Test1

Auctor, aliquet phasellus urna magnis scelerisque proin a integer, aenean parturient, penatibus. Sed nisi, diam? Tristique tincidunt nunc pulvinar, vel odio turpis proin! Lectus phasellus magnis parturient nec nec in dignissim. Risus rhoncus ut a, tristique lectus dapibus ac! Dictumst quis cursus porttitor! Ultricies massa lectus etiam. Non lacus, nec adipiscing sit porta integer urna in quis habitasse penatibus.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt46CkU9iWBm2wf04lxgtWihnOJEUQUM8V0wyMkxMW8dZsYDWcsmO9PuGiwBIMJZXXg430xqH5wy_9uxKbjoN5Ip2dxNKOa4i3ThnGMLu9mZ17jMzkbpayA0n9_ZTz2_WM1q_CPGVIjBP/s1600/wallpaper_1x.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt46CkU9iWBm2wf04lxgtWihnOJEUQUM8V0wyMkxMW8dZsYDWcsmO9PuGiwBIMJZXXg430xqH5wy_9uxKbjoN5Ip2dxNKOa4i3ThnGMLu9mZ17jMzkbpayA0n9_ZTz2_WM1q_CPGVIjBP/s1600/wallpaper_1x.png" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> <br />

Test1

Auctor, aliquet phasellus urna magnis scelerisque proin a integer, aenean parturient, penatibus. Sed nisi, diam? Tristique tincidunt nunc pu...

Textslider

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fnZBrbkMyWpcdfNE92aelvbNrLXGUQu9SiRn0zGD8NEAXV_iFzfXSftb8Tl3WvfvpSTFb4QKwNBBDuzKWkhWG09AInsstNzBd2zYmOKczwPWO2pQNInSf3AwWVgFqLYPQ7WcHlsTmsNF/s1600/p11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fnZBrbkMyWpcdfNE92aelvbNrLXGUQu9SiRn0zGD8NEAXV_iFzfXSftb8Tl3WvfvpSTFb4QKwNBBDuzKWkhWG09AInsstNzBd2zYmOKczwPWO2pQNInSf3AwWVgFqLYPQ7WcHlsTmsNF/s1600/p11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>

Textslider

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer ...

