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US Tech Boom Fuels Surge in Jobs, Jazzier Perks

photo of businessmen by Michael Connors via Morguefile

business team at work, photo by Michael Connors - MorguefileThe tech sector is fueling a job boom that stands in stark contrast to the malaise of the general job market.

Competition for cloud computing engineers, security experts, and mobile developers as well as sales professionals in the technology industry has gotten so fierce in the past six months that companies are going to greater lengths to woo prospective employees.

Why the Gulf Oil Spill Cleaned Up So Quickly: Microbes Looking For A Meal

oil spill on water's surface

Gulf oil spill was eaten by microbesA lingering mystery of the Gulf oil spill is where the oil actually went. It seems now that the microbes in the water made a meal of it.

After the initial shock of last year’s Gulf oil disaster passed, it quickly became apparent that the oil had somehow disappeared–on the surface, at least. Dispersants helped break up some of the larger plumes, sure, but that doesn’t entirely explain why the surface oil slick in the Gulf seemed to disappear just three weeks after the disaster.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute think they have the answer: hungry bacterial microbes.

Bloomberg to Use Own Funds in Plan to Aid Minority Youth

black student writes

black student writesMayor Michael Bloomberg, in an acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances — a quarter of that coming from his own pocket, and another quarter from fellow billionaire, George Soros.

The program will overhaul how the government helps 315,000 New Yorkers who are disproportionately undereducated, incarcerated and unemployed.

U.S. Retailers Report Solid Sales Gains for July

20 dollar bills

20-dollar-billsMany retailers posted solid sales during July, the kickoff to the back-to-school season.

A wide range of retailers today delivered sales reports that beat Wall Street estimates, including Target, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, and Saks. Costco reported an impressive 10% increase in sales.

Hawaii Girl Finds Message in a Bottle From Oregon

message-in-bottle-sunstar

Photo by Sun StarOne year ago, off the coast of Oregon, a ten-year-old boy tossed a message in a bottle into the Pacific Ocean, and now a 9-year-old girl in Hawaii has found it.

He added his mother’s email address to this message: “Dear finder of my message, My name is Thomas and I live in Oregon. I’m ten years old and this week I’m salmon fishing deep in the ocean. I would like to hear from you. … Please wright back, Thomas.”

Archaeologists Uncover Biblical Ruin Inside a Palestinian City in the West Bank

Jerusalem ruins

Jerusalem ruinsDutch and Palestinian archaeologists are uncovering the ancient city of Shekhem, a biblical ruin inside the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank.

Shekhem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel.

The old city dates back an estimated four thousand years. At Shechem, Abram “built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him … and had given that land to his descendants.”

Sony Achieves 31 Percent Reduction in CO2 Emissions

Sony logo

Sony logoSony, a global leader in electronics, has announced its success in achieving a whopping 31 percent reduction in CO2 emissions worldwide, surpassing by a whopping 24 percent the company’s 7 percent target set in 2006.

As a part of Sony’s ‘Green Management’ goals formulated in 2006 to protect the environment, the company has also managed to surpass other goals: to reduce waste generation by 40 percent (they hit 54 percent), and to reduce water consumption by 20 percent (usage is down 41 percent).

New York’s Metropolitan Museum to Return 19 Artifacts to Egypt

ancient Egyptian dog sculpture - courtesy of MET

ancient Egyptian dog sculpture - courtesy of METNew York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to return to Cairo 19 artifacts dating back to the time of ancient Egypt’s king Tutankhamen.

The objects include a tiny bronze dog, and part of a sphinx-shaped bracelet discovered in Tutankhamen’s tomb.

UPDATED: The Real Lucy-in-the-Sky-With-Diamonds Honored by Childhood Pal Julian Lennon

Lucy Vodden, courtesy of Lupus foundation

Lucy Vodden, courtesy of Lupus foundation

Lucy Vodden was the subject of a painting brought home from nursery school by a young Julian Lennon, who showed it to his dad, John, and told him it was “Lucy — in the sky with diamonds”.

Julian got back in touch with Lucy a few years agi when he heard that she was battling Lupus, an auto-immune disease.

Now, a plaque commemorating the woman who inspired the Beatles’ hit, will be placed in Liverpool in memory of Vodden who died in 2009 at age 46. (See the original painting below)

Following her death, Lennon became heavily involved with St Thomas’ Lupus Trust, which commissioned the plaque, and he become the Lupus Foundation of America’s Global Ambassador.

UPDATED: The Real Lucy-in-the-Sky-With Diamonds Honored by Childhood Pal Julian Lennon

Lucy Vodden, courtesy of Lupus foundation

Lucy Vodden, courtesy of Lupus foundation

Lucy Vodden was the subject of a painting brought home from kindergarten by a young Julian Lennon, who showed it to his dad, John, and told him it was “Lucy — in the sky with diamonds”.

Julian got back in touch with Lucy a few years ago when he heard that she was battling Lupus, an auto-immune disease.

Now, a plaque commemorating the woman who inspired the Beatles’ hit, will be placed in Liverpool in memory of Vodden who died in 2009 at age 46. (See the drawing below)

Following her death, Lennon became heavily involved with St Thomas’ Lupus Trust, which commissioned the plaque, and he become the Lupus Foundation of America’s Global Ambassador.

Sweet Deal for Girls After Lemonade Stand was Closed for Lack of Permit

lemonade stand on Jekyll Island park (park photo_

lemonade stand on Jekyll Island park (park photo_Three girls whose lemonade stand was shut down by the police in Midway, Georgia, for not having a business license and food permit, were offered a prime location to reopen in the tourist-rich state park of Jekyll Island.

