No Women, No Visitors On The Mock Mars Mission

Today four Russians, a German and a Frenchman walked into a pod in Moscow and not walk out again for 105 days in an attempt to see the psychological and physical effects of a flight to Mars may play out.

This project is one of the first steps in the plan to put humans on Mars by 2030. The team is made up of participants are French airline pilot Cyrille Fournier, German engineer Oliver Knickel, professional cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Ryazansky, doctor Alexei Baranov and sports physio Alexei Shpakov. All six speak English and Russian.

AP reports:

“I’m very happy to have such a crew,” said team captain Sergei Ryazansky, who has undergone training for a real space mission. “There mustn’t be psychological problems in this crew. We even may create a musical band.”

The pod is cramped with few comforts of home and no windows looking out at the world. The pod has three modules, one for food storage, one medical module and the unit where the participants will be living for the next 120 days.

Each member has his own small private room that consists of a desk, chair and small bed. While the team sleeps they will be wearing a 128-electrode cap that records brain activity.

The team also has a small gym. Team members have been allowed to bring DVDs, laptops and books to pass the time during their non-working periods. It is hoped that the few home comforts will help tensions that could appear on the pod.

A woman had been considered for this mission. Russian biologist Marina Tugusheva, 25, was deemed suitable for the project. In the end though it was decided to not jeopardise the experiment this time around with tension between the sexes.

She is believed to be a front runner though on the longer mission planned for later this year.

The Mail On Sunday reports:

Anyone who’s ready to participate in space exploration should treat it as serious work,’ Tugusheva said.

‘Quite consciously we must treat others as not men and women but as colleagues.’

A previous attempt in Moscow failed after alcohol was allowed to be consumed on the eve of the millennium. During that experiment two members began to fight for the affections of a female Canadian scientist. She had to lock herself into her room when one of the members made advancements on her. A knife fight ensued causing a Japanese volunteer to faint.

The mission will not stop this time around unless it is life or death.

Moscow News reports:

“The evacuation of individual members of the crew due to illness or personal wish is comparable to the ‘death’ of the cosmonaut,” a mission statement ran.

“The crew will themselves resolve all problems and uncomfortable situations which do not require the evacuation of crew members,” an Institute source said.

The team seemed excited as they entered into the pod today.

AFP reports:

“How do I feel? I am very motivated. There is a kind of relief. We have been working for a long time and finally we are getting to the start point,” Frenchman Cyrille Fournier told reporters just hours ahead of the experiment.

“The challenge is to live with the same people for a long period but it is a positive challenge. I think we are going to learn a lot about each other,” added his German fellow volunteer Oliver Knickel.

“The aim is to test the physiological and psychological effects of isolation,” he added.

The crew will be monitored constantly but with an artificial 20-minute delay that simulates the reality of deep-space travel. The team will be accessed by Czech scientists from Tomas Bata University in Zlin, south Moravia according to Jaroslav Sykora, International Academy of Astronautics member for the psychological impact of full isolation on the six volunteers’ stress, hormones, sleep and mood.

Team members will be allowed to talk to both their families and the control center. Those talks though will have a 20 minute delay.

Mars500 is a partnership between European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow. Researchers from around the world are part of this research including member countries of the ESA, Russia, Canada and the United States.

There were 5,600 applicants willing to give up 105 days of their lives to be part of the study. The six members that made it through will receive a monthly salary of $6,500.

This is the first stage of theMars500 project. One of the aspects of this mission will be a simulated 30 day “orbit” around Mars.

Another longer simulation will take place later lasting for 520 days scheduled for December. On that mission it is expected a woman would be taking part. That team is yet to be selected.

Scientific American reports:

According to the ESA, the study’s “participants will act as subjects in scientific investigations to assess the effect that isolation has on various psychological and physiological aspects, such as stress, hormone regulation and immunity, sleep quality, mood and the effectiveness of dietary supplements.”

The true lengthen of a trip to Mars would be almost two years. One month of that trip would be orbiting Mars for about a month while part of a team would be on the planet’s surface. The return trip to Earth would be 240 days.

Ford and GM Playing The Good Guy In The Unemployment World

Ford and General Motors are offering to cover car payments for those who are unemployed. The two automakers are trying to give a hand up in these harsh economic times.

General Motors and Ford have announced plans to help those who are unemployed keep their modes of transportation.

The “G.M. Total Confidence” will allow people nine months of payments up to $500 to be missed if they lose their jobs in the first two years of buying a car. The company is also eliminating any negative equity that exists when buyers sell or trade in their vehicle at least three years later. GM’s program will begin on Wednesday and will run for the month of April.

