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Chinese Medicinal Plants Garden is World's Largest According to Guinness

by China.new

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM for short) has roots that extend back thousands of years, with seeds in folk cures that were already old when ancient Chinese scholars first began writing them down. It's no wonder, then, that one of China's oldest official medicinal plants gardens has been declared by Guinness World Records to be the world's largest of its kind.

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Giant Godzilla Christmas Tree Spruces Up Tokyo Mall

by Steve Levenstein

Pining for those classic Japanese monster movies that had you sitting on pins and needles? Well fir not, er, fear not! The giant Godzilla Christmas Tree from the Aqua City Odaiba shopping mall in Tokyo is the original nightmare before Christmas!

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Japanese Scientists Listen to Oysters, Pick Up Pearls of Wisdom

by Steve Levenstein

Put a shell to your ear and you can hear the ocean. Japanese scientists have taken that concept to a higher level, inventing a device called the “kai-lingual” that can “hear” oysters commenting on their environment. Well shucks!

With IPOs & Bankruptcy In The Air, Zynga Soars, American Airlines Zags & Alec Baldwin Zings

With IPOs & Bankruptcy In The Air, Zynga Soars, American Airlines Zags & Alec Balwin Zings

by Ron Callari

There's seems to be a glint of irony taking to the not-so-friendly skies, or so one popular TV-star would like the world to believe. While online gaming giant Zynga hopes to reap between $850 million and $1.15 billion with its impending IPO offering on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the venerable American Airlines files Chapter 11 to reorganize its massive debt. So what's the connection between the two companies where one's on an uptick and the other is in dire straits financially? Well… Alec Baldwin, oddly, it seems!

Reactive Lighting Brings Safety, Efficiency, And The WOW Factor To Your Stairs

by Myra Per-Lee

Traditional staircase lighting fails to impress functionally. Even when lit with a fancy chandelier from an arched ceiling, which basement and attic stairs seldom deserve, the light cast may not be the safest. But the Web's famous gadget hacker from Manitoba, Canada, Alan Parekh, has developed a complete kit for safe, energy-efficient, and versatile LED stair lighting that can express your individual style as well.

Year of the Dragon Ready to Roar with 2012-shaped Solid Gold Statue

by China.new

An exquisite, 24-karat gold statue of a Chinese dragon was recently unveiled by Chow Tai Fook Jewellery in Hong Kong. The dragon's sinuous coils form the numerals "2012", the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

Family Violence Is Risk Factor For Psychological Disorders Later In Life

by T Goodman

Scientists at the University College of London (UCL) and the Anna Freud Center liken the impact of family violence on the brains of children to the brains of soldiers exposed to combat. Both kinds of combat result in hypersensitivity to danger and put subjects at risk for developing anxiety disorders.

Japanese Earthquake Seismogram Sculpture Created by Luke Jerram

by Steve Levenstein

Dry statistics and flat printouts do little to convey the awesome destructive power of earthquakes. British multimedia artist Luke Jerram has found a way to bring data to life, as it were, and by doing so express not only the measured progress of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake over 9 minutes terrifying but also display the pure esthetic beauty of nature's fury in action.

Colored Car Tires from China Look Wheel Strange

by China.new

Black tires too dull & gloomy for you? Double Star Tires is hoping their colorful new line of Rainbow Tires will replace basic boring black rubber road rollers wheel, er, real soon.

Nissin's Big Cheese Meat Cup Noodle Gives Cheeseburgers Stiff Competition

by Steve Levenstein

Cup Noodle can really hit the spot when you're studying, gaming or satisfying the between-meal munchies but it's not really a “meal”, is it? If you believe that, you haven't seen Big Cheese Meat Cup Noodle! Japan's newest flavor sensation is the closest thing yet to a cheeseburger in a cup.

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New Year, Next Dimension: China's First 3D Television Channel Rings In 2012

by China.new

A dozen years into the 21st century and just over 50 years after citizens watched their first nationally broadcast programs, China boasts over 3,000 TV stations. Now Chinese television is about to enter the third dimension with the country's first 3D TV channel set to hit the airwaves on January 1st, 2012.

