Interesting/Weird Stories in the News

bmwracer wrote:Any relation to Krim of Alhambra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krum_of_Bulgaria ? :hehe:

LOL! Jeez, how'd you find that?!

Two Major Airlines Admit to Price Fixing
Thursday August 23, 10:20 pm ET
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer

British Airways, Korean Air Fined $300 Million Each in Price-Fixing Conspiracy Case
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two major airlines were fined $300 million apiece Thursday after admitting they conspired to fix prices on international flights and agreeing to help prosecutors investigate other airlines.
British Airways PLC, Britain's largest airline, and Korean Air Co., South Korea's national carrier, pleaded guilty to antitrust conspiracy charges. They acknowledged colluding with rivals over cargo rates and fuel surcharges, which were added to fares in response to rising oil prices. That meant higher costs for international shippers and passengers.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said the case "involved considerable commerce and reflected long-term and widespread conduct involving major airlines and players."

Both saw their potential fines reduced because they cooperated with Justice Department investigators. Korean Air's fines could have been twice as high and British Airways could have faced fines closer to $900 million, but the Justice Department and the judge credited the company with cooperating.

"Any anticompetitive behavior is to be condemned at British Airways or at other companies. It will not be tolerated and we remain vigilant in this respect," British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement released after court.

Korean Air released a statement saying it was "committed to antitrust compliance" and was taking steps to make sure the conduct was never repeated. Neither company addressed the extent of its cooperation or how widespread the practice was in the industry.

Earlier this month, authorities in London announced $246 million in fines for British Airways in a parallel trans-Atlantic investigation. Both inquiries are ongoing.

Scott D. Hammond, deputy assistant attorney general for criminal antitrust issues, said the sentences proved that "those who violate the antitrust laws and seek to deny American consumers and businesses the benefits of competition will be held accountable."

Other companies were not named, but Virgin Atlantic has been identified in London but is not expected to face a fine there because it reported its misconduct to authorities.

As part of their plea deals, the airlines acknowledged they colluded with other unidentified companies from 2000 to 2006. The cargo rate scheme meant higher shipping costs for businesses. For passengers, the scheme meant more expensive tickets because the surcharges were wrapped into the ticket fare.

Between 2004 and 2006, fuel surcharges rose from about $10 to about $120 per ticket for a round-trip, long-haul flight on BA or Virgin.

Bates credited both British Airways and Korean Air with turning over hundreds of thousands of documents, some of which needed to be translated, and making executives available for interviews with investigators. As foreign companies, they could have challenged the probe and refused to cooperate.

The $300 million criminal fines were the second-largest antitrust sanction by the Justice Department since 1995. The largest antitrust fine, $500 million, was against vitamin giant F. Hoffman-La Roche in 1999 in a price-fixing case.

Wynter wrote:LOL! Jeez, how'd you find that?!

By the weirdest of coincidences, it was a highlighted story that day on Wikipedia... :hehe:

For you fans of arachnids: :beaten:

Spiders create giant web

Thu Aug 30, 7:02 AM ET

Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park.

Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it.

"At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."

Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.

"I've been hearing from entomologists from Ohio, Kansas, British Columbia \ all over the place," said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who first posted photos online.

Herbert A. "Joe" Pase, a Texas Forest Service entomologist, said the massive web is very unusual.

"From what I'm hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said.

But John Jackman, a professor and extension entomologist for Texas A&M University, said he hears reports of similar webs every couple of years.

"There are a lot of folks that don't realize spiders do that," said Jackman, author of "A Field Guide to the Spiders and Scorpions of Texas."

"Until we get some samples sent to us, we really won't know what species of spider we're talking about," Jackman said.

Garde invited the entomologists out to the park to get a firsthand look at the giant web.

"Somebody needs to come out that's an expert. I would love to see some entomology intern come out and study this," she said.

Park rangers said they expect the web to last until fall, when the spiders will start dying off.

where's Wyn-chan? She would love that :P Especially if there was a pic :)

Anime Dad wrote:where's Wyn-chan? She would love that :P Especially if there was a pic :)

No pic, but there's a video here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070830/ap_on_re_us/odd_giant_spider_web

Man, that's the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine walking into THAT in the dark *shudder*

I've walked into orb weaver webs at night before: They string up webs at night between trees etc.