The “Ford Advantage Plan” helps the unemployed out a little more with payments of $700 and under for an entire year. Ford is the only one of the three top car makers in the United States that has not had their hand out for bail out money.

The New York Times reports:

“Consumers remain anxious about the economy and their own outlook for the future. We at Ford want to do our part to rebuild faith in the marketplace,” said Ken Czubay, vice president of Sales and Marketing.

The Ford plan will run until June 1. The company is also offering zero percent financing through its Ford Motor Credit on certain Ford, Mercury and Lincoln cars.

After the announcement shares for the automaker rose 1.5 percent to $2.80 Tuesday morning.

The two American car makers are following the lead of Korea’s Hyundai. The Korean automaker came out with their plan in January that allows buyers who lose their income within one year to return their vehicle without a penalty to their credit rating.

Car sales fell to a 16-year low in 2008 as tough economic times kept buyers off of car lots.

Angel Actor Andy Hallett Dead At Age 33

Andy Hallett, best known of the character Lorne on the WB series Angel, has passed away from heart failure at the age of 33. His longtime friend and agent Pat Brady said the actor died Sunday night.

Hallett died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after battling the disease for five years. His father was by his side.

Despite frequent hospital stays the actor spent the after Angel ended on his music career.

Five years ago I attended a Buffy Con in Tampa, Florida that Hallett was starring at. I had the chance to met the charming young man. At the time he was recovering from a hospital stay but if you didn’t know you could not have been able to tell.

His infectious laugh entertained those who listened to him playing the piano after hours. RIP Andy the angels are singing along with you now.

In China Capital Punishment Comes In A Van

Last year 1,715 people were put to death by execution in China last year. This year estimates put the death count at nearly 10,000. What happens after a person is killed could be considered criminal. Organs are harvested and sold to the highest bidder.

When Jiang Yong, a corrupt city planner is put to death this year it will not be behind bars. He can expect to die in a white van while lethal drugs course through his veins. It is possible to be sentenced to death for anyone of 68 crimes in China.

Jiang Yong is one of those who will soon have organs used by others if he doesn’t win an appeal.

See Yong, a large man with glasses, had a mistress who he enjoyed showering with gifts. Madame Tang must have been given quite a few nice baubles since Yong took more than £1 million in brides from shady entrepreneurs who wanted protected land to build on.

Yong got caught with his hand in the cookie jar by the Chinese authorities last year. He confessed his crimes and was given a death sentence. He was one of the many that face the same fate.

It’s not hard to be sentenced to death in China. Crimes ranging from fraud to tax evasion can be enough to put a needle in a person’s arm.

Jinguan Auto, a Chinese automaker, produced the white vans that on the outside look like standard police vans. The vans cost £60,000. The insides of the vans though differ vastly from the other law enforcement vehicles. They are speed from one site to another at 80 mph. The vans save money for the government. No building is needed to carry out the organ harvests. The van is able to whip on over to local jails to execute locally in the very community that criminals broke the laws.

All of the deaths are videotaped so that they comply to the strict rules that the government has laid out.

The Daily Mail reports:

‘We have not sold our execution cars to foreign countries yet,’ beamed a proud spokesman. But if they need one, they could contact our company directly.’

When it is time for a prisoner to walk the long green mile they are placed on a automated stretcher and moves into the inside of the van already set up as a sterile operating chamber. Inside the doctors administer drugs that will quickly kill their ‘patient’ and then harvest the prisoner’s eyes, kidney, liver, pancreas and lungs. The heart though can not be used as it has been damaged by the drugs that killed the prisoners.

The vans are being compared to the gas wagons that Nazis used to kill millions.

The program started three years ago and then quieted down last summer as not to offend the human rights groups during the Olympic Games held in Beijing.

The games are over and the vans are back in business.

All of the deaths are videotaped so that they comply to the strict rules that the government has laid out.

Chinese hospitals perform up to 20,000 organ transplants a year. A typical kidney transplant costs £5,000 but that price can rapidly increase if the patient has the money to request an organ quickly.

China used to kill their prisoners by firing squad and then dig out the lethal bullet to charge the family with. It seems that day when family members were asked to pay for the bullet that killed their loved one is gone in China. The organ train is a high payer and those who are in the wrong get to fund the money wagon.

Miracle Catch As Toddler Saved From 40-Foot Window Fall

Two Massachusetts men are being touted as heroes after catching a toddler who fell out of a third story window Sunday evening.

Father of two Robert Lemire was chatting on his cell phone when he saw the tyke dangling out of a window across from a pizza shop in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was joined by 23-year-old Alex Day who had been in the home for a Bible study in time to have save the 18-month-old from a free fall. The pair worked as a team with Day catching the top of her body, while Lemire grabbed the lower half.

