Spice can be a cheap sensor for explosives

Turmeric, one of the most popular spices, contains a chemical that could be the basis for cheap explosives detectors, a new study has claimed.

A team led by an Indian scientist found that the curcumin molecule, which is known for its anti-cancer and anti-oxidant properties, could replace more complex solutions to spot explosives like TNT, the BBC News reported.

Dr Abhishek Kumar of the University of Massachusetts and his colleagues, who presented their findings at the American Physical Society meeting, said the light-emitting properties of the curry ingredient changes when it gathers molecules of explosive material in air. This "fluorescence apectroscopy" is already employed in a wide array of sensing and analysis techniques.

Illuminating some chemicals causes them to re-emit light of a different color, sometimes for extended periods. The intensity of this re-emitted light can change if different molecules bind to the fluoorescent ones, and that is how sensing techniques can exploit the effect, Kumar said.

"If you have a gram of TNT and you sample a billion air molecules from anywhere in the room, you'll find four or five molecules of TNT - that's the reason they're so hard to detect," Kumar told the conference. "And, the US State Department estimates there are about 60 to 70 million land mines througout the the world; we need a very portable, field-deployable sensing device which is cheap, very sensitive,and easy to handle."

A curcumin-based mine detector could outperform the animal version, he claimed.

Kumar and his team were investigating the use of curcumin for biological applications, trying to make it easily dissolve in water, when they hit on the idea of making use of its optical properties. The team's first trick was to use a chemical reaction to attach "side groups" to the curcumin that preferentially bind to explosive molecules.

The researchers then hit on the idea of using a polymer called polydimethylsiloxane, spinning the mixture on glass plates to make extremely thin films. The idea would be to use an inexpensive light source - the team uses LEDs - shone on to the thin films, detecting the light they then put off. In the presence of explosives, the light would dim.

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Waves are getting bigger as per new research

Ocean wind speeds and wave heights around the world have increased significantly over the past quarter of a century, according to Australian research that has given scientists their first global glimpse of the world's rising winds and waves.

Published in the journal Science today, the research – the most comprehensive of  its kind ever undertaken – used satellite data collected from 1985 to 2008.

It shows the extreme wave height off the coast of south-west Australia today is six metres on average, more than a metre higher than in 1985.

Advertisement: Story continues below "That has all sorts of implications for coastal engineering, navigation and erosion processes," said Alex Babanin, an oceanographer at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, and co-author of the paper.

However, there are greater uses for the data compiled by Professor Babanin, his Swinburne colleague Stefan Zieger and the Australian National University vice-chancellor, Ian Young.

To date scientists have largely focused on temperature as an indicator of  climate change. But climate is about much more than temperature, as winds and waves control the flux of energy from the atmosphere to the ocean.

"Scientifically, this is another set of environmental properties which can be used as indicators of what is happening to the climate," Professor Babanin said.

"Temperature changes the global patterns of the pressure, pressure defines the winds, winds define the waves. It's all connected."

The trio established that between 1985 and 2008, global increases in wave height were most significant for extreme waves – large spontaneous waves. They increased in height by an average of 7 per cent in the past 20 years. In equatorial regions the rise was 0.25 per cent a year, while in higher latitudes the rise was up to 1 per cent a year. The mean wave height also increased, but to a lesser degree.

When analysing extreme wind speed data over the world's oceans, the researchers found they increased by 10 per cent in the past two decades, or by 0.5 per cent a year.

Professor Babanin said waves were generated by wind. However, the data show the lift in wind speed was greater than wave height increase.

He said he doubted the 23 years of data could be immediately used to forecast future wind and wave conditions.

"These are the environmental properties which can be used as indicators for the climate behavior along with the other properties, such as temperature and precipitation, and extrapolations have to be made with caution," he said.

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Turn back the clock with cosmetic surgery

Facelifts are surging in popularity among American men as the country digs out of recession and the older set aims to compete with a younger, tech-savvy generation, a survey shows.

Data released on Monday by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons showed cosmetic surgery procedures in men rose two per cent last year, over 2009, including a 14 per cent rise in face-lifts and a seven per cent hike in liposuction.

Those figures still lag behind the all-time peak in plastic surgery reached in 2007 just before the financial downturn. But they do point to a new trend among men age 40-54, who had the majority of work done, for 48 per cent of the total procedures in the entire year, followed by people age 55 and over.

"More than ever, this generation of men are pretty nervous about the younger guys they are competing with," said Phillip Haeck, president of the ASPS. "I have never seen this before - men who are out of work and looking for a job and really feeling like they need to do something to make themselves look younger to compete," he said.

The most popular surgery for men was nose reshaping, or rhinoplasty, with 63,585 such operations performed in 2010, said the ASPS. Next was eyelid surgery (31,476), followed by liposuction (23,899).

Breast reduction (18,280) and hair transplants (13,217) ranked fourth and fifth. Haeck, who is based in Seattle, Washington, said he also sees lots of men who are gainfully employed at major internet firms but fearful of losing their edge in a youth-driven field.

"A lot of my business is with people in the tech industry, from Microsoft to Google and everything else that is located here," he said.

"When you are the only 50-year-old working in a cubicle-sea full of  20-somethings who are tech-savvy and you had to learn it all ... I see some guys with almost a chip on their shoulder about being the old guy in the office."

Other trends that boost the male desire for a nip and a tuck include the trend toward more casual dress, Haeck said. "If you have a pudgy figure, you used to me able to cover it with a sport-coat or a suit," Haeck said.

"With this fashion trend toward business-casual, you have got to look nice in a dress shirt that is tucked in at the belt. "Guys come in and say 'I have got to look good in these shirts and I go to the gym all the time but I can't lose this muffin top. These love handles drive me crazy.'"

