Is Gold the Next Bubble?

Brett Arends - It's been the amazing, runaway boom of the past decade. If you'd put your money into gold at the lows about 10 years ago, you'd have made a nearly 400% return. That's left pretty much everything else—stocks, China, let alone housing—in the dust.

But with gold now trading near record highs, the big $1,200-an-ounce question is obvious.

Is the gold rush over? ...

So far gold has followed the same path as the previous two bubbles. And if it continues along the same trajectory—a big if—gold today is only where the Nasdaq was in 1998 and housing in 2003.

In other words, just before those markets went into orbit.

Maybe the smart money is out of gold today. But how easily we forget that the smart money got out of these past bubbles way too early. The really smart money knows you make the most money in a bubble right at the end, when it goes manic.

There are other reasons to think that gold is still a long way from that point.

Like the futures market. It is predicting gold will rise by just a few percent a year over the next few years. That's less than you'd get from municipal bonds.

When the market thinks an investment is going to underperform munis, it's safe to say we are not in the midst of euphoria. ...

via ROI: Is Gold the Next Bubble? - WSJ.com.

Is Gold the Next Bubble?

Brett Arends - It's been the amazing, runaway boom of the past decade. If you'd put your money into gold at the lows about 10 years ago, you'd have made a nearly 400% return. That's left pretty much everything else—stocks, China, let alone housing—in the dust.

But with gold now trading near record highs, the big $1,200-an-ounce question is obvious.

Is the gold rush over? ...

So far gold has followed the same path as the previous two bubbles. And if it continues along the same trajectory—a big if—gold today is only where the Nasdaq was in 1998 and housing in 2003.

In other words, just before those markets went into orbit.

Maybe the smart money is out of gold today. But how easily we forget that the smart money got out of these past bubbles way too early. The really smart money knows you make the most money in a bubble right at the end, when it goes manic.

There are other reasons to think that gold is still a long way from that point.

Like the futures market. It is predicting gold will rise by just a few percent a year over the next few years. That's less than you'd get from municipal bonds.

When the market thinks an investment is going to underperform munis, it's safe to say we are not in the midst of euphoria. ...

via ROI: Is Gold the Next Bubble? - WSJ.com.

Bin Laden back from the dead to wish everyone a happy holiday and clean water

Caroline Faraj, CNN - A message purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is urging Muslims to tackle famine, flood relief, the effects of climate change and clean water -- stark problems plaguing parts of the Islamic world.

The message, which appeared on jihadist forums Friday, strongly urged Muslims to help Muslims by investing in infrastructure projects and developing awareness programs, such as how to deal with issues like water pollution.

"Sending tents and medicine is necessary, but the catastrophe is bigger and way more than what it being offered in terms of quantity, quality and timing," said the message, which shunned the usual talk of jihadi issues and the United States,

"We need a big transitional change in the way we act in the relief effort."

The speaker started the message by wishing the Muslim world a happy Ramadan, which fell between early August and early September, and he also focused on the floods in Pakistan.

The speech, entitled, "Pauses with the Method of Relief Work," came in an 11 minute, 39 second video produced by al-Qaeda's media arm, as-Sahab.

via Purported bin Laden message focuses on relief, development - CNN.com.

Bin Laden back from the dead to wish everyone a happy holiday and clean water

Caroline Faraj, CNN - A message purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is urging Muslims to tackle famine, flood relief, the effects of climate change and clean water -- stark problems plaguing parts of the Islamic world.

The message, which appeared on jihadist forums Friday, strongly urged Muslims to help Muslims by investing in infrastructure projects and developing awareness programs, such as how to deal with issues like water pollution.

"Sending tents and medicine is necessary, but the catastrophe is bigger and way more than what it being offered in terms of quantity, quality and timing," said the message, which shunned the usual talk of jihadi issues and the United States,

"We need a big transitional change in the way we act in the relief effort."

The speaker started the message by wishing the Muslim world a happy Ramadan, which fell between early August and early September, and he also focused on the floods in Pakistan.

The speech, entitled, "Pauses with the Method of Relief Work," came in an 11 minute, 39 second video produced by al-Qaeda's media arm, as-Sahab.

via Purported bin Laden message focuses on relief, development - CNN.com.

'Space hotel' plan unveiled in Russia

A Russian company has unveiled an ambitious plan to launch a "cosmic hotel" for wealthy space tourists. ... "Our planned module inside will not remind you of the ISS. A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth through large portholes," he told RIA Novosti.

