Man claims he ate, drank nothing for 70 years

Source: Telegraph

Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by India's defence research organization, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives.

He has now spent six days without food or water under strict observation and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from hunger or dehydration.

Mr Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man in Rajasthan, is regarded as a 'breatharian' who can live on a 'spiritual life-force' alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an 'elixir' through a hole in his palate. His claims have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities, but he has also been dismissed by others as a "village fraud."

India's Defence Research Development Organisation, whose scientists develop drone aircraft, intercontinental ballistic missiles and new types of bombs. They believe Mr Prahlad could teach them to help soldiers survive longer without food, or disaster victims to hang on until help arrives.

Sounds suspecious but 6 days is alot to see no signs of anything. Let's see how good this doctor is and see if he can find anything after like 24 days!

Should giant Pandas Be Protected?

Source: ChinaSMACK

Giant Pandas have been unlucky this year. First an earthquake destroyed their safest home and now there is a British person who shows up and spills salt on the pandas’ wound. This British person’s name is Chris Packham, a presenter for the BBC. He claims that humans should not spend vast amounts of money to protect Giant Pandas, but rather let it naturally die off.

Packham’s reasoning is: Giant Pandas are not strong enough, unable to independently survive, and using the millions of British pounds used to protect Giant Pandas on other areas might yield better results. Packham is the host for the BBC channel two’s special program “Springwatch”. He believes that the method of first raising in captivity and then releasing into nature is pointless, because nature does not have enough habitat to maintain the Giant Panda’s survival.

He says: “‘Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. It’s not a strong species. Unfortunately, it’s big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into panda conservation. I reckon we should pull the plug. Let them go, with a degree of dignity.”

Sounds like an awful conclusion. Scientist try their best to save all sorts of animals from fish in the sea to birds in the sky. How can nature not have enough habitat for giant pandas when there room for bigger animals like elephants!

I am amazed how small a baby panda is. How can a BIG panda have such little babies! Look at horses for example, baby horses are huge!

Boy not allowed to get life-saving transplant in Japan

Source: CNN

Eleven-year-old Hiroki Ando will likely die if he does not get a new heart.

Hiroki suffers from cardiomyopathy, which inflames and impairs the heart. The same disease killed his sister five years ago.

"We have two children in our family who got a disease that happens one out of every 100,000 people. I am sorry for my children. We are having my daughter and Hiroki going through this harsh experience," said father Ryuki Ando.

"We were told by his doctor at the end of last year that the heart transplant operation was the only way for him to survive," Ando said.

But the law in Japan prohibits anyone under the age of 15 from donating organs -- meaning Hiroki can't get a new heart in his home country.

According to the web site for Japan Transplant Network, a non-governmental group that supports changing Japan's transplant law, "this stipulation has greatly reduced the possibility of transplants to small children; heart transplants to small children have become impossible."

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I wonder why 15 is the age-limit? I'm sure in Japan kids under 15 die in accidents or disease. Why not have them be able to transplant their heart to save someone else?

Fluorescent puppy is world's first transgenic dog

Source: New Scientist

A cloned beagle named Ruppy – short for Ruby Puppy – is the world's first transgenic dog. She and four other beagles all produce a fluorescent protein that glows red under ultraviolet light.

A team led by Byeong-Chun Lee of Seoul National University in South Korea created the dogs by cloning fibroblast cells that express a red fluorescent gene produced by sea anemones.

Lee and stem cell researcher Woo Suk Hwang were part of a team that created the first cloned dog, SnuppyMovie Camera, in 2005. Much of Hwang's work on human cells turned out to be fraudulent, but Snuppy was not, an investigation later concluded.

This new proof-of-principle experiment should open the door for transgenic dog models of human disease, says team member CheMyong Ko of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. "The next step for us is to generate a true disease model," he says.

Wow a glowing dog! When do we get glowing people! I'd like to glow in the dark! :)

15-inch butanding rescued in Sorsogon

Source: philstar

MANILA, Philippines - A 15-inch whale shark, locally known as butanding, has been found in Sorsogon.

Conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) reported yesterday that the rescue of what could be the smallest whale shark in the country, and perhaps in the world, might lead to answers to the mystery of where the sea creatures breed.

According to the WWF, the baby whale shark was caught last Friday in nearby San Antonio, a barangay of Pilar town, adjacent to Donsol in Sorsogon and was allegedly about to be sold.

Wow! I never knew whales could be that small! Lucky the WWF got there before they made it lunch!

Japan Adds Boobs To Chemistry Books

Source: Akiba Blog

How'd you like to learn from this Chemistry book?

Moe book of humanized elements, " Genso Shuki -Moete Oboeru Kagaku no Kihon-" was out in Akiba on the 2nd. According to the book's information , "the total of 118 symbol of elements became into bishoujo characters! Let's find your favorite character!"

University sends UFO course into deep space

Source: Independent Online

Hong Kong - A UFO group in Hong Kong has condemned the city's largest university for cancelling a course on ufology because, it said, of faculty objections to the subject.

The course was set to begin last September as an optional subject for University of Hong Kong students in a joint project between the university and the Hong Kong Institute of Ufology, local newspaper Apple Daily reported on Monday.

The course was delayed and discussions were held on offering it at a later date after some academics expressed reservations about its content, Moon Fong, a committee member of the institute, told reporters.

Really? If you were a parent would you let your kid take a UFO course? Can you have a course in something that is not an exact study? Would it be a GPA booster?

I might take this course cause it sounds fun! But I can also see the point the institution for not allowing it.