Odds n’ Ends 10

1). Most Ambitious Science Experiment of "All-Time" to Take Place on September 10^th by CERN. (Report from K-House ENews dated Aug. 26, 2008.) "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.." - Hebrews 11:3

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there. In this case, "it" is what physicists call "dark matter." They can't see it, they can't measure it (at least not directly), and they don't know what it is made of. Yet scientists believe it constitutes over 90 percent of all the matter in the universe.

In an ambitious undertaking, scientists from all over the globe have come together to build the world's largest particle accelerator. The CERN Large Hadron Collider is perhaps the most ambitious science experiment of all time, with it scientists hope to finally uncover the secrets of dark matter and the so-called "god particle". Together these two mysteries represent the holy grail of astronomy and physics…

 

The Big Bang Experiment

Physicists hope CERN's Large Hadron Collider will shed even more light on dark matter, dark energy, the existence of extra dimensions, and the fundamental nature of matter, energy, space and time. Various tests are taking place this week in preparation for the official launch on September 10th. The media has labeled the project as the "Big Bang" experiment, and BBC radio has dubbed the 10th as "Big Bang Day."

The Large Hadron Collider is a 10 billion dollar, 17-mile circular tunnel, which spans the border between Switzerland and France. The massive underground laboratory took ten years to build and the project involves more than 8,000 scientists from at least 85 countries. The scientific community believes the collider will one day help them unlock the some of the best kept secrets in the universe. Until then, they must continue to trust in things unseen…

 

2). This Pill Will Change Your Life. http://www.popsci.com/stuart-fox/gallery/2008-08/pill-will-change-your-life. Popular Science magazine has a list of 6 Pills that may soon change our lives:

 

• Cancer Vaccine Pill;
  Rather than designing a drug to cure cancer, current research focuses on developing drugs to help the body fight cancer itself. Cancer vaccines would boost the body's own natural immune response so that naturally produced antibodies would attack the cancer cells and cure the disease. Currently, researchers have only tested the vaccine with melanoma [left], and the treatment still requires that the cancer fighting immune cells are altered in the lab and then returned to the body. However, once researchers figure out how to change the immune cells in vivo, it would only take a pill or a shot to get the body killing cancer for itself.
  
• Male Birth Control Pill;
  
• Anti-Addiction Pill;
  
• Exercise Pill;
  
• Anti-Aging Pill;
  
• Smart Pill.
  

 

3). Uh oh, I better watch out! Alabama to place a 'Fat Tax' on state employees. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/08/alabama-places.html. Alabama officials are warning state employees to shape up or pay more for health insurance.

 

On Friday, the State Employees' Insurance Board announced a new plan beginning next year in which state employees will be required to receive medication screenings for several conditions, including body mass index. Those considered obese or who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high glucose will have to pay $25 a month more in health insurance beginning in January 2011, if they don't take steps to address their health problems.

 

4). A Baby born in Israel Comes Back to Life After Pronounced Dead, and Placed in a Cooler for 5 Hours. http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSLI23405020080823?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=69. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A stillborn Israeli baby who was pronounced dead by doctors "came back to life" on Monday after spending hours in a hospital refrigerator.

 

The baby, weighing only 600 grams at birth, spent at least five hours inside one of the hospital's refrigerated storage units, before her parents, who had taken her to be buried, began noticing some movement.