If your paper shredder has gotten a little dull, try this quick and inexpensive fix: Run a couple of sheets of aluminum foil through.
eHow writes that using regular kitchen foil might give dull blades some of their edge back, but not if the blades are so far gone they're no longer shredding. Worth a try, though, and something you can do every few weeks as upkeep to keep your shredder sharp. If you've got dull scissors too, go ahead and cut some more aluminum foil to keep them sharp.
LAHAD DATU, Malaysia | Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:31am EST
LAHAD DATU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Puntung is a Sumatran rhino, one of roughly two hundred left in the world.
Captured in a Borneo forest on Christmas Day, she is the latest addition to Malaysia's Borneo Rhino Sanctuary -- and experts say she may also be one of the last hopes for a species on the brink of extinction.
Veterinarians want to introduce Puntung to Tam, a 20-year-old male Sumatran rhinoceros in the enclosure next door, in the hopes that they will breed -- although this cannot take place for a number of months yet, until Puntung is deemed ready.
Estimated to be 10 to 12 years old, she was airlifted to the sanctuary in the Tabin Forest Reserve after her capture, and has since been adjusting to her new home, eating more than 60 kg (132 lb) of leaves each day.
"She doesn't look stressed, she's eating well ... but the stress (of a new environment) is enough to offset her cycle, her normal cycle," said Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, a veterinarian with the Borneo Rhino Alliance.
"So she may not have a cycle now. That's why we're monitoring her."
Captive breeding is now regarded as the only way to boost the population of the two-horned Sumatran rhino, which at 500 to 600 kg (1,100 to 1,322 lb) and 1.3 metres tall (4.3 feet) is the world's smallest rhinoceros.
Deforestation and illegal hunting have decimated the population in the wild, and habitat fragmentation has cut the surviving animals off from potential mates. The animals are ageing to the point where they are too old to breed.
But even the capture of Puntung, dubbed a "Christmas miracle" by scientists, does not mean success is assured.
Though she is the right age to breed, she may well turn out to be infertile, said John Payne, at the Borneo Rhino Alliance.
"The rhinos that were caught in Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sumatra in the past ... quite a few wild caught females did have reproductive tract problems. They weren't producing eggs or they had cysts or tumors in the fallopian tubes," Payne said.
"So we are not over the hurdle yet. It may prove that she's not fertile, in which case we need to go on what sort of treatments might be possible to make her fertile."
The sanctuary's only other female rhino, Gelegob, was unable to conceive even with the help of fertility treatment, since she could not produce eggs. She is now 30 years old and blind.
If Puntung shows signs of being ready after six months of observation, she'll be released into an enclosure with Tam, who walked out of a palm oil plantation in 2008 and refused to go back into the forest.
The two are now being kept in adjacent paddocks so each is aware of the other's existence. But Sumatran rhinos are solitary animals and only come together in the wild for courtship and the rearing of young.
Two breeding attempts have been made since the Malaysian captive breeding project began in 1983, but neither succeeded. The last successful attempt to breed captive rhinos took place at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.
Rhinoceros horns are a coveted ingredient in traditional Eastern medicine, which has led to widespread illegal hunting.
The WWF said last year that the Javan rhinoceros had been poached into oblivion in Vietnam and is now believed to be confined to one population of less than 50 individuals in an Indonesian national park.
Contact: NIDA Press Team media@nida.nih.gov 301-443-6245 NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Consumer-friendly publication will guide those struggling with addiction
A new resource, Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask, will help individuals and families struggling with addiction ask the right questions before choosing a drug treatment program. It was developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is available to the public free online or in hard copy through NIDA's DrugPubs service (see information below).
"Treatment options can vary considerably, and families often don't know where to begin," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "This booklet highlights the treatment components that research has shown are critical for success, to help people make an informed choice during a very stressful time."
The new publication is based on a NIDA resource describing the principles of drug addiction treatment from a research-based perspective. It recommends five helpful questions people should ask and explains what the research has found to be most effective. Specifically, the booklet explores these themes:
Is the program's treatment plan backed by scientific evidence?
Is it tailored to the individual needs of each patient?
Does the program assess and adapt treatment as the patient's needs change?
How long should the treatment take?
ow do 12 step programs fit into drug addiction treatment?
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2010 an estimated 22.1 million persons aged 12 years or older were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year (8.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older). The goal of drug abuse treatment is to stop drug use and help people return to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and community. However, keeping patients in treatment long enough to achieve that goal can be difficult. Finding the right treatment for an individual's specific needs is critical. This booklet describes available medications and evidence-based behavioral therapies; the need for comprehensive, tailored, and sustained treatment; as well as the reality of relapse and the role of community-level support.
Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask can be found online at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/seeking-drug-abuse-treatment. Hard copies can be ordered by calling 1-877-NIDA-NIH (1-877-643-2644) or by going online at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov/.
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research Based Guide, which is the basis of this new publication, can be found at www.drugabuse.gov/PODAT/PODATIndex.html.