The open-necked dress shirt is also a danger zone for some older men, he said."They have a neck waddle or a neck gobbler. Their face still looks somewhat youthful, maybe a little rugged, but they hate this wad of skin that hangs from their chin down to their chest," he said.

In addition to the 14 per cent rise in facelifts among men, who had 10,902 such procedures last year, some other unusual procedures saw big increases, such as a 62 per cent rise in calf augmentation and an 11 per cent rise in ear surgery.

"If you're a male and you have short hair and your ears really stick out, that (surgery) is getting them to be more aesthetically pleasing, almost like pinning back your ears," explained ASPS spokeswoman Lisa Arledge Powell.

Male procedures still hardly made a dent in the overall pool, with women making up 91 per cent of all cosmetic surgery procedures: men had 1.1 million cosmetic procedures, while women had 11.5 million last year.

The most popular cosmetic surgery procedure among women was breast augmentation (296,203 procedures in 2010).

Geographically, the youth-clinging desires of an aging population were most prominent in the western part of the United States, including image-conscious California.

The next biggest consumers of cosmetic procedures were found in the southern central part of the US, including Texas, and the southeast region including Florida.

"The generation of baby boomers are coming along and they are way more open to having a face-lift than their dads ever were," said Haeck.

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Britain's smallest twin who weighed just 13oz at birth wins eight-month fight for life

Liz and Jeff Barrett were devastated when they lost their daughter Mollie just two days after Liz went into premature labour at 23 weeks. But they were thrilled and amazed when her smaller twin Freya-Grace refused to give up the battle for survival despite only weighing 13oz at birth.

Over eight months she had nine blood transfusions, a plasma transfusion, and a delicate heart valve operation.
The feisty youngster was allowed home from hospital today to Deri in South Wales with an oxygen supply to help strengthen her lungs.

Many hospitals leave babies born before 24 weeks to die because they only have a two per cent chance of survival and often have severe disabilities. However, doctors are hopeful that Freya-Grace will go on to live a normal life. Mrs Barrett said: 'We are so proud of her. It's just fantastic Freya-Grace is home and putting on weight every day.

'She already brings us so much joy and her fighting spirit has got her through.' Liz and her self-employed builder husband Jeff, 33, kept a cotside vigil - taking it turns to be with their little girl.

When their daughter was born she fitted easily into Liz's hand and her skin was so translucent some of her veins were visible.

Customer service adviser Liz said: 'At first, we were shocked that Freya had survived - she was the smallest of the two girls.

'We thought the doctors had made a mistake - we thought Mollie was going to live. 'When I saw Freya, she reminded me of cooked chicken. She was so small. Her skin was shiny, you could almost see straight through her.

'She didn't look like a normal baby should. It was horrible to see her hooked up to all these wires. I wanted to hold her but she was too fragile to touch.' But she said her brave little girl is living proof that babies are viable at 23 weeks.

She is furious after a leading consultant questioned whether babies should be resuscitated when born at 23 weeks. Dr Daphne Austin, of the West Midlands Specialized Commissioning Team, told a BBC documentary that resuscitating '23-weekers' was doing more harm than good.

Liz, who became pregnant through IVF treatment, said: 'I was infuriated by her comments. 'I would like to meet Mrs Austin, ask her to look into Freya-Grace's eyes then ask whether she thinks treating 23-week babies is a waste of money.'

Liz and Jeff say they will always be grateful to the doctors and staff at the specialist neo-natal unit at Singleton Hospital, in Swansea, where Freya-Grace spent her first eight months.

Freya-Grace weighs in at 9lbs now - still less than the birth weight of many babies. Liz said: 'She's a determined little girl. She's already pulling herself up and arching her back. She's so strong. 'Every milestone that Freya reaches is that little bit happier, I'm just so grateful she's still here.'

The previous smallest surviving twin born in Britain was in July 2010 to Amanda Staplehurst in Portsmouth to a boy weighing 1lb 4oz. His sister, weighing 1lb 20z also survived.

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Apple sues Amazon for using the words App Store

Apple is suing Amazon in a bid to stop the online retailer using the name App Store. In the lawsuit filed in a California federal court, Apple asked for an injunction and damages.

Amazon has been using the name for its mobile software development program and is selling mobile apps for Android handsets from today. In its complaint, Apple said: 'Customers of mobile software downloads are likely to be confused as to whether Amazon’s service is sponsored or approved by Apple.'

According to the lawsuit, Amazon is unlawfully using the trademark with what it calls the 'Amazon Appstore Developer Portal,' along with other instances like adverts for a version of Angry Birds, the popular mobile game.

Apple spokesman Kristin Huguet said: 'We've asked Amazon not to copy the name because it will confuse and mislead customers.' Apple has applied to register the App Store trademark in the U.S. which Bill Gates'
Microsoft opposes. The case is currently before a trademark trial and appeals board, according to the lawsuit.

Since Amazon's App Store is for Android, it will be a major source of contention with its rival, given how much market share Android is taking from Apple's devices.

The store has free and paid apps from Android software developers and includes the note-taking programme Evernote and the game PacMan. It also offers users the chance to test out many apps before buying them and giving visitors a paid app for free each day.

The first freebie will be Angry Birds Rio, a new version of the game that ties in with the animated movie. It normally costs $1. Apple has been using the name since July, 2008, when it began supplying apps for iPhone
and iPod touch. 

The two companies have been competing more directly over the last few years. Like the
Seattle-based Amazon, Apple now sells e-books and has been selling digital music and films through iTunes for several years.

An Amazon spokeswoman said the company does not comment on pending legislation.

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