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Let me think about that....NO!A new ad campaign has been launched to extend medical coverage to illegal aliens in the state of California. The California Endowment, a private foundation that advocates for affordable healthcare, wants county-run Medicaid expansion programs called Low-Income Health Programs to be "retooled" to provide insurance for this population - well over 1 million people! Just what the people of California need, right? First they cut tuition assistance for citizen students by $1.2 billion. Then they made illegal aliens eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, with AB131 - signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Then tuition assistance was...

FOR much of the last century, the straightforward solution to making a car perform better has been to install a bigger engine. In the hybrids and electric cars of coming years, however, the answer might be installing motors with more powerful magnets. Until the 1980s, the most powerful magnets available were those made from an alloy containing samarium and cobalt. But mining and processing those metals presented challenges: samarium, one of 17 so-called rare earth elements, was costly to refine, and most cobalt came from mines in unstable regions of Africa. In 1982, when researchers at General Motors developed a...

If a person's blood becomes too thick it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. But a Temple University physicist has discovered that he can thin the human blood by subjecting it to a magnetic field. [snip] Because red blood cells contain iron, Tao has been able to reduce a person's blood viscosity by 20-30 percent by subjecting it to a magnetic field of 1.3 Telsa (about the same as an MRI) for about one minute. Tao and his collaborator tested numerous blood samples in a Temple lab and found that the magnetic field polarizes the...

Forget the "top hat," the "junk shot," the diamond saws and the "top kill" — one Florida scientist says he's developed a simple solution to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: a set of bone-crushingly powerful magnets.

Scientists have now levitated mice using magnetic fields. Other researchers have made live frogs and grasshoppers float in mid-air before, but such research with mice, being closer biologically to humans, could help in studies to counteract bone loss due to reduced gravity over long spans of time, as might be expected in deep space missions or on the surfaces of other planets. Scientists working on behalf of NASA built a device to simulate variable levels of gravity. It consists of a superconducting magnet that generates a field powerful enough to levitate the water inside living animals, with a space inside...

Florida wildlife managers have launched an experiment to see if they can keep crocodiles from returning to residential neighborhoods by temporarily taping magnets to their heads to disrupt their "homing" ability. Crocodiles are notoriously territorial and when biologists move them from urban areas to new homes in the wild, they often go right back to the place where they were captured, traveling up to 10 miles a week to get there.Scientists believe they rely in part on the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate, and that taping magnets to both sides of their heads disorients them.

Official: China knew about magnets BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China knew about problems with magnets on toys as long ago as March, an industry official said on Wednesday, following a second massive recall of Chinese-made Mattel toys due to hazards from small, powerful magnets. Mattel's Barbie and Tanner doll set is one of the products being recalled. 1 of 2 Mattel Inc. the largest U.S. toy company, recalled millions more Chinese-made toys on Tuesday due to hazards from the magnets and lead paint, and warned it may recall additional products as it steps up testing. "We knew about the situation,...

Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies (MWTT), a developer and manufacturer of magnetically levitated commercial wind turbines, has officially begun operations. According to the Sierra Vista, Ariz.-headquartered company, with the use of magnetic levitation turbine technology, the wind turbine floats on a magnetic cushion and incorporates a linear synchronous motor. MWTT says that because the lack of friction allows for increased wind capture, users can generate electricity for less than $0.01 per kWh. The company is headed by Ed Mazur, a researcher of variable renewable energy sources since 1981 and inventor of the magnetic levitation wind turbine. For more information on the...

Scientists in New York promoted the growth of new neurons in the brains of mice using a magnetic stimulus in the region associated with memory. Presenting the results at the American Academy for Neuroscience conference, the researchers said the results may lead to treatments for Alzheimer's. However, if proven the technique is more likely to be a way of slowing progression of the disease than a cure. Experts said the work was encouraging but would need to be replicated in humans. Trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to treat certain disorders, including depression and schizophrenia and to rehabilitate...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat.

At Least 25 Die In German Train Crash LATHEN, Germany, Sept. 22, 2006 (AP) A high-tech train traveling at 125 mph crashed in northwestern Germany on Friday, killing at least 25 people in the first fatal wreck involving the magnetic levitation system. The train, which runs primarily as a demonstration by its manufacturer, was carrying at least 29 people when it struck a maintenance vehicle carrying two workers on the elevated track. Mangled wreckage hung from the 13-foot-high track, with seats and other debris strewn below. Police spokesman Martin Ratermann said the death toll rose to 25 after more searching...

