7:44 PM
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1990836,00.html?hpt=T2
UC-Berkeley's plan to voluntarily test incoming freshmen's DNA is being criticized by some people:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2010/05/life-sciences-uc-berkeley-plan-to-test-freshmen-dna-criticized/
Genetic discoveries from a shrub called the burning bush could lead to healthier vegetable oil *and* a direct-use biofuel for many diesel engines that can fuel the tractors that harvest the crops for the new vegetable oil. Efficient tractor fuel and healthier vegetable oil with the same discovery...an interesting combination to me:
http://news.msu.edu/story/7896/
Scientists have found evidence for a significant violation of matter-antimatter symmetry that goes against what is expected in the current theory:
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/CP-violation-20100518.html
Tesla and Toyota announced that they intend to cooperate on the development of electric vehicles, parts, and production system and engineering support. Toyota bought $50 million of Tesla's common stock as part of the deal:
http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=2509
Tesla also announced that they will make its cars in the Fremont, CA factory that Toyota and GM used to operate. Downey, CA officials are upset because they had been hoping that Toyota would be using a closed facility in their city that used to manufacture the space shuttle, and they said that Tesla had told the city they would sign the lease for the Downey plant today. Tesla said they selected Fremont because of the amount of existing auto factory infrastructure that is still
usable:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-20100521,0,4035370.story
Arizona provides 25% of LA's power and they are threatening to leave LA in the dark and its air conditioners without power this summer if LA doesn't take back its boycott of Arizona over their new immigration law. San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Boston, Seattle, Austin, etc., have also voted for boycotts, but Arizona doesn't have leverage with them like they have with LA. Arizona residents are writing letters to San Diego, threatening to not visit San Diego as tourists unless San Diego calls off their boycott of Arizona:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Media/arizona-threatens-turn-lights-off-los-angeles-city/story?id=10691844
Arizona voters voted 64% to 36% to raise their sales tax from 5.6% to 6.6%. Arizona had already cut their state budget by 20% and sold its state Capitol, privatized prisons, and closed some of its state parks to try to deal with their budget deficit that was nearly as big as California's. With Arizona's economy so much smaller than California's economy, that budget deficit was really squeezing their state:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-tax-20100520,0,404819.story
Pennsylvania's Attorney General (and Republican candidate for Governor) is demanding that Twitter reveal the names, addresses, contact information, and other information of two anonymous tweeters who have been criticizing him and his investigation. His subpoena fails to identify which laws these tweeters allegedly broke and Twitter normally doesn't have the names and addresses of their users, but this controversy is getting a lot of attention from the media:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/pennsylvania-politician-attacks-free-speech-twitter-669
Analysis of the $14 billion raised in India's 3G spectrum auction:
http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=46331&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10
Fierce Wireless has their summary of the announcements yesterday about Android 2.2, listing the upgrades it provides and detailing Google's comparisons of Android vs. the iPhone:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/google-unveils-android-2-2-froyo-escalating-war-against-apple/2010-05-20
I cannot wait for my kids to be old enough to read Harry Potter and experience the theme park with my wife and me!
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/05/21/the-new-harry-potter-theme-park-we-were-there/