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Could the cure for HIV be lurking where we least expect it? A group of scientists think so. In a recent paper published in PLoS Biology , they contend that junk genes , that have been lurking inactive in the human DNA for millions of years, may hold the cure. They managed to reawaken one promising gene, and have demonstrated that it could potentially provide humans with immunity to HIV, by blocking the virus from penetrating cell walls. This is not as farfetched as it may seem. As remarked in the paper, there are "nonhuman primates also produce theta-defensins-18 residue cyclic peptides that act as HIV-1 entry inhibitor." This is totally cool!

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map This map was created by niman to track the swine flu outbreak.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now twice the size of France. I've posted previously on this floating monument to humanity's total disregard for the planet. Located in the Pacific Ocean, the garbage patch is an accumulation of debris , that is held together by ocean currents. It is a large, floating mass, about 10 metres deep, of just garbage. Today, that garbage is almost 90% plastic. While the garbage patch must have existed for a long time, it is only in recent history that its composition changed from biodegradable material to mostly plastic. Estimates suggest that the navies and commercial shipping fleets of the world dump about 639,000 plastic containers overboard each day -- yet, surprisingly, 80% of the garbage patch doesn't come boats, but originates from land. The wind blows plastic rubbish out of littered streets and landfills, and lorries and trains on their way to landfills. It gets into rivers, streams and storm drains and then rides the tides and c

The CRTC wants to hear your voice on the topic of ISP's Internet Traffic Management. In case you don't know, ISPs today monitor your online activities. They know where you go, what you do, how long you do it -- and in case where you're interacting with someone else, they also know who you're doing it to. All great stuff to know if you were living in a dictatorship -- or you were a criminal -- but if you're a freedom loving, law abiding citizen -- well, you're being monitored, so mind where you go and what you do, as one of the goons at Rogers or Bell, is being a voyeur. If you like the internet, and the content that's readily at your fingertips, you'll probably be shocked to know that the ISPs want the ability to degrade your service, if they think you're having just a little too much fun. Translation: that YouTube video you're watching just became very jerky, unless you stay up after midnight to watch it. Rogers and Bell are already thrott

Google Labs has done it again -- this time, with Similar Images -- capability that puts a Similar Images link below relevant thumbnails in Google's image search results. By clicking the Similar Images link, Google then provides a fairly accurate refinement of your image search. Totally cool!

The coppers may have gotten to the pirates, but Google plans on freeing your torrents . Take that MPAA and RIAA! Now if only there was something worth pirating from Hollywood. On a related note, I read that some bad souls have launched Operation Public Pirate. It's UK-based, as the culprits have decided to target the music industry by pirating all the number one UK singles from 1952-2007. They've prepared a torrent with all of the songs, and are asking public pirates to download the music, buy a big spindle of DVDs, then burn the music on all the DVDs, and leave them in public places for people to take -- for free.

That's it, Amazon will no longer be getting any of my money. I will no longer use the online shop for anything until it changes a policy that now considers books with homosexual characters -- or positively deal with homosexuality -- as adult books , no different from pornography. It becomes another form of censorship, when an international bookseller purposely skews data or feed its clients ignorance, instead of keeping them informed. I conducted a non-scientific analysis of Amazon's treatment of homosexuality, by comparing how Amazon UK, Canada and the US treats homosexuality. The findings: Amazon UK Search term: homosexuality Results: Can Homosexuality be Healed? by Francis MacNutt - 1-star rating; A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality by Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Nicolosi - 1-star rating; A Natural History of Homosexuality by Dr. Francis Mark Mondimore MD - 4.5-star rating; The Greeks And Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality In Ancient Greece

Politico reports that the Obama-Bankers meeting recently held at the White House, was anything but a friendly meeting. As the bankers rolled out their excuses, Obama apparently interrupted with this line: Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that. My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks. It's nice when government represents the interests of their electorate.

Reverend Mark Stringer cried. He's obviously not a man of god, because if he was, he'd raise an army to hunt down gays and lesbians in Iowa. Stringer cried however, because the Supreme Court in Iowa just made it OK for gays and lesbians to legally marry in the state. Previously, Stringer had officiated the only same-sex marriage in the state, in 2007, when there was a short legal limbo on permitting same sex marriages. The only way to officially stop the state is to amend its constitution -- an opportunity that won't present itself until 2012. "We are firmly convinced that the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the court said in an opinion written by Justice Mark Cady. "The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification." The