THE ANOTHER DIMENSION OF EBOLA OUTBREAK

For more than four decades, the rare but deadly virus has terrorized the world, with news of a new outbreak cropping up seemingly every few years. The largest of these outbreaks took place in West Africa from 2014 through 2016 when Ebola killed more people than in all previous outbreaks combined: 11,310.

MORE THAN 100 PERSONS FEARED DEAD AS A BOEING 737 AIRCRAFT CRASHES IN HAVANA CUBA

More than 100 persons were confirmed dead in Cuba in a plane crash as a Boeing 737 commercial aircraft crashed and went down in flames at Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba.

The plane crashed down moments after its take-off from Jose Marti International Airport in the country's capital Havana.

It was also recorded that Three people survived the crash but were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, Cuban media reported.

It was also reported that the aircraft had 104 passengers and nine foreign crew on board when it crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de las Vegas.

Wreckage was scattered over the area 20 km south of Havana and ambulances and firefighters were at the scene, witnesses said. Blackened parts of the fuselage were visible.

"We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke go up," said Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the crash site in the agricultural area of Boyeros.

Carlos Alberto Martinez, the director of Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, told Reuters four victims of the accident had been brought there. One had died and the other three were in a serious condition.

She is alive but badly burnt and swollen," said a distressed relative of one of the survivors at the hospital.

The flight was bound for Holguin in eastern Cuba and was leased by airline Cubana from a small Mexican airline called Damojh or Global, Cuban state media said. Holguin has some of the island's most pristine beaches, and attracts tourists.

The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its ageing planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems.

REASONS WHY I THINK SOME NIGERIANS PREFER TO DIE THAN LIVE.

COME TO THINK OF IT TOO IF AM RIGHT! !!!


1:In town today, the cheapest hotel cost
more than ₦5000 just for a night, and the
most expensive mortuary is just ₦2900 for
a month, while a cemetery is ₦9000 for a life time!
what do u think? live or die?

2: A cab which gives you a lift for just 30mins,
that should be 2 and half miles, will charge you not less than ₦2000, and Ambulance is just
₦1500 for a whole day. ....what do you think?
live or die? .....

3: If you got bitten by a snake and you were rushed to the hospital, your admission and treatment cost more than ₦4000, and how much is for gun bullet? ...₦250...why wouldn't people
kill! ?...what do you think? live or die? ...

4: Just a baby towel cost more than ₦1000,
wat about condoms and pills? ..₦500 can solve
that! what do you think, abort or keep the
baby? ......

5: Welcome to our special country where
Friday's are fixed date for burials.....and
Independence day is just a day celebration! ......

6: Nigeria is where a casket and coffin seller
Make more money than politicians, find out
Yourself! .....

7: If you are alive you hardly see friends around
You, die first! You become a celebrity! e.g..The famous Nollywood Actor "Muna".
It was when he died that many people even
knew his name! what do u think? live or
die? ....

8; This happens a lot on facebook everytime,
someone will post "I just
lost ....my ............!" People will "LIKE"
It....what do you think? live or die?

9: This one makes me angry. Somebody will post
Something meaningful on Facebook for instance he gets like 3 comments and 2 likes for 5hours, but if another person posts "I just lost my.......!" Hmmmmmm, you will see 5 likes and 78 comment's in 23mins.....what do you think you are doing? Even people make their parents die 7 years ago, just because of comments, and now he or she is writing it. I believe that
some people make their parents die on social media while they are alive
One guy in my Neighborhood did it He posted, "I just lost my dad!" and he didn't know that his dad is his friend on Facebook and his Mum is a mutual friend.You need to come and see The beating of his life that day! what do you think? live or
die? ..

10: And you are reading this Blog post , and you are saying " I have not lost anybody" then you are not u commenting
Hmmmmmm! what do you think? live or
die? .....