The hotel would be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space, Mr Kostenko said.

It would follow the same orbit as the International Space Station.

The first module would have four cabins, designed for up to seven passengers, who would be packed into a space of 20 cubic metres (706 cubic feet).

Mr Kostenko did not reveal the price of staying in the hotel.

However he did say that food would be suited to individual preferences, and that organisers were thinking of employing celebrity chefs to cook the meals before they were sent into space. ...

via BBC News - 'Space hotel' plan unveiled in Russia.

'Space hotel' plan unveiled in Russia

A Russian company has unveiled an ambitious plan to launch a "cosmic hotel" for wealthy space tourists. ... "Our planned module inside will not remind you of the ISS. A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth through large portholes," he told RIA Novosti.

The hotel would be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space, Mr Kostenko said.

It would follow the same orbit as the International Space Station.

The first module would have four cabins, designed for up to seven passengers, who would be packed into a space of 20 cubic metres (706 cubic feet).

Mr Kostenko did not reveal the price of staying in the hotel.

However he did say that food would be suited to individual preferences, and that organisers were thinking of employing celebrity chefs to cook the meals before they were sent into space. ...

via BBC News - 'Space hotel' plan unveiled in Russia.

Pig learns to walk on two legs

Photo: REX FEATURES

Andy Bloxham - The 10-month-old porker is known by villagers as "Zhu Jianqiang" (Strong-willed Pig) after it was born with only two front legs and learned to balance on them well enough to walk.

According to its owner, Wang Xihai, it was one of nine piglets born in a litter this January.

He said: "My wife asked me to dump it but I refused as it's a life. I thought I should give it a chance to survive and unexpectedly it survived healthy." ...

via Pig learns to walk on two legs - Telegraph.

Pig learns to walk on two legs

Photo: REX FEATURES

Andy Bloxham - The 10-month-old porker is known by villagers as "Zhu Jianqiang" (Strong-willed Pig) after it was born with only two front legs and learned to balance on them well enough to walk.

According to its owner, Wang Xihai, it was one of nine piglets born in a litter this January.

He said: "My wife asked me to dump it but I refused as it's a life. I thought I should give it a chance to survive and unexpectedly it survived healthy." ...

via Pig learns to walk on two legs - Telegraph.

Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot Research Honored at Ig Nobel Awards

Ben Muessig ...

Dr. Elena Bodnar, left, won the 2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize for designing a bra that can be converted into two gas masks. This year's winners are no less strange.

The researchers responsible for this year's weirdest science gathered tonight at Harvard University for the "Ig Nobel Prize" ceremony, where top honors were handed out to 10 lucky winners from around the world.

The bizarre science event, which is organized by the science comedy magazine Annals of Improbable Research and several Harvard student groups, gave out the following honors:

• Engineering Prize: British researchers Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Agnes Rocha-Gosselin and Mexican researcher Diane Gendron took home the award for figuring out the perfect way to collect whale mucus using a remote-control helicopter.


• Medicine Prize: Dutch scientists Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest won the prize for discovering that asthma symptoms can be treated with a roller-coaster ride.


• Biology Prize: Chinese researchers Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou and Shuyi Zhang and British researcher Gareth Jones got top honors for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats.


• Management Prize: Italian scientists Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda and Cesare Garofalo earned the title for demonstrating mathematically that it's more efficient for organizations to promote people randomly.


• Physics Prize: New Zealand experts Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams and Patricia Priest stole the show by proving that people slip less often on icy footpaths when they wear socks on the outside of their shoes.


• Transportation Planning Prize: Japanese researchers Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki and Ryo Kobayashi and British researchers Dan Bebber and Mark Fricker got the gold for using slime mold to determine the best routes for railroad tracks. (Nagasaki, Tero, and Kobayashi won an Ig Nobel Prize in 2008 for showing that slime molds can solve puzzles.)


• Peace Prize: British scientists Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston took home the title for finally using science to prove that swearing relieves pain.


• Public Health Prize: American researchers Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews and Larry Taylor nabbed the prize for determining that microbes can and do cling to bearded scientists.


• Economics Prize: The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar got this sarcastic award for finding new ways to invest money -- "ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof."


• Chemistry Prize: American researchers Eric Adams, Scott Socolofsky, Stephen Masutani and the ailing oil company British Petroleum won this prize for "disproving the old belief that oil and water don't mix." ...

via Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot Research Honored at Ig Nobel Awards.

Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot Research Honored at Ig Nobel Awards

Ben Muessig ...

Dr. Elena Bodnar, left, won the 2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize for designing a bra that can be converted into two gas masks. This year's winners are no less strange.

The researchers responsible for this year's weirdest science gathered tonight at Harvard University for the "Ig Nobel Prize" ceremony, where top honors were handed out to 10 lucky winners from around the world.

The bizarre science event, which is organized by the science comedy magazine Annals of Improbable Research and several Harvard student groups, gave out the following honors:

• Engineering Prize: British researchers Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Agnes Rocha-Gosselin and Mexican researcher Diane Gendron took home the award for figuring out the perfect way to collect whale mucus using a remote-control helicopter.


• Medicine Prize: Dutch scientists Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest won the prize for discovering that asthma symptoms can be treated with a roller-coaster ride.


• Biology Prize: Chinese researchers Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou and Shuyi Zhang and British researcher Gareth Jones got top honors for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats.


• Management Prize: Italian scientists Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda and Cesare Garofalo earned the title for demonstrating mathematically that it's more efficient for organizations to promote people randomly.


• Physics Prize: New Zealand experts Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams and Patricia Priest stole the show by proving that people slip less often on icy footpaths when they wear socks on the outside of their shoes.


• Transportation Planning Prize: Japanese researchers Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki and Ryo Kobayashi and British researchers Dan Bebber and Mark Fricker got the gold for using slime mold to determine the best routes for railroad tracks. (Nagasaki, Tero, and Kobayashi won an Ig Nobel Prize in 2008 for showing that slime molds can solve puzzles.)


• Peace Prize: British scientists Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston took home the title for finally using science to prove that swearing relieves pain.


• Public Health Prize: American researchers Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews and Larry Taylor nabbed the prize for determining that microbes can and do cling to bearded scientists.


• Economics Prize: The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar got this sarcastic award for finding new ways to invest money -- "ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof."


• Chemistry Prize: American researchers Eric Adams, Scott Socolofsky, Stephen Masutani and the ailing oil company British Petroleum won this prize for "disproving the old belief that oil and water don't mix." ...

via Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot Research Honored at Ig Nobel Awards.

Volcanoes wiped Neanderthals out, research suggests

The research, led by Liubov Vitaliena Golovanova and Vladimir Borisovich Doronichev of the ANO Laboratory of Prehistory in St. Petersburg, Russia, is reported in the October issue of Current Anthropology.

“[W]e offer the hypothesis that the Neanderthal demise occurred abruptly (on a geological time-scale) … after the most powerful volcanic activity in western Eurasia during the period of Neanderthal evolutionary history,” the researchers write. “[T]his catastrophe not only drastically destroyed the ecological niches of Neanderthal populations but also caused their mass physical depopulation.”

Evidence for the catastrophe comes from Mezmaiskaya cave in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, a site rich in Neanderthal bones and artifacts. Recent excavations of the cave revealed two distinct layers of volcanic ash that coincide with large-scale volcanic events that occurred around 40,000 years ago, the researchers say.

Geological layers containing the ashes also hold evidence of an abrupt and potentially devastating climate change.

... Liubov Vitaliena Golovanova, et al. “Significance of Ecological Factors in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition.” Current Anthropology 51:5 (October 2010).

via Volcanoes wiped Neanderthals out, research suggests.

Volcanoes wiped Neanderthals out, research suggests

The research, led by Liubov Vitaliena Golovanova and Vladimir Borisovich Doronichev of the ANO Laboratory of Prehistory in St. Petersburg, Russia, is reported in the October issue of Current Anthropology.

“[W]e offer the hypothesis that the Neanderthal demise occurred abruptly (on a geological time-scale) … after the most powerful volcanic activity in western Eurasia during the period of Neanderthal evolutionary history,” the researchers write. “[T]his catastrophe not only drastically destroyed the ecological niches of Neanderthal populations but also caused their mass physical depopulation.”

Evidence for the catastrophe comes from Mezmaiskaya cave in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, a site rich in Neanderthal bones and artifacts. Recent excavations of the cave revealed two distinct layers of volcanic ash that coincide with large-scale volcanic events that occurred around 40,000 years ago, the researchers say.

Geological layers containing the ashes also hold evidence of an abrupt and potentially devastating climate change.