[image]

That pic is slightly smaller than normal size.

Worst thing is not knowing where the spider is :shocked:

Anime Dad wrote:Man, that's the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine walking into THAT in the dark *shudder*

I've walked into orb weaver webs at night before: They string up webs at night between trees etc.

[image]

That pic is slightly smaller than normal size.

Worst thing is not knowing where the spider is :shocked:

Yow.

I've tangled into a web every now and then walking into my garage in the mornings or opening up at work (I'm the first one in)...

One time at work, I tangled into a web, and just beyond me was a big ol' black (widow?) spider... I freakin' jumped back as if I was yanked by a bungee cord... Needless to say, I whacked and stomped the crap out of that sucker...

Whew. :sweat:

Exercise may generate new blood vessels

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
Wed Sep 5, 11:11 AM ET

Having a bad heart doesn't mean you can skip exercise, doctors said Wednesday. In fact, it may even help your heart to repair itself. Research presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting showed that exercise sparks the creation of new heart vessels.

In a small study of 37 people at Leipzig University in Germany, Dr. Robert Hollriegel found that people with serious heart failure who rode a bike for up to 30 minutes a day for four months produced new stem cells in their bones.

They also had more small blood vessels in their muscles. Those who didn't exercise had no change in their vessels or muscles.

Most patients with heart failure are over 70 years old, and some can barely walk a few steps without stopping for rest. Doctors think that even these patients would benefit from light exercise such as walking or cycling. To ensure that patients will be able to handle a certain level of physical activity, doctors conduct a test first to determine their maximum limits and to ensure they would not be exceeded. Some exercise regimens also are supervised by health professionals.

"We're not talking about patients with acute heart problems," said Dr. John Cleland, a heart failure specialist at the University of Hull in Britain who is spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology. Cleland was not involved in Hollriegel's research.

"This is to prevent people from getting into a cycle of deterioration where they're afraid to exercise and they just avoid any activity that leaves them out of breath," he said.

Physical activity strains the heart's arteries and muscles by sending 10 times the normal amount of blood to the muscles being used. Stem cells then are dispatched to relieve this stress and may repair any damaged parts. If you continue to exercise, these stem cells help the body adapt to the stress, by building new blood vessels and strengthening muscles. But to maintain such benefits, you must exercise regularly.

Cleland said that people with heart failure should exercise to a state where they're breathless at least once a day. Pushing the limits of their heart's capabilities should help make it stronger.

"People think that if they have heart failure, then they're at the end of the road and they can't exercise," said Dr. Freek Verheugt, a cardiologist at the University of Nymegen in the Netherlands. "But this study shows that exercise can work to produce new blood vessels, even in patients with serious heart disease."

Because no drugs exist to produce new stem cells, exercise may be the only method for some patients to rebuild their hearts.

"We are not saying that patients should run marathons, but there is no other way to augment your arteries," said Dr. Francois Carre of Rennes University Hospital in France. "Patients have to exercise if they want that."

Previous studies have shown that people who do physical therapy after a heart attack live longer than those who don't. Experimental studies in rats have also suggested that exercise can even be more effective than statins, drugs that are commonly used to treat heart disease.

Though doctors routinely recommend that patients exercise, it is not an actual treatment. Carre thinks that should change. "We need to write patients prescriptions to exercise the same way we write prescriptions for drugs," he said.

"People have been trying for years to create a polypill to treat many different parts of heart disease," Carre said. "But that already exists. It's exercise."

I saw the giant spider web online. It was freaking awesome! I've never seen spiders cooperate like that before :shocked:.

Anime Dad wrote:Man, that's the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine walking into THAT in the dark *shudder*

I've walked into orb weaver webs at night before: They string up webs at night between trees etc.

[image]

That pic is slightly smaller than normal size.

Worst thing is not knowing where the spider is :shocked:

NANDE?! :bleh: :bleh: :bleh:

Researchers studying wild chimpanzees have discovered that male chimpanzees use stolen fruit as a means of attracting female mates.

[/list:u] I didn't know Jun Matsumoto had been stolen. :bleh:

gaijinmark wrote:

Researchers studying wild chimpanzees have discovered that male chimpanzees use stolen fruit as a means of attracting female mates.