Boston.com reports:

“She looked at me and had a weird look on her face as if to say, ‘Wow, all of a sudden I’m down here,’ ” Day recalled in an interview today. He said he rushed the baby back upstairs to her home. On the stairs, he said, the baby actually started chuckling.

Little Caliah Clark’s father was in the home at the time tending to a newborn sibling. She was taken to Lawrence General Hospital for evaluation but the police believe that she had no serious injuries.

The Eagle Tribune reports that Caliah’s father expressed

“his disappointment as to what had just occurred,” according to a police report. Clark told police he was caring for a newborn child in the apartment’s bathroom when he heard a commotion outside. When he went to see what the kids were doing, he found his two oldest children near the “wide open window,” the police report said.

“He then reported not seeing the 11/2 year old anywhere in the room and felt like something had gone wrong. He ran down to the second floor where he was met by Alex Day with his child in his hand,” the report said.

The window did not have a protective screen or child guard on it. The Department of Social Services have been notified and are expected to investigate the incident.

Huffington Post Launching Investigative Fund for Journalists

The Huffington Post will be following the trend of foundation-backed journalist that will keep investigative reporters paid during these hard times in the news industry.

The news site Huffington Post is about to launch a $1.75 investigative fund for journalists. The announcement came on Sunday that the news site will bankroll a group of investigative journalists. Co-founder Arianna Huffington is hoping to help laid-off journalists keep on the news beat.

The Huffington Post is one of the largest digital media current affairs sites. It is only four years old with more than 4 million unique readers a month.

Arianna Huffington is quoted by the Guardian:

“All who recognise the indispensable role good journalism plays in our democracy are looking for ways to preserve it during this transitional period.”

Last year during the presidential elections in the United States the HuffPo made a huge stir. One of the projects OffTheBus assembled 12,000 citizen journalists to collect and analyze data from across the nation. The project was the brainchild of Amanda Michel. At the beginning of 2009 Michel left the Post.

Nick Penniman will be heading the Washington-based unit. He is the founder of The American News Project, launched last year to for independent video journalism for the Web.

AFP reports:

“I’m looking forward to producing journalism that can have an impact, and that incorporates the best of traditional journalism and the tools of new media and distributed journalism,” Penniman said.

Senior advisor for the project will be Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism at New York University. The Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism will also be involved in the $1.75 million project that will kick off with examining issues with the economic crisis.

Additional funding is coming from The Atlantic Philanthropies, a foundation with a multi-billion-dollar endowment that it has to spend by 2020.

Fargo Not Out Of Danger Yet, Storm Winds Could Damage Levees

A winter storm is coming to Fargo, North Dakota with predictions of up to 14 inches of snow. The storm could whip waves up in the swollen Red River causing more flooding.

Engineers aren’t worried about the large snow falls predicted but the waves are another matter. The repeated crashing of the water against the sandbag levees could weaken the protective dikes that surround the city.

Jeff DeZellar, a spokesman for the United States Army Corps of Engineers said that the higher the wind speed the higher the threat is to the levees. The forecast is for winds of 25 MPH.

The Red River has dropped to 39 1/2 feet as of early Monday morning. That is less than the predictions but still 22 feet above flood stage.

This week will be a long one as the city waits to see if last week’s sandbagging effort pays off.

The National Guard is in the process of putting a layer of poly over the levees to help them hold up against the expected high waves.

AP reports:

“The place is so flat,” said John Gulliver, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Minnesota. “It is totally flat so there’s really no place for the water to go because it can’t leave that quickly. So it just keeps backing up like a bathtub with a slow drain.”

Last week two people died from heart attacks in North Dakota, thought to be brought on by the exertion during the flood prevention.

Opinion: Senior Citizens Can Expect To Shell Out A Bundle For Health Care

They have put their time into the work force but their golden years are beginning to be to costly if they become sick. Senior citizens health care coverage is set to hit wallets more in the near future.

A study put out by Fidelity Investments is saying that a couple that retired this year in the United States can expect to pay out about $240,000 for their health care until they die. That is assuming that the husband lives another 17 years and his wife survives him by the average three years. That figure also assumes that the couple qualifies for Medicare and neither spouse has employer-provided health coverage.

The figure this year is up 6.7 percent from 2008’s $225,000 projection.

That cost does not take into account over-the-counter drugs, long term care or dental costs.

Seniors have one day to make changes to their 2009 medicare benefits.

