Reckless Reality |

A purple tomato genetically engineered to contain nutrients more commonly seen in dark berries helped prevent cancer in mice, British researchers said on Sunday.

The finding, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, bolsters the idea that plants can be genetically modified to make people healthier.

Cancer-prone mice fed the modified fruit lived significantly longer than animals fed a standard diet with and without regular tomatoes, Cathie Martin and colleagues at the government-funded John Innes Center in Britain reported.

“The effect was much bigger than we had expected,” said Martin, a plant biologist.

The study focused on anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant found in berries such as blackberries and blackcurrants that have been shown to lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases.

While an easy health boost, many people do not eat enough of these fruits, the researchers said. Read the rest of this entry »

A company backed by European aerospace giant EADS and one of France’s leading cardiac surgeons aims to create an implantable artificial heart it says could help hundreds of thousands of patients.

Carmat SA, financed by venture capital firm Truffle Capital, France’s state innovation agency OSEO, and EADS, said on Monday that preliminary animal trials and laboratory tests of the device had produced promising results.

“At present, Carmat’s prototype artificial heart has been patented and is undergoing preclinical testing,” the company said in a statement.

It said the device was functionally similar to the human heart, automatically regulating the heart rate and blood flow according to the patient’s needs. Read the rest of this entry »

A potter arranges earthen lamps inside a workshop ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali in Agartala, capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura October 11, 2008.

Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in Tennessee over plans to go on a killing spree and eventually shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, court documents showed on Monday.

Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman were charged in a criminal complaint with making threats against a presidential candidate, illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun and conspiracy to rob a gun dealer.

“We’re unsure of their ability or if they have the wherewithal to carry out any of their threats,” said a source close to the investigation.

The suspects met over the Internet about a month ago, said an affidavit filed by Brian Weaks, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Read the rest of this entry »

A girl reacts as she looks at salon employees dressed in Halloween costumes during a trick or treat event at a mall in Quezon City, Metro Manila October 26, 2008.

MONTERREY, Mexico – Manuel Uribe, who hasn’t left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend, Claudia Solis, on Sunday in northern Mexico.

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests.

For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

The reception featured a banquet with meat, buttered vegetables and a five-tier wedding cake for dessert. A popular local norteno band played in the background.

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

“I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life,” Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey. Read the rest of this entry »

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a publishing company unless it withdraws a Sarkozy doll that comes with a “voodoo manual” instructing readers to plant pins in it, his lawyer said Tuesday.

The doll is emblazoned with some of Sarkozy’s most famous quotes such as “Get lost you pathetic arsehole” — his words to a bystander who refused to shake his hand at a farm show last year. Readers are encouraged to plant pins in the quotes.

“Nicolas Sarkozy has instructed me to remind you that, whatever his status and fame, he has exclusive and absolute rights over his own image,” lawyer Thierry Herzog wrote to publishers K&B in a letter published by newspaper Le Monde. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers have found a new “see-through” use for clear sticky tape — it produces X-rays when it is peeled off the roll.

The report in the journal Nature confirms a theory dating back to 1930 — that the process of peeling the tape releases energy not only in the form of a flash of visible light, but also an X-ray.

Many children hiding in closets have demonstrated that unwinding sticky tape produces sparks of light. The phenomenon is called triboluminescence and is caused by the movement of one surface against another.

Carlos Camara of University of California, Los Angeles and colleagues used a motorized peeling machine to unwind a roll of tape in a vacuum. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers have discovered that honey bees can count to four, a report said here on Sunday.

A researcher from the University of Queensland put five markers inside a tunnel and placed nectar in one of them, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio reported.

Honey bees placed in the tunnel flew to the marker with the food, and would still fly to the same marker stripe when the food was removed.

“We find that if you train them to the third stripe, they will look subsequently in the third stripe,” researcher Mandyam Srinivasan said. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study shows that humans had the ability to make fire nearly 790,000 years ago, a skill that helped them migrate from Africa to Europe.

By analyzing flints at an archaeological site on the bank of the river Jordan, researchers at Israel’s Hebrew University discovered that early civilizations had learned to light fires, a turning point that allowed them to venture into unknown lands.

A previous study of the site published in 2004 showed that man had been able to control fire — for example transferring it by means of burning branches — in that early time period. But researchers now say that ancient man could actually start fire, rather than relying on natural phenomena such as lightning. Read the rest of this entry »

Muslim women look at an image of US Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama made from a mosaic of stamps, during the Asian International Stamp Exhibition in Jakarta October 25, 2008.