bone Marrow Transplant

It appears that an American man living in Germany has been "cured" of HIV following a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. He had been infected with HIV for more than a decade prior to the transplant, yet in the 20 months since the procedure, tests have shown no signs of the infection. When screening potential bone marrow donors, doctors also looked for a genetic mutation that provides a natural resistance to HIV. The inherited mutation, which is found in roughly one in 1,000 Europeans and Americans, affects a receptor called CCR5 that the AIDS virus uses to get into the cells it infects. Using marrow from such a donor, doctors were able to treat both the leukemia and HIV.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

How Bleach Kills Germs

Bleach has been sanitizing and killing germs for more than 200 years, but only now have scientists discovered how the chemical compound actually works. A team of researchers studying a bacterial protein called heat shock protein 33, which helps to stabilize other cellular proteins when exposed to high temperatures, found that the active ingredient in bleach affects proteins in much the same way that high temperature, or fever, does. Bleach’s hypochlorous acid causes bacterial proteins to clump up, inactivating them and killing the bacteria. The human immune system also produces hypochlorous acid in response to infection, but the substance does not discriminate between foreign invaders and human tissue and attacks both

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Company Shutdown Leads to Less Spam

Despite getting only one response for every 12.5 million messages they send, spammers are able to turn a profit and remain undeterred. E-mail users have received a brief respite, however, after two US internet service providers disconnected the service of McColo Corp., a Web hosting service that may have been responsible for as much as 75% of spam sent worldwide. One anti-spam firm reported a 70% drop in junk mail levels since McColo was taken offline nearly a week ago, but spam levels will likely rebound quickly, as networks move from North America to areas with less scrutiny

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Fertility Treatments Linked to Birth Defects

A new study of infants born using assisted reproductive technology found that they are two to four times more likely to be born with certain types of birth defects than babies conceived naturally. Researchers found that children conceived using assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization are twice as likely to be born with a septal heart defect, a cardiac defect involving a hole in the heart. They were also found to have more than twice the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate and four times the risk of two gastrointestinal defects

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

God blesses those who help others......

And prayers go out for his recovery........

Amazing what we can do when in distress......

According to his son who was interviewed by the press all he was worried about was that he made a less than perfect landing.The fly boys still reckon that ANY landing that you can walk away from is perfect.

Which 'flies in the face' (no pun intended) of those who choose to jump out of a perfectly good airframe........

Well there are good reasons to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, practice and military reasons, Of course a bit of insanity helps I'd bet, Flying I can handle, jumping, I'd pass unless I had no other choice.

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CA HSR built a foundation, is laying Track!
PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550 Loco, US's 1st HST

Fertility Treatments Linked to Birth Defects

A new study of infants born using assisted reproductive technology found that they are two to four times more likely to be born with certain types of birth defects than babies conceived naturally. Researchers found that children conceived using assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization are twice as likely to be born with a septal heart defect, a cardiac defect involving a hole in the heart. They were also found to have more than twice the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate and four times the risk of two gastrointestinal defects

I believe it. The egg is manhandled, we all know what it feels like.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt