Tiny New Microscope Unveiled

A microscope small enough to fit on a fingertip has been developed by researchers in the United States. The new microscope has tiny dimensions. The instrument operates like a highly sophisticated pinhole camera and does not use lenses. Light passes through a series of holes, each less than one millionth of a metre in diameter, and a number of overlapping images are pieced together to create a precise two-dimensional picture. The technology combines traditional computer chip technology with microfluidics – the channelling of fluid flow at very small scales. An entire optofluidic microscope chip is about the size of a US quarter, though the part of the device that images objects is only the size of George Washington’s nose on the coin. Its creators say the instrument, which which has the magnifying power of a top quality lab bench microscope, could be mass produced for just £5. In the field, it could be used to analyse blood samples for malaria, or check water supplies for infectious organisms. “The whole thing is truly compact – it could be put in a mobile phone,” said Dr Changhuei Yang, who developed the microscope with colleagues at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “It can use just sunlight for illumination, which makes it very appealing for Third World applications. “Our research is motivated by the fact that microscopes have been around since the 16th century, and yet their basic design has undergone very little change and has proven prohibitively expensive to miniaturise.”The researchers said that in future, microscope chips could be incorporated into devices that are implanted into the human body.

Gates’ foundation aids smoking ban for Games

Bill Gates just says no to smoking at the Beijing Olympics The retired co-founder of computer giant Microsoft, Bill Gates, has earmarked $130,000 from his foundation to support a “smoke-free Olympics”. “Awareness of the disease burden that smoking causes is not very widespread. I’d say most people in the US know it, but in China, that’s not the case,” Gates, who co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said at a press conference in New York City on Wednesday. The funds from the foundation’s latest commitment are expected to go toward advertisements in an anti-smoking campaign in line with the Olympic smoking ban. Beijing has pledged a smoke-free Games, banning smoking from most indoor public spaces, workplaces and spectator areas of open-air stadiums during the Games next month. The anti-smoking drive is aimed at curbing a habit that reportedly affects more than 350 million people in the country. Medical costs from smoking also impoverish more than 50 million people in China, figures from the World Health Organization have showed. Similarly, about 1 million people die from smoking-related causes every year, statistics from Ministry of Health have showed.
Gates, who stepped down from Microsoft in June to work full time at the foundation and is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Aug 8, highlighted education as a weapon in the fight against smoking. “We’ve got to make sure that we don’t wait until China gets as rich as we did before we woke up and changed how we thought about smoking,” the billionaire philanthropist said. “We want that enlightenment to come to China early on.” His foundation’s latest efforts in China are part of the $125 million it has pledged over the next five years to fight smoking, where the funds will be used to support efforts to cut high rates of tobacco use in countries such as China and India, as well as help prevent the tobacco epidemic from taking root in Africa. “Tobacco-caused diseases have emerged as one of the greatest health challenges facing developing countries,” Gates said. “The good news is, we know what it takes to save millions of lives, and where efforts exist, they are working,” he said. The foundation has collaborated with the Health Ministry on other public health campaigns, including HIV prevention.

Nadal takes Federer’s crown

Swiss star’s reign is over after thrilling final

Nadal: first Wimbledon title The best final ever Rafael Nadal claimed his first Wimbledon title in epic fashion on Centre Court with a five-set victory over world number one Roger Federer which will rank as one of the greatest Grand Slam finals. Nadal squandered a two-set lead and two Championship points in the fourth set tie-break before summoning one final challenge and sealing a 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-7 (8/10) 9-7 victory as darkness fell. Nadal had stood on the brink of victory after taking the advantage in the fourth set tie-break and holding two points for the title, the second of which Federer saved with a simply sensational backhand winner. But in a match interrupted by two brief rain delays, Nadal finally seized his chance in the 15th game of the final set, breaking Federer then serving out and marking his victory by crumbling to the court. “It’s impossible to explain what I felt in that moment… winning my favourite tournament, it’s a dream,” Nadal said after becoming the first man to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back since Bjorn Borg in 1980. Of Federer he added: “He’s still the number one, he’s still the best, he’s five times champion, now I have one.”

Amy Winehouse Rushed To U.K. Hospital

Soul singer Amy Winehouse was rushed to a London hospital emergency room today after suffering “a reaction to medication,” her spokesperson confirmed to BBC News. According to spokesperson Chris Goodman, an ambulance took the 24-year-old singer from her home in north London home to University College Hospital late Monday night after the ambulance service received a reported call of “an adult female taken unwell.” Winehouse will reportedly be kept under observation overnight and is likely to be released from the hospital tomorrow.Winehouse received hospital treatment just last month for traces of the lung disease emphysema. *Amy Winehouse’s Father Fears for Her Life A parent’s worst nightmare… Amy Winehouse’s father is voicing his worst fear: That his hard-partying daughter could die a “slow and painful death” from lung disease. According to the BBC, Mitch Winehouse told the U.K.’s Sky News in an interview: “My biggest fear is that she would die,” he said, “but she won’t die of a drug overdose. It won’t be that quick. She would die, unfortunately, of emphysema … We would be talking about a very slow and painful death, gasping for air.” Even one more cigarette puts Amy’s health in jeopardy, he told Sky, reminding viewers that doctors found “a small amount of emphysema in the top of one of her lungs,” which could grow “a lot more serious.” That is why, he said, the “Rehab” singer will take a performing hiatus after September 6, when she’s fulfilled her five remaining contractual gigs. From that date on, she’ll be “relaxing and writing,” Mitch told Sky, according to the BBC.