Islamic State video purports to show beheading of U.S. journalist

Islamic State insurgents posted a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley and images of another U.S. journalist whose life they said depended on how the United States acts in Iraq.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZMjKwp9R8wToxAl6oiE2snCOcGWgLO_Bt0PQ7PVG_xYS4lExvcjgBKq4D4Dj7Bv9a5HNo0f09QUbPktxGUqMJhXQiS9J9TryMzo1_SSodHbTbALSBVZ8UUIiDApyhw19WUf09oaxeKT6/s1600/getGalleryIa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZMjKwp9R8wToxAl6oiE2snCOcGWgLO_Bt0PQ7PVG_xYS4lExvcjgBKq4D4Dj7Bv9a5HNo0f09QUbPktxGUqMJhXQiS9J9TryMzo1_SSodHbTbALSBVZ8UUIiDApyhw19WUf09oaxeKT6/s1600/getGalleryIa.jpg" /></a></div> The video, titled "A Message To America," presented President Barack Obama with bleak options that could define America’s next phase of involvement in Iraq and the public reaction to it, potentially deepening his hand in a conflict he built much of his presidency on ending.<br /> <br /> While the video had yet to be verified, its grisly message was unambiguous, warning of greater retaliation to come against Americans following nearly two weeks of U.S. air strikes that have pounded militant positions and halted the advance of Islamic State, which until this month had captured a third of Iraq with little resistance.<br /> <br /> The video, posted on social media, brought a chilling and highly personal tone to a conflict that for many Americans had started to become all too familiar.<br /> <br /> Foley, 40, was kidnapped by armed men on Nov. 22, 2012, in northern Syria while on his way to the Turkish border, according to GlobalPost, a Boston-based online publication where Foley had worked as a freelancer. He had reported in the Middle East for five years and had been kidnapped and released in Libya.<br /> <br /> Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while reporting in July 2013. He has written for TIME among other news organizations.<br /> <br /> The video injected an unpredictable element into Obama’s deliberations on how far to proceed with U.S. air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, though aides said his vow not to put U.S. combat forces on the ground in Iraq still held.<br /> <br /> "We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of U.S. citizen James Foley by ISIL," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement. "The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity."<br /> <br /> "If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," she said.<br /> <br /> A Twitter account set up by Foley’s family in Rochester, New Hampshire, to help find him said, "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers."<br /> <br /> Islamic State had not previously executed American citizens publicly. The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq this month for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.<br /> <br /> "WE ARE AN ISLAMIC ARMY"<br /> <br /> The Sunni militant group, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in areas it controls, opened the video with a clip of Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.<br /> <br /> The words "Obama authorizes military operations against the Islamic State effectively placing America upon a slippery slope towards a new war front against Muslims" appeared in English and Arabic on the screen.<br /> <br /> It showed black and white aerial footage of air strikes with text saying "American aggression against the Islamic State".<br /> <br /> A man identified as James Foley, his head shaven and dressed in an orange outfit similar to uniforms worn by prisoners at the U.S. military detention camp in Guantánamo, Cuba, is seen kneeling in the desert next to a man standing, holding a knife and clad head to toe in black.<br /> <br /> "I call on my friends, family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the U.S. government, for what will happen to me is only a result of their complacency and criminality," the kneeling man says.<br /> <br /> The man next to him, in a black mask, speaks in a British accent and says, "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen, of your country. As a government, you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State."<br /> <br /> "Today your military air force is attacking us daily in Iraq. Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency. We are an Islamic army, and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide."<br /> <br /> Following his statement he beheads the kneeling man. At the end of the video, words on the side of the screen say, "Steven Joel Sotloff", as another prisoner in an orange jumpsuit is shown on screen. "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," the masked man says.<br /> <br /> MORE THREATS<br /> <br /> Islamic State also released a video on Tuesday that gave the strongest indication yet it might try to strike American targets. The video with the theme "breaking of the American cross" boasts Islamic State will emerge victorious over "crusader" America.<br /> <br /> It follows a video posted on Monday, warning of attacks on American targets if Washington strikes against its fighters in Iraq and Syria.<br /> <br /> The latest footage speaks of a holy war between the al-Qaeda offshoot and the United States, which occupied Iraq for nearly a decade and faced stiff resistance from al-Qaeda.<br /> <br /> Islamic State's sweep through northern Iraq, bringing it close to Baghdad and in control of the second city, Mosul, drew U.S. air strikes that helped Kurdish peshmerga fighters regain some territory captured by the Sunni militants.<br /> <br /> Earlier on Tuesday, Iraqi forces halted a short-lived offensive on Tuesday to recapture Tikrit, home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, due to fierce resistance from Islamic State fighters.<br /> <br /> Buoyed by an operation to recapture a strategic dam from the militants after two months of setbacks, Iraqi army units backed by Shi'ite militias launched their offensive shortly after dawn on Tikrit, a city 130 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad which is a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim minority.<br /> <br /> But officers in the Iraqi forces' operations room said by mid-afternoon that the advance had stopped.<br /> <br /> South of Tikrit, the government side came under heavy machinegun and mortar fire from the militants, a group of Arab and foreign fighters hardened by battle both in Iraq and over the border in Syria's civil war, the officers told Reuters.<br /> <br /> To the west, landmines and snipers frustrated efforts to get closer to the city center in the latest in a series of attempts to drive out the militants. Residents of central Tikrit said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were firmly in control of their positions and patrolling the main streets.<br /> <br /> Islamic State has concentrated on taking territory for its self-proclaimed caliphate both in Syria, where it is also fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, and in Iraq. Unlike al Qaeda, the movement from which it split, it has so far steered clear of attacking Western targets in or outside the region.<br /> <br /> Coinciding with the Kurdish advances, Damascus government forces have stepped up air strikes on Islamic State positions in and around the city of Raqqa – its stronghold in eastern Syria.<br /> <br /> Analysts believe Assad - who is firmly in control in the capital more than three years into the civil war - is seizing the moment to show his potential value to Western states that backed the uprising against him but are now increasingly concerned by the Islamic State threat.<br /> <br /> Islamic State added new fighters in Syria at a record rate in July, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict. About 6,300 men – 80 percent of them Syrian and the rest foreigners – joined last month, Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Observatory, told Reuters.

Islamic State video purports to show beheading of U.S. journalist

Islamic State insurgents posted a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley and images of another U....

