Google’s goal is “an early heads-up” on disease to ultimately facilitate more effective treatment by making medicine proactive instead of reactive.
Google’s particles will be less than 1/000 the width of a red blood cell and will attach themselves to specific cells, proteins, and other molecules inside the body, depending on what they’re “decorated” with. For example, Google could coat its nanoparticles with a specific antibody that would recognize and attach to a protein on the surface of a tumor cell.
Google is also working on a small wearable device that would attract and count the particles. In that way, the system would be used for testing and monitoring health: You could be alerted through the wearable if a lot of the particles were attaching to tumor cells. Google admits, however, that it still needs to better understand what constitutes as a healthy level of disease-carrying molecules in the blood and what would be a cause for a concern (Google’s “Baseline Study” is already trying to define what a healthy human looks like). The idea is that people would be constantly monitoring their bodies, so they wouldn’t wait until they felt physically sick to go to the doctor.
Google would likely let people consume its nanoparticles through a pill, but is reportedly at least five to seven years away from a product that would be approved by doctors.
“Every test you ever go to the doctor for will be done through this system,” Andrew Conrad, head of the Life Sciences team at Google X and the man leading the project, said at The Wall Street Journal’s “WSJD Live” conference. “That’s our dream.”
Conrad told The Wall Street Journal that Google would not collect or store any medical data itself, but would license the technology out.
“We’re going to be inventors that work on the technology— disruptive, innovative technology—and then we’re going to look for partners who will bring it forward,” Conrad told Backchannel’s Steven Levy.
More than 100 Googlers — with backgrounds including chemistry, astrophysics, and electrical engineering — are working on this nanoparticle project. The company is also collaborating with MIT, Stanford, and Duke.
Saudi Arabia has recently witnessed the aggression that should have happened sooner or later due to its short-sighted policy in Syria, Iraq and Iran. As an old saying goes: “If you dig a hole for others, you’re sure to fall in it yourself.”
A few days ago the Saudi town of al-Dalwa, situated in the oil-rich Eastern Province, suffered an attack of a group of armed Sunni terrorists, which resulted in seven civilian deaths. Most of the attackers were citizens of the kingdom. The prompt response of the local security forces allowed the servicemen to detain 20 members of an underground terrorist group, consisting mainly of those who had previously fought under the black banner of ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Law enforcement agencies of Saudi Arabia have managed to capture the head of the armed group, his name is kept secret. The only information that has become available to journalists is that this commander has recently returned from Syria where he was fighting against the pro-Assad forces.
Riyadh is nowfacing a harsh dilemma: on the one hand, the House of Saud is actively oppressing its Shia citizens, on the pretext of their disloyalty and theiralleged attempts to undermine the national security of the kingdom due to the “evil Iranianinfluence.” On the other – Sunni terrorists, that Saudi Arabia is fighting today alongside with its closest ally – the US, haveassaulted Shia civilians on the Saudi soil, and the latter were virtually enjoying the same rights as the rest of the population, including the right for protection.It is now official: Saudi citizens motivated by religious hatred are commiting manslaughter of their fellow citizens.
The only question is how Riyadh may react when the Sunni terrorists that it had trained and funded will unleash a wave of terror against the Shia population of KSA (Kingdom Saudi Arabia)? A similarcourse of events has already taken place in the neighboring Bahrain back in 2011, but Saudi regular troops were fast to cross the border in an attempt to prevent the violence from spreading.
It is no coincidence that the events in the city of al-Dalwa are completely ignored by the international media. Should this fact become widely known then the Saudi authorities will be forced to recognize the threat ISIL poses to Saudi Arabia along with acknowledging the underlying instability of Saudi society that can endanger the ruling Wahhabi regime.
Now that the Shia population of the Eastern Province is buzzing with discontent, the House of Saud has found itself in a tight corner. Should the authorities fail to prosecute terrorists, a violent unrest of the Shia population, similar the one that shook Saudi Arabia in 2011 -2012, in the wake of the above mentioned events in Bahrain, will be quick to follow. But if the terrorists are to be punished to the fullest extent of the Sharia law, then the Wahhabis and Salafis will accuse the royal family of “betrayal” of the Sunnis. This course of events will end no better, with a massive wave of violent terrorist attacks, carried out by ISIL militants all across Saudi Arabia.Now that ISIL thugs have faced harsh resistance in Syria and Iraq, they will be eager to move south to start a “sacred struggle against the corrupt pro-American reign of Al Saud family“. As for the Iraqi Shia population, they can only welcome this U-turn in their ongoing struggle against Islamists. Moreover, it is possible that the indignation of the Saudi Shia population of the Eastern Province will find someform of support in Tehran and Baghdad. This means that the fate of the kingdom’s territorial integrity will be put to the test. The nightmares of the Saudi ruling family seems to be coming true — Saudi Arabia can be split into several parts, which were joined together to create the kingdom back in 1929. This trend can be accelerated by the fact that a couple of weeks ago the Shia Houthis rebels seized power in Yemen, on the south-western borders of KSA.
How real is ISIS? Is it more real, or less real than al Qaeda?
According to some, ISIS is flourishing more online than it is in brick-and-mortar life…
ISIS INTERNET MARKETING DEPT: The majority of ISIS manpower is working in the virtual space.
Award-winning, veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk poses that very question: “I’m even wondering whether “Isis” – isn’t more real on the internet, than it is on the ground.”