... Liubov Vitaliena Golovanova, et al. “Significance of Ecological Factors in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition.” Current Anthropology 51:5 (October 2010).

via Volcanoes wiped Neanderthals out, research suggests.

Buy a Batmobile for £100,000

Mark Nichol - The original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series starring Adam West is still the ultimate screen car for an entire generation of caped crusader fans. Now anybody with a spare $149,999 (£95,000) can buy one.

American company Fiberglass Freaks is producing officially licensed, road-legal 1966 Batmobiles. And yes, the flamethrower works.

Each car takes six months to build and features an array of working gadgets, including a red flashing beacon, a radar screen called 'Detect-a-scope', a retractable, gold-coloured 'Batbeam' and a dashboard DVD player.

The flamethrower in the original Batmobile was the result of the car's turbine engine, but the replica uses a propane tank - mounted in the boot - to create the same effect. ...

via Buy a Batmobile for £100,000 - Yahoo! Cars.

Buy a Batmobile for £100,000

Mark Nichol - The original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series starring Adam West is still the ultimate screen car for an entire generation of caped crusader fans. Now anybody with a spare $149,999 (£95,000) can buy one.

American company Fiberglass Freaks is producing officially licensed, road-legal 1966 Batmobiles. And yes, the flamethrower works.

Each car takes six months to build and features an array of working gadgets, including a red flashing beacon, a radar screen called 'Detect-a-scope', a retractable, gold-coloured 'Batbeam' and a dashboard DVD player.

The flamethrower in the original Batmobile was the result of the car's turbine engine, but the replica uses a propane tank - mounted in the boot - to create the same effect. ...

via Buy a Batmobile for £100,000 - Yahoo! Cars.

Scarless brain surgery is new option for patients

Susan Gregg-Hanson  University of Washington .

Surgeons at UW Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have determined that transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery (TONES) is a safe, effective option for treating a variety of advanced brain diseases and traumatic injuries. This groundbreaking, minimally invasive surgery is performed through the eye socket, thus eliminating the removal of the top of the skull to reach the brain. The findings were published in the September issue of Neurosurgery.

"By performing surgery through the eye socket, we eliminate the need for a full craniotomy [surgical opening through the skull], gain equivalent or better access to the front of the brain, and eliminate the large ear-to-ear scar associated with major brain surgery," said Dr. Chris Bergeron, assistant professor of surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, at UC San Diego Health System. "This novel technique is also critical to protecting major blood vessel structures and nerves, such as the optic and olfactory nerves." ...

Patients have undergone the TONES procedure to repair cerebral spinal fluid leaks, optic nerve decompression, repair of cranial base fractures and removal of tumors.

via Scarless brain surgery is new option for patients.

Scarless brain surgery is new option for patients

Susan Gregg-Hanson  University of Washington .

Surgeons at UW Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have determined that transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery (TONES) is a safe, effective option for treating a variety of advanced brain diseases and traumatic injuries. This groundbreaking, minimally invasive surgery is performed through the eye socket, thus eliminating the removal of the top of the skull to reach the brain. The findings were published in the September issue of Neurosurgery.

"By performing surgery through the eye socket, we eliminate the need for a full craniotomy [surgical opening through the skull], gain equivalent or better access to the front of the brain, and eliminate the large ear-to-ear scar associated with major brain surgery," said Dr. Chris Bergeron, assistant professor of surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, at UC San Diego Health System. "This novel technique is also critical to protecting major blood vessel structures and nerves, such as the optic and olfactory nerves." ...

Patients have undergone the TONES procedure to repair cerebral spinal fluid leaks, optic nerve decompression, repair of cranial base fractures and removal of tumors.

via Scarless brain surgery is new option for patients.

Study shows real partners are no match for ideal mate

Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose.

The study, which was published this week (27 September 2010) in the Journal PLoS ONE, found that most men and women express different mating preferences for body morphology than the actual morphology of their partners and the discrepancies between real mates and fantasies were often larger for women than for men.

The study also found that most men would rather have female partners much slimmer than they really have. Most women are not satisfied, either, but contrary to men, while some would like slimmer mates, others prefer bigger ones.

Human mating preferences are increasingly being studied to understand what shapes our complex reproductive behaviour. Whilst previous studies have separately investigated ideal mate choice and actual pairing, this new research was specifically conducted to compare them.

... The paper, entitled `From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape' by Alexandre Courtiol, Sandrine Picq, Bernard Godelle, Michel Raymond and Jean-Baptiste Ferdy, was published on 27 September 2010 in the PLoS ONE journal and is available online at the below link.

http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013010

via News releases 2010.

