Woman in iconic tsunami photo looks to future

By Yuriko Nakao

ISHINOMAKI, Japan, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The young Japanese woman clutches a beige blanket tight around her shoulders as she stares into the distance. Behind her hulks twisted metal and splintered wood left by the tsunami that devastated Ishinomaki, her hometown.
The photograph, taken by Tadashi Okubo at the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, was picked up by Reuters and other agencies around the world, becoming an iconic image of the March 11 disaster that killed 20,000 people.
The woman's name is Yuko Sugimoto. She is now 29 years old.
When the photo was taken, around 7 a.m. on March 13, she was looking in the direction of her son Raito's kindergarten, which was partly submerged and surrounded by piles of debris. Nearly two days after the quake she had yet to find the four-year-old.
"At that point, I thought there was only about a 50 percent chance he was alive," she recalled recently.
"Some people told me the children at the kindergarten were rescued, but others told me that somebody had seen the children all swept away by the tsunami."Sugimoto was born and raised in Ishinomaki, a city of 150,000 known for its port and fishing industry before the wall of water unleashed by the 9.0 magnitude offshore quake roared in. Around 3,800 people perished, the highest toll for a single city.
Delivering beverages for her business when the quake struck, she desperately tried to reach the kindergarten, but was forced to flee the tsunami, spending the night in her car.
Reunited with her husband the next day, the two began making the rounds of evacuation centers -- first by car, then by bicycle as fuel ran out. Her husband found a boat and paddled his way towards the kindergarten, but found no one there.
It wasn't until the next day that the couple heard that their son and other children had been rescued by the military from the roof of the kindergarten the morning after the tsunami.
"When I saw Raito in the corner of a room, the next moment I was weeping so hard I couldn't see anything," Sugimoto said.
She hugged him and checked his hands, his feet, every bit of his body. She even checked his smell, to be certain it really was him. Holding him tight, she said "Thank goodness, thank goodness," over and over.
A YEAR LATER
Nearly a year later, Sugimoto stood in the same place, embracing her son and smiling. Behind her, the gently sloping road was clean, with cars and trucks stopped at a traffic light.
Her smile suggests that her life is back on track, but that is not true. Though the debris was cleared much more quickly than she expected, it will take some time for Sugimoto and her family to get on with their lives.
The house they built four years ago was submerged nearly to its second floor and they lost most of their belongings. What remains is a 31-year-mortgage of around 25 million yen ($310,000) they still have to pay.
They now live in a rented house, but the lease expires next year. Returning to the old house would mean razing it and rebuilding from scratch.
"I used to love the ocean, but ever since the disaster, I haven't been to the ocean even once. I want to stay on in Ishinomaki, but far away from the ocean," she said.
Despite the financial burdens, Sugimoto's priorities have changed. Though she once worked even through vacations, she has now quit her job to spend more time with her family.
"Now, every single day is precious to me. I realise that time with my family is what is most important," she said. "Our bond is even tighter now."

Mubarak's wife attempted suicide over corruption charges

CAIRO Feb. 8 (IANS/RIA NOVOSTI) - The wife of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubaraj has confessed in her memoirs about an attempt to commit suicide when she knew she would be arrested for corruption.

"May 13, 2011, was the 'darkest' day of my life. When Assem al-Gohary, assistant justice minster for illicit gains affairs, brought an order to arrest me, I took an overdose of sleeping pills and wanted to commit suicide as I could not imagine what for and how to live," Suzanne Mubarak was quoted as saying by EGYnews.

She said that she was miraculously saved."And then, my husband got in touch with somebody who was in power in Egypt, I think somebody from world politicians and managed to keep me near him in hospital for the time of my detention," Suzanne said.Mubarak's lawyer Farid al-Dib managed to solve the issue of her arrest."It was exactly him who advised to write a waiver of all my property to Egyptian government. And then was May 17, and I was released without any charges," the wife of the former president said.Suzanne Mubarak also revealed many surprising facts about the last days of her husband's presidency.

"USA, Saudi Arabia, United Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait offered husband and all family members political asylum at the beginning of February 2011. But when he resigned on February 11, these offers were immediately called off," the former first lady said.

She said it was her elder son, Alaa and not the younger Gamal who assisted his father in making the last fateful decisions.

"On February 1, during a telephone conversation with Barack Obama, my husband agreed to resign but said he did not want to make personal announcement. He also asked for written guarantees that nothing happen with him and his family. These guarantees were given by a special envoy from the US (sic)," Suzanne said.

The memoirs of the former Egyptian first lady, which speak not only about politics but about her personal experiences, love of jewellery and art, will soon be published by Scottish publisher Canongate Books.

Mubarak stepped down Feb 11 after 18 days of mass public protest, which left more than 800 people dead and several thousands wounded. The deposed leader faces charges of corruption, abuse of power and authorising the shooting of protesters during the uprising.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

pm

In this undated photo, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubara
 poses with his wife Susanne, sons Gamal (right) and Alaa in the
Tahadeya Palace in Cairo.

