BANGKOK (AFP) – Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said Monday.

A rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a "biological treasure trove".

The species were all found in the rainforests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

"It doesn't get any better than this," Stuart Chapman, director of WWF's Greater Mekong Programme, was quoted as saying in a statement by the group.

"We thought discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books."

The WWF report, "First Contact in the Greater Mekong", said that "between 1997 and 2007, at least 1,068 have been officially described by science as being newly discovered species."

These included the world's largest huntsman spider, with a leg span of 30 centimetres (11.8 inches), and the "startlingly" coloured "dragon millipede", which produces the deadly compound cyanide.

Not all species were found hiding in remote jungles -- the Laotian rock rat, which the study said was thought to be extinct about 11 million years ago, was first encountered by scientists in a local food market in 2005, it said.

One species of pitviper was first noted by scientists after it was found in the rafters of a restaurant at the headquarters of Thailand's Khao Yai national park in 2001.

"This region is like what I read about as a child in the stories of Charles Darwin," said Dr Thomas Ziegler, curator at the Cologne Zoo, who was involved in the research.

"It is a great feeling being in an unexplored area and to document its biodiversity for the first time both enigmatic and beautiful," he said.

The new species highlighted in the report include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad -- an average of two previously undiscovered species a week for the past 10 years.

The report warned, however, that many of the species could be at risk from development, and called for a cross-border agreement between the countries in the Greater Mekong area to protect it.

(source: yahoo.com)

Play Video
ATLANTA – Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010, part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030, international health experts said in a report released Tuesday. Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 percent of the world's smokers now live.

So is better diagnosing of cancer, along with the downward trend in infectious diseases that used to be the world's leading killers.

Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organization.

An annual rise of 1 percent in cases and deaths is expected — with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million.

Underlying all this is an expected expansion of the world's population — there will be more people around to get cancer.

By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world, a number that many health care systems are not equipped to handle.

"This is going to present an amazing problem at every level in every society worldwide," said Peter Boyle, director of the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Boyle spoke at a news conference with officials from the American Cancer Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Cancer Institute of Mexico.

The "unprecedented" gathering of organizations is an attempt to draw attention to the global threat of cancer, which isn't recognized as a major, growing health problem in some developing countries.

"Where you live shouldn't determine whether you live," said Hala Moddelmog, Komen's chief executive.

The organizations are calling on governments to act, asking the U.S. to help fund cervical cancer vaccinations and to ratify an international tobacco control treaty.

Concerned about smoking's impact on cancer rates in developing countries in the decades to come, the American Cancer Society also announced it will provide a smoking cessation counseling service in India.

"If we take action, we can keep the numbers from going where they would otherwise go," said John Seffrin, the cancer society's chief executive officer.

Other groups are also voicing support for more action.

"Cancer is one of the greatest untold health crises of the developing world," said Dr. Douglas Blayney, president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

"Few are aware that cancer already kills more people in poor countries than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. And if current smoking trends continue, the problem will get significantly worse," he said in a written statement.

(source: yahoo.com)

This is scary.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - A new variant of a virus known as Koobface is making the rounds on the Facebook social network, a security software firm warned this week.

McAfee Inc., in a company blog posting on Wednesday, said the virus, known as a worm, was being spread in the form of a message with a subject line along the lines of "You look just awesome in this new movie."

When users click on the message it informs them their Flash player is out of date. They are then prompted to download or open the file flash_player.exe, a new Koobface variant.

McAfee said Facebook, which has more than 120 million members, was purging the spammed links from their system "but with dozens of Koobface variants known to exist, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better."

"The safe-computing practice created more than 10 years ago still applies today, which is not to open any unexpected email attachments, even if they are from someone you know," McAfee said.

McAfee said the motivation behind the virus appears to be to steal search results from a Facebook user's visits to such sites as Google, Yahoo, MSN and Live.com to enable fraud.

Internet news agency CNET quoted Facebook representative Barry Schnitt as saying the worm has been around since August although the variant seen this week is new.

"Only a very small percentage of Facebook users have been affected and we're working quickly to update our security systems to minimize any further impact," he said.

