Coo - blimey

ARTICLE:
Australia holds ‘pigeon smuggler’

Smuggling pigeons

A man has been caught with two pigeons stuffed in his trousers after he got off a flight from Dubai to Melbourne.
Australian customs officials say the live birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man's legs by a pair of tights under his trousers.
Officials also found two eggs in a vitamin container in the man's luggage.
Australia has strict quarantine rules on the importation of wildlife, plants and food. The man, 23, could face up to 10 years in jail.
The nation's quarantine regulations are designed to protect health, agriculture and the environment.
As well as 10 years' imprisonment, the maximum sentence for wildlife smuggling includes a fine of A$110,000 (US$70,480; £48,902).
Customs officials say they also seized seeds in the man's money belt and an undeclared aubergine, following the flight on Sunday.
They add that the pigeons were not endangered and that the case, as well as the birds, eggs and seeds, has been turned over to the country's Quarantine Service to assess the health risk.

Whilst reading the news, I came across this article on the BBC News website and it made me giggle. Firstly of all the things you could smuggle why pigeons? And secondly why hide them down your trousers - did none of his fellow passengers hear any strange noises coming from his trousers? Lol! Also the picture accompanying the article freaked me out… how hairy are this man’s legs? Eek!

Computer chips + neurons = Nerve repair?

Nerve's grown on a silicon chip

Edinburgh University has developed a technique where they are able to grow neurons in a fine detailed pattern on the surface of tiny computer chips. Sounds a bit science fiction right? Actually it’s a process that has been constantly researched and refined over a number of years. The ability to grow neurons means that damaged tissue can now be repaired or replaced in the body –possibly used for prosthetic development. For those that are further interested in the exact details of the research, it can be found by following the link stated below or it can be located in any suitable science journal.

Paper – Delivopoulos E, Murray AF, Macleod NK, Curtis JC. Guided growth of neurons and glia using microfabricated patterns of parylene-C on a SiO2 background. Biomaterials. 2008. 30 (11): Pages 2048 – 2058.

Just to provide a quick overview, the chip is imprinted with a certain pattern on the surface of the silicon chip and is then dipped in a specific mixture neurons and components such as proteins, growth factors that are needed for growth by the nerve cells. The use of circuitry can guide the growth of the cells and the tissue grown can be tailor made to suit each individual. It also means that the use of chips may eventually replace animal experiments – something which a lot of the general public object to but which is a necessary part of scientific development until a suitable alternative can be found.

As I am currently working in the neurosciences area, I think this could potentially be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders, where the nerve cells cease to function. A lot of research and perfection of the technique would be required before such ideas could be put to the test. But a part of me does wonder whether people will be open to such ideas and more importantly will the government provide funding for such ventures? I guess only time will tell.

Social Networking

It may come as a surprise to you but I’ve actually always been one of the more techy people in my group of friends throughout high school, college, work, university etc. Not sure if this is because;

a) I’ve been influenced by family members of whom most are involved with IT related stuff, with only a handful of people breaking away into different areas or

b) I have a natural curiosity for technology and don’t mind changing my lifestyle to adapt to new stuff. Basically I see it as a help rather than hindrance.

Reading a newspaper article on social networking, a few of my friends stated that they don’t get social networking and to some extent I do understand their point. Why stay bound to your PC when you could be out meeting actual people in real world, face to face… a method which I much prefer to the virtual world. There are even concerns for our health as more and more people turn to the online world on a daily basis for work, communicating and so forth. The reference given below is for one of the papers by Dr Aric Stigman. Dr Stigman suggests that a lack of real social networking can actually have an adverse biological effect on our bodies. The rise of electronic media such as the web, TV etc is not a good thing and it means we spend less and less time actually communicating with real human beings. Please follow the link below to read his paper in full.

Paper – Stigman A. Visual voodoo: the biological impact of watching TV. Biologist. 2007. 54(1)

Human interaction is a fantastic thing and it is what sets us apart from the other mammals – the ability to relay emotions with our speech. It is great to be able to feed off another person’s body language or facial expression when having a conversation as it makes it more enjoyable and you better understand where the conversation is going. It’s nice to be able to actually see a person smile (or frown, whatever you prefer! :P), to hug or nudge them or hear their laughter rather than having it conveyed to you by an emoticon. Also there is usually no room for misinterpretation as often is the case in instant messaging (IM) conversations. Whilst conversing with people, I often find that my mind takes a snapshot of that moment in time – the colours, sounds, smells, my emotions all contribute to the memory. Therefore sometimes I find that I am able to recall face to face conversations better than the ones I have online. But then on the other hand, some social network sites do have their advantages. For me, they allow me to keep in touch with the family and friends that I can't always meet up with due to differences in geography, working times and so forth.

Numerous social networking sites such as Hi5, Bebo, My Space etc have been introduced over the years; some have been and gone whilst others have stuck around. As each of the new social networks has been launched, I’ve found myself joining up only to find that the initial attraction wears off. As the number of users increases, the quality of the service on some sites decreases or the service then starts charging for its’ services. Fair enough if the site is good then I don’t mind paying, however more often that not, it is usually not worth it. A newer more attractive site pops up over time and you find yourself joining that one instead. My preferred social networking site… after testing out numerous others is Facebook. First introduced in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook celebrated its’ 5th birthday today and I can’t believe it’s been around that long. I like the fact that this site allows me to connect with my friends old and new via the usual messaging and sharing of pictures. But also the use of various applications helps to pass time when I’m bored or when swamped with work and need a bit of break. Therefore I recently went through a culling program deactivating/deleting my profiles and information off the numerous sites that I had joined over time. And it felt good :) However there are some sites that I just can’t bear to remove as I may need them in the future. I mean I wonder how long Facebook will be around for. What if Facebook eventually ends up following the same fate as its’ predecessors? I need to have a back up plan, lol.