Let's Get 7 in IELTS

 A college class mines the Android for a set of apps that will change the way we phone

Future Phone: With Android, Google is betting that the future of computing will be handheld.

Google has rescinded an article of the user agreement for its new browser, Chrome, released on Tuesday.

The initial agreement claimed rights over "any Content which you submit, post or display on or through" the browser.

Google reworded the agreement on Wednesday, leaving those rights in the hands of Chrome's users.

A thinner, tougher display puts screens on more gadgets.

Story Highlights
4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf in Canada separated in early August
Nineteen-square-mile shelf is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean
Summer's ice shelf loss equivalent to three times the area of Manhattan
Ecosystems that depend on ice shelves are on brink of extinction, scientists say

Thailand's beleaguered Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, has said he will not resign despite mounting pressure.

In a radio address to the nation, he said he would not bow to the demands of anti-government protesters.

On Tuesday Mr Samak imposed a state of emergency in Bangkok after his supporters and opponents clashed in the capital, leaving one person dead.

The Milky Way's central black hole may not be able to hide for much longer. Observations have been made three times closer to the centre of our galaxy than ever before, strengthening the case that a supermassive black hole lurks there.

The Milky Way's centre hosts a bright object called SgrA*, which may be a disc of swirling gas and dust surrounding a heavyweight black hole.

Measuring the size and shape of SgrA* could help confirm the existence of the black hole. But a blur of clouds between the galactic centre and the Earth has prevented astronomers from getting a clear view of the object's shape.

Now, a team has managed to get three times closer than previous studies in viewing SgrA*. They did it by looking for the object's higher frequency radio signals, which cut through intervening gas and dust.

(The punishment for the game of  our IELTS studying group.)

Are gun owners more likely to kill themselves? Two doctors who think so are asking lawmakers and psychologists to take a new look at the risks of firearms.

Matthew Miller of the Harvard School of Public Health studied four years of data in the US and found higher rates of suicides involving firearms in states with more gun owners – up to four times higher for men and eight times higher for women. The numbers of suicides not involving firearms, on the other hand, were the same.

This contradicts the common assumption, says Miller, that anyone serious enough to use a gun would find another equally effective means of suicide if a gun were not available. He argues that suicide is an impulsive action. "If people reach for a gun, they don't get a second chance; if they reach for pills, they do." says Miller.

 ScienceDaily (June 12, 2008) — East Siberia's permafrost contains about 500 Gigatons (1100 trillion pounds) of frozen carbon deposits that are highly susceptible to disturbances as the climate warms.

Called the Yedoma, this permafrost has not undergone much alteration by soil microorganisms since its formation, which took place between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. To investigate how easily this huge carbon stock could be degassed in future warming scenarios, Khvorostyanov et al. use a model of heat transfer and soil organic matter decomposition in frozen soils and find that specific conditions trigger the irreversible thawing of Yedoma, which is maintained by heat production by soil microbial activity.

Once started, irreversible thawing could release 4.4-6.2 trillion pounds of carbon per year into the atmosphere between the years 2300 and 2400, transforming 74 percent of the initial carbon stock into carbon dioxide and methane.

Further investigations reveal that the faster the planet's surface warms, the sooner fast deep-soil decomposition will start, although the tipping point above which soil carbon starts irreversible mobilization due to permafrost thawing increases slightly with larger external warming rates.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) — Permafrost blanketing the northern hemisphere contains more than twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, making it a potentially mammoth contributor to global climate change depending on how quickly it thaws.

So concludes a group of nearly two dozen scientists in a paper appearing this week in the journal Bioscience. The lead author is Ted Schuur, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Florida.

With Hurricane Gustav on course to hit the US Gulf of Mexico coast, the damage it does to the region's oil facilities could be a "worse case scenario".

The stark warning comes from extreme weather impact analyst Jim Roullier, who says Gustav may be more damaging than 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Output from oil rigs in the US Gulf has already been cut by three-quarters, as staff continue to be evacuated.

The region produces 25% of the US's crude oil and 15% of its natural gas.