Study shows real partners are no match for ideal mate

Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose.

The study, which was published this week (27 September 2010) in the Journal PLoS ONE, found that most men and women express different mating preferences for body morphology than the actual morphology of their partners and the discrepancies between real mates and fantasies were often larger for women than for men.

The study also found that most men would rather have female partners much slimmer than they really have. Most women are not satisfied, either, but contrary to men, while some would like slimmer mates, others prefer bigger ones.

Human mating preferences are increasingly being studied to understand what shapes our complex reproductive behaviour. Whilst previous studies have separately investigated ideal mate choice and actual pairing, this new research was specifically conducted to compare them.

... The paper, entitled `From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape' by Alexandre Courtiol, Sandrine Picq, Bernard Godelle, Michel Raymond and Jean-Baptiste Ferdy, was published on 27 September 2010 in the PLoS ONE journal and is available online at the below link.

http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013010

via News releases 2010.

Researchers engineer adult stem cells that do not age

Charlotte Hsu - University at Buffalo .

Biomedical researchers at the University at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that scientists can grow continuously in culture, a discovery that could speed development of cost-effective treatments for diseases including heart disease, diabetes, immune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

UB scientists created the new cell lines – named "MSC Universal" – by genetically altering mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and can differentiate into cell types including bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, and beta-pancreatic islet cells.

The researchers say the breakthrough overcomes a frustrating barrier to progress in the field of regenerative medicine: The difficulty of growing adult stem cells for clinical applications.

Because mesenchymal stem cells have a limited life span in laboratory cultures, scientists and doctors who use the cells in research and treatments must continuously obtain fresh samples from bone marrow donors, a process both expensive and time-consuming. In addition, mesenchymal stem cells from different donors can vary in performance.

The cells that UB researchers modified show no signs of aging in culture, but otherwise appear to function as regular mesenchymal stem cells do – including by conferring therapeutic benefits in an animal study of heart disease. Despite their propensity to proliferate in the laboratory, MSC-Universal cells did not form tumors in animal testing.

"Our stem cell research is application-driven," says Techung Lee, PhD, UB associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical engineering in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who led the project. "If you want to make stem cell therapies feasible, affordable and reproducible, we know you have to overcome a few hurdles. Part of the problem in our health care industry is that you have a treatment, but it often costs too much. In the case of stem cell treatments, isolating stem cells is very expensive. The cells we have engineered grow continuously in the laboratory, which brings down the price of treatments."

... Stem cells help regenerate or repair damaged tissues, primarily by releasing growth factors that encourage existing cells in the human body to function and grow.

via Researchers engineer adult stem cells that do not age.

Researchers engineer adult stem cells that do not age

Charlotte Hsu - University at Buffalo .

Biomedical researchers at the University at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that scientists can grow continuously in culture, a discovery that could speed development of cost-effective treatments for diseases including heart disease, diabetes, immune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

UB scientists created the new cell lines – named "MSC Universal" – by genetically altering mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and can differentiate into cell types including bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, and beta-pancreatic islet cells.

The researchers say the breakthrough overcomes a frustrating barrier to progress in the field of regenerative medicine: The difficulty of growing adult stem cells for clinical applications.

Because mesenchymal stem cells have a limited life span in laboratory cultures, scientists and doctors who use the cells in research and treatments must continuously obtain fresh samples from bone marrow donors, a process both expensive and time-consuming. In addition, mesenchymal stem cells from different donors can vary in performance.

The cells that UB researchers modified show no signs of aging in culture, but otherwise appear to function as regular mesenchymal stem cells do – including by conferring therapeutic benefits in an animal study of heart disease. Despite their propensity to proliferate in the laboratory, MSC-Universal cells did not form tumors in animal testing.

"Our stem cell research is application-driven," says Techung Lee, PhD, UB associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical engineering in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who led the project. "If you want to make stem cell therapies feasible, affordable and reproducible, we know you have to overcome a few hurdles. Part of the problem in our health care industry is that you have a treatment, but it often costs too much. In the case of stem cell treatments, isolating stem cells is very expensive. The cells we have engineered grow continuously in the laboratory, which brings down the price of treatments."

... Stem cells help regenerate or repair damaged tissues, primarily by releasing growth factors that encourage existing cells in the human body to function and grow.

via Researchers engineer adult stem cells that do not age.