Fisk also goes on to say that the “virtual” has dropped out of virtual reality, and that this generation’s obsession with the truth (as it’s sometimes portrayed) online is the reason ISIS youths are going bonkers for beheadings. We support this supposition in part, but to blame the internet for the ISIS crisis would be one dimensional without factoring in the avalanche of financial and arms support the terrorists are receiving from entities like the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
This statement by Fisk, however, is sublime in both its quality and its accuracy:
“The belief, the absolute conviction that the screen contains truth – that the “message” really is the ultimate verity, has still not been fully recognised for what it is; an extraordinary lapse in our critical consciousness that exposes us to the rawest of emotions – both total love and total hatred”.
Yes, the internet is a powerful tool, and it may appear dangerous to some, but if anything is inverted in this 21st century conundrum, it’s not the technology. The minds of its users were more likely warped long before they switched their computers on.
What even worse still, is the amount of free publicity and PR exposure given to ISIS/ISIL/IS by international media conglomerates like CNN, FOX, and the BBC. When the Islamic State’ post a staged jihadist propaganda video on YouTube – you can be certain that western broadcasters will give their videos heavy rotation 24/7. ISIS could not afford the free marketing they get from our media moguls.
Their consciousness was buried by a globalised, corporatised mega-media machine – buried under successive layers of lies, omissions and mistruths coming from “the mainstream” gospel, including TV broadcasters and newspapers. Lies, piled on top of lies – and then shaming the public to accept the lies – leads to a highly dysfunctional and unconscious society, not only in the west (where lying is a celebrated and high art form), but in the Middle East too.
A family of four will embark on a three week bitcoin-only road trip over the Thanksgiving holiday. Expenses such as food, gasoline and lodging will all be paid for with the crypo-currency as they journey from Texas to California, Nevada, Colorado, and Missouri.
The goal of the Uncoinventional West Coast Tour is to “Inspire and empower the Bitcoin community to spend bitcoin on food, gasoline and lodging” says Catherine Bleish, Bitcoin author and creator of TheBitMom.com.
This will be the second bitcoin-only road trip for the Blush Family this year. Last June, Catherine, her husband John Bush, and their two children traveled over 4,400 miles from Texas to Washington DC, New York, New Hampshire and Ohio spending bitcoin only, with the exception of several toll roads they encountered along the way.
Despite several obstacles, the family managed to successfully spend over $6,000 in bitcoin using services such as Gyft (gift card service), CheapAir (hotel and flight booking service), and Airbitz (bitcoin business directory and mobile wallet) to find restaurants and hotels along the way.
Their first journey was a huge success, receiving national or local media attention at nearly every stop. The feedback was so great that Gyft, CheapAir, and Airbitz jumped on board to sponsor the West Coast Tour.
“We are ecstatic to support the Uncoinventional Living Tour,” said Paul Puey, CEO of Airbitz. “Cat and John are helping drive Bitcoin adoption as a true currency in everyday life… something strongly inline with the beliefs of the Airbitz team.”
This November, the family will find themselves speaking at the following events: Alt Expo in Austin, Libertopia Conference in San Diego, Liberty on the Rocks in Denver, and Bitcoin Meetups in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
The family plans to interview Bitcoin companies and activists along the way for John’s bitcoin podcast, SovereignBTC, which received nearly 47,000 listens during their East Coast Tour.
The bitcoin travel space is rapidly changing, presenting new challenges and opportunities for the family.
“A lot has changed in the past six months,” says Catherine Bleish: “for this trip we had to get creative in order to buy gasoline because the company we used last time is no longer active. There is definitely room for new startups in the space.”
The Blush family reports they are excited to hit the road and learn how Bitcoin travel has changed since June. Follow their journey at http://www.uncoinventional.com.
While Colorado and Washington have already been enjoying the legalization of marijuana for a year now, two additional states have decided that cannabis prohibition should end – Oregon and Alaska. Voters in Washington D.C. have also chosen to legalize the plant.
In both Oregon and Alaska, the law legalizes personal possession, manufacture and sale of marijuana for people 21 years of age and older. People of the states will now be able to freely utilize a plant credited with healing cancer, calming autistic children, reducing seizures, and helping with pain management for countless individuals.
Voters overwhelmingly supported initiatives that supported legalization in these states, and ended jail time or fines supported by our bloated criminal justice system. Although the Federal Drug war has imposed billions on taxpayers to ‘fight’ the war on drugs, Denver, Colorado is ironically enjoying a 14.6% decrease in crime from the same time last year. It is also well known that most ‘cannabis-crimes’ are merely for possession and there is little violence among users.
This is not an over-hyped claim although this confiscation has yet to take the form of kicking down doors and SWAT teams.
Yet.
Still, rarely do such forms of tyranny come in one fell swoop with all the alarm bells ringing and the requisite flashing neon sign declaring a police state, apparently the only thing that might make Americans wake up and smell the fascism.
In the absence of that presentation, however, Buffalo police are doing the next best thing – tracking down gun owners, investigating their “permits,” and confiscating their guns if possible.
Buffalo police are now checking the records of “pistol permit holders” to see if the holders are still living. If the permit holder is no longer living, the police will investigate “what happened to their gun or guns.”
Under the guise of “illegal weapons” brought in to New York from Pennsylvania, police have informed reporters that their biggest problem in terms of guns used in crimes involved guns that had been stolen from private properties during burglaries.
Of course, police made no mention of Fast and Furious or of the fact that police are unable (and also unwilling) to investigate and respond to violent crimes because their departments are too busy enforcing the drug war, writing tickets, shooting family pets, and manning DUI checkpoints. Instead, the Buffalo Police’s response to the fact that burglaries are being committed is not to crack down on the burglars, but to eliminate the property the burglars want to take.
Channel 2 News reported that “Police feel that, in some cases, families are holding on to weapons, even after the person who bought them originally has died. [The horror!!!!!!] So now they are actually looking for those situations.”
Saudi Arabia 
by Christina Sarich
PN 