[/list:u] I didn't know Jun Matsumoto had been stolen. :bleh:

Don't insult the chimps. :beaten:

Robot maker builds artificial boy By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer

RICHARDSON, Texas - David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there's the robotic Zeno. It can't speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions.

[/list:u] And already he's a better actor than Tacky :mrgreen:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
:applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Anything else???
Surely I need this stuff...
They said that it would better to release off my burden...

>>Been sick, lack of sleep<<

Scary stuff. :sweat:

6 die from brain-eating amoeba in lakes

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 28, 2:18 PM ET

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

"This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better," Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect to see more cases."

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases \ three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

In Arizona, David Evans said nobody knew his son, Aaron, was infected with the amoeba until after the 14-year-old died on Sept. 17. At first, the teen seemed to be suffering from nothing more than a headache.

"We didn't know," Evans said. "And here I am: I come home and I'm burying him."

After doing more tests, doctors said Aaron probably picked up the amoeba a week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu, a popular man-made lake on the Colorado River between Arizona and California.

Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria lives almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools, grazing off algae and bacteria in the sediment.

Beach said people become infected when they wade through shallow water and stir up the bottom. If someone allows water to shoot up the nose \ say, by doing a somersault in chest-deep water \ the amoeba can latch onto the olfactory nerve.

The amoeba destroys tissue as it makes its way up into the brain, where it continues the damage, "basically feeding on the brain cells," Beach said.

People who are infected tend to complain of a stiff neck, headaches and fevers. In the later stages, they'll show signs of brain damage such as hallucinations and behavioral changes, he said.

Once infected, most people have little chance of survival. Some drugs have stopped the amoeba in lab experiments, but people who have been attacked rarely survive, Beach said.

"Usually, from initial exposure it's fatal within two weeks," he said.

Researchers still have much to learn about Naegleria. They don't know why, for example, children are more likely to be infected, and boys are more often victims than girls.

"Boys tend to have more boisterous activities (in water), but we're not clear," Beach said.

In central Florida, authorities started an amoeba phone hot line advising people to avoid warm, standing water and areas with algae blooms. Texas health officials also have issued warnings.

People "seem to think that everything can be made safe, including any river, any creek, but that's just not the case," said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Officials in the town of Lake Havasu City are discussing whether to take action. "Some folks think we should be putting up signs. Some people think we should close the lake," city spokesman Charlie Cassens said.

Beach cautioned that people shouldn't panic about the dangers of the brain-eating bug. Cases are still extremely rare considering the number of people swimming in lakes. The easiest way to prevent infection, Beach said, is to use nose clips when swimming or diving in fresh water.

"You'd have to have water going way up in your nose to begin with" to be infected, he said.

David Evans has tried to learn as much as possible about the amoeba over the past month. But it still doesn't make much sense to him. His family had gone to Lake Havasu countless times. Have people always been in danger? Did city officials know about the amoeba? Can they do anything to kill them off?

Evans lives within eyesight of the lake. Temperatures hover in the triple digits all summer, and like almost everyone else in this desert region, the Evanses look to the lake to cool off.

It was on David Evans' birthday Sept. 8 that he brought Aaron, his other two children, and his parents to Lake Havasu. They ate sandwiches and spent a few hours splashing around.

"For a week, everything was fine," Evans said.

Then Aaron got the headache that wouldn't go away. At the hospital, doctors first suspected meningitis. Aaron was rushed to another hospital in Las Vegas.

"He asked me at one time, 'Can I die from this?'" David Evans said. "We said, 'No, no.'"

On Sept. 17, Aaron stopped breathing as his father held him in his arms.

"He was brain dead," Evans said. Only later did doctors and the CDC determine that the boy had been infected with Naegleria.

"My kids won't ever swim on Lake Havasu again," he said.

And here's the Wiki on that amoeba: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri :sweat: :sweat:

Yikes. That's scary. Sounds like the alien movie. :bleh:

tabana wrote:Yikes. That's scary. Sounds like the alien movie. :bleh:

LOL, yeah.

But it's real. :sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

Anime Dad wrote:Man, that's the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine walking into THAT in the dark *shudder*

I've walked into orb weaver webs at night before: They string up webs at night between trees etc.

[image]

That pic is slightly smaller than normal size.

Worst thing is not knowing where the spider is :shocked:

Looks like a light snack.