Officials are praising the fact only four people lost their lives from Typhoon Hagupit.
Over a million residents of the Philippines were evacuated ahead of the storm as officials put into place protocols created after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.
“We saw that with preparation and being alert we prevented tragedy and harm, we took our countrymen away from harm,” added Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas. “It is sad to hear news of deaths, but this is very low, way below what the potential was.”
Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said that it’s obvious people learned lessons and put them into practice.
Over 7,300 people were confirmed dead or are still missing from 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan.
Jipapad mayor Delia Monleon revealed that floodwaters are preventing people from getting to their homes.
“Our problem is power, food is a problem because boats cannot leave,” Monleon told Christian Post. “It was flooded yesterday so we can’t leave to look for food.”
Scientists have used the cells from aborted babies to create a mouse that has a brain that is “half human.”
“Researchers took the immature glial cells from donated human fetuses and injected them into mouse pups,” the New Scientist reports. “The cells developed into star-shaped glial cells known as astrocytes. 300,000 human cells were injected into each mouse, but 12 months later that number had increased to 12 million. The mouse’s own glial cells had been driven out by human astrocytes which are up to 20 times larger than those in mice.”
The scientists would not confirm that the tissue used came from aborted children.
The reports say that the “half human” mice showed significantly higher intelligence than their all mouse counterparts.
The scientists said they had considered using monkeys for the tests but stayed with mice “due to ethical concerns.”
A new study shows vaccines that come from human fetal cell lines can contribute to autism.
The study uses data from the U.S., U.K., Denmark and Australia. It was complied by the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute.
“Not only are the human fetal contaminated vaccines associated with autistic disorder throughout the world, but also with epidemic childhood leukemia and lymphomas,” said Dr. Theresa Deisher of SCPI.
The study showed that in most cases, the amount of fetal DNA in the vaccines was significantly above the levels considered safe. No more than 10ng should be in a dose, yet in some cases the levels were as high at 2000ng per dose.
“There are a large number of publications about the presence of HERV (human endogenous retrovirus – the only re-activatable endogenous retrovirus) and its association with childhood lymphoma,” noted Dr Deisher. “The MMR II and chickenpox vaccines and indeed all vaccines that were propagated or manufactured using the fetal cell line WI-38 are contaminated with this retrovirus. And both parents and physicians have a right to know this!”
The report comes on the heels of a CDC report that was withheld showing an increase among African American boys and autism when vaccinated prior to 36 months.
A giant sunspot on the sun has erupted for the sixth time in a week.
The sunspot, which is 14 times larger than Earth, has erupted with three flares in the last 48 hours.
‘A giant active region on the sun erupted on Oct. 26, 2014, with its sixth substantial flare since Oct. 19,’ NASA said. ‘This flare was classified as an X2-class flare and it peaked at 6:56 a.m. EDT. This is the third X-class flare in 48 hours, erupting from the largest active region seen on the sun in 24 years.”
Christopher Balch of the Space Weather Prediction Center said that the flare had an impact on radio signals that used the upper atmosphere. A few radio communications systems were completely blacked out by the flare for a short time.
The sun has been in an aggressive time of activity after months of almost silence.
The sunspot, which continues to grow, has been described as “menacing” by astronomy experts.
The lava flow from a Hawaiian volcano is threatening to overtake a town.
The flow from the Kilauea volcano, which has been continuously erupting since 1983, has crossed the border of the community of Pahoa. The flow covered the town’s cemetery over the weekend and is steadily progressing toward homes.
“The flow continues to remain active and has advanced approximately 275 yards since yesterday morning,” government officials reported Monday morning.
The Associated Press says the lava flow has been slowly moving toward the town for the last two years. The governor has asked for a Presidential disaster declaration to make federal money available for evacuation and relocation of the town’s residents.
“The effect of the destruction and/or isolation of the businesses and other institutions in Pahoa will be devastating to the entire Puna District,” the governor wrote in his request, according to West Hawaii Today.
Your blood flow could charge your cell phone.
It’s not science fiction any longer.