###
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse.gov. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA's media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide/.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: NIDA Press Team media@nida.nih.gov 301-443-6245 NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Consumer-friendly publication will guide those struggling with addiction
A new resource, Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask, will help individuals and families struggling with addiction ask the right questions before choosing a drug treatment program. It was developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is available to the public free online or in hard copy through NIDA's DrugPubs service (see information below).
"Treatment options can vary considerably, and families often don't know where to begin," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "This booklet highlights the treatment components that research has shown are critical for success, to help people make an informed choice during a very stressful time."
The new publication is based on a NIDA resource describing the principles of drug addiction treatment from a research-based perspective. It recommends five helpful questions people should ask and explains what the research has found to be most effective. Specifically, the booklet explores these themes:
Is the program's treatment plan backed by scientific evidence?
Is it tailored to the individual needs of each patient?
Does the program assess and adapt treatment as the patient's needs change?
How long should the treatment take?
ow do 12 step programs fit into drug addiction treatment?
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2010 an estimated 22.1 million persons aged 12 years or older were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year (8.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older). The goal of drug abuse treatment is to stop drug use and help people return to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and community. However, keeping patients in treatment long enough to achieve that goal can be difficult. Finding the right treatment for an individual's specific needs is critical. This booklet describes available medications and evidence-based behavioral therapies; the need for comprehensive, tailored, and sustained treatment; as well as the reality of relapse and the role of community-level support.
Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask can be found online at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/seeking-drug-abuse-treatment. Hard copies can be ordered by calling 1-877-NIDA-NIH (1-877-643-2644) or by going online at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov/.
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research Based Guide, which is the basis of this new publication, can be found at www.drugabuse.gov/PODAT/PODATIndex.html.
###
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse.gov. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA's media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide/.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Academy Award nominations won't be announced until Jan. 24, but until then we've got the nods for the British version of the Oscars -- the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards -- to tide us over.
Groundlink has updated its car service Android application with a number of improvements that make the entire process easier on you, the rider.
For starters, you'll get updates on where the car is even more quickly than you were before. That's one of the more fun aspects of an app and service like this -- being able to see the car en route to pick you up. You'll also get more accurate estimates as to when the car is on the way.
Groundlink also has simplified the registration process. So if that's kept you from trying out the service, no more excuses. There's a new registration screen to go along with it.
Groundlink also now accepts international billing, for those of you traveling to the United States. That also allows you to book a car from anywhere in the world.
In addition, there have been improvements to the overall order process, as well as general bug fixes.
CAIRO?? In a rare find, Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists have unearthed a roughly 2,900-year-old tomb of a female singer in the Valley of the Kings, an antiquities official said Sunday.
It is the only tomb of a woman not related to the ancient Egyptian royal families ever found in the Valley of the Kings, said Mansour Boraiq, the top government official for the Antiquities' Ministry in the city of Luxor.
The Valley of the Kings in Luxor is a major tourist attraction. In 1922, archaeologists there unearthed the gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun and other stunning items in the tomb of the king who ruled more than 3,000 years ago.
Boraiq told The Associated Press that the coffin of the female singer is remarkably intact.
He said that when the coffin is opened this week, archaeologists will likely find a mummy and a cartonnage mask molded to her face and made from layers of linen and plaster.
The singer's name, Nehmes Bastet, means she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet.
The tomb was found by accident, according to Elena Pauline-Grothe, field director for excavation at the Valley of the Kings with Switzerland's University of Basel.
"We were not looking for new tombs. It was close to another tomb that was discovered 100 years ago," Pauline-Grothe said.
Pauline-Grothe said the tomb was not originally built for the female singer, but was reused for her 400 years after the original one, based on artifacts found inside. Archaeologists do not know whom the tomb was originally intended for.
The coffin of the singer belonged to the daughter of a high priest during the 22nd Dynasty (945-712 B.C.).
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Archaeologists concluded from artifacts that she sang in Karnak Temple, one of the most famous and largest open-air sites from the Pharaonic era.
At the time of her death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan kings, but the high priests who ruled Thebes, which is now within the city of Luxor, were independent. Their authority enabled them to use the royal cemetery for family members, according to Boraiq.
The unearthing marks the 64th tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings.
This report was supplemented by msnbc.com.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AAA??Jan. 15, 2012?10:41 AM ET 2 more bodies found on Italian cruise ship AP
Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A passenger from South Korea, top left, disembarks from an Italian Firefighter boat after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A passenger from South Korea, top left, disembarks from an Italian Firefighter boat after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A passenger from South Korea, center, walks with Italian Firefighters after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ? The Italian Coast Guard says its divers have found two more bodies aboard the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship.
The discovery of the bodies brings to five the number of known dead after the luxury ship ran aground with some 4,200 people aboard on Friday night.
The Coast Guard said Sunday the bodies of the two elderly people were found in the submerged restaurant.
A helicopter earlier airlifted a third survivor from the capsized hulk of the ship.
Authorities are holding the captain for suspected manslaughter among other possible charges.
Associated Press People, Places and Companies: Italy
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Public release date: 17-Jan-2012
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