Opponents to modified foods
show fishy vehicles in D.C.


Riding around in a car topped with a giant half-vegetable, half-fish is bound to attract attention.

As Nikolas Schiller drives past the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., pedestrians gawk, kids point, and tourists snap pictures.

An oncoming driver pulls up in a stretch of slow traffic and asks, “What is it?”

Schiller explains it’s a Fishy Food Car and hands the man a card bearing a cartoon that asks, “Are we eating fishy food?”

It’s a visual pun. For opponents of genetically modified organisms, there’s something fishy - suspicious - about putting genes from other species into food crops, and they want foods containing modified ingredients to say so on the label.

There are no fish genes in the genetically modified foods on the market today, but nearly all of the corn, soybeans, cotton and sugar beets growing in the U.S. contain bacterial genes that help farmers control weeds and insects.

Schiller’s day job is with a D.C.-based public relations firm. But this summer his fishy apple car will join the fishy corn, soybean, sugar beet and tomato cars driving cross-country to Washington State, where a genetically modified labeling law is on the ballot this fall.

Momentum is behind them. Labeling laws were approved in Connecticut and Maine earlier this year.

Labeling everything containing a modified ingredient would take a lot of ink. They’re in 80 percent of the foods on supermarket shelves, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, especially anything processed, in a bottle, box or bag.

But are they bad for you? Schiller acknowledges that the only evidence of harm from modified foods is anecdotal, but he’s suspicious.

“This is a novel food. Our grandparents and previous generations didn’t eat this,” he said. “And now all of a sudden we’re seeing higher incidences of food and health issues."

Health authorities from the U.S. Institute of Medicine to the World Health Organization have said there’s nothing to fear from GMOs.

And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there is no substantive difference between genetically modified and conventional ingredients, so it can’t require labels.

On the other hand, products without modified genes may say so on the label, and these are now some of the hottest items in the supermarket. Last year, sales of certified-organic products grew 7.4 percent, twice the rate of the food sector as a whole. And foods with the “Non-GMO Verified” seal passed $1 billion in sales in 2011.

This has not gone unnoticed by the biotech industry.

This summer, the industry-sponsored Council for Biotechnology Information made an unusual, if understated, admission.

“We recognize we haven’t done the best job communicating about GMOs,” Executive Director Cathy Enright said in a press release. She was more frank in person.

“We should’ve been talking about this for two decades,” she said, adding that in the last few years in particular, social media have taken opposition to genetically modified foods to a new level. “We haven’t even been near social media.” 

But for opponents like Schiller, it’s not about a failure to communicate. For one thing, he wants to see the results of safety tests the companies submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.

“And they can say, ‘This is proprietary information. We’ve done our testing. We don’t have to disclose to the public,’” he said. “Anytime you have a veil over something, people are going to want transparency. People are going to want sunshine. And as long as you withhold that, people are gonna think, ‘This is kinda fishy.’”

Sunshine might be about to break through. For the first time, Ms. Enright said, the companies’ testing data will be available online at a new Web site: GMOAnswers.com.

“It’s gonna be technical,” she said. “But we’ve been asked, ‘Show us your data.’”

It’s part of a new pledge of openness and dialogue. Ms. Enright said the big seed companies will be opening their doors for people to come and see what they do. There will be dinners where supporters and opponents can sit down and talk. She said a panel of volunteers will be answering any questions the public might have.

“We believe that if people have the information at hand, that it won’t feel fishy; that they’ll be more comfortable with this technology,” she said.

But with a growing number of states considering labeling laws, the industry has a lot of catching up to do.


Store on wheels is one answer
to high urban commercial rents


For many would-be entrepreneurs, the cost of opening a store in New York and other U.S. cities is prohibitive.  But from coast-to-coast, the traditional model for retail stores is taking a new direction on four wheels. 

Meet Jessie Goldenberg.  She borrowed money and converted an old delivery truck into a trendy boutique.  She says being mobile keeps her overhead down. Most of all, she escapes those pricey New York rents. 

“It’s all, it’s skyrocketing.  It was unaffordable for me as a young business owner to start a boutique that was in a brick and mortar store in the city and pay the rents," said Ms. Goldenberg.

Jessie’s Nomad Boutique carries clothing and jewelry mostly by local designers who specialize in one-of-a-kind items. This year, she turned a profit. She attributes that to having created a new experience for shoppers. 

 “I think the intimacy is different, you know, and the convenience, you know, we’re here, it’s their lunch break.  We’re right outside their door, they can come in," said Ms. Goldenberg.

Ms. Goldenberg is part of a growing number of young entrepreneurs who bring their products to the customer…and sometimes the consumer has more than two legs.
 
This mobile shop for canines, called With Love Ivan,  is named after Dina DelRusso’s pet, Ivan.  

The truck shop, filled with treats for dogs, travels between New York and New Jersey every day.