AN INJECTION OF SALT INTO YOUR EAR DRUM CAN PREVENT IT FROM PERMANENT HEARING LOSS

Have you ever heard an explosion or seen that in the action packed thriller you' ve just watched?This is how it happens. First there is a bomb explosion, Then, the sound cuts out. Dazed survivors look on as chaos silently unfolds all around them.

It’s a common trope in movies, but, yes, people do go deaf after a sudden loud noise. It’s even got a real medical name: noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and it affects roughly 30 percent of the world's population. NIHL can be either temporary or permanent depending on how long a person heard it and how loud it was, and we currently have no way to reverse it.

Now, researchers have come up with a deceptively simple — though slightly cringe-inducing — treatment for NIHL: an injection of a salt or sugar solution directly into the eardrum.

In a study published last week in the journal PNAS,  researchers from the University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Keck School of Medicine set out to figure out exactly what caused NIHL. They built a tool that would let them take detailed pictures of the cochlea, the part of the inner ear in which sound transforms into something your brain can interpret.

Rodent lovers, consider yourselves warned about this next bit: the researchers exposed the mice to super loud noises, comparable to the roadside bomb a soldier might come in contact with during combat, and took pictures of their cochleas before and after.



The team’s images showed the loud noise caused two things to happen in the inner ear.

First, they saw a number of the tiny hairs inside the cochlea had died off. Second, they saw a buildup of liquid containing high levels of potassium. You know how your ears feel “full” when you leave a noisy concert? It’s because of that buildup.

Based on their research, the team concluded that this buildup kills neurons, which, along with those hair cells, play an important role in hearing. While the death of the hair cells was immediate and irreversible following a loud noise, the death of neurons took longer. That meant the researchers had a small window to intervene and prevent it.

The researchers suspected that, because salt or sugar could offset the effects of the potassium, a solution that contained either might be able to counteract the fluid’s neuron-killing effects. And they were right — the researchers discovered they could reduce the fluid build up and prevent 45 to 64 percent of neuron loss by injecting a solution containing either salt or sugar through the eardrum into the middle ear three hours after the noisy event.

The researchers next hope to test their treatment in human trials. John Oghalai, the study’s corresponding author, said in a press release that he thinks it could be useful on the battlefield and beyond.

People in combat could carry tiny vials of the solution to inject into the eardrums of their fellow soldiers (or, for the particularly hardcore ones, into their own) following an explosion. The NIHL treatment could even help with hearing loss not caused by a loud noise but still linked to fluid buildup, such as Meniere’s disease, Oghalai said.

Ultimately, the contents of your pantry could help save the hearing of millions — as long as they can stomach a shot right into the eardrum.

PENIS TRANSPLANT? VERY POSSIBLE IF YOU WANT TO FEEL GOOD AGAIN

On March 26, a team of eleven surgeons at Johns
Hopkins Medical Center transplanted a new penis,
scrotum, and part of the surrounding abdominal
tissue onto a veteran who had lost his genitals in a
combat injury.
The donated organ came from someone who had
recently died and signed off on the new procedure.
Similar penis transplants have been done before, but
this marks the first time that the scrotum and
abdominal wall were also transplanted.
It’s also the latest in a growing number of operations
that, though they are not life-saving, are important
for helping people feel normal in the bodies they
inhabit. Face transplants , uterine transplants, gender
confirmation surgeries — none of them are going to
save patients’ lives per se, but all of them are life-
changing for the people who elect to undergo them.
“When I first woke up [after the procedure], I felt
finally more normal… [with] a level of confidence as
well. …like finally I’m okay now,” the anonymous
veteran who received the transplant said in a press
release.

As procedures like these become more common and
routine, we can only hope that some of the stigma
facing people who take on non-essential surgeries
goes away. For example, much of the stigma
surrounding cosmetic surgeries like facelifts and
other augmentative procedures has faded — largely
because the surgeries themselves have become less
risky and invasive . The same could be true for facial
feminization procedures, still-experimental uterine
transplants — and, yes, even penis transplants.
It’s not clear whether people are more comfortable
with cosmetic surgery because they have become
more accepting or simply because the procedures
have improved to the point that people can no longer
tell who has had work done.
But either way, it’s easy to imagine a future in which
a similar shift has happened for people who undergo
the procedures and surgeries that today are still risky,
involved, and revolutionary.

