http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2...101514.php

Arsenic, a well-known poison, can be taken out of drinking water using sophisticated treatment methods. But in places that lack the equipment or technical know-how required to remove it, it still laces drinking water and makes people sick. To tackle this problem, scientists have come up with a new low-cost, simple way to remove arsenic using leftovers from another known health threat — cigarettes. They report their method in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Jiaxing Li and colleagues explain that naturally occurring and industry-related arsenic contaminates groundwater at high levels in many countries, including Chile, China, Hungary and Mexico. The odorless, tasteless element can cause skin discoloration, stomach pain, partial paralysis and a range of other serious health problems. While the technology for removing arsenic from water exists and is in widespread use in industrialized areas, it is expensive and impractical for rural and developing regions. Scientists have been exploring the use of natural waste materials such as banana peels and rice hulls for removing arsenic from water, but these so far have shown limited efficiency. Recognizing that the porous structure of cigarette ash could be better suited to this purpose, Li's team decided to test it.

In a simple, inexpensive, one-step method, the researchers prepared cigarette ash with a coating of aluminum oxide. When they tested the material with contaminated ground water, they found it removed more than 96 percent of the arsenic, reducing its levels to below the standard set by the World Health Organization. Because cigarette ashes are discarded in countries around the world and can be easily collected in places where public smoking is allowed, it could be part of a low-cost solution for a serious public health issue, they say.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archae...141014.htm

"... The object confirms historical accounts of sacrifices and rituals performed at sea to protect the voyages," Sebastiano Tusa, Sicily's Superintendent of the Sea Office, told Discovery News. [...] But rituals were also officiated in between, during the navigation, passing landmarks, or in times of distress. "Their purpose was to either appease or thank gods who controlled the winds or who could aid in proper navigation, or when auspicious natural features were within sight, like mountain peaks or landmarks dedicated to deities," Brody said....

http://www.livescience.com/48262-ancient...vered.html

SNIP ... The archaeologists said they aren't sure who was worshipped at the complex, though Baal, the Canaanite storm god, is a possibility. "The letters of Ugarit [an ancient site in modern-day Syria] suggest that of the Canaanite pantheon, Baal, the Canaanite storm god, would have been the most likely candidate," Itzhaq Shai, a professor at Ariel University who is directing a research project at Tel Burna, told Live Science in an email. The researchers said they can't rule out that a female deity, such as the ancient war goddess Anat, was worshipped there, Shai said....

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...124923.htm

SNIP Using an innovative algorithm that analyzes gene regulatory and signaling networks, researchers have found that loss of a gene called KLHL9 is the driving force behind the most aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer. [...] "Conventional techniques, like genome-wide association studies, must test all possible genetic mutations and variants in a disease cell, compared with a normal cell," said lead author James C. Chen, PhD, a postdoctoral research scientist in Dr. Califano's laboratory, who developed DIGGIT. "These can number in the tens to hundreds of thousands. As a result, based on the number of patients we have profiled, we have sufficient statistical power to identify only the most striking mutations. The DIGGIT algorithm, combined with what we know about regulatory events in the cell, can help us sort through this mass of data and identify critical hidden mutations that otherwise would have gone undetected."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...184204.htm

SNIP It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Scientists searching for the gene or gene combination that affects even one plant or animal characteristic must sort through massive amounts of data, according to a professor of the mathematics and statistics. He leads a bioinformatics research group, which provides the expertise that plant and animal scientists need to uncover how genes and proteins affect cell functions. [...] It's critical to have the statistician and biologist working together," noted plant science professor Fedora Sutton, who worked with Ge on identifying gene interactions that account for freeze resistance in winter wheat. "He is able to say, based on statistical rules and regulations, this is where this has to be."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...141805.htm

"How can we tell when someone has fallen asleep? To answer this question, scientists have developed a new statistical method and behavioral task to track the dynamic process of falling asleep...."

And just how much latex, pig guts, and red corn syrup can YOU look at?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9G9qqVpwKY

4-7 hours of ANYTHING is probably not a good idea!

http://canyouactually.com/one-of-the-mos...he-planet/