Review Top Half-Width Percentage Full-Width Featured Image

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit.<br /> <br /> <img height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9cKR4JyRV8aVHScIeqwUkidMVQVj4bNyE3QGmFVfQLPPWTteIxk9I9LYtsaxZcBkU-Tcx97xkk9J2S2SKIaWMI1wCpYQ3-shnU83_oLSyNbj1N6t2woF_wh1oLjJqem-fDVFmZ1vyexQ/s640/m2.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <br /> <br /> Auctor, aliquet phasellus urna magnis scelerisque proin a integer, aenean parturient, penatibus. Sed nisi, diam? Tristique tincidunt nunc pulvinar, vel odio turpis proin! Lectus phasellus magnis parturient nec nec in dignissim. Risus rhoncus ut a, tristique lectus dapibus ac! Dictumst quis cursus porttitor! Ultricies massa lectus etiam. Non lacus, nec adipiscing sit porta integer urna in quis habitasse penatibus.<br /> <br /> Nisi egestas integer est eros habitasse, odio aliquet sit sagittis montes proin massa proin! Rhoncus penatibus nec. A adipiscing pid integer lundium etiam, rhoncus est eros porta. Elementum eu! Lundium ut. Scelerisque dictumst, facilisis quis dapibus aenean enim sit mus cras vut et dignissim risus! Magna est, non. Auctor hac, pulvinar! Nisi lundium? Pulvinar tempor magnis integer velit nec.<br /> <br /> Penatibus platea egestas vel sed. Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit. Vel platea? Nisi. Velit! Et integer, lacus pulvinar urna! Ut tempor etiam vel integer amet in! Sed adipiscing.<br /> <br /> Mid proin, non. Sociis odio, risus rhoncus rhoncus, non integer sit. Ut? Rhoncus integer magna. Magna in platea magna, natoque natoque in mauris vel arcu! Adipiscing in, nec lorem? A lectus, urna aliquet mid urna, nunc scelerisque nec, enim? Habitasse integer adipiscing pid est! Lorem pulvinar placerat. Phasellus elit, scelerisque. Rhoncus. Amet purus mattis, augue augue urna nec magna.<br /> <br /> A turpis? Dictumst et? Vut, montes auctor phasellus eu! Natoque dolor ac, augue scelerisque. A rhoncus egestas? Porta sit, hac eros habitasse. Dapibus ac, sociis? Pulvinar. Nisi sit ridiculus arcu pellentesque porttitor mid dis magna nascetur? Nascetur! Est risus est eu lectus dignissim ut sit pellentesque tincidunt hac! Magnis integer! Nisi ac porttitor enim, sit magnis eu tincidunt tortor nisi.

Review Top Half-Width Percentage Full-Width Featured Image

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer ...

Donec tristique tempor dictum sem malesuada diam sodales

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit.<br /> <br /> <img height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEP98jSrQPIq_tGBRAzUXdVYzQPAePxptG7fef7nkP5Th-w3sYxq_Z6-ESg8itIIXAQMorkLRH1k4adng8ACFRG8HYqeyx4EMIwqpLuzynyrdVywhic9jAScLbJKFnpSx9217kIpQ4fUE/s640/m3.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <br /> Auctor, aliquet phasellus urna magnis scelerisque proin a integer, aenean parturient, penatibus. Sed nisi, diam? Tristique tincidunt nunc pulvinar, vel odio turpis proin! Lectus phasellus magnis parturient nec nec in dignissim. Risus rhoncus ut a, tristique lectus dapibus ac! Dictumst quis cursus porttitor! Ultricies massa lectus etiam. Non lacus, nec adipiscing sit porta integer urna in quis habitasse penatibus.<br /> <br /> Nisi egestas integer est eros habitasse, odio aliquet sit sagittis montes proin massa proin! Rhoncus penatibus nec. A adipiscing pid integer lundium etiam, rhoncus est eros porta. Elementum eu! Lundium ut. Scelerisque dictumst, facilisis quis dapibus aenean enim sit mus cras vut et dignissim risus! Magna est, non. Auctor hac, pulvinar! Nisi lundium? Pulvinar tempor magnis integer velit nec.<br /> <br /> Penatibus platea egestas vel sed. Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit. Vel platea? Nisi. Velit! Et integer, lacus pulvinar urna! Ut tempor etiam vel integer amet in! Sed adipiscing.<br /> <br /> Mid proin, non. Sociis odio, risus rhoncus rhoncus, non integer sit. Ut? Rhoncus integer magna. Magna in platea magna, natoque natoque in mauris vel arcu! Adipiscing in, nec lorem? A lectus, urna aliquet mid urna, nunc scelerisque nec, enim? Habitasse integer adipiscing pid est! Lorem pulvinar placerat. Phasellus elit, scelerisque. Rhoncus. Amet purus mattis, augue augue urna nec magna.<br /> <br /> A turpis? Dictumst et? Vut, montes auctor phasellus eu! Natoque dolor ac, augue scelerisque. A rhoncus egestas? Porta sit, hac eros habitasse. Dapibus ac, sociis? Pulvinar. Nisi sit ridiculus arcu pellentesque porttitor mid dis magna nascetur? Nascetur! Est risus est eu lectus dignissim ut sit pellentesque tincidunt hac! Magnis integer! Nisi ac porttitor enim, sit magnis eu tincidunt tortor nisi.

