Thursday, April 25

Month: May 2014

New Study Shows That 60% of China’s Groundwater is Polluted
World

New Study Shows That 60% of China’s Groundwater is Polluted

A growing number of the Chinese population is finding itself without access to clean, drinkable water, new data shows. According to an April 23 Times of India article, 60% of China's officially-monitored groundwater is too polluted to drink. The clean water shortage is another indicator of China's continuing environmental problems. The Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources, which monitors water quality at 4,778 locations in 203 cities, reported that 43.9% of the country's groundwater was of “relatively poor” quality, and requires treatment before it can be consumed by humans. The Ministry of Land and Resources rated the other 15.7% of monitored groundwater “very poor,” meaning the water is unfit for consumption even after treatment, according to a upi.com article. The decades-lon...
Alaska Joins Other States in its Effort to Protect Hospitals and Physicians During Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Business, Local

Alaska Joins Other States in its Effort to Protect Hospitals and Physicians During Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Personal injury lawyers are perhaps one of the busiest in the field, as personal injury claims are one of the most common filings in the U.S. This includes several different types of torts, including worker's compensation, auto accidents, and product liability issues. But medical malpractice has often garnered more coverage because it typically involves major surgical and treatment blunders that could effect anyone. Recently, Alaska's Legislature made headlines when it passed House Bill 250, a law that rejects the use of an official apology as admissible in court during medical malpractice cases. Often called the "I'm Sorry" bill, this legislature is aimed at stopping lawyers from using the admission of a mistake as evidence against a defendant. The bill also prohibits lawyers from ente...
As Investors Abandon Twitter, Will Marketers Do the Same?
Business

As Investors Abandon Twitter, Will Marketers Do the Same?

Investor faith in Twitter just keeps slipping. Since the beginning of the year, the little bluebird's stock prices have fallen more than 50%. As of today, stock values have slipped another 1%, leaving the company's worth at $32 per share. That's only $6 above what the company was originally valued at during its initial public offering in 2013.What's the problem? Why is Twitter stuck in a free fall? It's all about growth. At the end of Q1 2014, the company was estimated to have approximately 255 million users, well below Facebook's 1.4 billion. Up until recently, the comparison between the two was neither fair nor relevant, as they were completely different services. However, as Twitter continues implementing changes that make it more like Facebook everyday and the difference between platfo...
Federal Government Rejects Detroit’s Bankruptcy Plan
Local

Federal Government Rejects Detroit’s Bankruptcy Plan

On Monday, May 12, the U.S. government filed an objection to Detroit's debt restructuring plan for dealing with its $18 billion of debt and exiting the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, according to a May 13 Reuters article. According to the article, the federal government's filing addressed several different disputes, both regulatory and monetary, regarding the Michigan metropolis' adjustment plan. For example, while the Environmental Protection Agency sought assurance that Detroit would adhere to its regulations in its plan, the city had failed to specifically state it would in its adjustment plan. The federal government joins several other governmental entities that have filed objections to Detroit's plan, including neighboring Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties, which...
Gender Bias Studies in Internet Marketing: The Surprising Findings of Two Companies
Business

Gender Bias Studies in Internet Marketing: The Surprising Findings of Two Companies

Moz.com, the website for an SEO and search marketing firm, recently conducted a survey of over 3,700 internet marketing consultants and specialists from across the globe to compare salaries for 2014. One of the most startling findings of this survey revealed a great disparity between the salaries of men and women who work in online marketing, and the breakdown of earnings may point to a disturbing trend when it comes to gender inequality among internet marketers.Moz's survey results stated that the average earnings for anyone working in the internet marketing industry was $65,766, based on their 3,700 respondents. However, men, who had an average salary of $68,785.11, earned significantly more than women, who brought in $57,438.14 annually.This wasn't the only startling fact when it came t...
New Scoliosis Surgery Performed at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital
Business

New Scoliosis Surgery Performed at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

One of the first surgeries treating scoliosis using the Magnetic Expansion Control device has been performed at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital earlier this week byJeffrey Sawyer, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon with Campbell Clinic. This was only the tenth surgery of its kind in the entire country since the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the Magnetic Expansion Control device (MAGEC). Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine usually occurring during the growth spurt before puberty. The cause of the most common type of scoliosis is still unknown, though many medical experts believe there are hereditary factors involved. Its symptoms include an uneven waist, uneven shoulders, one hip being higher than the other,and one shoulder blade appearing more prominently. Though it's typica...
Twitter Adds New ‘Mute’ Feature to Help Users Silence Annoying Friends
Business

Twitter Adds New ‘Mute’ Feature to Help Users Silence Annoying Friends

Twitter announced Monday that it was adding a new feature, aptly titled 'Mute,' to the popular social media platform. 'Mute,' as the name implies, allows Twitter's 643 million active users to simply turn off tweets from friends, family, and celebs they're following. The benefit? Well, we've all had that awkward experience where we unfriend or unfollow someone on social media, only to cause them to have hurt feelings in the real world. 'Mute' allows you to shut off the annoying political rants and infinite stream of baby photos without alerting and hurting your friends. Is Twitter Creatively Bankrupt? For the most part, news of the update has landed with more of a thud than a splash! Over the last six months, the little-bluebird-that-could has released a number of updates to their servi...
Could Mice Be the Key to Reversing the Aging Process?
Lifestyle

Could Mice Be the Key to Reversing the Aging Process?

There may never come a time when people stop looking for anti-aging treatments. From Botox, to collagen, to facial fillers, people are continuously searching for a way to reverse the aging process. A new study shows that young mice could hold the key to the fountain of youth. A few days ago, scientists from Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of California, San Francisco, published findings that found pumping older mice with the blood of younger mice reversed the aging process in the older mice. Research showed that four weeks after the older mice had been injected with the young blood, they were able to stay on the treadmill for a longer period of time, and latent blood vessels in their brains were activated, adding strength to their hearts and muscles. The stem...
New Study Finds Parental Disproval Impedes Teen Drug Misuse
World

New Study Finds Parental Disproval Impedes Teen Drug Misuse

According to a new study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, which is the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics's official journal, the attitudes of parents towards substance abuse could help explain the observed ethnic variations in prescriptive drug abuse amongst teens. The research's finding support the accumulating evidence that parents continue to play a strong role in the decision making processes of adolescents, especially in regards to potentially hazardous behaviors. The researchers analyzed data based on a national survey of over 180,000 adolescents. Caucasian teens had the largest rates of prescription drug abuse, which is consistent with previous studies, but this new research found that teens coming from higher-income househo...
United Airlines Plans to Launch New International Route Between Denver and Panama City
Business, World

United Airlines Plans to Launch New International Route Between Denver and Panama City

Panama City is the hot new destination this year, and multiple airlines are keying in to this trend. This week, United Airlines announced that it would be creating a new international route out of its Denver hub. Starting Dec. 3, nonstop flights to Panama City will head out of Denver several times each week. United Airlines is following suit with its Star Alliance partner, Copa Airlines. Last week, Copa announced it would be creating a similar nonstop route to Panama City out of Montreal, Canada. Copa has been increasing its presence in the U.S. over the past several years, and is referring to Panama City as its base for a "hub of the Americas." Copa's hub there currently connects to over 40 cities. This new travel route follows the popularity of another international route that ope...