Astrology: Ex-Astronaut Slams Asteroid Plan

A former Nasa astronaut claims plans to blast Earth-bound asteroids out of space with nuclear weapons is not the best way to beat the threat. Schweickart wants to alter the course of asteroids. Apollo 9 legend Rusty Schweickart, who clocked up more than 240 hours in space, was responding to a Nasa report which said nukes were the best option to avert a catastrophic asteroid collision with Earth. He says most heavenly bodies could be redirected by ramming them from behind or towing them to safety with unmanned spacecraft. Speaking at a public meeting in San Francisco, Mr Schweickart says Nasa was put under political pressure to come up with the nuclear missile solution. The astronaut-turned-scientist, who piloted the lunar capsule in Apollo 9, now heads the B612 Foundation, which promotes plans to alter the course of asteroids hurtling towards Earth. He says that at present we simply do not know what is heading towards us, but as new powerful telescopes come online, we will have a clearer picture. “The good news is that we can do something about this,” he said. “The marriage of we human beings and the machines that we’ve created are now at a level of capability which enables us to … stop this process from occurring.” In May 2005, he told the US Congress that a mission to attach a device such as a radio transmitter to asteroid 99942 Apophis should be a high priority. It is estimated that this asteroid has a 1 in 6,000 probability of striking the Earth in the 21st Century.The latest data indicates that the chance of Apophis impacting the Earth is 1 in 45,000 in 2036.

Dark Knight Makes Record-Breaking $300M in 10 Days

The Batman adventure, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, shattered another box-office benchmark this weekend – reaching beyond the $300 million mark in a mere 10 days. The movie grossed $75.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, bringing its North American box-office total to $314,245,000, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman tells the Associated Press. The number breaks the record established by 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which hit $300 million after 16 days.
Fellman says Dark Knight could conceivably reach the $400-million mark in about 18 days – placing it ahead of Shrek 2’s 43-day record in 2004. Hold on to your life preservers – The Dark Knight might also surpass 1997’s Titanic as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. That sinking-ship saga, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, made $600,788,188 domestically.
Rounding out this weekend’s top five at the box office were Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in Step Brothers, with an estimated $30 million; Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, $17.9 million; David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, $10.2 million; and Brendan Fraser in Journey to the Center of the Earth, $9.4 million.

Top 10 ‘Hollywood Bachelors’

1. George Clooney

2. Leonardo DiCaprio

3. Matthew MCConaughey

4. Ryan Seacrest

5. Vince Vaughn

6. Jamie Foxx

7. Owen Wilson

8. Orlando Bloom

9. Bruce Willis

10. John Mayer

Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza

Latino Commission on AIDS Welcomes Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza as its Newest ‘Madrina’ in the Fight Against AIDS
July 24, 2008 “It is important to me, and the Miss Universe Organization to show our commitment and solidarity with those impacted by HIV/AIDS,” said Dayana Mendoza. “I will spend my reign advocating all individuals to take the HIV test and encouraging safe sex.”

“The needs of prevention and access to care of Latinos are complex and diverse and get more challenging every year,” said Dennis deLeon, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS. “I am honored that Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza is taking action and joining our cause to promote the HIV test as an important step for prevention and education.”

Pregnant man Thomas Beatie unveils first baby photos

Pregnant man Thomas Beatie unveils first baby photos

Beatie is legally male but was born female and underwent gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatment. He kept his female reproductive organs so when he and his wife Nancy decided to have a child, he conceived through artificial insemination with donor sperm. Nancy is breastfeeding the baby though a process called induced lactation.

Magnetic energy blasts make Northern Lights ‘dance’: NASA
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Explosions of magnetic energy between Earth and the moon are behind the sparkles and wavy glows of the Northern Lights that color the night sky, NASA has said.

Danica Patrick: America’s Hottest Racer

Danica Patrick: America’s Hottest Racer

IndyCar star Danica Patrick, fresh off a spat with a fellow female racer last weekend, arrived in the city yesterday for the Rexall Edmonton Indy. In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated her earnings for the year to be $5 million. Won the Japan IndyCar 300 in 2008 – became the first woman to win an Indy race.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman Have A Daughter on 7th July.

Keith Urban gets Nicole Kidman $73,000 ring when she gives birth. Nicole Kidman’s adopted children Connor and Isabella met the actress’s  new baby over the weekend.She invited her children from her marriage to ex-husband Tom Cruise to meet the new addition to their family at her Nashville home.

iphone = phone,ipod,internet & more 

Introducing iPhone 3G. With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for     enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. iPhone 3G. It redefines what a mobile phone can do — again.

Prince Charles Go Green

Prince Charles’ office announced this week that the British royal has converted his Aston Martin to run on biofuel made from wine. The prince has coverted other cars to run on fuel made from cooking oil. Prince Charles has appealed to Asian billionaires including Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Tata chief Ratan Tata to help him protect the environment.