Donec tristique tempor dictum sem malesuada diam sodales

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer ...

A adipiscing pid integer lundium etiam, rhoncus est eros porta.

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit.<br /> <br /> <img height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5vIPvhXQNv8tTBhxs4ngTliD7Ij5BVBbYcy3QIo9AgLvNK689JQmfrPfBl4kn7fLlgfvA2_2X_qXJfHj9fOJAid1UuzaNzCfpc42cBHtxhr-w43m8SQf95ngI1iKuqovwdlejank8iA/s640/tracks.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <br /> Auctor, aliquet phasellus urna magnis scelerisque proin a integer, aenean parturient, penatibus. Sed nisi, diam? Tristique tincidunt nunc pulvinar, vel odio turpis proin! Lectus phasellus magnis parturient nec nec in dignissim. Risus rhoncus ut a, tristique lectus dapibus ac! Dictumst quis cursus porttitor! Ultricies massa lectus etiam. Non lacus, nec adipiscing sit porta integer urna in quis habitasse penatibus.<br /> <br /> Nisi egestas integer est eros habitasse, odio aliquet sit sagittis montes proin massa proin! Rhoncus penatibus nec. A adipiscing pid integer lundium etiam, rhoncus est eros porta. Elementum eu! Lundium ut. Scelerisque dictumst, facilisis quis dapibus aenean enim sit mus cras vut et dignissim risus! Magna est, non. Auctor hac, pulvinar! Nisi lundium? Pulvinar tempor magnis integer velit nec.<br /> <br /> Penatibus platea egestas vel sed. Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer et amet duis, arcu mattis, nec lacus magna nunc est odio a purus magnis! Mus ut? Velit. Vel platea? Nisi. Velit! Et integer, lacus pulvinar urna! Ut tempor etiam vel integer amet in! Sed adipiscing.<br /> <br /> Mid proin, non. Sociis odio, risus rhoncus rhoncus, non integer sit. Ut? Rhoncus integer magna. Magna in platea magna, natoque natoque in mauris vel arcu! Adipiscing in, nec lorem? A lectus, urna aliquet mid urna, nunc scelerisque nec, enim? Habitasse integer adipiscing pid est! Lorem pulvinar placerat. Phasellus elit, scelerisque. Rhoncus. Amet purus mattis, augue augue urna nec magna.<br /> <br /> A turpis? Dictumst et? Vut, montes auctor phasellus eu! Natoque dolor ac, augue scelerisque. A rhoncus egestas? Porta sit, hac eros habitasse. Dapibus ac, sociis? Pulvinar. Nisi sit ridiculus arcu pellentesque porttitor mid dis magna nascetur? Nascetur! Est risus est eu lectus dignissim ut sit pellentesque tincidunt hac! Magnis integer! Nisi ac porttitor enim, sit magnis eu tincidunt tortor nisi.

A adipiscing pid integer lundium etiam, rhoncus est eros porta.

Mauris! Dapibus, ultrices, augue nunc mauris pulvinar placerat porttitor dapibus, urna lectus odio facilisis placerat nisi sit odio integer ...

