A study published last week in the journal Biofabrication describes a new technique to build replacements for damaged three dimensional human tissues. The researchers running the study are trying to make an eardrum. But their technique, if successful, might also one day create replacements for complex reproductive tissues.
Modern society is completely boxed-in by technology. It’s everywhere—in our pockets, in our lightbulbs , even our gardens . It makes our lives easier and we love it, but do you ever wonder if we really need all of it?
Today, let’s take a step back and have a quick reality check—what piece of modern technology do you use or interact with every single day of your life that you could stand to give up? Maybe you don’t need a tablet and a smartphone. Maybe that Apple Watch is a little redundant. Maybe your house has too many “things” on the internet. How would your life be different without them?
There’s an old joke, made famous in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, about customers complaining at a restaurant. One woman says that the food is terrible. The other replies, I know, and such small portions! It probably won’t surprise you to learn that this joke is often played out in earnest in Yelp reviews.
The cost of housing in New York and San Francisco has long since transcended into the realm of absurdity. But all those quaint, astronomically pricey brownstones and single family homes are part of a healthy national economy, right? Not exactly.
The moonfish, also known as the opah, is the first known warm-blooded fish, it has been announced. This rather voluptuous fish warms its blood using a flapping motion with its pectoral fins, and maintains that heat it generates with “a series of counter-current heat exchangers within its gills”. The fish is found in deep sea waters around west Africa and … Continue reading
Remember that Xbox One Gears of War remaster leak from a few weeks back? Well, the folks who gave word about it and then proceeded to upload video of the game in action have apparently had their Xbox Live accounts “permanently disabled” and supposedl…
Fredrika Menezes loves the beach. But she has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, which makes reaching the waves a challenging task.
“It’s difficult to go to the beach now,” she said in the video above. “I can only dream about it.”
That’s why The Red Ramp Project — launched by H&R Johnson in India, a ceramic tile and home decor products company — is advocating for Indian officials to make the country a more hospitable place for people like Menezes.
In the video above, the campaign surprises Menezes and others who need wheelchairs or crutches to get around by creating a walkway that goes directly to the water.
“If just one ramp on one beach for one day can make a difference,” the video explains. “Imagine what an access-friendly India could feel like.”
According to the campaign, just 5 percent of India is accessible to people with physical disabilities. The project aims to focus on often-inaccessible spots like office buildings, beaches, railway stations and malls — “every place the rest of us take for granted” — that should be more accommodating.
In a country where nearly 27 million people were counted in India’s 2011 census as living with some form of disability, the project is garnering support through a petition calling for change.
“This is hopefully the nudge required to set off a movement that will benefit a significant part of our society,” the project states on its website. “If we even get a few people to think, ‘This place must be tough to access for a physically challenged person,’ the change has begun.”
H/T BuzzFeed
To support The Red Ramp Project, visit the campaign’s website here.
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I’m constantly being asked for tips about how to transport a wedding gown to a destination wedding in the easiest and safest way possible. Is it okay to ship? Is that absolutely taboo? How do they fit that huge garment bag on the plane? It’s a real concern, especially for brides who’ve invested literally thousands of dollars in a designer wedding gown for their special day. And airline carry-on restrictions haven’t made things any easier.
How do you think wedding gowns get from the manufacturer to the bridal shop? It’s perfectly safe to ship your wedding gown to your destination IF YOU HAVE SOMEBODY TO RECEIVE IT ON THE OTHER END. I don’t mean the banquet manager at some random hotel — I mean a wedding planner or a specific vendor you trust or who is handling all of your other shipments. To send it blind to a hotel or rental agency is foolish as you have nobody to hold accountable when you arrive and nobody can find the box. Don’t risk it.
But if you do have a landing point you trust at your destination, shipping your wedding gown works just fine. Just following these five tips:
1) Make sure you know which shippers service your destination on which days — not everybody comes to our island every day, for example. Oftentimes, the U.S. Postal Service remains your best bet. Coordinate this with the person you’re shipping to and if they tell you to use one particular company, listen to them! They have no motive to lie. Just because you can get away with sending it out free from your company’s corporate account doesn’t make it a good idea if you’ve been told that shipper is not particularly reliable at your destination.
2) Let your bridal shop pack your wedding gown into the box for you after your final fitting, and then do not take it out. Resist the urge to model it again because you will never get all that tissue paper back exactly where it needs to go for your dress to arrive in good condition. Do not attempt to pack your gown yourself if you’re buying it someplace — they have the boxes and the know-how to stuff it properly. Your bridal shop may argue with you and tell you that it’s not safe to mail it, but you are the customer. It’s their job to give you the dress however you request it. Some boutiques will kindly mail it for you (and bill you through the wazoo for it). You’re better off mailing it yourself so you can make sure it’s done properly.
3) Label the box “WEDDING GOWN” in huge letters all over, and write the receiver’s phone number on it in several locations. Delivery people are human beings with feelings, and most of them will take extra special care if they know they’re carrying your wedding gown.
4) Insure the box for as much money as possible. U.S. Mail maxes out at $5,000. Other shippers have different restrictions. If your dress cost more than $5,000, consider using those. Otherwise, insure that dress to the hilt. I firmly believe that they treat well-insured packages better than they do regular old parcel post with no insurance. And insurance isn’t that expensive.
5) Send your wedding gown via the fastest shipping method available. High priority mail is treated better, moves faster and is less likely to end up on the bottom of a pile for days with heavy packages on top of it. Make sure the person receiving your dress on the other end is well aware that it’s on its way, and how it’s coming. Then stay in touch until it arrives.
