Russian Spaceship

March 27, 2009 by adminclyd · 1 Comment
Filed under: Government, Travel 
A cosmonaut, an astronaut and a billionaire are scheduled to travel Thursday to the International Space Station, 350 kilometers above the Earth. The trio will blast off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. U.S. billionaire Charles Simonyi, who made his fortune developing software for Microsoft, will make the two-day journey with Russian Gennady Padalka and American Michael Barratt. This is the 60-year-old, Hungarian-born Simonyi’s second venture in outer space. He paid $35 million for Thursday’s trip, a sharp increase from the $25 million he paid for his first. While Barratt and Padalka will join the space station’s crew, Simonyi will return to Earth on April 7 with departing ISS crew members.

F1’s Red Bull Threatens Protest

March 26, 2009 by adminclyd · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Recreation & Sports 
Red Bull says it will lodge a protest at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix if the cars from rival teams Toyota, Brawn and Williams pass tests Thursday amid concerns over the legality of their bodywork. The three teams are at the center of a dispute over their rear diffusers, the part of the bodywork that comes up from the under tray to disperse air from under the car. Strict new regulations limit the size of the diffusers. The three teams have found a potential loophole in the law by designing their rear bodywork to effectively act as part of the diffuser, increasing its size.

Red Bull team adviser Helmut Marko said a protest will be lodged if those teams are passed to compete following Thursday’s assessments by officials from the sport’s governing body FIA. “We’ll make a protest on Thursday if the component isn’t modified to conform to the regulations, because that diffuser guarantees a five-tenths (of a second) advantage per lap,” Marko told Sky Sports on Tuesday. “Seven teams are certain it’s illegal.” Renault team principal Flavio Briatore had previously remarked that he would consider a protest if the Williams, Toyota and Brawn bodywork get the thumbs up.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes the bodywork breaks the rules, but wants a pre-race resolution, hoping to prevent the dispute blemishing the opening race of the season on Sunday. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone believed the teams should have solved the problem before the start of the season. “These regulations they’ve already agreed between them, so they can’t disagree on them now,”

Early Soy Diet May Protect Women Against Breast Cancer Risk

March 26, 2009 by adminclyd · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Health & Fitness, News & Media 
Women who consumed high amounts of soy during childhood may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, says a new study on Asian-American females. “Historically, breast cancer incidence rates have been four to seven times higher among white women in the U.S. than in women in China or Japan. However, when an Asian woman migrates to the U.S., their breast cancer risk rises over several generations and reaches that of U.S. white women, suggesting that modifiable factors, rather than genetics, are responsible for the international differences. These lifestyle or environmental factors remain elusive; our study was designed to identify them,” said Regina Ziegler, Ph.D., M.P.H., a senior investigator in the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG).

The current study focused on women of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino descent who were living in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles or Hawaii. Researchers interviewed 597 women with breast cancer and 966 healthy women. If the women had mothers living in the United States, researchers interviewed those mothers to determine the frequency of soy consumption in childhood. The research team divided soy intake into thirds and compared the highest and lowest groups. High intake of soy in childhood was associated with a 58 per cent reduction in breast cancer. A high level of soy intake in the adolescent and adult years was associated with a 20 to 25 per cent reduction.

The childhood relationship held in all three races and all three study sites and in women with and without a family history of breast cancer. “Since the effects of childhood soy intake could not be explained by measures other than Asian lifestyle during childhood or adult life, early soy intake might itself be protective,” said the study’s lead investigator, Larissa Korde, M.D., M.P.H., a staff clinician at the NCI’s Clinical Genetics Branch. “Childhood soy intake was significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in our study, suggesting that the timing of soy intake may be especially critical,” said Korde. The underlying mechanism is not known. Korde said her study suggests that early soy intake may have a biological role in breast cancer prevention.”Soy isoflavones have estrogenic properties that may cause changes in breast tissue. Animal models suggest that ingestion of soy may result in earlier maturation of breast tissue and increased resistance to carcinogens,” the expert said.

