Science Daily — Researchers in California are reporting new evidence explaining pomegranate juice's mysterious beneficial effects in fighting prostate cancer.
In a new study, Navindra Seeram and colleagues have found that the tart, trendy beverage also uses a search-and-destroy strategy to target prostate cancer cells.
In previous research, Seeram's group found that pomegranate juice consumption had a beneficial effect for prostate cancer patients with rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Such increases in PSA signal that the cancer is progressing, "doubling time" a key indicator of prognosis. Men whose PSA levels double in a hort period are more likely to die from their cancer. Pomegranate juice increased doubling times by almost fourfold.
In the new study, they researchers discovered evidence in laboratory experiments that pomegranate works in a "seek and destroy" fashion. On consumption, ellagitannins (ET), antioxidants abundant in pomegranate juice, break down to metabolites known as urolithins. The researchers showed that the urolithins concentrate at high levels in prostate tissue after being given orally and by injection to mice with prostate cancer. They also showed that urolithins inhibited the growth of human prostate cancer cells in cell culture.
"The chemopreventive potential of pomegranate ellagitannins and localization of their bioactive metabolites ...   more »

Siemens is making border crossings in Europe more secure through biometric systems that store individual characteristics such as fingerprints and facial photos on a chip integrated into a passport.  
The systems have already been installed in several countries. The data is read at a passport checkpoint and compared with a live digital photo of the traveler, thereby making it practically impossible to travel with a false passport. The system software was developed in the Biometrics Center in Graz, Austria.
Switzerland introduced biometric passports in September 2006, and Siemens IT Solutions and Services recently provided a solution for producing so-called e-passports to the Czech Republic. To this end, SIS equipped some 230 passport control stations in that country with around 600 photo stands, passport scanning machines, and printers, as well as corresponding IT systems. In the future, an ultra-thin RFID chip equipped with an antenna will be embedded into Czech passports.
The chip will store personal data such as the passport holder’s name and date of birth, as well as a digital photo and fingerprint that will be read by special scanning devices at border crossings. The traveler’s actual fingerprint will be read by a fingerprint scanner, while his or ...   more »

Iran's role with the violence in Iraq remains a major preoccupation of the Bush administration, with the U.S. military now building a base, practically within shouting distance of Iran — an extraordinary step to curb what it says is the smuggling of advanced weapons into Iraq.
It will be called Combat Outpost Shocker, and it will hardly come as a pleasant surprise to Iran that the United States will have a new base just 5 miles from their border. Col. Mark Mueller, of the 3rd Infantry Division, said it is the first time the U.S. military will be that close to Iran.
"Obviously, they probably won't be very happy about it," Mueller told ABC's Terry McCarthy.
The U.S. accuses Iran of fighting a proxy war in Iraq, as it smuggles sophisticated roadside bombs and long range rockets into the region that kill Iraqis and American troops."While claiming to support Iraq in its transition, Iran has actively undermined it by providing lethal capabilities to the enemies of the Iraqi state," Ambassador Ryan Crocker said during his testimony on the state of the war to Congress Sept. 10.Struggle for Influence in Iraq
The Shocker base will be home to about 200 soldiers, ...   more »

By Sharon Weinberger September 25, 2007 | 3:00:00 PMCategories: Planes   
Just in time for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the United States, defense industry officials promised that the 30,000-lb. Massive Ordnance Penetrator will be ready for delivery on a B-52 bomber by 2008. Coincidence? As Defense Daily (sorry, subscription only) reports today:
 The Spirit's MOP will reach its initial operating capability in late 2008 with full operating capability following in the spring of 2009, Heimple said. Integration work began on the weapon in June 2007.
The B-2A can carry two MOPs, one in each of its weapon bays. The munition Northrop Grumman calls "like" the Joint Direct Attack Munition with a guidance system aided by the Global Positioning System, MOP contains more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside of a 20.5-foot-long steel enclosure. The weapon is said to be able to penetrate up to about 60 feet of dirt and concrete (Defense Daily, Dec. 4, 2006, Jan. 22 and July 20).
The mass makes it three and a half times as powerful as the Air Force's heaviest weapons, Heimple said. After extensive testing to gauge whether it is better to drop multiple bombs in the same spot ...   more »

U.S. Rep.: 'Rogue regimes, terrorists know about EMP, are working to acquire weapon'
By Bob Unruh
SCUD missile
A new report says a SCUD-type missile launched from a small ship 200 miles from the coast of the United States could unleash a nuclear-generated electromagnetic pulse over Washington, D.C., that would leave behind $771 billion in damage.
"More than five countries have the capability to inflict an EMP attack. Rogue regimes and terrorists know all about EMP and are working to acquire this weapon. We know the odds of our house burning down in any given year are very low, but that doesn't mean we will cancel our fire insurance," said U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md. "If America doesn't develop insurance against EMP, we will increase the odds of inviting this type of unimaginable attack in the future."
The report was produced by Sage Policy Group of Baltimore and commissioned by Instant Access Networks, which is leading a pilot project with Frostburg State University and Public Technology Institute to analyze dangers from EMP.
Experts have predicted the EMP attack essentially would destroy any electronics within range of its impact, leaving technology comparable to that available in the 1800s.
EMP attacks are ...   more »