It began with a stomach problem.

“.... my dog had some sensitivities to chicken.  So I started making my own treats for him.  My neighbor, who is a dog walker, asked me if I could make some pupcakes for a dog she walked and have a birthday party for him. So I did. And then from there I just started making different treats for different people and, I thought, why not get a truck and be like the ice cream man for dogs," said Ms. DelRusso.

Ms. DelRusso says her best selling treat is called Pupcakes. 

"I make them with human grade organic ingredients," she said.

She keeps costs down by having a small inventory

"I thought why not be mobile. I can be anywhere.  If it doesn’t work in one spot, I can easily move to another.  That’s kind of how it started," she said.

Ivan is her taste tester. 

“So this is carrot and oat, and this has a beef liver treat on top.  This is peanut butter and bacon cookie," said Ms. DelRusso.


Prosecutors seeking 60 years
for WikiLeak leaker Manning


U.S. military prosecutors are recommending a 60-year prison term for the Army private convicted of disclosing a vast array of classified information to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks.

An Army prosecutor, Capt. Joe Morrow, told a military judge Monday that 25-year-old Private First Class Bradley Manning deserves to "spend the majority of his remaining life in confinement," after leaking more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks.

Morrow rejected a claim by Manning's defense attorneys that he was a troubled soldier who thought he was doing good by exposing U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and American battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. The prosecutor called the leaks destructive and he described Manning as a determined insider who exploited an imperfect system.

The judge, Col. Denise Lind, has convicted Manning of 20 offenses, including espionage. She said she would start deliberating today on what sentence to impose.

Manning could face up to 90 years in prison.

Last week, he apologized for hurting the U.S., and he pleaded with Judge Lind for a chance to go to college and become a productive citizen.


Oklahoma judge halts
morning after pill law


A judge in Oklahoma issued a temporary restraining order Monday blocking implementation of a law that critics said would limit a woman's access to emergency contraception known as the morning after pill, court records showed.
 
“Once again Oklahoma politicians' efforts to turn back the clock on women's health and rights have been blocked,” David Brown, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in an emailed statement.
 
The Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice sued the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt Aug. 8, claiming the law violated Oklahoma's constitution and put up barriers for women who wanted to use legal contraception.
 
The order was issued by State District Court Judge Lisa Davis.
 
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin May 29, included a provision requiring women 17 years of age and older to show identification to a pharmacist to obtain Plan B One-Step contraception, commonly called the morning after pill, and requiring those under 17 to have a prescription for it.
 
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the governor's office or the state pharmacy board.
 
Diane Clay, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Pruitt, said in a statement, “The law simply keeps requirements the same as they have been for more than a decade, requiring those under age 17 to have a prescription to buy Plan B emergency contraceptives.”
 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Plan B One-Step for over-the-counter sales June 20 with no age or point-of-sale restrictions and no identification requirements for purchase.
 
Plan B One-Step is marketed as an emergency contraceptive that can help prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after birth control failure or unprotected sex. It has been a point of contention for years between abortion rights groups and abortion opponents.


U.N. climate scientists stress
human causation in new report


An international team of climate scientists reports with near certainty that most of the global temperature rise over recent decades is due to human activity. In addition, they warn that sea levels could rise by more than a meter by the year 2100 if fossils fuel emissions are not curtailed.

The findings are reported in the latest summary from the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change, which was leaked after it was sent to a large group of people who had signed up to review it.

In the strongest language the panel has used so far, the draft report says "it is extremely likely that human influence on climate caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010."

The report's findings will be discussed and edited by governments and scientists in Stockholm before its official release at the end of September, and the text could change, according to the panel spokesman.


Copper now considered factor
in development of Alzheimer's


Scientists say copper may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder that causes dementia and eventually death. 

Alzheimer’s disease is a leading cause of dementia worldwide in people ages 65 and older.  According to the organization Alzheimer's Disease International, almost 36 million people were living with dementia globally in 2010, and the number is projected to rise to 115 million by 2050.
 
Alzheimer’s is caused by the toxic accumulation of a protein called amyloid beta.  Amyloid beta forms plaques in the brain that are the hallmark of the disease.  But the mechanism underlying the collection of the protein is unknown.
 
Now, researchers have concluded that one of the main environmental triggers of Alzheimer’s disease appears to be copper, an important metal that is in meat, fruits and vegetables as well as drinking water. Copper plays an important role in nerve conduction, bone growth and hormone secretion.

Rashid Deane is a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.
 
According to Deane, copper accumulates in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s, contributing to the collection of beta amyloid, normally swept away in healthy individuals by a protein called LRP1, which Deane likens to a garbage truck.

“It looks like in the copper-dosed animals that are aging, the capacity to remove the toxin amyloid from the brain is reduced in these animals because there isn’t so many garbage trucks to take it away," said Deane.