Fox Business reports:

“By now, seniors should have had some experience with their current benefit packages, whether seeing physicians, filling prescriptions or finally reviewing the packet of information provided by their health insurers,” said Bill Stapleton, president and chief executive officer of Health Plan One, the parent company of MedicareSolutions, an online insurance brokerage and Medicare information portal. “Some may be surprised to find out that their physicians are no longer in their plans’ networks or that co-pays and other costs had gone up more than they had anticipated.”

The following changes can be made before April 1, 2009;

— Individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans with prescription drug
coverage can disenroll back to original Medicare coverage and a separate
prescription drug plan.
— Individuals enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD: undefined, undefined, undefined%)
plan can change to another MAPD plan.
— Individuals enrolled in original Medicare can enroll in a Medicare
Advantage Plan.

Seniors will low incomes are eligible for assistance for drug coverage through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The income requirements for the program is below $12,500 for individuals and $25,000 for couples.

MedicareSolution has a help center set up with customer service advocates to help individuals determine if they are eligible for federal and state programs. To take advantage of this go to www.medicaresolutions.com or call (800) 328-7305.

Gone are the days when the Golden Years meant a time to relax and play with the grandchildren. To survive in today’s world many seniors have to track down a part time job just to make ends meet. If they find themselves sick that is not a possibility.

The high cost of medicine both over and behind the counter is forcing many to have to give up their dreams. And with advancements in the health field that dream becomes a double edged sword. We are living longer. With longer life comes more chances of developing an illness that can wipe out any nest egg that has been put aside. Seniors have to be vigilant in investigating what programs and insurance policies they need to make it through their retirement years.

Simple Finger Device Could Be Heart Attack Tool Soon

A simple device that uses a finger could be the latest equipment in the doctors office to detect factors that could cause heart events. The device is being used in a Mayo study.

A simple noninvasive sensor test that is used on the finger has been found to be highly predictive of a major cardiac event according to the results of a Mayo Clinic study.

This device is great news for ER departments where early diagnosis of heart attack and strokes are life and death.

The EndoPAT by Itamar Medical measures the health of endothelial cells by measuring the blood flow. When the blood flow is off, a condition called endothelial dysfunction, the stage is set for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and lead to major cardiovascular health problems.

The device was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003.

In the past there was no simple test for endotheluium function.

The Mayo Clinic study tested 270 patients between August 1999 and August 2007. The patients were between the age of 42 and 66. All of the test subjects knew that they had low-to-medium risk for a major heart event based on their Framingham Risk Score.

The Framingham Risk Score is a score that is used to predict risk. It was developed by the Framingham Heart Study.

Some of the risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and a family history of heart disease.

Science Daily reports:

Dr. Lerman says. “The results of the study may help identify a discriminating tool beyond the Framingham Risk Score,” he says. “And the results of these individual tests may help physicians change a patient’s medications or recommend other therapies, so they don’t have a heart attack or stroke later on.”

the testing process takes 15 minutes. Probes are applied on the two index fingers of both hands and are hooked to a small machine that measures the blood flow. A standard blood pressure cuff is than inflated. The arm without the cuff is the control. A reading is taken three times in fifteen minutes of the blood flow.

A low PH signal indicates that there is endothelial dysfunction and potentially impaired vascular health that may lead to or serve as a marker for future events.

The study is being presented on Tuesday at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in Orlando.

6 Dead In Santa Clara Shooting

Police are in the process of investigating a shooting that has left six dead in Santa Clara, California. The shooting took place Sunday night in the Rivermark Townhome development. It is believed that the shooter took his own life after killing a family.

News reports have come in that four children and two adults are dead after a shooting in Santa Clara, California.

It is believed that the shooter is among the victims. The police responded to a injured person report at about 8:30 PM Sunday night. When they entered the residence they were confronted with five people dead from multiple gun wounds. Three of the dead at the scene have been said to be children.

Two more victims were transported to hospital in critical condition. Since that time, an infant girl has passed away from her injuries.

On Monday morning Lt. Phil Cooke of the Santa Clara Police Department said that the crime is being considered a “family on family” murder scene. There are indications that all of the victims, including the shooter are members of the same family.

Mercury News reports:

“It just simply never happens here. I mean never,” said Jane Thornton, a neighborhood resident who came up on a scene Sunday night as she was walking her dog. “We are in hard times here.”

It’s now being said that neighbors called in the report to the police when they sensed something was wrong at the townhouse.

The San Francisco Gate reports:

“Certainly it is a grievous tragedy, and the city’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan said today. “Words just can’t describe the enormity of the tragedy.”

She added, “When things get tough in life, in the world, it seems that these kinds of incidents erupt, and I would just urge all of our community to pay attention to your neighbors. So often the greatest regret is the feeling that this could have been prevented if somebody had seen something or someone could have intervened in some way.”

This crime scene is the city’s deadliest shooting.