THINKING OF QUITTING FACEBOOK ? HERE IS PROBABLY THE REASON

Get your Cutlass, fellow men. We have a new
Arsonist to run out of town, and its name is Facebook.
It’s selling our data, monitoring our phone calls , and, perhaps worst of all, doesn’t even seem to feel that bad about it.
But before you smash your phone, Tablet or your PC or delete Facebook,
let’s take a look at this. Is the platform really a toxic
monster? Or perhaps more of a misunderstood
beneficial beast?
Let’s see if we can consult science based on this.
Last month, The Journal of Social Psychology published a study exploring the relationship between Facebook and stress. Using 138 active Facebook users as their Lab rats or better still in plain English "Case Study", researchers from the University of Queensland found that taking a five-day break from the platform lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

I think you are Ready to hit that delete button, but calm down and don't take it so fast.

“[W]hile participants in the study showed an
improvement in physiological stress by giving up
Facebook, they also reported lower feelings of well-
being,” lead researcher Eric Vanman said in a press
release. “People said they felt more unsatisfied with
their life and were looking forward to resuming their Facebook activity.”
And those lower cortisol levels? Participants didn’t
even notice, reporting that they felt just as stressed as they did before quitting Facebook temporarily.
In some instances, using Facebook can actually help
you cope with stress.
That’s according to a study the journal Computers in Human Behavior published in May 2017. Northwestern University researcher Renwen Zhang surveyed 560 Facebook-active university students, focusing on their use of Facebook to disclose information about stressful events in their lives.
Zhang concluded that opening up on Facebook helped the students mentally cope with stressful situations.
When the students shared information, they were
likely to get support from their Facebook friends in
the form of encouragement, advice, or offers of help. This, in turn, made them feel supported, more
satisfied with life, and less depressed.

Therefore Quitting Facebook means saying goodbye to all those digital hugs that can help you get through your latest breakup or crappy day at work.

So the question is, how do Facebook’s scientifically supported benefits stack up against its disadvantages?
Well, there are the aforementioned privacy issues to consider, plus the damage the platform can do to our health , IRL relationships , self-esteem , intelligence, overall well-being … We could go on and on.
Hmmm On second thought, maybe it is time to get your Cutlass. Or, at least, don’t smash your device on the floor just yet.

A TRANSGENDER MAN GIVES BIRTH TO A HEALTHY BABY IN FINLAND

In Helsinki, Which is the capital city of Finland, A Finnish woman who underwent hormonal therapy has become the nation's first transgender man to give birth, local media said Wednesday, triggering controversy as laws require infertility to change gender.

"The baby weighed nearly four kilogrammes and was 53 centimetres in length (at birth)," the transgender man, whose name was not revealed to protect the family's privacy, told Finnish news outlet Lannen Media a fortnight after the birth.

The man, who is in his 30s, legally changed his gender from a woman in 2015 after years of testosterone therapy.

But he decided to cancel sex change surgery, to complete his male physical transition, before trying to get pregnant with his husband.

Under Finnish law for hormonal therapy, a person is required to prove they are "infertile" in order to change legal gender from female to male.

In practice, Finnish medical units deem their transgender patients infertile when testosterone therapy has continued for a prolonged period.

But fertility can sometimes return if hormonal therapy is put on hold.

This case is exceptional because the couple, living in the Helsinki region, decided to suspend hormonal treatment and the man's period returned.

"Do I want the society to dictate what I can do with my body and my life? Nothing can stop me. I'm a free man," the man recalled in an earlier interview with Finland's largest daily Helsingin Sanomat while still pregnant.