Man survives without heart and pulse for a month

Two doctors have proved that you don't need a heart to survive. You don't even need a pulse.


Last March, Craig Lewis was dying from amyloidosis and had just 12 hours left to live. Texas Heart Institute's doctors Billy Cohn and Bud Frazier saved him with a successful "continuous flow" heart replacement device transplant with no actual heart included.
Their story was documented in the short film "Heart Stop Beating."


DesignTAXI describes the innovative device as "turbine-like" whirling rotors that provide "a 'continuous flow' like a garden hose" rather than beat like a heart. When doctors put a stethoscope to Lewis' chest, no heartbeat or pulse could be heard, just a humming sound. According to "all criteria that we conventionally use to analyze patients" Lewis could be considered dead, Cohn said.

Heart Stop Beating | Jeremiah Zagar from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.

Yet, Lewis lived for a month without a heart.

While his heart didn't kill him, the amyloidosis unfortunately attacked the man's liver and kidneys. The pumps "worked flawlessly," but Lewis still succumbed to the disease in April.

"We knew if it wasn't a success for Craig, if they could get data that would help them, if it helps the next person, then you did good," Lewis's widow, Linda, told NPR.

Design, not just threads, toughens spider web

PARIS — Scientists said Wednesday they had unraveled the mystery of how spider webs can withstand multiple tears and even hurricane-force winds without collapsing.
The findings should be of keen interest to engineers searching for shock-resistant structural designs, they said.
The silk-like threads with which arachnids spin their traps are famously stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar, but this alone does not explain how webs withstand, say, a gash from a fallen branch.
Once ripped, what keeps the whole web from falling apart?
Researchers led by Markus Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) probed the question using lab experiments, observation and computer modelling.
They began by delving deeper into the molecular structure of the silk threads.
A strand comprises a unique combination of shapeless protein and ordered, nanoscale crystals, they found.
When stress increases — the falling branch, for example — the filament elongates in four phases: a linear tugging, a drawn-out stretching as the protein unfolds, a stiffening phase that absorbs force, and finally the breaking point triggered by friction.
Spider threads fall into into two categories, and what makes webs so resilient is how they interact, the researchers said.
So-called viscid silk — stretchy, wet and sticky — winds out in ever-widening spirals from the centre of the web, and serves to capture unsuspecting prey.
But the straight threads that radiate outwards like spokes on a wheel, called dragline silk, are dry and stiff and provide structural support.
The radial and spiral filaments each play a different role in absorbing motion, and the way they are intertwined limits puncture damage to the spot where it occurs, the researchers found.
As a result, the web is organized to "sacrifice" local areas so that failure will not prevent the remainder from functioning, even if this is in a diminished capacity.
Dennis Carter, an expert on biomechanics at the US National Science Foundation, which partly funded the research, paid tribute to a "clever strategy" by spiders, which expend precious energy to build their webs.
"It is a distinct departure from the structural principles that seem to be in play for many biological materials," he said in a press release.
There are lessons to be learned from these insights, the researchers said.
"Engineering structures are typically designed to withstand large loads with limited damage, but extreme loads are more difficult to account for," said lead-author Steven Canford of MIT.
"The spider has uniquely solved this problem by allowing a sacrificial member to fail under a high load."

Three foods all men should eat

A varied, balanced diet is the cornerstone of healthy living for everyone, yet healthy eating can sometimes A varied, balanced diet is the cornerstone of healthy living for everyone, yet healthy eating can sometimes mean different things depending on your gender.
While there are some foods we should all be eating more of, men and women also have their own set of dietary requirements as well as their own unique health concerns. Here are three foods all men should eat.


Tomatoes
Tomatoes are possibly one of the best "superfoods" around, and the popular fruit has particular benefits for men. Studies have suggested that the lycopene found in tomatoes may reduce risk of colorectal cancer, lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease; the leading cause of death in men. Research has also shown that men who frequently eat foods rich in lycopene may drastically reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer.


Broccoli
Broccoli - along with other cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and sprouts - contains a strong cancer-fighting chemical, sulphoraphane, which research has suggested may reduce men's risk of developing bladder cancer (a cancer more commonly affecting women than men), prostate cancer and colorectal cancer.


Oysters
Oysters are the highest natural source of zinc; an essential requirement for men's fertility and sexual health. Zinc not only helps to maintain healthy testosterone levels in men, but it is essential for healthy sperm production.  On top of this, zinc deficiency may be responsible for hair loss in men, so an increased intake may benefit men's appearance as well as health. mean different things depending on your gender.

India teacher stunned by $10 billion in her bank account

KOLKATA, January 19, 2012 (AFP) - An Indian high school teacher, with a monthly salary of around $700, was astounded when a routine online check of his bank account showed a balance of almost $10 billion.
Parijat Saha, from the town of Balurghat in West Bengal state, said he had checked his State Bank of India account online last Sunday to confirm reception of a 10,000 rupee ($200) interest payment.
"Instead I saw this astronomical amount," he told AFP by telephone.
The account showed a balance of 496 billion rupees.
After recovering from the initial shock at becoming an overnight billionaire -- at least on paper --Saha, 42, said he immediately called a friend he knew at the bank to point out what was obviously a major accounting error.
The State Bank of India said it was not immediately clear how the amount came to be registered in Saha's account.
"We are trying to ascertain what went wrong," said local branch manager Subhashish Karmakar.
"We have informed our regional headquarters in Kolkata and national headquarters in Mumbai," he said.