About 4,000 offshore oil and gas facilities are located in the US gulf, 100 of which were badly damaged three years ago by Katrina and the follow on Hurricane Rita.

A teenage cancer patient has undergone successful surgery to rebuild his shoulder using his elbow.

Tom Lemm, 15, from Pontefract, had his left arm amputated by surgeons at Leeds General Hospital because of a tumour at the top of the limb.

Doctors used tissue and muscle from his unaffected elbow to create a new shoulder in what is believed to be the first UK operation of its kind.

Tom's surgeon said the shoulder would be able to support an artificial arm.

In the operation, the whole arm and the shoulder joint were removed.

First-born babies may be programmed in the womb to have a higher risk of asthma and allergy, research suggests.

A University of South Carolina led team carried out tests on more than 1,200 newborns from the Isle of Wight.

They found first borns were more likely to carry a gene variant which raised their risk of allergy.

The study, to be presented to the American Thoracic Society, found this seemed to translate to a higher risk of allergy through to the age of ten.

The researchers measured levels of an antibody called Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the babies' umbilical cord blood.

Air traffic at some three dozen airports across the US has been disrupted by a computer glitch, the Federal Aviation Administration says.

The network problem hit an FAA flight plan processing facility near Atlanta, Georgia, leaving a hub in Salt Lake City to handle data for the entire US.

The FAA said air safety was not affected and systems were returning to normal by late on Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security said there was no link to terrorism.

What drove me there was the same inner need that got me to the OpenTech conference last weekend, despite the fact it meant a trip to London on a Saturday.
Two weeks ago it took me to York for Shift Happens, an event for those working in the arts to explore new technology, and before that it had dragged me to 2gether08, the strangely-named but fabulously productive convention that arch-networker Steve Moore created by inviting a lot of interesting people to come up with some cool things to talk about.

I am sure that it will take me around the country and indeed the world in years to come, because there is something special about being in the same space as someone else.

Pregnant women have been told that using perfumes or scented creams may increase the risk of unborn boys developing infertility in later life.

Edinburgh University researchers claimed a crucial window between eight and 12 weeks of pregnancy determined future reproductive problems.

They believe that exposure to chemicals found in cosmetics during this period may affect later sperm production.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was only discovered in 1998.

Two teams of researchers investigating the huge number of frog deaths in Central America and Australia isolated the fungus and discovered that it could have a deadly effect if frogs became infected with it.

It belongs to a family of fungi known as the chytrids (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is also commonly referred to as the chytrid fungus).

USAID/Indonesia is seeking applications from qualified U.S. Citizens and Third Country Nationals interested in providing the services of a Senior Economic Growth Advisor. This is a senior position within USAID/Indonesia. Under the direction of the Economic Growth Office Director, he/she will take a lead role in helping strengthen and advance USAID/Indonesia's economic growth portfolio, manage a portfolio of projects and manage and mentor Economic Growth Office staff. He/she is expected to serve as an expert in advising Government of Indonesia officials, business leaders and U.S. Government professionals in economic growth. He/she will provide significant input into the design of the Mission's next economic growth strategy (2009-2014) and related activities, development and oversight of key activities and provision of assistance across the Mission, to donors and to the Government of Indonesia.

1. USAID United States Aid for International Development 美國國際開發援助署
2. qualify取得資格;具備合格條件[(+as/for)]
3. portfolio部長職;大臣職[C][U]
4. strategy策略,計謀;對策[C][(+for)][+to-v]
5. oversight監督;照管

Dubbed the Formula Zero championship, the contest pitted teams from five countries against each other in a zero-emissions go-kart race.

Each team's entry was powered by a commercial fuel cell that produces electricity from hydrogen.

A Dutch team won the endurance event, while a Spanish team clinched the award for fastest lap.

Haitian authorities have urged people in the poor Caribbean nation to take precautions amid fears of landslides and widespread flooding.

Haiti, hit a week ago by a tropical storm that left more than two dozen dead, is vulnerable to mudslides because of widespread deforestation.

The storm is expected to bring rainfall of 64cm (25 inches) in some areas.