If you’re sending your gown to your wedding planner, you can ask her to take it out of the bag and hang it up when it arrives. A tropical climate’s humidity might just steam out any wrinkles before you’ve even arrived. If you’re sending it to a stranger, have them leave it in the sealed box because you have no idea where they’re going to be storing it or if there’s a big hairy black dog hanging around nearby to shed on it.
Don’t forget to pack a portable steamer or iron — check with the bridal shop to see what the best method is for touching up your gown and veil if necessary. They know their products best and can give you the best advice. Be prepared ahead of time. If your destination is remote, you could be out of luck trying to borrow a steam at the last minute.
Until next time, happy wedding planning from Weddings in Vieques and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events!
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Since Kim Jong Un inherited the leadership of the Hermit Kingdom from his father in 2011, numerous reports of purges and executions of officials in Pyongyang have surfaced, sometimes describing cruel and gruesome sentences.
Another of these apparent purges came to light on Wednesday, when South Korea’s Yonhap news reported that the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers that North Korean Defense minister Hyon Yong Chol had been executed using anti-aircraft fire. But on Thursday, an NIS spokesperson walked back the claims, saying that while the agency believes Hyon was removed from office, it can’t verify he was actually killed — let alone by anti-aircraft guns.
The confusion over Hyon’s fate exemplifies how the combination of extreme brutality and extreme secrecy of the part of North Korea’s regime makes it difficult to confirm the exact events surrounding leadership changes in the country, giving way to a wide variety of stories that range from completely accurate to pure speculation.
In this July 18, 2012, file photo, then-Vice Marshal Hyon Yong Chol applauds during a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
The NIS says that around 70 officials have been executed under Kim, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news. The NIS also said in late April that it believes 15 top officials have been executed so far this year alone.
According to the South Korean spy agency, the stated reasons for these executions vary widely and can sometimes include minor infringements. One vice minister reportedly lost his life for disagreeing with Kim over the roof design of a building in Pyongyang, according to The New York Times.
Some observers believe Kim Jong Un has used purges to eliminate power brokers from his father’s regime and consolidate his power.
In July 2012, for example, the Times reported that Kim removed Ri Yong Ho as army chief, although it remains unknown whether he was executed. Ri had been a close ally of Kim’s father, and analysts viewed the shakeup as a sign of instability.
A South Korean official claimed in January that Kim had ordered army General Pyon In Son killed for disagreeing with him over an unknown issue.
The execution of Kim’s uncle Jang Song Thaek last year was an even higher-profile death, with state media declaring the man a “traitor to the nation for all ages.”
People watch a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle Jang Song Thaek on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The case of Kim’s uncle highlights how hard it is to come by reliable news from the isolated state. Initial reports claimed Kim’s uncle had been torn apart by 120 dogs.
Analysts note that some of the misinformation can be explained by the fact that South Korean media relies on small bits of news and gossip coming out of its northern neighbor for its reports on the country. NIS parliament briefings can also cause confusion, as these occur behind closed doors and are later communicated to journalists by lawmakers, Agence France Presse points out.
In the case of Kim’s uncle, it became clear that that account originated from a satirical post on Chinese social media, which then spread to mainstream news outlets. But while the involvement of dogs in the execution proved to be false, Jang was indeed killed.
Another example of misinformation centers around Kim’s bizarre relationship with North Korea’s Unhasu Orchestra, where Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, was once a singer. South Korean lawmakers reported that four of the orchestra’s members were executed by firing squad in March, according to The New York Times. In 2013, thinly sourced reports going back to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun and South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspapers also claimed that Kim had ordered the mass execution of a dozen of the orchestra’s members and another art troupe after they allegedly made a sex tape.
When one of those allegedly executed orchestra members, who was also rumored to be Kim’s former lover, was seen alive on North Korean TV, North Korean state news blamed South Korea’s “reptile media” for ginning up the story, reports The Guardian.
Given the frequency of erroneous reports both from regional and international media, it’s a good idea to consider stories of North Koreans being forced to get Kim’s haircut or officials being executed with flamethrowers with a serious sense of skepticism when they emerge.
North Korean musicians from the Unhasu orchestra perform on March 14, 2012 in Paris. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)
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A simple trip to the store became a rescue mission for a Philadelphia father and his 16-year-old son.
Harry Krings and his son, Chris, were on their way back from a local Walmart on Tuesday night when they heard Amtrak Train 188 derail and crash just blocks away. After seeing a flash of light, followed by a loud bang, the father and son ran to the site of the crash to help, NBC Nightly News reports.
“We actually had to bust out a couple of windows,” Chris told NBC 10. “And we just started pulling out people. Maybe 20 people in all.”
Because they were just a few blocks away from the crash, Chris and Harry were some of the first responders at the site. Harry helped a firefighter hoist a ladder up onto the train car to help bring people out to safety — among the rescued passengers they helped was a pregnant woman.
“I guess you could say me and my dad, we’re like take-charge kind of people,” Chris said.
“He’s doing the right thing by helping,” Harry told NBC Nightly News of his son. “And that’s the way I brought him up, to always help others.”
The train, which was traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York City derailed in Philadelphia after going over 100 miles per hour — twice the legal speed limit. As of Thursday morning, eight people have been confirmed dead, with more than 200 people injured. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, at a press conference on Thursday, that he believes all 243 passengers are now accounted for.
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