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Three Month Old Cancer patient Has Reproductive Tissue Frozen

An American baby boy, undergoing treatment for cancer that is likely to leave him infertile, has had samples of his sperm-producing stem cells frozen. It is hoped that if his treatment results in infertility then he might later be able to have the tissues grown and re-implanted in an attempt to restore his fertility.
While post-pubescent children have had sperm saved - in the same fashion provided for many adult patients who are undergoing fertility-damaging treatments - this procedure can also be provided to protect the fertility of much younger children who are years away from sexual maturity. Dr Jill Ginsberg, a paediatric oncologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where the procedure was performed told the Times newspaper that 'we do not approach the families of every little boy - only if we're fairly certain the [cancer] treatment is going to leave them infertile. We're hopeful because
science advances so quickly, but we can't make any promises. It's just an
option that's never been available before'.
Rather than providing a store of frozen sperm that may be used in assisted reproductive procedures in years to come, the new procedure saves stem cells that can later be re-implanted in an attempt to restore fertility and permit non-assisted reproduction. The new technique thus has the dual developments of allowing for the treatment of even younger patients and in progressing a potential therapy for restoring fertility rather than just providing an alternative when it is lost.
The new procedure is reliant upon improved methods for encouraging the growth and multiplication of the limited number of sperm producing stem cells found in the body. It is hoped that even if re-implanting the cells does not yield success at restoring fertility then the cells will still be capable of producing sperm in the lab and these can still be used in the conventional manner via assisted reproduction.
The technology has, however, evoked concern about such procedures being performed at such an early age, inevitably relying wholly on parental consent whereas for post-pubescent patients the input and consent of the individual has been of central importance. It is however clear that the procedure provides potential further options for the child when of age and the patient could have the samples destroyed without using them if they so wished.

Peter Peppers

I have never seen a Pecker Pepper before....

These are actual peppers from a garden. They are called 'Peter Peppers'..

By the way, the farmer says they can grow up to 18" long!
Sort of brings tears to your eyes doesn't it?

Planned $95M superyacht looks like a killer whale

A spectacular superyacht has been designed by an internationally renowned urban planning architect in a very unusual shape.The design of "Oculus" was inspired by the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals.

The design of "Oculus" was inspired by the jaw and eye-socket bone structure of large oceanic creatures.

The planned seventy-six meter long "Oculus," which is designed for 12 guests, looks like a large sea creature, with one end looking uncannily like the jaw and eye socket of a shark or a killer whale.

A second design, the futuristic, 91-meter "Infinitas," is based on the figure-of-eight shape of an infinity loop.

The pair are the brainchild of Kevin Schopfer, a Boston, Massachusetts-based architect who felt the design of luxury yachts should move away from generic boat shapes to something more playful.

The two eye-catching designs, which include inside swimming pools and helipads, are still looking for someone to stump up the cash to pay for them. With a starting price of $95 million for Oculus and $140 million for Infinitas, they won't come cheap.

But Schopfer has teamed with naval architecture firm Sparkman & Stevens to build more of the vessels.

"There are several potential clients interested in both Oculus and Infinitas and discussions are ongoing," he told reporters. "And we are also working on several more yachts."

The Future of Tourism is…Robot Sex?

Forget robot marriages, the future could be filled with robot hookers! At Australia's Tourism Futures conference, futurologist Ian Yeoman (of New Zealand's Victoria University) forecast that artificial resorts with robot staff, and, yep, even robot prostitutes could become a reality.

"Robotics will become important, because you're going to have labor shortages in the future,'' he said…Even robot "prostitutes'' that would not pass on diseases such as HIV could make an appearance."

"But you're talking about extreme futures," he admitted.

Dr Yeoman's talk centered on what the world might be like in 2050. He explained that indoor tourism could be the next big thing due to global warming, an older population, plus food, water and jet fuel problems.

He imagines indoor resorts with artificial ski centers and recreated landscapes; even giant sea-faring cruise ships. He also predicts rooms with chemical wallpapers that can change color to suit a guest's mood.

MSNBC, USA is running a report on the impending likelihood of legalized marital relations with robots. They have word from a leading researcher at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, Dr. Levy, who seems to think peeps will be getting freaky with their robots by 2012, with marriage following by 2050.

"Once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon."

We are thinking you could probably drop the phrase "with a robot," as well as the blurb after the exclamation mark, and still have us convinced. Dr. Levy goes on to suggest that Massachusetts will be the first state to contain a robot-human sexing population. He justifies his theory by stating:

"Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage."

Though we aren't too sure the reasoning is sound, we have already seen Roomba owners gaining an emotional attachment to their machines. Whether they will be putting their winkles in the Roomba's dinkle and allowing it to have a tinkle, we very much doubt. However, if sexbots get this real, well, perhaps the ethics of robosexuals is a serious debate, after all.

Very Stupid UFO

As you can hear in this audio record, a Delta pilot spotted an UFO at New York's JFK airport this Sunday. Allegedly, the object was a "paraglider" who landed illegally, and then took off on a potential collision course:

DAL164: Hey, do you see something over the... looks like a guy on a paraglider.. almost over the approach, er, the threshold of two-two right?

...

Looks like he hit the ground, dropped something off.

...

Now he's airborne again. I guess is it ah, looks like some guy on a parachute.

The question is: What the hell was he or she dropping? Why nobody has found the dropped object yet—if there was actually anything? Air, land, and sea police searches didn't find any traces of this very stupid and insane person. Or whatever it was, because for now it's just "unidentified."

Thankfully, nothing happened as it climbed higher than 1,000 feet across JFK's busy air traffic.

Native Twitter Location Data Means More Stalker Power With Every Tweet

Twitter's API just got a new piece of awesome: native location data. Before, apps had to jury-rig location schemes, but now location data can be natively baked into every tweet.

Twitter + true location is going to be insanely powerful and possibly take Twitter to a whole new level. The API will let developers couple latitude and longitude with any tweet, so your friends can know where you're chomping on that delicious burger—or a whole mess of other things.

It is opt-in, though, so don't freak out, in case you were. (If you use Twitter, I don't know why you would, actually.) But you might as well get used to the idea of people knowing where you are—it's simply inevitable with the evolution of location-oriented apps. Location is the next thing, whether you like it or not. So enjoy opting out while you can. After all, how else are they gonna target you with those location-based ads?