Researchers led by Deane fed copper-laced drinking water to mice for three months.  Investigators found the copper in the blood stream made its way to the walls of capillaries that protect the brain from toxins, including copper. 

Over time, Deane says, the copper broke down the so-called blood-brain barrier that prevents harmful substances, such as copper, from entering and harming the brain.  Researchers noted the same effect in human brain cells.

The mystery is why copper collects in the brains of some individuals, potentially causing Alzheimer’s disease, and not in others. 

Deane says those who develop Alzheimer’s are at risk because of genetics as well as their body's ability to prevent damage to cells.  And then there’s the impact of modern life.

“Humans live in different places sometimes over their lives, they eat things, they try different foods.  And some people are very conscious in what they are eating now because they are wise about the composition of the food and they know the nutritional value of the food they are eating.  So, that may be one variable component which may tend to explain why it develops," said Deane.

Because copper is in everything, other researchers say trace amounts are unlikely to account for the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease. An article on copper's potential role in Alzheimer's disease is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Emergencies called opening
for mental health expansion


A new report by the World Health Organization argues that humanitarian emergencies offer opportunities for improving peoples’ lives through improving mental health services.  The report was being released on World Humanitarian Day, Monday, in hopes of ensuring that those faced with emergencies can recover and rebuild their lives even better than before. 

When conflicts and natural disasters trigger mental health problems, psychological help is needed, but usually is not available.  Humanitarian agencies work hard to help people recover.   But World Health found much of the support offered tends to be of short duration.  
 
Mark Van Ommeren of the agency's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse noted that many people affected by catastrophic events have long-term problems and are in need of long-term help.  He said emergencies present an enormous opportunity to build back better health systems, especially mental health systems, which, according to World Health, are virtually non-existent in low-and-middle income countries.
 
“Those systems would be for all people in need — people with new mental health problems and people with pre-existing mental health problems," Van Ommeren explained. "That is important because in many areas of the world, as you know, there are no mental health services.  So, this is an opening.  This is also very important because societies that go through major emergencies need to recover and mental health is essential for recovery of these events for the functioning of society, for the resilience of society.” 
 
The 110-page report provides guidance for strengthening mental health systems after emergencies.  It focuses on 10 cases, where countries have taken advantage of this opportunity.
 
One nation the report cites is Sri Lanka.  In the aftermath of the catastrophic 2004 Tsunami, it said the government created a new national mental health policy, which extends to most parts of the country.
 
Another example is that of Iraq.  Van Ommeren said it is particularly appropriate to focus on Iraq since the World Health report is being issued on World Humanitarian Day, marking the 10th anniversary of the bombing of United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed at least 22 people including the U.N. special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. 
 
“Iraq since 2004, has made substantial progress towards the creation of a mental health system — meaning that, making sure that people have access to mental health care," he said. "So, now over all these years about half of all the general practitioners -- you can imagine it is a big country, there are a lot of general practitioners -- about half of them have been trained in mental health.  That brings mental health care closer to the people.  Before that, most mental health care was only available in big cities, in asylums.  The situation was much more negative. Now, it is more positive.” 
 
Other positive case studies include Afghanistan, Burundi, Aceh Province in Indonesia, Jordan, Kosovo, Somalia, Timor-Leste, and West Bank and Gaza Strip, the report said.. 
 
World Health hopes the report will help policy makers reform their mental health systems, especially those susceptible to future emergencies.  Already this year, the world is grappling with crises in conflict-ridden Syria, in Mali and the Central African Republic and there has been major flooding in parts of the Americas, Africa, and Asia.


Humanoid robot began as arm
for disabled human beings


Robo Sally is a remotely controlled humanoid robot that may one day help law enforcement officials and emergency technicians defuse bombs, patrol large spaces and do guard duty. It was designed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory outside Washington, D.C.

Robo Sally is a versatile moving platform with a humanoid attachment that looks like a modern day centaur. It can turn in tight spaces, climb over small obstacles, closely examine objects and even manipulate them with human-like hands.

But Robo Sally was not initially designed for sentry duties.

Mike McLaughlin, the principal investigator for lab's Prosthetics Program, said, "The purpose of that program is to develop prosthetic arms that have all the capability of your natural arms, and you do all the complex motions that we can do with the natural arm - with the robot. We had this idea if we did this for prosthetics for humans, we could also put these on robotic platforms and enable the robots to go out into dangerous situations.”

It was a complex task. McLaughlin said the device not only had to have many small motors to mimic the flexibility of the human hand, it needed human-like strength. The thumb was especially difficult because it allows the hand to grasp objects. And everything had to fit into a space about the size of a hand.

The next problem, McLaughlin said, was to figure out how to control the artificial hand. “So we had to figure out how to make the connection between the brain and this arm. We’ve done that for spinal injury patients, where we can actually interface with the brain and use the patient’s thoughts to control the arm.”