Is Cleanliness Next To Godliness? Not According To Your Average Medical Student

by T Goodman

Some med students might think they are gods, but a new study conducted by the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology at Hannover Medical School suggests that they may never have heard the old proverb cleanliness is next to godliness.

For-Profit Vs. Non-Profit: A Scary Study Of Nursing Homes

by Boomer Babe

Those of you whose parents are at the age where a nursing home is being considered as an option for their care may just want to pay attention to the results of a recent study led by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). It compares the staffing and quality of care at for-profit nursing homes with that of non-profit facilities.

X Prize: Geneticists Compete To Duplicate Genomes Of Centenarians

by T Goodman

The search is truly on for what makes people live past 100 years ... aside from eating right, exercising regularly, and having lots of social contact. It's about their genomic makeup, and Archon Genomics is holding a big, as in 10 million dollars, prize for the first genetics team to develop the sequence of genes that can produce medical grade genomes from 100 centenarians. Personalized medicine, here we come!

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iPhone Geiger Counter Calls Out Concealed Radioactivity

by Steve Levenstein

The Geiger Fukushima iPhone was designed to be cheap yet effective in exposing radiation hotspots. It accomplishes these goals by working with the owner's iPhone and a dedicated app, thus reducing duplication of components. Bonus: it's made in Japan's hard-hit Fukushima prefecture!

China's Buses Include DIY Emergency Exits Disguised as Bricks

by China.new

In case of emergency, brick glass? Goodbye, yellow brick, road? Have brick, will travel? The puns come fast & furious when attempting to explain a low-tech safety measure found on Chinese passenger buses: yellow-painted, window-breaking bricks.

Katy Perry's AMA Dress: Wearable Propaganda or Fashion Foible?

by China.new

Is Katy Perry moonlighting for China's government or merely modeling a dress from designer Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2012 Gold Label collection? Maybe both: the Chinese calligraphy on her form-fitting AMA frock spells out “Green Economy”, a popular catchphrase oft-spouted by China's official media.

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Esthetic Prosthetic Designed for the Disabled

by Steve Levenstein

With prosthetic devices, function comes first while form too often places a poor second. Not anymore! Perhaps inspired by the footwear flaunted by footless South African runner Oscar Pistorius, a Japanese industrial designer has unveiled a very esthetic prosthetic.

The Space Raincoat Keeps You Dry, Makes You Look Fat

by China.new

Marlon Brando may have been The Wild One but who says you can't be The Weird One? Certainly not Taiwan's Feng Yu Development Co., designers and manufacturers of the one and only Space Raincoat.

China Farms Out Human Milk Production

by China.new

Human milk? At my supermarket? It's more likely than you think, thanks to China's genetically engineered cows.

VW's People's Car Project Ad Campaign Really Gets a Round

by China.new

Volkswagen gets back to their roots with “The People's Car Project”, an innovative multimedia ad campaign that's turning heads and winning praise in – where else – the People's Republic of China.

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Campbell's Noodle Chicken, the Cup Noodle Without the Can

by Steve Levenstein

Cross Campbell's classic canned Chicken Noodle Soup with Japan's iconic rehydrate-able Cup Noodle ramen and what do you get? Campbell's Noodle Chicken, of course, and you CAN get it... but only at Japanese Costco stores.

Portrait Of 60s Protester Adds Perspective To Occupy Movement In Song

by Ron Callari

Where have all the protest songs gone? Are they still blowing in the wind, or have new ones surfaced to chronicle life's current strife? While it seems like only yesterday, it's actually been over 40 years since Americans felt angry and disenfranchised enough to assemble in solidarity and protest against injustice and greed.

Chinese Compensation Scheme Saves Wild Predators, Reimburses Herdsmen

by China.new

Cry wolf, prey tell? China's innovative compensation program has proven to be a roaring success, protecting endangered wildlife as well as the pocketbooks of farmers and herders.

'Video Memo' Digitally Updates 3M's Classic Paper Post-It Notes

by Steve Levenstein

Video Memo from Japan's Green House allows you to leave short video messages friends, family and/or co-coworkers can watch. With its 1.77-inch LCD screen and on-board CMOS camera, Video Memo is the 21st century's version of the Post-It Note.

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