Monthly Archives: April 2008

Alia Sabur, World’s Youngest Professor at 18

Alia Sabur is now the world’s youngest professor at 18 years old according to the Guinness World Record, breaking a 300-year-old record set by a student of physicist Isaac Newton, Colin Maclaurin, who set the mark in 1717.

Sabur was three days shy of her 19th birthday in February when she became a professor at Konkuk University, in Seoul. The previous record was held by a student of physicist Isaac Newton, Colin Maclaurin, who set the mark in 1717.

“He’s in every calculus textbook there is,” she said. “When I found out about it, I thought, ‘I can’t replace him.’ But it’s been 300 years and someone had to replace him, so why not me?”

Link. See also AliaSabur.com

Surgeons Remove 125-pound Belly from Russian woman, Natalya M

Surgeons managed to remove the 125-pound belly of a Russian woman name Natalya M. Her belly fat was 36 inches long and weighed 125 pounds. It hinders her from walking normally.

Natalya was overweight since 13, when she had hormonal disturbance. She tried all the existing diets, visited hundreds of doctors, but with no result. Years passed as her belly was growing larger and larger. Finally it became so huge that the woman literally had to stump it to make a step.

Oleg Strigin, the head of the department of surgery of the hospital, where the woman was rushed, said they don’t do such complicated surgeries often. He said there are 4 levels of the belly-growth: the inch of more than 4-inch length belongs to the 4th level. We’ve never seen the growth of 36 inches!

The growth-removing surgery lasted for many hours. The surgeons removed fat the weight of a grown-up woman.

Link

Day & Night Watch, The $300,000 Watch That Doesn’t Tell Time

This Day & Night watch is for the rich and not time conscious as this is the $300,000 watch that doesn’t tell time – only whether it’s day or night.

As the company’s Web site boasts: “With no display for the hours, minutes or seconds, the Day&Night offers a new way of measuring time, splitting the universe of time into two fundamentally opposing sections: day versus night.”

What’s most impressive about the Day&Night is its complexity, given its absolute uselessness. The watch features two tourbillons — devices that overcome the ill effects of earth’s gravity on a watch’s accuracy — connected by a differential mechanism. Instead of hands, the watch has a “contemplative tourbillon operation whereby the ‘Day’ tourbillon operates for 12 hours to symbolize working life, while the ‘Night’ tourbillon takes over afterward to represent an individual’s private time.”

Link

Gene Therapy May Improve Vision in Nearly Blind People

A recent experiment showed that gene therapy may improve vision in nearly blind people. This is a major advance for the experimental technique as this is the first time scientists used the gene therapy to improve the sight of people with a rare form of blindness.

“It’s a phenomenal breakthrough,” said Stephen Rose, chief research officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which helped pay for one study done at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

If successful in larger numbers, experts said, the technique has the potential to reverse blindness from other kinds of inherited eye diseases.

“I think this is incredibly exciting,” said Dr. Jean Bennett, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and a leader of the Philadelphia study. “It’s the beginning of a whole new phase of studies.”

Link

Spanish Government’s Domain Names Held to Ransom Over Water Supply by Cybersquatter

The Spanish government’s domain names is being held to ransom over water supply by a cybersquatter. The Spanish prime minister announced the creation of four new ministries but they failed to register the internet addresses and some was bought by someone else. The root cause – inequality of water supply to the autonomous regions of Spain.

An unnamed blogger from Alicante, south-east Spain, has said he will only return the four domain names, which follow the same format as all government ministries, if his demands are met.

He is calling for Mr Zapatero to introduce a nationwide system of transferring water from the River Ebro, which runs from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, to all of those regions in Spain that suffer water shortages.

Earlier this month a deal was struck to exclusively supply drought-stricken Barcelona with water from the river, a move that angered other regions who said it gave special concessions to Catalonia.

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"Bee-boy", Vanya Maryin with 5-chamber Heart, Born in Russian Town

Vanya Maryin was born with five-chamber heart, instead of four. The “Bee-boy”, as doctors call him, have right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle and an extra left atrium. Wondering why he was called the “Bee-boy”? Because only bees have five-chamber heart. What’s more extraordinary is that he comes from the beekeeper’s family.

Vanya was born not with 2 atriums like all the people on the Earth, but with an additional – third one. He could die anytime from a sudden push, fright or even happiness. But the body, adjusting to an unusual 5-chamber ‘bee-heart’, suggested the boy a saving, optimal ‘pose for life’.

Doctor Elena Nufer explains: ‘The boy’s heart had 5 chambers instead of 4. Usually the heart consists of the right atrium and the right ventricle, the left atrium and the left ventricle. Vanya had 2 left atriums with a thin, like polyethylene, but firm and impenetrable interseptum. This interseptum was noticed only during the cardiogram. At first nobody believed.

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After Websites, Google Wants to Index Your DNA Too

After your websites, Google wants to index your DNA too. Google’s investment in Navigenics suggests so. Navigenics, Inc., a company based in Redwood Shores, California offers personalized genetics-based consumer health and wellness services by providing clinically based knowledge to help it’s clients take positive steps to live healthily.

Your DNA falls into the realm of “the world’s information,” and it seems that Google (GOOG), as part of its corporate mission, is making a play to organize that, too. The Internet giant received heavy press in 2007 when it invested at least $4.4 million (BusinessWeek.com, 11/29/07) in a genetic screening company, 23andMe, that was started by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and her business partner.

Link

Philippine Surgeons Cheer After Removing 6 inch Body Spray Canister from Patient’s Rectum a.k.a. Vicente Sotto Hospital Scandal

This 3-minute video shows the Philippine surgeons cheer after removing 6 inch body spray canister from patient’s rectum during an operation. This has angered the patient who plans to press charges. The surgery took place at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in the central city of Cebu, Philippines.

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