HOW TO: Track Swine Flu Online


There are few things in this world that cannot be easily replaced, repaired, or regained. Our health and the health of the ones we love falls into this category. The best thing we can do to protect our health, above medication or rest, is prevention.

This week, news broke of a new and fatal swine flu on the Mexico-U.S. border. It has quickly turned into a growing outbreak and possible pandemic. Knowing about these important and growing cases is vital to public health. Fortunately, there are several useful online resources that track health information and disease outbreaks.

Track Swine Flu Online

mashable.com

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'Fossil' HIV reveals virus history


They struck it lucky with a sample that was collected back in 1960, from a woman living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is the second-oldest sample of the HIV virus ever found - the oldest is from 1959.

abc.net.au

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Marlboro sponsert Schuluniformen


Früh übt sich, wer Kettenraucher werden will - denkt sich der Zigarettenhersteller Marlboro und gibt sich alle Mühe, chinesischen Schulkindern ihren Brand näher zu bringen.

20min.ch

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Euro 2008 fans at risk of measles


Football supporters travelling to Euro 2008 may be at risk of catching measles, health officials have warned.

Significant outbreaks are occurring in Switzerland and Austria, the two countries hosting the competition this summer, Europe-wide figures show.

A team of vaccine experts is currently conducting a risk assessment in Austria just eight weeks before the tournament.

bbc.co.uk

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Toxin scare hits mozzarella sales


Sales of mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk have been hit by a contamination scare.

Eighty buffalo herds in the Naples area have been quarantined on suspicion that their milk may contain dangerous levels of dioxin.

The animals grazed on land where toxic industrial waste may have been illegally dumped by criminals.

The local Mafia - called the Camorra - have been making huge profits by dumping toxic waste in the region.

bbc.co.uk

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Chilli compound fires painkiller


A chemical from chilli peppers may be able to kill pain without affecting touch or movement.

This might in theory mean a woman in labour could have an epidural without losing the ability to move her legs, or the sensation of her baby being born.

bbc.co.uk

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RFID implants linked to animal tumors


VeriChip -- and other vendors -- have been busily implanting radio-frequency ID (RFID) chips in human and animal subjects ever since the FDA approved the process. But a series of studies conducted from 1996-2006 noted a high incidence of dangerous tumors arising at the sites of RFID implants -- something the FDA apparently did not consider when it approved the procedure.

yahoo.com via

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Darker fruits could fight cancer


The compounds which give certain fruit and vegetables their dark colour may contain powerful cancer fighting properties, US research suggests.

Studies on rats and human cells found anthocyanins - which colour red, purple and blue fruits - notably slowed the growth of colon cancer cells.

bbc.co.uk

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U.S. healthcare industry: Google wants to protect you from Michael Moore’s Sicko


Taking a break from reading the wall-to-wall iPhone coverage on TechMeme, I ran across a post from Lauren Turner, who works for Google as an account planner selling ads to the healthcare industry. In the post on what is called the Google Health Advertising blog, but only contains two posts, she assures potential advertisers that Google can help protect them from the negative impact of Michael Moore’s just released film “Sicko,” which does to the U.S healthcare system what Fahrenheit 9/11 did to the Bush administration.

zdnet.com

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What happens to your body if you stop smoking RIGHT NOW


In 20 minutes: Your blood pressure will return to normal.

In 8 hours: The carbon monoxide (toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.

In 48 hours: Your chance of having a heart attack will begin its long decline. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.

In 2 weeks: Your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.

What happens to your body if you stop smoking RIGHT NOW

onlinehome.us

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Tobacco's radiation dose far higher than leaves at Chernobyl


If nothing else, this should worry smokers: the radiation dose from radium and polonium found naturally in tobacco can be a thousand times more than that from the caesium-137 taken up by the leaves from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

newscientist.com

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Folding@Home on the PS3


Now in 2006, we are looking forward to another major advance in capabilities. This advance utilizes the new Cell processor in Sony’s PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) to achieve performance previously only possible on supercomputers. With this new technology (as well as new advances with GPUs), we will likely be able to attain performance on the 25 gigaflop scale per computer. With about 40,000 such machines, we would be able to achieve performance on the petaflop scale. With software from Sony, the PlayStation 3 will now be able to contribute to the Folding@Home project, pushing Folding@Home a major step forward.

How Your Video Game System Can Help Cure Cancer

Folding@Home PS3 Review

folding.stanford.edu

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