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Scientists develop cells that could be disease fighters

Scientists say they have caused one type of cell to become another — with no intermediate step using controversial stem cells — which could have long-term impact in treating diabetes and other diseases.

A story we spotted on the Wired.com website says the development raises “the much-anticipated possibility of replacing disease-damaged and age-ravaged organs and tissues.”

“This represents a parallel approach for how to make cells in regenerative medicine,” said Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “And now that it’s shown that you can turn one of your cells into another, it makes you think of what other cells you’d like to convert… . Neurodegenerative diseases come to mind, as does cardiovascular disease,” said Melton.

Details of the research were published in the journal Nature today.

• Aug 27, 2008 11:30 AM PT — Richard Core

• tags: health, medicine, stem cells

Want to invest in rock 'n' roll?

With all the problems the music industry is having, artists and entrepreneurs are looking for new business models.

The Guardian has a report today about a new venture that allows music fans to invest in new bands and share in the future profits — if there are any. The business, called Bandstocks, “is being billed as the latest innovative funding model that could provide artists with an alternative to major labels,” the Guardian article said.

So far, the enterprise has launched with just two artists — singer-songwriters FrYars and Jersey Budd.

Some similar projects have gotten off the ground in the last few years, including the ArtistShare project that allows fans to fund their favorite artists’ recording efforts.

The Guardian story also includes an audio interview with Bandstocks’ founder Andrew Lewis about how the business is envisioned to work.

• Aug 27, 2008 10:36 AM PT — Richard Core

• tags: Bandstocks, Music

Dell to offer low-cost computers to emerging markets

With sales of PC laptops and desktops slowing in the United States, Dell is making a push for markets in growing economies around the world with a cheaper additions to its “Vostro” line.

“The new Vostro laptops and desktops will be available through authorized channel partners, as well as direct from Dell in more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America,” the company said in a press release. Sales in those countries are projected to start from September through November.

There are four new models in all under the Vostro line—two laptops and two desktops. The notebooks will start at $475, and the desktops at $440, and will be available in more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

The notebook computers are available in 14.1-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, and come with Intel Celeron or Core2Duo processors, and Ubuntu Linux or Windows Vista. The desktops come with Intel Atom, Celeron, or Pentium processors, and Ubuntu or Vista.

C-Net is reporting the notebooks will start at $475, and the desktops at $440.

Steve Felice, president of Dell Asia-Pacific/Japan, said in the press release: “Together with our partners, Dell will play an important role in bringing more technology to more people than ever before - whether in business or in the public sector. Vostro is a key building block to unleashing the potential of the Connected Era.”

• Aug 27, 2008 10:02 AM PT — Richard Core

• tags: computers, Dell

Profits in the airline industry!

The airlines are suffering across the board, but Virgin Atlantic is actually coming out ahead. The airline credits the “T5 Effect” for helping it through the first quarter, i.e. redirecting passengers troubled by British Airways’ Terminal 5. Virgin Atlantic made more than $43 million in its first quarter, compared with a $4 million loss last year.

Sir Richard Branson also used the carrier’s good fortune to once again voice his dissent on a Transatlantic venture between British Airways and American Airlines:

“It’s ironic that just as regulators are breaking up one monopoly — BAA — British Airways and American Airlines are trying to create another. Our results prove that consumers want choice on transatlantic routes,” Virgin Atlantic President Richard Branson said in a statement Tuesday. Branson was referring to the request from a U.K. regulator for BAA to sell two of the three London-area airports.

• Aug 26, 2008 8:58 AM PT — Melissa Kaplan

Fewer textbooks to carry with Kindle?

The ARS Technica website has a report that Amazon may enter the college textbook market with a new version of its Kindle electronic reading device.

Provided enough college texts could be produced in a Kindle-friendly format, it would appear that the time may be near for such a device. The cost of college textbooks has been soaring, prompting some students to go the file-sharing route, the article says.

The college textbook market has been challenged lately by a number of digital initiatives, some of which are less legal than others. Savvy students who are getting sick of paying thousands of dollars for textbooks every year are beginning to scan them and put them on BitTorrent in droves. So far, publishers seem content with sending takedown notices to the sites that catalogue them instead of filing costly lawsuits. Still, even professors are outraged by the state of the textbook market, and some are pursuing legal alternatives to torrents by offering open-source textbooks and posting materials on wikis, blogs, and other social sites.

• Aug 25, 2008 5:45 PM PT — Richard Core

• tags: college, Kindle, textbooks

Colleges dropping food trays

Several hundred colleges have either stopped using trays in their cafeterias or plan to soon, according to an Associated Press report. By serving food on plates, college officials say they save water, cut costs, reduce food waste — and help students keep off extra pounds from overeating.

The 50,000-student University of Florida estimates it will save 470,000 gallons annually. At the 2,000-student University of Maine at Farmington, which went trayless in February 2007, the tally is 288,000 gallons, said Aramark spokesman Dave Gargione.

The story also quotes Sodexo food-service spokeswoman Monica Zimmer, saying five times more energy and water are consumed in dining halls than any other square foot on college campuses.

“So if a college is looking to go ‘green,’ they need to start looking in the dining facility,” Zimmer said.

• Aug 25, 2008 5:11 PM PT — Richard Core

• tags: cafeterias, college, food

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