(source: yahoo.com)

Beware Facebook users!

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - - England's Ricky Hatton is ready to face the winner of next month's Manny Pacquiao-Oscar de la Hoya showdown after dispatching American Paulie Malignaggi with ease.

Hatton stopped Malignaggi in the 11th round of their junior welterweight fight here Saturday, improving to 45-1 with 32 knockouts and serving notice that whichever lightweight star wins in two weeks, the "Hitman" is waiting.

"What sort of a champion would I be if I didn't take on (Pacquaio or de la Hoya) next? That's what Ricky Hatton is all about," Hatton said.

The only blemish on Hatton's record came at welterweight when he was stopped in the 10th round here a year ago by Floyd Mayweather Jnr in the same ring where Malignaggi's trainer Buddy McGirt threw in the towel.

"I've had 46 fights and only lost one and he was the best pound-for-pound in the world," Hatton said. "No one will ever beat me at junior welterweight. No one."

With Pacquiao and de la Hoya meeting one weight class below Hatton, he might not have to risk supremacy at his specialty for what would surely be a big-money battle against Hispanic legend de la Hoya or Filipino hero Pacquiao.

"I would love to fight the winner," Hatton said. "I would like to think I'd be in the shop window."

Hatton's loyal British supporters have been moneyspinners for his Vegas fights and would likely push the possibilities for a matchup with US "Golden Boy" de la Hoya or Asian superstar Pacquiao.

Pacquiao is 47-3 with two drawn and 35 knockouts while de la Hoya is 39-5 with 30 knockouts.

(source: yahoo.com)

I'm looking forward to this match.

I mean not the fact that its not mexican anymore ('coz manny has been taking down many mexicans in his previous matches) but somehow the aura of this england fighter seems to be different.

Better watch out manny, he looks like a tough one.

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao fought a lot bigger than he looked. Oscar De La Hoya simply looked old.

Pacquiao dominated his bigger and more famous opponent from the opening bell Saturday night, giving De La Hoya a beating and closing his left eye before De La Hoya declined to come out of his corner after the eighth round.

The fight was so lopsided and De La Hoya looked so inept that it could spell the end for boxing's richest and most marketable star.

(source: yahoo.com)

Congratulations Manny!

Making the filipinos proud. :)

Indiana woman dies at 115 as world's oldest person.






SHELBYVILLE, Ind. – Edna Parker, who became the world's oldest person more than a year ago, has died at age 115.

UCLA gerontologist Dr. Stephen Coles said Parker's great-nephew notified him that Parker died Wednesday at a nursing home in Shelbyville. She was 115 years, 220 days old, said Robert Young, a senior consultant for gerontology for Guinness World Records.

Parker was born April 20, 1893, in central Indiana's Morgan County and had been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest person since the 2007 death in Japan of Yone Minagawa, who was four months her senior.

Coles maintains a list of the world's oldest people and said Parker was the 14th oldest validated supercentenarian in history. Maria de Jesus of Portugal, who was born Sept. 10, 1893, is now the world's oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Parker had been a widow since her husband, Earl Parker, died in 1939 of a heart attack. She lived alone in their farmhouse until age 100, when she moved into a son's home and later to the Shelbyville nursing home.

Although she never drank alcohol or tried tobacco and led an active life, Parker didn't offer tips for living a long life. Her only advice to those who gathered to celebrate when she became the oldest person was "more education."

Parker outlived her two sons, Clifford and Earl Jr. She also had five grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren.

Don Parker, 60, said his grandmother had a small frame and a mild temperament. She walked a lot and kept busy even after moving into the nursing home, he said.

"She kept active," he said Thursday. "We used to go up there, and she would be pushing other patients in their wheelchairs."

Gov. Mitch Daniels celebrated with Parker on her 114th birthday.

"It was a delight to know Edna, who must have been a remarkable lady at any age," Daniels said.

Parker taught in a two-room school in Shelby County for several years after graduating from Franklin College in 1911. She wed her childhood sweetheart and neighbor in 1913.