Imre’s team have made a universal logic gate called a majority inverter. From this they can make any other type of logic gate needed for a circuit, including two critical logic gates known as NAND and NOR gates. All possible logic circuits can be made with these. And because the gates are based on magnets they can be switched from one to another easily, allowing processors built from nanomagnets to be reprogrammed to do different jobs while they are in use, says the team. Simulations show processing speeds of at least 100 megahertz should be possible using magnets 110 nanometres...

REDMOND - A freak accident involving a popular toy has killed a 2-year-old boy. And now, Kenny Sweet's parents hope that other parents can learn from their tragedy. It was Thanksgiving Day when Kenny was rushed to Kirkland's Evergreen Medical Center emergency room with what his mom thought was the stomach flu. But five minutes later, Kenny had died. "I heard 'code blue' and I was hysterical at that point," Penny Sweet said. "I thought maybe if we all could pray at the same time that we could pull him out, but no amount of prayers or people could save...

OK, I was out and about today and I saw a typical yellow ribbon magnet on the rear of an SUV. However, when I looked closer, it had wording in it which said "Bring the Troops Home". Next to it was a blue ribbon magnet which said "Peace". I was wondering if people could please post here pictures of all of the ribbon-type magnets they've seen on cars, because I'm losing my mind keeping track of them. Also, what was the first "yellow-ribbon" type magnet, and when did it appear? Lastly, when you post your ribbon magnet picture, if you...

The pictures and stories are the stuff of slapstick: wheelchairs, gurneys and even floor polishers jammed deep inside M.R.I. scanners whose powerful magnets grabbed them from the hands of careless hospital workers. The police officer whose pistol flew out of his holster and shot a wall as it hit the magnet. The sprinkler repairman whose acetylene tank was yanked inside, breaking its valve and starting a fire that razed the building. But the bigger picture is anything but funny, medical safety experts say. As the number of magnetic resonance imaging scanners in the country has soared from a handful in...

When Ilene Ross burst through the doors at the swanky Bossa Nova for cocktail hour, heads whipped around and conversations paused, but no one seemed to notice the striking brunette. Instead, a flock of women rushed around Ross' date and started rubbing his belly. Buck responded with a lick and sniff to the crotch. It's not common bar etiquette, but Buck, a pit bull mix from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, worked his charm. It was "Yappy Hour," a weekly meet-and-greet between young cosmopolitans and animals up for adoption. Ross, the vice president of the shelter's board of...

SHAWNEE, Kan. - Sandra Wetmore, lover of country and supporter of troops, wanted a simple way to show her allegiances. So, like many other Americans, she put them on her bumper, sticking on a yellow, ribbon-shaped magnet that pleads "Support Our Troops" and others promising "United We Stand" and "God Answers Prayers." These magnetic ribbons have become fixtures on highways across the country, a symbol of people looking for ways to show support of the men and women overseas, or of issues such as breast cancer research and autism awareness. "It's very positive," said Wetmore, 59, of Kansas City, Kan....

Magnetic ribbons of all colors, sizes and varieties are being attached to the tails of SUVs and compact cars alike, like so many dot-commers swarming to the deceiving stock market rise of the late '90s. In particular, the yellow and red, white and blue ribbons sporting the phrases "Support Our Troops" and "Freedom Isn't Free" have become as common as taillights.

It's become a phenomenon on four wheels: magnets for cars, with ribbons that say "Support Our Troops." In a particularly heated election year, the magnets are one thing drivers -- and voters -- seem to be able to agree on. "Geez, they're everywhere," says Bob Fortini, proprietor of Fortini's Service Station in Somerville. "It seems like every car you get behind has one lately. I saw three of them on one car this morning. It's exploded in the last month." There are several variations on the magnet. Some of the ribbons are yellow. Some are red, white, and blue. Some...

An important U.S. high-tech manufacturer is shutting down its American operations, laying off hundreds of workers and moving sophisticated equipment now being used to make critical parts for smart bombs to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Insight has learned. Indianapolis-based Magnequench Inc. has not yet publically announced the closing of its Valparaiso, Ind., factory, but Insight has confirmed that the company will shut down this year and relocate at least some of its high-tech machine tools to Tianjin, China. Word of the shutdown comes as the company is producing critical parts for the U.S. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)...