Why There May Never Be A Cure for Ebola

Ebola has no cure, no medical treatment—and in this deadly West Africa outbreak, doctors can only isolate victims and find those they had come into contact with to track the virus' spread.<br /> <br /> Misinformation is running rampant in the countries that have been affected. Scores of newspapers urged residents of Liberia to "Burn all bodies." A pastor who claimed to have a cure for Ebola, prompted Nigeria to decree that anyone spreading similar scams could face jail time. Street protests broke out in Kenema, Sierra Leone, when angry crowds attempted to burn down the city's Ebola treatment center in an effort to eradicate the virus.<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> To make it clear: There is no cure for Ebola.</blockquote> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/38/1e823ccfc934372a894c3409b6dde/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" class="decoded" height="359" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/38/1e823ccfc934372a894c3409b6dde/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A doctor points to collected samples of the Ebola virus.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> But it's not like researchers have been sitting around on their hands, waiting for a solution to appear. Many pharmaceutical companies and researchers have been testing possible cures for years.<br /> <br /> So what's stopping them? To begin with, antiviral therapy is an especially challenging field compared to bacterial diseases, because viruses have fewer targets for treatment (read: proteins, which drugs can work with), and they evolve quickly. If a vaccine is developed today that works, it might not make a dent in future outbreaks. And with five known species of Ebola virus, there's plenty of room for further viral evolution.<br /> <br /> More important, Ebola is—and this should be obvious by now—an incredibly dangerous virus to handle. It requires high-level safety equipment and special facilities, deemed "biosafety level 4" or the highest level of protection, to keep labs in check. It's costly, hard to control, and a major roadblock to progress.<br /> <br /> "Antiviral therapy has lagged behind antibacterial therapy for decades," Derek Gatherer, a bioinformatics researcher at Lancaster University in the U.K. told Fox News. "There's only a handful of places in the world where you can actually do Ebola experimentation."<br /> <br /> But aside from the safety issues, the two predominant obstacles to having a widespread cure revolve around ethical and economical questions.<br /> <br /> For the ethical side, it all comes down to human testing. Paul Hunger, professor of Health Protection at the University of East Anglia, broke down both arguments for the Huffington Post:<br /> <br /> As a practicing clinician, if I was given the option to help people with a drug that isn't proven, but has been shown to have at least some effect, it's unethical not to give it to them.<br /> <br /> [But] in the midst of such a huge epidemic, one could even argue that doing a blind controlled trial would be unethical, because if you give a placebo to some people, who will most likely die, then you are depriving them of a drug that could cure them, something that could save their life.<br /> <br /> The economical side is more, well, deplorable, according to Dr. Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "The vaccine companies of course have to be driven by the economic considerations," he told the Huffington Post. "It's a terrible thing to say, but they have to be convinced that it's economically... worthwhile to provide the vaccine."<br /> <br /> And these two reasons have again and again driven cures away from moving further than trial stages. Here, a review of the major ones that are or have been pursued:<br /> BCX4430<br /> <br /> Description: The drug, developed by North Carolina-based BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, has proven most adept at preventing death from the Marburg virus, a strain that acts similarly to Ebola. It inhibits Ebola virus reproduction by blocking its replication of its RNA genome, a process called chain termination.<br /> <br /> Why It's Not Available: Rob Bennet, BioCryst's vice president of investor relations and operations, put it this way: " Our challenge right now is that, in the absence of human safety data, we don't see a path to dose patients without at least some fundamental safety data. There would be some ethical issues around that, so it's a catch-22." In other words, human testing is too risky, despite the funding BioCryst has ready to go. Until there's a way to safely do so, the drug will have to wait.<br /> Tekmira's Interfering RNA Molecule<br /> <br /> Description: Though it doesn't have a name yet, it follows the same idea of targeting RNA in Ebola. Developed by British Columbia-based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, these molecules are placed inside lipid nanoparticles and would fight the RNA polymerase L protein on the Ebola virus.<br /> <br /> Why It's Not Available: The F.D.A. placed it on hold to investigate its process, which would involve an "intense dosing regimen," according to Dr. Mark Murray, president and CEO of Tekmira, in a statement. The drug is in phase 1 trials and will remain there until the FDA lifts its hold.<br /> AVI-7537<br /> <br /> Description: This one's been in development for a long time, and got as far as a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense in 2010 for further testing. The AVI-7537, the sister drug of AVI-7288 targeting the Marburg virus, is specifically for Ebola viruses, unlike the BCX4430. Like the BCX4430 and Tekmira's work, however, it's also RNA-based, and uses phosphoramidate morpholino oligomers to penetrate cells and resist metabolism (Ebola metabolizes and replicates quickly, which causes hemorrhaging and eventual death).<br /> <br /> Why It's Not Available: The D.O.D. discontinued the Ebola part of the contract with Sarepta in October 2012 and never reactivated it. According to a report in the Financial Times, budget cuts caused the scrapping of the program for Ebola, though research continues on the AVI-7288 for the Marburg virus.<br /> Favipiravir<br /> <br /> Description: In a study titled Successful Treatment of Advanced Ebola Virus Infection with T-705 (Favipiravir) in a Small Animal Model, researchers tested this drug on small animals, and found that it prevented Ebola infection in all the animals tested. It's also more a broad anti-viral drug, as it uses a compound that works against viral enzymes in general, tending to flu symptoms and blocking the virus' replication. Whether it's strong enough to stop Ebola in humans remains to be seen.<br /> <br /> Why It's Not Available: Similar to BCX4430, it's only been used on small animals, and is nowhere near testing on humans.<br /> <br /> None of these drugs are close to widespread dissemination. Instead, the Americans infected in the outbreak have received experimental treatments. One received a dose of a serum, though little information is available on how it works. The other has been given a unit of blood from a 14-year-old patient who survived Ebola. The idea behind the blood, of course, is that if its plasma's antibodies managed to fend of the virus, it could do so in the infected doctor's body.<br /> <br /> Yet, even with the the escalating emergency in West Africa, it's important to remember the outbreak has a slim chance of spreading past the region. Ebola requires contact with bodily fluids to spread, and the outbreak has been mostly attributed to less-than-ideal conditions.<br /> <br /> "Ebola outbreaks [have] become so widespread because of the hospital conditions and poor resources," Barbara Knust, Ebola expert at C.D.C., told the Financial Times. "Health workers might not even have access to gloves and family members of infected people might not have running water to wash their hands."<br /> <br /> Plus, Peter Piot, who co-discovered Ebola in 1976, told Agence France-Presse he would not be afraid to be around an infected person. "I wouldn't be worried to sit next to someone with Ebola virus on the Tube as long as they don't vomit on you or anything," he said. "This is an infection that requires very close contact."<br /> <br /> In the meantime, doctors must continue to isolate patients in the outbreak, and pharmaceutical companies must determine whether a cure or vaccine is worth pursuing. Is more than 1,300 cases reported in West Africa enough?