Finland is the only remaining Nordic country to require infertility from its citizens who want to change their legal gender, prompting sharp criticism from human rights organisations in recent years.

SNOOP'S ALBUM "BIBLE OF LOVE' TOPS AT NUMBER 1 IN THE BILLBOARDS CHART

In his musical career spanning for 25 years, Snoop Dogg achieved another milestone in his illustrious rap career, of which He can thank God for it

The veteran rhyme-singer’s inspirational project, Snoop Dogg Presents: The Bible of Love , is No. 1 on Billboard ’s Top Gospel Albums chart.

According to Billboard , The 32-track song collection moved 5,000 equivalent
album units last week. The LP features guest appearances from gospel superStars Marvin Sapp, Tye Tribbett, Erica Campbell and Charlie
Wilson.
In addition to having a No. 1 album, Snoop has three tracks from Bible
of Love charting on the Hot Gospel Songs tally. At No. 20, is “You,”
featuring Tribbett, followed by “Saved,” featuring Faith Evans and 3rd
Generation at No. 24, and “Blessing Me Again,” featuring Rance Allen
at No. 25. Another song from the set, “One More Day,” featuring
Charlie Wilson, spent a week at No. 17 on the March 10 chart.
In the meantime, Snoop Dogg is hitting several festivals in the coming
months. In April, he will be performing at the Tortuga Music Festival
and in May he will perform at both the Grizzly Fest and BottleRock
Music Festival. For a list of his tour dates head over to Songkick.com .

VERY SOON YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGING YOUR PHONE THROUGH A POWER OUTLET BUT BY YOUR BODY MOVEMENT

We have a lot of devices these days, and they all need to be charged. Though there are now pads for
wireless charging , these are still plugged into a power outlet.
Researchers at The University of Buffalo and Chinese Academy of Science have developed a new device that can generate electricity from body movement by harnessing triboelectric charging. This tiny metallic tab could one day allow us to charge our
devices without having to plug them into an
outlet. With this kind of evolution, you don't need to charge your devices using a power outlet

 In many cases, the charging process has barely
evolved at all in the past decade or more.
All it takes, according to their research
recently published in the journal Nano Energy, is a
special metallic tab and a little bit of body movement.

The secret is an effect called triboelectric charging,
and it’s something that most people have actually
seen — or felt — before. Triboelectric charging
happens when a material becomes electrically
charged after coming into frictional contact with
another material.
Most static electricity happens this
way, like when you accidentally touch a person and
you get a small shock from it.
This kind of contact electrification has been quite
difficult to turn into a useful power source, although there have been studies that looked into it. Too often, the materials are difficult to produce or are not cost effectiveness. The metallic tab developed by the researchers supposedly overcomes these hurdles.

The tab features two thin layers of gold that sandwich
a slab of a silicon-based polymer called
polydimethylsiloxane , which is typically used in
contact lenses and Silly Putty. One layer of gold is
stretched and then released, causing it to crumple.
Upon applying force again, movement between the
layers of gold and the polymer creates friction.
“This causes electrons to flow back and forth between the gold layers. The more friction, the greater the amount of power is produced,” lead author Yun Xu, a professor of Institute of Semiconductors at CAS, said
in a press release . This friction can come from the
slightest movement of a finger, the researchers
explained.

As a demonstration in their study, the researchers
used a metallic tab that’s only 1.5 cm (0.6 inches)
long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide. The small tab
generated 124 volts, with a maximum current and
density that was enough to light 48 red LED lights at
the same time. Though the tech is not quite there yet,
the researchers hope that their material could soon
charge smartphones and other smart gadgets using
just movement.
“No one likes being tethered to a power outlet or
lugging around a portable charger. The human body
is an abundant source of energy. We thought: ‘Why
not harness it to produce our own power?'” lead
author Qiaoqiang Gan, an associate professor of
electrical engineering at University at Buffalo, said in
the press release.
Gan and his colleagues plan to improve the
performance of this triboelectric charging device
while at the same time working on a portable battery
that can be used to store the energy the tab
generates.