But as was the tradition of that era, her teaching career ended with her marriage. Parker traded the schoolhouse for life as a farmer's wife, preparing meals for as many as a dozen men who worked on her husband's farm.

Parker noted with pride last year that she and her husband were one of the first owners of an automobile in their rural area.

Coincidentally, Parker lived in the same nursing home as 7-foot-7 Sandy Allen, whom Guinness recognized as the world's tallest woman until her death in August.

(source: yahoo.com)

A terminally ill boy inspires people across the country with his final request.

(source: yahoo.com)

This boy touched many people's lives.
I agree to what his mother said.
He's left a legacy, and he's only 11 years of age.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – A massive ball of fire that lit up the skies over two Western Canadian provinces on Thursday evening was likely among the biggest meteor events to be witnessed in Canada this year, one expert said.

The fireball, which streaked through the darkening skies over Alberta and Saskatchewan at about 5:30 p.m. Calgary time, likely weighed between one and 10 tons and shone brightly enough to be seen over an area 700 km (435 miles) wide.

"It was somewhere between the size of a chair to the size of a desk," said Alan Hildebrand, a planetary scientist at the University of Calgary and a coordinator of a fireball reporting service.

"This one was pretty spectacular. For this year it will be one of the biggest that happens over Canada.... Something like this radiates like a billion-watt bulb. It's pretty bright light in the sky."

Hildebrand said the meteor may have broken into hundreds of smaller meteorites that likely landed in central Saskatchewan near that province's border with Alberta.

The fireball lit up the skies for about five seconds, he said.

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)

(source: yahoo.com)

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.

But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them.

The bronze-plated wooden chariot is decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology, including figures of a jumping panther and the carving of a mythological animal with the body of a panther and the tail of a dolphin, Ignatov said.

He said the chariot, with wheels measuring 1.2 meters (four feet) across, was found during excavations in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried along with his belongings.

The team also unearthed well-preserved wooden and leather objects, some of which the archaeologists believe were horse harnesses. The remains of horses were uncovered nearby.

In August, excavations at another ancient Thracian tomb in the same region revealed another four-wheel chariot. Daniela Agre, a senior archaeologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, had said at the time that it was the first time a completely preserved chariot had been found in Bulgaria. She said previous excavations had only unearthed single parts of chariots — often because ancient sites had been looted.

Some 10,000 Thracian mounds — part of them covering monumental stone tombs — are scattered across the country.

Ignatov said up to 90 percent of the tombs in the region have been completely or partially destroyed by treasure hunters who smuggle the most precious objects abroad.

He said the country's Culture Ministry granted euro10,000 ($12,500) for the excavation.

"The money is badly needed because we are in an uneven race with looters who are often better equipped than our teams," he said.

First mentioned in Homer's "Iliad" as allies of Troy, the Thracians were an Indo-European nomadic people who settled in the central Balkans around 5,000 years ago. They were conquered by Rome in the 1st century, and were assimilated by invading Slav peoples in the 6th century. They had no written language, and so left no records.

Fierce warriors and horse-breeders, the Thracians were also skilled goldsmiths. They established a powerful kingdom in the 5th century B.C. Its capital was thought to be Seutopolis, whose ancient ruins lie under a large artificial lake near Shipka, in an area dubbed "the Bulgarian Valley of Kings" for its many rich tombs.

(source: yahoo.com)

PARIS (AFP) – It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.

According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.

The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons.

In other words, energy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.

The e=mc2 formula shows that mass can be converted into energy, and energy can be converted into mass.

By showing how much energy would be released if a certain amount of mass were to be converted into energy, the equation has been used many times, most famously as the inspirational basis for building atomic weapons.

But resolving e=mc2 at the scale of sub-atomic particles -- in equations called quantum chromodynamics -- has been fiendishly difficult.

"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said proudly in a press release.

"It has now been corroborated for the first time."

For those keen to know more: the computations involve "envisioning space and time as part of a four-dimensional crystal lattice, with discrete points spaced along columns and rows."

(source: yahoo.com)