Why There May Never Be A Cure for Ebola

Ebola has no cure, no medical treatment—and in this deadly West Africa outbreak, doctors can only isolate victims and find those they had co...

If an Electric Bike Is Ever Going to Hit It Big in the U.S., It's This One

On a sunny but brisk spring morning near the Charles River in Cambridge, I took a test ride on the bicycle of the future. No rockets or lasers (alas), the bicycle of the future looks pretty much like the bicycle of the present. But with the first pumps of my feet on the pedals, I felt the difference. The bike wasn't just moving, it was pushing, adding extra propulsion to my own pedaling, giving me a boost with every revolution of the pedals.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/10/1129652986dede26de6c515d74068/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" class="decoded" height="359" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/10/1129652986dede26de6c515d74068/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyclists using the Copenhagen Wheel can change speeds by swiping a smartphone fixed to the handlebars.</td></tr> </tbody></table> The bike I tested was equipped with the Copenhagen Wheel, an electric pedal-assist motor fully contained in the oversized red hub of an otherwise normal back bicycle wheel. Inside that red hub is a delicately crammed array of computing equipment, sensors, and a three-phase brushless direct current electric motor that can feel the torque of my pedaling and add appropriately scaled assistance.<br /> <br /> Replace the back wheel of any bike with the Copenhagen Wheel and it's instantly an electric bike—one that not only assists the rider but senses the surrounding topography and can even collect and share data about environmental, traffic, and road conditions. First developed in 2009, through a partnership between MIT's Senseable City Lab and the City of Copenhagen, the wheel is now in its first stages of commercial production. By the end of 2014, thousands will be shipped out to fulfill pre-orders around the world.<br /> <br /> With its focus on design and simple application of complex technology, the Copenhagen Wheel is perhaps the sleekest version of the electric bike. But it's hardly the only one. Millions of electric bicycles are being used in cities all over the world, offering cheap and accessible forms of transportation in developing countries and dense urban environments. And though bicycling has long been considered recreation in the United States, the electric bicycle is about to become the next big thing in urban transportation.<br /> <br /> •       •       •       •       •<br /> <br /> The electric bicycle is a relatively new idea. In its basic form, it's a battery-powered motorized bike operated either by a manual throttle on the handle bars or by an automatic system that adds power when pedaling. About 20 years ago manufacturers began to offer these lighter and cheaper alternatives to mopeds and motor scooters.<br /> <br /> Frank Jamerson has been watching the market evolve since the beginning. An engineer who helped build the first nuclear submarines at Westinghouse and who later helped run the EV-1 electric vehicle program for General Motors, Jamerson started publishing the Electric Bikes World Report, a bi-annual profile of the global market for electric bikes, in 1995. Then, as now, China led the way, according to report co-author and chairman of the Light Electric Vehicle Association, Ed Benjamin.<br /> <br /> Benjamin and Jamerson estimate that 32 million electric bikes were sold in China in 2013, though they note that the Chinese bikes are often low-quality, costing a few hundred dollars on average and only lasting for a year or two before breaking down. In Europe, the next biggest market, where most of the electric bikes are higher quality and sell for upwards of $3,000, Jamerson and Benjamin estimate about 1.4 million sales in 2014. Japan and India are other major markets, with sales in the hundreds of thousands.<br /> <br /> In the United States, the numbers are smaller but growing. From July 2011 to June 2012, American consumers bought about 100,000 electric bikes, according to Jamerson's estimates. The next year, sales reached 185,000. By 2016, as more manufacturers and retailers get into the electric bike market, Jamerson expects annual sales above 400,000. Within 20 years, he thinks the number could be as high as 2 million, and that the United States will be one of the top markets for electric bicycles in the world.<br /> <br /> "We've got an ever-expanding population in the world that's moving more and more to denser and denser cities. Those cities require transportation solutions much more like a bicycle or an electric bicycle," says Benjamin. "The fact that the United States is transitioning a little bit slower than the rest of the world, I don’t see that as important. It's going to happen. It is happening. It will continue to happen."