MARIJUANA BECOMES A LATEST TREND IN ONLINE SHOPPING

As consumers, we’re obsessed with buying anything we need online ranging from Art supplies, Vitamins to even Adult diapers and we have all delivered to our door in an anonymous box, and without the need to avert your gaze from the cashier.

Apparently, marijuana is no exception — Americans, Indians, Africans are buying weed online in droves.

This news comes courtesy of a study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. It marks the first time anyone has analyzed online marijuana sales by looking at internet searches and the resulting links.

For their study into Americans’ online pot-purchasing behavior, the research team started  with Google. Specifically, they looked at searches

on the platform between January 2005 and June

2017, excluding those from the U.S.’s six least-

populated states.

First, they isolated all the searches including terms

such as “marijuana,” and “weed” in combination

with “buy,” “shop,” or “order.” From that list, they

eliminated searches that were clearly unrelated or

off-topic, such as “order weed killer.” This left them

with 12 terms tied to the thing they actually wanted in buying marijuana through the internet.

Next, they looked at how often people searched those terms each month. They found out that, in their 12 years of study, searches tied to buying weed online increased by 199 percent relative to all searches on the internet. In June 2017, the numbers soared as *high* as 2.4 million in a single month.

The searches weren’t restricted to particular parts of the country — all but two states the researchers

analyzed saw a growing number of searches each

month.

Not content to simply track search totals, the intrepid team also wanted to know where their list of terms would take them online. You know, for research .

In July 2017, they typed each of their pre -determined keywords into Google, hit “search,” and analyzed the first two pages’ worth of links. Of those links, 41 percent were to retailers offering mail-order marijuana. For two-thirds of the searches, the very  link led to such a retailer.

Their conclusion is People aren’t just searching for

weed online. They’re finding it.

This wouldn’t be a problem if buying weed were the same as, say, buying shoes or electronics. Though nine states and Washington D.C. now permit recreational marijuana use, none permit its sale online.

Buying Marijuana online may be more convenient, but there are good reasons why it’s not allowed. When people buy online, states might miss out on the major financial benefit of legalizing recreational marijuana: taxes.

Even more importantly, it’s harder to regulate who is buying the weed. In states where marijuana is legal, buyers must be 21 or older , and it’s far easier for those below that limit to fake their ages online than in person.

The study’s authors noted in a press release that

public health leaders must intervene to prevent these sales, perhaps by convincing internet service

providers (ISPs) to remove mail-order weed retailers from search engines.

Of course, that wouldn’t stop teenagers from

purchasing weed if they were really determined to

get it. But as U.S. states relax their marijuana laws,

the World needs to take precautions to keep the drug out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have it.

Addressing mail-order marijuana seems like a pretty

good place to start.

WICKEDNESS: WOMAN GIVE BIRTH TO LIZARD AFTER CARRYING PREGNANCY FOR 2 YEARS

Several reports trending on Facebook have it that a particular woman allegedly gave birth to a Lizard in a town’s market in Rivers state after two years of carrying the pregnancy.

Some Facebook users have taken to the platform to share the photos of how a lady who has been pregnant for two years gave birth to a lizard at Omoku market, Rivers state.

A user, Ahamuefuna Ijeoma Darlintina, who shared the most photos, wrote,

speechless….God forbid….a woman after two years of pregnant…giving birth to a lizard… in market omoku ….it was a shocked to me

Another user, Festus Emeka wrote,

This is life in omoku market a woman deliver lizard people are wicket in this Word

Jenni Blink wrote,

what a tragedy a woman with 2 years pregnancy finally delivered a live lizard in omoku market today

Brown Johnson,

Hmmmm i really dnt know wat dis world is turning into. see wat a woman given birth to in omoku market after 2years pregnancy..i just tire

Photos below: