Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles could be putting college students and frugal eaters at greater risk of developing chronic illness, according to a recent study.

The instant noodles have long been a staple for the cash-strapped, but they could be putting their fans at risk of further nutritional deficits already caused by a lack of affordable and fresh fruits and vegetables, suggests a study presented at a meeting of the Dietitians Association of Australia.

According to the study, conducted by Australian researchers Danielle Gallegos and Kai Wen Ong, one in four college students reported insecurity about being able to afford food.

Of those students, two-thirds said they ate two or less servings of fruit per week, suggesting that money spent on more-filling but sodium- and MSG-laden Ramen noodles and fast food takes away from funds that could be spent on healthy but less-filling fruits and vegetables.

Those who relied on instant noodles and other cheap food with little nutritional content were at greater risk of chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes and heart disease, the researchers found.

While the study was based in Australia, results seem to reflect conditions among college kids and low-income individuals across America as well.

With new efforts initiated by the White House and supported by First Lady Michelle Obama, however, affordable healthy foods are expected to become more available in low-income areas across the U.S., as MainStreet previously reported

NASA And DLR Sign Agreement To Continue GRACE Mission Through 2015

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board Chairman Johann-Dietrich Wörner signed an agreement Thursday during a bilateral meeting in Berlin to extend the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission through the end of its on-orbit life, which is expected in 2015.

NASA Picks 18 Small Business Tech Transfer Projects for Continued Development

NASA Picks 18 Small Business Tech Transfer Projects for Continued Development MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA has selected 18 innovative technology proposals for negotiation of Phase 2 contract awards in the Small Business Technology Transfer program, or "STTR." The selected projects have a total value of approximately $11 million. The contracts will be awarded to 18 high technology firms that are partnering with 15 universities in 12 states.

As an investment opportunity, STTR innovations address specific technology gaps in mission programs, provide a foundation for future technology needs, and are complementary to other NASA research investments. Examples of some STTR technologies being pursued in current selected proposals include:

- An autonomous health monitoring system for improved stability, safety, and performance of advanced aerospace vehicles under adverse conditions

- Advanced components for direct-detection LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) that can be used on new unmanned aircraft systems or aircraft platforms. LIDAR instruments will be required for remote sensing measurements from future Earth science missions

- Development of novel fabrication techniques for high efficiency thermo-electric devices. More efficient thermo-electric devices which convert heat directly into electricity are of interest to NASA for extracting power from "wasted heat" - heat energy from turbine engines, the hot side of spacecraft, or even the body heat of astronauts.

Participating firms and research institutions submitted 31 Phase 2 proposals. The criteria used to select the winning proposals included technical merit and innovation, Phase 1 results, value to NASA, commercial potential, and company capabilities.

The STTR program is a highly competitive, three-phase award system. It provides qualified small businesses -- including women-owned and disadvantaged firms -- with opportunities to propose innovative ideas that meet specific research and development needs of the federal government. In addition, the STTR program requires a collaborative research effort between small businesses and research institutions.

Phase 1 is a feasibility study to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of an idea. Awards are for up to 12 months in amounts up to $100,000. Phase 2 expands on the results of the development in Phase 1. Awards are for up to two years in amounts up to $600,000. Phase 3 is for the commercialization of the results of Phase 2 and requires the use of private sector or non-STTR federal funding. Wednesday's NASA awards are for the second-phase in this competitive process.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, through its Innovative Partnerships Program, has oversight of the STTR program as part of its focus on emerging technologies and efforts to advance technological innovation for agency purposes. NASA partners with U.S. industry to infuse innovative technologies that result from the STTR program into agency missions and help transition technologies into commercially available products and services for other markets.

NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., manages the STTR program, with individual projects managed at each of NASA's field centers.

For a list of selected companies, visit:

http://sbir.nasa.gov

Rapist Gets Punishment -ClIck2 C video-(Singapore)

WILL INDIANS ADOPT THIS METHOD OF

PUNISHMENT FOR ALL RAPIST IN INDIA

NASA Conducts Successful Parachute Development Test

On April 14, NASA conducted a drogue parachute drop test at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The 68-foot-diameter drogue and all test hardware functioned properly and landed safely.

The design load limit test will provide engineers with a better understanding of the full structural capabilities of the drogue parachute, currently under development to return next-generation space vehicles safely to Earth.

This was the second in a series of three planned load limit tests designed to place the loads expected in flight on the parachute canopy. The next test series, called overload tests, will subject the parachute canopy to loads greater than what would typically be experienced in flight, to prove the parachute is strong enough to survive some degree of unexpected events.

Future full resolution images of the drogue parachute test will be made publicly available when they are fully processed:

Sleeping in local flights ???-take care

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Airline officials are trying to figure out how a sleeping passenger was left aboard a flight for more than three hours after it landed in Philadelphia.
According to police and the Transportation Security Administration, the passenger didn't wake up when her United Express flight from Dulles airport outside Washington landed shortly after midnight Tuesday. More than three hours later, a cleaning crew found her, according to KYW-TV.

United Airlines says they're working with a regional partner carrier to determine why the plane wasn't cleared upon landing.

boy who kicked her seat

Phoenix police are investigating an incident on a Southwest Airlines flight where a woman allegedly grabbed a child who was kicking the back of her seat in March.
James Holmes of the Phoenix Police Department said a mother is pressing charges against a 42-year-old woman who allegedly assaulted her 3-year-old boy while they were on Southwest flight 582 heading to Las Vegas at the gate of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Mar. 21 at about 7 p.m.

No arrests have been made because police are still gathering names of witnesses from Southwest Airlines, but the mother described the incident to police:

Her three-year-old son either kicked or put his feet up on the back of the woman's seat when she turned around and grabbed him. The woman told the child, "You're not going to be kicking my seat all the way to Las Vegas," while she shook him and then slammed him back on the seat, the mother told police.

She and other passengers began to argue with the woman after the incident, and both parties were taken off the plane to discuss the situation.

Staff had assured her that the woman would not be allowed back on the flight, and she returned to her seats with her children, Holmes said. The woman, however, did board the same plane again, and chose to sit in the same seat over other empty seats.

During the flight, the woman harassed the family and threw garbage at them. The mother told police that the woman appeared to be intoxicated.