<br /> <br /> There's certainly no shortage of manufacturers. There are nearly a hundred brands of electric bikes currently on the market. From Chinese manufacturers building millions of electric bikes a year to small garage-based startups, the supply side of electric bikes has developed rapidly over the past 20 years. And though Chinese manufacturers like Geoby are leading the global market, much of the U.S. market is led by three American companies: Pedego, Prodecotech, and Currie Technologies.<br /> <br /> Within 20 years, experts believe the United States will be one of the world's top markets for electric bicycles.<br /> <br /> Currie, based in Simi Valley, California, has been building electric bikes since 1997. The company now offers more than two dozen different types of electric bikes, ranging from beach cruisers to mountain bikes, as well as a variety of conversion kits. Currie president Larry Pizzi concedes that the U.S. market has been slower to develop, but he's also seen strong recent growth in sales. Without offering specific figures, he says sales were up 25 percent from 2011 to 2012, and another 25 percent from 2012 to 2013. And the trend is continuing upwards, with Pizzi saying business with dealers "more than doubled" through the first quarter of 2014.<br /> <br /> But retailers have been slow to adopt electrics as a viable product—especially in the United States. Pizzi says retailers have been hesitant because electric bikes are "counter-intuitive" to what they think their customers want. "It's a passionate industry in North America, and it focuses on the enthusiast core," he says. Think weekend century rides and skin-tight outfits. "That's all well and good. But they're not thinking about bikes for transportation."<br /> <br /> The shift is happening, although slowly. Jamerson says that of the roughly 4,000 bicycle-specific retailers in the United States, about 900 sell electric bikes today. And some of the world's biggest vehicle manufacturers and technology companies have plans to enter the U.S. market, too. Smart recently began selling pedal-assist electric bicycles in its U.S. car dealerships, as did Ford. The German engineering and electronics company Bosch has made major investments in electric bike drive units, which are now used by more than 60 different brands. Industry insiders say General Motors will likely be entering this market soon as well.<br /> <br /> •       •       •       •       •<br /> <br /> The bike of the future I rode in Cambridge, equipped with the Copenhagen Wheel, also had an iPhone mounted on the handle bars. I swiped my finger across it to switch from Turbo mode to Regular, bringing my top speed down to about 15 miles per hour, according to the phone's display. I pedaled normally, but didn't exert myself. When I stopped pedaling the motor stopped, too, and I coasted, which also recharged the battery. Once I started pedaling again the motor almost instantly kicked back in, boosting me forward with a subtle but noticeable push of extra power.<br /> <br /> After riding around for a while, I took this prototype bike back to the offices of Superpedestrian, the company that's been developing the commercial version of the Copenhagen Wheel. In a small conference room, whiteboards and white walls were covered in drawings of gizmo components and schematic printouts. Next to a hand-drawn sketch of the wheel's internal parts somebody's scribbled the words "puzzle building."<br /> <br /> Assaf Biderman, founder of Superpedestrian and associate director of the Senseable City Lab, from which he spun off the company, explained how the original idea for the Copenhagen Wheel emerged. It sprouted in a class of about 10 students working on ideas related to a partnership with Copenhagen meant to develop urban solutions. Even with Denmark's already high rate of cycling, the city was looking for ways to get more people on bikes by understanding what was holding some of them back. The major factor was distance.<br /> <br /> "We decided instead of thinking about the whole bike, let's think about where the crux of the matter here is, which is motorizing it and giving people access," says Biderman.<br /> <br /> They finished a prototype of the electric-assist wheel in time to unveil it at COP 15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen in 2009. Mayors and government officials from around the world took it for a test ride. "The goal was to send world leaders home with a message that almost any city in the world could become as cycling-friendly as Copenhagen," says Biderman. Back at MIT, the Senseable City Lab continued to develop the wheel, and Biderman licensed the idea from the university in late 2012. He quietly opened the Superpedestrian office in Cambridge and stocked it with engineers and roboticists who'd previously built vehicles like UAVs and the Segway. In December 2013, they began accepting pre-orders, with the wheel priced at $699. (It's now selling for $799.)