A graduate student in Jerusalem has developed a series of jewelry that can be used to charge electronics like cell phones.
The project by Naomi Kizhner is called “Energy Addicts.” There are three pieces of jewelry: the Blinker, the E-pulse and the Blood Bridge. The Blinker would extract energy by using the movement of the eyelids. The Blood Bridge is connected to the veins in the lower arm.
Kizhner says there is no current plans to market the products worldwide but were designed to show that it’s possible to use the body’s ordinary functions for biometric electronics.
“I wanted to provoke the thought about how far will we go to in order to ‘feed’ our addiction in the world of declining resources,” she told Cosmo.
A Korean research unit earlier this year released a thermoelectric bracelet that could turn body heat into electricity, similar to the movie The Matrix.
The year’s most powerful storm is focusing on Okinawa.
Japan, which has been recovering from a strike from Typhoon Phanfone last week that dumped heavy rain and battered the country with high winds, is directly in the path of Typhoon Vongfong.
Vongfong is classified as a “Super Typhoon” and is over open water. The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center says the storm has sustained winds of 179 miles per hour and gusts over 219 miles per hour. Forecasts say the sustained winds will strengthen to 190 miles per hour at the storm’s peak.
Vongfong is the sixth “Super Typhoon” in the Pacific this year. While the storm season has seen half the usual amount of storms, the number of Super Typhoons is double the season average.
Japanese officials are concerned about the storm striking so soon after Phanfone, which disrupted air and sea travel, led to the disappearance of two American soldiers and forced suspension of searches for bodies on Mount Ontake.
Japanese officials say at least 36 people are feared dead after the unexpected eruption of Mount Ontake.
Rescuers on the peak say they’ve discovered five more bodies under the grey ash that makes the mountain look like the surface of the moon. The search for victims is being suspended because of fears of toxic gases breaking through the mountain.
At least 12 people are confirmed to be dead with 63 injuries. At least 8 are missing and officials say it’s likely the missing people are dead.
The eruption of the mountain’s over 10,000-foot peak struck when hundreds of climbers were on the mountain. The mountain is a site where families would take children to see the leaves change color or to enjoy the breathtaking views.
Now, the paths on the mountain have ash as much as knee-deep.
The last major eruption of the mountain was in 1979 although there was a minor eruption seven years ago.
Japan’s Metrological Agency said they might reconsider their surveillance system for volcanoes.
Scotland is looking at the possibility of breaking out the snowplows.
IN AUGUST.
A wave of bitter Arctic cold is predicted to descend over the British Isles and bring the coldest wave of weather in August since 1919. Temperatures are forecast to be near freezing overnight and there is a chance of snow and sleet over parts of Scotland.
The high temperatures are not expected to climb about 48 degrees with high winds bring wind chills to well below freezing. The Met Office reports that it’s possible some areas will not even reach 40 degrees during the cold wave.
The normal high temperatures for the region in August run from 75 to 78 degrees.
Complicating the situation is heavy rain that is predicted to hit the islands for the next few days. With the land already saturated from a hurricane that came through weeks ago, the likelihood is high for flooding on top of the frigid temperatures.
‘The weather is certainly looking disappointing for the next couple of weeks,” forecaster Billy Payne of MeteoGroup said, tongue firmly in cheek. “It’s going to be cool and rather unsettled – there’s not much to be optimistic about.”
Scientists are tracking an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth and could end all life on the planet in 2880.
The asteroid apparently is continuing a collision course despite any gravitational factors that should be weighing on it as it passes other celestial objects. Researchers at the University of Tennessee are tracking the object called 1950 DA.
The scientists have already calculated that attempting to blow up the asteroid would not be effective because it would break into smaller pieces that would have the same trajectory and thus cause more significant impacts.
The scientists say that the asteroid’s impact would have the same force as 44,800 megatons of TNT. Tsunamis would swamp the globe and the climate change would be devastating to human life.
The University of Tennessee team found that the asteroid is rotating so rapidly that it “defies gravity”. The forces holding the asteroid together have never been previously detected by scientists.
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