Jumpstart Your Way To Weight Loss & Better Health

March 25, 2009 by adminclyd · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Education, Health & Fitness 
Spring is here and it’s time again to do some spring cleaning. In addition this year to spring cleaning your home, jump start your way to weight loss and better health by cleaning up your diet. Here are a few ways to start eating healthier.

Don’t skip breakfast - Numerous studies have shown that not only is eating breakfast important when trying to lose weight, but also for better brain functioning, controlling blood sugar, and helps us to avoid overindulging at lunch. If food doesn’t sound appealing for breakfast, try a smoothie or protein shake.

Opt for water instead of sugary drinks - While there is conflicting information on just how much water is needed for optimum health, the jury is definitely in on the importance of drinking water. Water is, of course, calorie free and helps flush our system. Drinking water about a half an hour before eating a meal also helps curb hunger and makes it less likely that you’ll overeat.

Eat more fruits and veggies - Adding vegetables to some of your favorite dishes is a good way to get in some extra servings of veggies every day. Add chopped vegetables to soups, sandwiches, omelets, and of course try to eat more salads in general. Eating more fruit is simple when you throw together a fruit smoothie or add chopped fruit to plain yogurt or breakfast cereal. Of course fruit always makes a great snack by itself.

Choose healthy fats - At this point it’s clear that trans fat should definitely be avoided, but since the body does need fat, choose healthy fat sources such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts, avocados, olives and olive oil.

Eating the “right” carbs – Choosing complex carbohydrates instead of refined carbs (think cookies and candy) not only helps us shed unwanted pounds, but also provides the body with much-needed energy and most complex carbs are high in fiber, which helps ward off hunger and overeating.

Attractive Destinations For British Tourists

March 24, 2009 by adminclyd · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Society & Culture, Travel 
The Philippines can still offer more attractive destinations for British tourists especially for bird watching and scuba diving, British Ambassador Peter Beckingham said. “You have wonderful resorts, wonderful tourist spots. There’s still room for tourism growth,” Beckingham said in a press conference on Sunday at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel. The Ambassador said 700,000 to 800,000 British tourists come to Thailand every year while only 170,000 come to the Philippines. Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are top countries visited by British backpackers. But the Philippines tourist spots can still attract more British backpackers, Beckingham said. Beckingham cited the efforts of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano to promote in London bird watching and scuba diving areas in the Philippines. Olango Island in Lapu-Lapu City and Nug-as Forest in the southern town of Alcoy are known bird-watching sites in Cebu that were featured with 11 other sites in the first volume of the book “Birdwatching in the Philippines.” The book was published by the Department of Tourism, Asian outdoor store Recreational Outdoor Exchange and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

Cebu is also known for its dive sites which include Moalboal, Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan and Sumilon Island in Oslob. Beckingham also noted pristine beaches and good food as the country’s positive tourist attractions. Meanwhile, Beckingham said British companies will continue to invest in renewable energy and business process outsourcing (BPO) in the country despite global economic downturn. He said investors from the United Kingdom had a recent meeting with Trade Secretary Peter Favila to discuss areas of cooperation on renewable energy. “Overall, we gave him (Favila) a positive picture. There is still confidence (from British investors) that the economy can develop,” Beckingham said. He said a total of $100 million will be poured in by these investors to fund renewable energy projects in the next two years.

He said Bronzeoak Philippines, a unit of Bronzeoak Ltd. of the UK, has developed the integrated bioethanol plant in Negros Occidental. Ethanol is a high-octane, water-free alcohol produced from sugar cane and other crops such as corn and cassava. It is used as a blending component in gasoline. According to Beckingham, BPO companies such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) and Shell are expanding services in the country. HSBC has 6,000 workers employed for BPO work, while Shell has 3,000 workers in Manila. Smaller BPO companies are also opening offices in the country. These include Strategic Backoffice Solutions, which employs 2,000 people. Beckingham said he will also give a presentation to 200 companies from the UK by the end of this month detailing possible investment areas they can enter. Beckingham said business confidence of UKCebu. These companies include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Prulife UK, Body Shop, Marks and Spencer and Speedo which have branches in Cebu.

« Previous PageNext Page »