Positive News Update 3-15-06

Fresh from the wires here's a couple
of positive stories and one just for fun!

Burundi agrees to peace talks with rebels

Burundi has agreed to peace talks with the last
group of rebels holding out from a series of deals
that ended the central African nation's 12-year
civil war, a government spokesman said.

The announcement came a day after the head of
the National Liberation Force, or FNL, said his
Hutu rebel group was ready for negotiations.

Chile to give seniors free hospital care

Newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet
has said that all Chileans older than 60 will
immediately begin receiving free care at public
hospitals.

Bachelet said she also plans to increase pensions
earned by Chileans and grant government
pensions to elderly citizens who lack an income.

Rome's chief rabbi visits city mosque

Rome's chief rabbi recently visited the main
mosque in the Italian capital. He is the city's
first chief rabbi ever to do so in a move to
increase dialogue between religions and offer
the Jewish community's support to Muslims
in Italy.

Study shows ethanol good for the
environment and the economy

A recent study refutes the notion that it takes
more energy to produce ethanol than the
corn-based fuel saves.

Scientists at the University of California-Berkeley,
USA say there's a 20 per cent net energy gain
by using fossil fuels to make ethanol compared
to gasoline.

Ethanol producers say the study shows that
cleaner-burning ethanol is good for both the
environment and the economy.

``The new study reaffirms what we already
know: Ethanol is energy positive, and it grows,''
said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Renewables
in Iowa Falls.

Nanotechnology May Repair
Damaged Brains

TUESDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News)

Rodents blinded by brain damage had their vision
partially restored within weeks after being treated
with nanotechnology developed by bioengineers
and neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.

The findings provide evidence that similar strategies
might someday work in humans.

The findings appear online this week in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Brain Injury Association of America
has more information about types of brain injury.

Click here for more

New Technique Rapidly
Detects Harmful Bacteria

Mar. 13 -- Scientists developed a rapid and efficient
way to identify the presence of pathogenic bacteria
within an unknown mixture of microbes.

Using this sequencing-based method, the research
team successfully distinguished between two closely
related microbes -- a pathogenic soil bacterium and
an anthrax bacterium.

This new method should advance the study of microbes
in the environment and improve the ability to distinguish
between benign and harmful bacteria.

Woman Shows Off Five-Pound
Monster Mango

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii - When Colleen Porter
took her mango to the local grocer, it wasn't to
sell it, but to weigh it and show it off.

Colleen Porter, already a state mango record holder,
has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World
Records as growing the world's heaviest mango —
5 pounds, 7 ounces.

The monster mango appears to be close to the size
of a human head. Now that's a huge mango!

Click for more