Jekyll Island officials contacted the young teens and invited them to sell their lemonade at Summer Waves Water Park. They even built the girls a new lemonade stand.

Sweet Deal for Girls After Lemonade Stand was Closed for Lack of Permit

lemonade stand on Jekyll Island park (park photo_

lemonade stand on Jekyll Island park (park photo_Three girls whose lemonade stand was shut down by the police in Midway, Georgia, for not having a business license and food permit, were offered a prime location to reopen in the tourist-rich state park of Jekyll Island.

Jekyll Island officials contacted the young teens and invited them to sell their lemonade at Summer Waves Water Park. They even built the girls a new lemonade stand.

Gabrielle Giffords Returns To Congress to Help Pass Dramatic Debt Deal

gabby-gifford_returns-to-US-house-gov

gabby-gifford_returns-to-US-house-govCongresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, absent from the U.S. Capitol since she was shot in the head 7 months ago, walked into the House chamber to hearty applause before she cast a yea vote as the dramatic debt ceiling debate came to an official close in the House of Representatives early this evening.

With her surprise appearence, the Representative from Arizona joined 94 other Democrats in passing the compromise bill, 269-166, averting a possible default on the nation’s credit. 175 Republicans also voted for the bipartisan deal, easily passing the measure, which had been crafted over the weekend.

Gabrielle Giffords Returns To Congress to Help Pass Dramatic Debt Deal

gabby-gifford_returns-to-US-house-gov

gabby-gifford_returns-to-US-house-govCongresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, absent from the U.S. Capitol since she was shot in the head 7 months ago, walked into the House chamber to hearty applause before she cast a yea vote as the dramatic debt ceiling debate came to an official close in the House of Representatives early this evening.

With her surprise appearence, the Representative from Arizona joined 94 other Democrats in passing the compromise bill, 269-166, averting a possible default on the nation’s credit. 175 Republicans also voted for the bipartisan deal, easily passing the measure, which had been crafted over the weekend.

UK Opens Free, Solar-powered Plug-in Vehicle Charging Network

UK electric cars get free solar charging-Ecotricity photo

UK electric cars get free solar charging-Ecotricity photo

For first time electric vehicles will be able to travel the length and breadth of Britain using the world’s first solar national charging network at motorway service stations across the country.

According to Ecotricity, the company that installed the network, range anxiety has now been removed from the electric vehicle equation in the UK.

Every charging post will be powered with 100% green energy made at Ecotricity’s wind and solar parks across the UK, and means that electric car drivers (and motorcyclists) will be able to drive from London to Edinburgh or Exeter completely free and with vastly reduced emissions.

UK Opens Free, Solar-powered Plug-in Vehicle Charging Network

UK electric cars get free solar charging-Ecotricity photo

UK electric cars get free solar charging-Ecotricity photo

For first time electric vehicles will be able to travel the length and breadth of Britain using the world’s first solar national charging network at motorway service stations across the country.

According to Ecotricity, the company that installed the network, range anxiety has now been removed from the electric vehicle equation in the UK.

Every charging post will be powered with 100% green energy made at Ecotricity’s wind and solar parks across the UK, and means that electric car drivers (and motorcyclists) will be able to drive from London to Edinburgh or Exeter completely free and with vastly reduced emissions.

Good News for Many Fish Species: Stimulus Funds Dam Removal

Winnicut River dam - NH government photo

Winnicut River dam - NH government photoNative brook trout have been rediscovered in a tributary located in the New Hampshire Seacoast region — a sign that the ecosystem altered by man for centuries is restoring itself following the removal of pre-Industrial Age dam.

Removal of the deteriorated and outmoded head-of-tide dam is allowing the return of many sea-run species to the Winnicut River, improving upstream and downstream migration for river herring, American eel, and rainbow smelt and other species.

When Drugs Don’t Work: Restoring Happiness in People With Depression

Photo by Su nStar

Photo by Su nStarPracticing positive activities may serve as an effective, low-cost treatment for people suffering from depression, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside and Duke University Medical Center.

Although antidepressants can be lifesaving for some individuals, initial drug therapy produces full benefits in only 30 percent to 40 percent of patients. Even after trying two to four different drugs, one-third of people will remain depressed.

In their paper, which appears in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the team of UCR and Duke psychology, neuroscience and psychopharmacology researchers proposed a new approach for treating depression – Positive Activity Interventions (PAI).

When Drugs Don’t Work: Restoring Happiness in People With Depression

Photo by Su nStar

Photo by Su nStarPracticing positive activities may serve as an effective, low-cost treatment for people suffering from depression, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside and Duke University Medical Center.

Although antidepressants can be lifesaving for some individuals, initial drug therapy produces full benefits in only 30 percent to 40 percent of patients. Even after trying two to four different drugs, one-third of people will remain depressed.

In their paper, which appears in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the team of UCR and Duke psychology, neuroscience and psychopharmacology researchers proposed a new approach for treating depression – Positive Activity Interventions (PAI).

Girl Loses Half her Brain in Car Crash… and Gains an Amazing New Artistic Ability

painting by Taisla - photo by Central European News

painting by Taisla - photo by Central European NewsTaisia Sidorova, 21, from St Petersburg, was given the last rites after an accident that left half her skull smashed and the damaged left hemisphere of her brain removed.

But slowly – with the love and support of her family – she came around, and the artistic right side of her brain began compensating for lack on the left.

To relax and recover, she began sketching. Even though she’d never been interested in drawing before, she began to display remarkable natural talent. Her family bought some paints and the resulting artwork is called “tops in her class”.

(READ the story in the Daily Mail)