It's another sad day for the earth. Scientists have declared the (formerly) rare Chinese river dolphin baiji extinct. The six-week search on the Yangtze River failed to find even a shadow of the blind white dolphin. Swiss naturalist August Pfluger concluded that even if the search team missed one or two dolphins, it's safe to conclude that the baiji is "functionally extinct". This means that even if there are baijis in the river, their chance of survival is nil.

Now, who should be blamed for the demise of the "goddess of the Yangtze"? All signs point to the ship traffic on the Yangtze. This is in addition to the evil effects of overfishing, dam-building, and environmental degradation.

Back in the 1980s, there were about 400 baijis left on the Yangtze. It should've been a clear indication that the dolphins were in grave danger. But as commerce started flourishing, the dolphin population plummeted to 100 in the mid-1990s. In 2004, only one baiji was found. Since then, the fate of the dolphin has been sealed.

It's sad enough to have lost a species that dates back 20 million years, but what's even worse is that the death of the baijis could signal the start of a "wave of extinction" involving other species. If the trend continues, we'd be shedding more tears for other dolphin species in the next 20 years.

Twenty years from now, your entire life can be chronicled in a high resolution video recorded in a tiny device the size of a sugar cube. No kidding! Some people call it "human black boxes" that serve as repository of medical, financial, and whatever digital records you've accumulated over the years. While this may be the ultimate evidence of technological advancement, it could bring fear and paranoia to the next level come 2026.

Researchers urged government and society leaders to talk about the implications of "huge increases in computing power" as well as the growing obsession to the collection of information on individuals.

Cliff Lynch, director of Coalition for Networked Information, believes that the changes would give the State further power to interfere in the affairs of individuals. It seems Big Brother would get too close for comfort.

Better scratch "flu" off your list of reasons for calling in sick. Thanks to U.S. researchers who found the "Achilles Heel" of the flu virus, that sort of thing might just become a thing of the past. Piercing the flu virus with an arrow (or simply targetting it with some antivirals) would stop the virus replication process, hence we can all get a clean bill of health.

The weak spot was found by examining a 3D structure of a nucleoprotein responsible for spreading the flu virus. It turns out that even a minor change in the structure will stop the virus in its tracks. The nucleoprotein, when altered, will not function if it fails to link to another nucleoprotein.

Finding the flu virus weak spot will usher in new techniques to develop new drugs and antivirals to arrest the spread of the virus. This is welcome news in light of some reports of a bird flu virus resistance to current antiviral Tamiflu. What's more, the breakthrough would pave the way for scientists to discover a new class of drugs that will be used against self-replicating viruses such as HIV.

What do we get when we put an American, an English, and a German scientist in a lab? A magnet made out of the strongest known hydrogen bond. Dust off your science books and turn to the page where it says "hydrogen bonds" and you'll find out that they're responsible for the properties of water, as well as holding together that DNA double helix.

The new magnet contains biofluoride ions which makes the magnet stable at temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius. The magnetic properties of the material were measured using muons, which according to scientist Stephen Blundell, are subatomic particles that spin around when a magnetic field is detected. Using this method, the scientists came to the conclusion that there's no overall magnetism at room temperature. However, implanted muons detect magnetic activities when the temperature is lowered. The decrease in temperature causes "copper magnetic moments" to align, which produces a microscopic magnetic field visible to the muons.

The team will conduct further studies on the said magnetic material in the hope of determining the extent to which bifluoride and hydrogen bonds influence the "spin arrangement" of magnetic centers.

Another cellphone myth bites the dust as Danish scientists busted the popular belief linking cancer to cellphone use. This should reassure those who always have a cellphone in tow for the past 10 years or so.

The study tracked 420,000 Danish cellphone users and matched the records to that of the Danish Cancer Registry, which lists the names of every citizen stricken with cancer. The results are not something to sneeze at given the enormity of the database used.

The cellphone-cancer link myth has been passed on from one geek to another up to a point where some cellphone users were convinced that radiofrequency energy penetrates and toasts their brains. Though most research found no risk in cellphone use, some scientists aren't going to let the gadget off the hook easily without conducting further studies, taking into consideration slow-growing cancers.

As it stands, we're just glad that logging in an insane number of hours using the cellphone might not be a life-threatening activity after all.

Paleobiologists who examined eight excavated Neanderthal skeletons from El Sidron, Spain are convinced that the cut marks found in bones indicate that cannibalism was practiced by starving Neanderthals.

Lead researcher Antonio Rosas of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales Madrid said, "There is strong evidence suggesting that these Neanderthals were eaten. That is, long bones and the skull were broken for extraction of the marrow, [which] is very nutritious."

The findings support the general belief that periods of starvation have forced Neanderthals to look for other ways to supplement their diet. This is particularly true for adolescent Neanderthals. The low enamel deposit found in the teeth of younger Neanderthals provide evidence that they are getting minimal nutrition up to the point of starvation.

This may hold true for some remains that were examined, but surely, some researchers will not easily discount the possibility that the cut marks found in bones are indicative of a practice known as "ritual defleshing", where flesh is removed from a partially decomposed body.

The Journal of Virology reports on the preservation of influenza A virus genes in the lakes of northeastern Siberia. Traces of viruses, fungi, and bacteria are found in water and ice frequented by migratory birds. Simply put, the glacial ice serves as a preservation agent for these nasty viruses (which are carried by waterfowl). You really can't blame the birds, after all, it's in their nature to migrate when the weather changes.

Viruses are said to degenerate at a much slower rate in very cold temperatures, which is why they're preserved. But what's interesting is that glaciers can preserve these viruses for up to 140,000 years.

Author Scott Rogers postulates, “Ice may act as a reservoir for influenza A viruses, preserving them for later release and infection of animals, including migratory waterfowl and humans." This somehow explains why some influenza virus strains show up, disappear without a trace, then re-appear "virtually unchanged".

At this point, the evidence of high concentrations of influenza A virus H1 genes in glaciers may not be alarming, but there are questions about what will happen if and when the ice melts. With global warming rearing its ugly head, glacier ice thawing isn't really an impossibility. And when ice turns to water, logic dictates that these viruses would be released at an even faster rate, perhaps infecting animals and humans in the near future. Looks like Bird Flu might just be here to stay.

The World Health Organization (WHO) painted a grim picture of the future by predicting more deaths and diseases in 2030. While WHO's reputation may not be at par with that of Nostradamus, it serves as a warning to people who'd take the brunt of the fearless forecast: smokers.

The saying "Smoking Kills" has never stopped cigarette-loving individuals from inhaling nicotine. And if they don't kick the habit, the smokers' population will eventually drop. If the WHO's prediction is accurate,  1/10 of all deaths worldwide will be due to smoking.

The next 25 years will also see the increase of AIDS-related deaths. The number will soar to 6.5 million come 2030.  Smoking and AIDS will be joined by heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, HIV and pulmonary diseases to round out the list of deadly killers of 2030.

It's a grim scenario but it's something that can be prevented as countries become prosperous. In general, as countries begin to prosper, they can afford to set up a better health system (e.g. better hygiene and vaccination measures). But if you think about it, as people get richer, they have more money to spend on cigarettes...

Dogs do a great job of sniffing out bombs and explosives, but scientists at a US weapons lab are sending in reinforcements in the form of trained bees. That's right, folks, our busy buzzing bees are the recent recruits in the fight to strengthen the US homeland security.

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have found a way to train honeybees to sniff out explosives. In a project dubbed as the "Stealthy Insect Sensor Project", the bees are trained to stick out their proboscises (tubes used to feed on nectar) in the presence of explosives, in exchange for a sweet sugar-water reward.

What's even more remarkable is that these bees were able to recognize dynamites, C-4 plastic explosives, and even Howitzer propellant grains, which are used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq. Sweet!

Now, you might be wondering how these bees would be used when they start reporting for duty. Well, the bees would be placed in a handheld detector as big as a shoe box. It's quite hard to picture how the final device would look like, but the important thing is that there's another US ally to help fight terrorism. Looks like our bees are going to be busier than usual.

December is just a few days away and you know what that means: the holiday eating season is fast approaching. All the efforts to trim down in the past 11 months would be wasted in just one sitting, frequent sitting on dinner tables, that is. If you ask us, we wouldn't really worry too much about  a month of joyous eating, after all, we have the rest of the new year to lose all those unwanted bulges.

While this may not be a cause for worry for some people, the weight- and figure- conscious population of the world would say that this is serious business. And we do understand as we have been trying to get rid of remnants of the 2005 holiday season.

Good thing there's help on the way. In fact, a lot of them - and we're not talking about buff trainers and be-muscled instructors. We're talking about Web 2.0 weight-loss ideas and applications that would help you get rid of excess baggage.

In general, these Internet-based services provide customized workouts and fitness tracking systems. Some offers graphs to show your progress (or lack of it). Users can also get tips and those very badly needed motivation boosters from experts. The services also provide a sense of community through forums and regular chats.

Of course, there's no guarantee that these programs and applications would work. It's best to try those that you think would fit your lifestyle or would effectively address the weight-related problems you have. We'd think the apps are great reminders of how we've been abusing our body with so much bad food. But ultimately, the motivation has to be there somewhere. The applications are only as good as your will to lose weight. 

Click on the "Read" link to check out some of these Web 2.0-based weight-loss apps.