Cut soot, methane to curb global warming: Scientists

Environmental activists in Praque.

WASHINGTON, January 12 (AP) — An international team of scientists says it has figured out how to slow global warming in the short run and prevent millions of deaths from dirty air: Stop focusing so much on carbon dioxide.
They say the key is to reduce emissions of two powerful and fast-acting causes of global warming — methane and soot.
Carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas and the one world leaders have spent the most time talking about controlling. Scientists say carbon dioxide from fossil fuels like coal and oil is a bigger overall cause of global warming, but reducing methane and soot offers quicker fixes.
Soot also is a big health problem, so dramatically cutting it with existing technology would save between 700,000 and 4.7 million lives each year, according to the team's research published online Thursday in the journal Science. Since soot causes rainfall patterns to shift, reducing it would cut down on droughts in southern Europe and parts of Africa and ease monsoon problems in Asia, the study says.
Two dozen scientists from around the world ran computer models of 400 different existing pollution control measures and came up with 14 methods that attack methane and soot. The idea has been around for more than a decade and the same authors worked on a United Nations report last year, but this new study is far more comprehensive.
All 14 methods — capturing methane from landfills and coal mines, cleaning up cook stoves and diesel engines, and changing agriculture techniques for rice paddies and manure collection — are being used efficiently in many places, but are not universally adopted, said the study's lead author, Drew Shindell of NASA.

Chinese women wear masks in Beijing.

If adopted more widely, the scientists calculate that would reduce projected global warming by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius) by the year 2050. Without the measures, global average temperature is projected to rise nearly 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) in the next four decades. But controlling methane and soot, the increase is projected to be only 1.3 degrees (0.7 degrees Celsius). It also would increase annual yield of key crops worldwide by almost 150 million tons (135 million metric tons).
Methane comes from landfills, farms, drilling for natural gas, and coal mining. Soot, called black carbon by scientists, is a byproduct of burning and is a big problem with cook stoves using wood, dung and coal in developing countries and in some diesel fuels worldwide.
Reducing methane and black carbon isn't the very best way to attack climate change, air pollution, or hunger, but reducing those chemicals are among the better ways and work simultaneously on all three problems, Shindell said.
And shifting the pollution focus does not mean ignoring carbon dioxide. Shindell said: "The science says you really have to start on carbon dioxide even now to get the benefit in the distant future."
It all comes down to basic chemistry. There is far more carbon dioxide pollution than methane and soot pollution, but the last two are much more potent. Carbon dioxide also lasts in the atmosphere longer.
A 2007 Stanford University study calculated that carbon dioxide was the No. 1 cause of man-made global warming, accounting for 48 percent of the problem. Soot was second with 16 percent of the warming and methane was right behind at 14 percent.
But over a 20-year period, a molecule of methane or soot causes substantially more warming then a carbon dioxide molecule.
The new research won wide praise from outside scientists, including a conservative researcher who held a top post in the George W. Bush administration.
"So rather than focusing only on carbon dioxide emissions, where we have to make a tradeoff with energy prices, this strategy focuses on 'win-win-win' pathways that have benefits to human health, agriculture and stabilizing the Earth's climate," said University of Minnesota ecology professor Jonathan Foley, who wasn't part of the study. "That's brilliant."
John D. Graham, who oversaw regulations at the Office of Management and Budget in the Bush administration and is now dean of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University, said: "This is an important study that deserves serious consideration by policy makers as well as scientists."
The study even does a cost-benefit analysis to see if these pollution control methods are too expensive to be anything but fantasy. They actually pay off with benefits that are as much as ten times the value of the costs, Shindell said. The paper calculates that as of 2030, the pollution reduction methods would bring about $6.5 trillion in annual benefits from fewer people dying from air pollution, less global warming and increased crop production.
In the United States, Shindell calculates the measures would prevent about 14,000 air pollution deaths in people older than 30 by the year 2030. About 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit of projected warming in the U.S. would be prevented by 2050.
But health benefits would be far bigger in China and India where soot is more of a problem.
The study comes a day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the most detailed data yet on American greenhouse gas emissions. Of the emissions reported to the government, nearly three-quarters came from power plants. But with methane, it's different. Nineteen of the top 20 methane emitters were landfills.
Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field, who is a leader in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change but wasn't part of this study, praised the study but said he worried that officials would delay cutting back on the more prevalent carbon dioxide. Focusing solely on methane and soot and ignoring carbon dioxide "tends to exacerbate climate change," he said.
Another outside climate expert Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria in Canada said the study is good news amid a sea of gloomy reports about climate change.
"This is a no-brainer," he said. "We have solutions at hand."