MIT News Office
MIT researchers are developing a half-sized gasoline engine that performs like its full-sized cousin but offers fuel efficiency approaching that of today’s hybrid engine system–at a far lower cost. The key? Carefully controlled injection of ethanol, an increasingly common biofuel, directly into the engine’s cylinders when there’s a hill to be climbed or […]
the Daily Mail
British scientists have grown the world’s first artificial liver from stem cells in a breakthrough that will one day provide entire organs for transplant.The technique that created the ‘mini-liver’, currently the size of a one pence piece, will be developed to create a full-size functioning liver.
Described as a ‘Eureka moment’ by the Newcastle […]
Toronto Daily News
A male contraceptive drug may soom become a reality. Scientists have tested an experimental male contraceptive drug that blocks connections to cells which feed the developing sperm - making the male infertile. So far, the tests have been conducted on rats.As fairly low doses of the male contraceptive drug were used, no significant […]
smh.com.au
North Korea has agreed to return to stalled six-party talks on ending its nuclear programs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday, three weeks after Pyongyang staged its first nuclear test.In an informal meeting in Beijing, North Korea, the US and China agreed to resume talks at a time convenient for all six parties in the […]
Strategy page has an interesting post up about the Pentagon working to combat what it views as misinformation in major news articles: Information Warfare: Calling Out the New York Times
I think that there are several interesting aspects to this story. Of course it is patently obvious that an important aspect of the war in Iraq, […]
Forbes.com
Iran has expanded its nuclear program by enriching uranium in a second network of centrifuges, a semi-official news agency reported Friday.The news came as world powers worked on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that could impose limited sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to cease enrichment - a process that can produce fuel […]
New York Times
President Bush today signed into law a bill providing for construction of a 700-mile fence along the country’s southwestern border. But he repeated his call for a far more extensive revamping of immigration laws.
“It is an important step toward immigration reform,” Mr. Bush said at the signing in the Roosevelt Room of the […]
Gateway Pundit has the round-up
I know that I have linked to this 2002 essay by Theodore Dalrymple before, but it is worth going back to from time to time, if for no other reason than how remarkably prescient it was. If you haven’t read it before, I highly suggest it. If you have read it, […]
Brian at Broken Quanta has a must read post on stem cells and an equally worthy follow-up on his personal views of ‘personhood’ and embryos.
Both are well worth your time.
Dale Carpenter at The Volokh Conspiracy
The whole case, then, shows how unstable a middle ground can become in the hands of an aggressive court. The slope on that middle ground seems much more slippery for courts, which demand what they regard as principled reasons for any distinction, than it is for legislatures, which may refuse […]