<br /> <br /> One of the main principles guiding the design of the Copenhagen Wheel was that it should be incredibly simple. "The bike should stay a bike," says Biderman. Ease of use is certainly part of the appeal. Once installed, the wheel is operated by a smartphone app via Bluetooth. The wheel unlocks itself when the user's phone is close by, and the app includes several speed-assist settings from Turbo to Flatten My City, which uses sensors in the hub to detect hills. The wheel imitates the rider, integrating its own propulsion seamlessly as the rider pedals: pedal more, get more power; pedal less, get less. Braking and coasting recharges the lithium ion battery, which holds about 30 miles of range. To facilitate global use, the Copenhagen Wheel's specifications can be altered to comply with local cycling regulations for wherever it's sent.<br /> <br /> From the user perspective, the wheel is simple. But inside it's literally a robot computer. Many sensors and control algorithms are working constantly to understand the motion of the bike, its position in space, the torque of the rider, and the additional torque it must use to achieve the desired speed. Superpedestrian has also created an open API, enabling developers to make their own modifications to the app and its interactions with the wheel. Of the pre-order group, about 20 percent of buyers self-identified as programmers and have volunteered to provide feedback on how their hacks work with the first iteration of the wheel.<br /> <br /> Initially the design included a number of other environmental sensors and sharing capabilities that would turn the wheel itself into a sort of roving urban sensing unit. Ideas included CO2 and noise sensors, and an option to collect road condition and traffic data that could be sent to a database for the city's use in addressing dangerous streets or adding bicycle infrastructure where ridership is high. For now, that's been set aside to get the first version finished at an affordable price; more sensors cost more money, after all.<br /> <br /> Biderman says some of that may come later, but it all depends on how people want to use the wheel. Ultimately, he expects to see some ways of collecting and sharing data widely (and anonymously), from neighborhood cycling communities to City Hall.<br /> <br /> "I think there's a very exciting future for planners and local governments when it comes to being able to address demand in a quantitative way and a rigorous way based on real usage," he says.<br /> <br /> •       •       •       •       •<br /> <br /> Americans have a mental block about bicycling that's mentioned again and again by industry insiders: While people in places like Europe think of the bicycle as transportation, people in the United States largely still think of it as recreation. There's a long history of urban development patterns and transportation policies that have led to this perception, and those tendencies are hard to break. Though there does seem to be a general uptick in cycling in pockets of the country, the reality is that most U.S. transportation happens in a car. If the electric bike is to be successful here, it will have to overcome the national perception of bicycles as playtoys.<br /> <br /> Transitioning the bicycle from recreation to transportation could hinge on something as simple as a sweaty armpit. "For 30 years, I've seen surveys about why people don't ride," says Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. "They don’t ride because it's too far or because they get hot and sweaty. And these are things that electric-assist bikes can help overcome."<br /> <br /> A big way to open the market will be to make them more affordable. Even more important will be to make them cool.<br /> <br /> A recent survey of U.S. electric bike owners suggests some progress on the problem of the stinky commute. John MacArthur of Portland State University found that 74 percent of 553 respondents said they don't need to shower after the end of the average trip on their electric bike. But sweat, or lack thereof, isn't the only thing pushing people onto electric bikes. According to MacArthur's survey, almost 70 percent of respondents said they purchased their electric bikes to replace some of their car trips.<br /> <br /> MacArthur notes that while his survey wasn't the most scientific, it did reveal some interesting demographics about who is using electric bicycles. About 45 percent of respondents were 55 or older, and about 30 percent indicated that they have a physical condition that makes riding a standard bike difficult. He argues that these should be indications to retailers that the market for electric bicycles isn't just hip Millennials; older people are interested, too.<br /> <br /> "I think the survey alludes to the potential that electric bikes really can get more people biking and to bike more often," says MacArthur.<br /> <br /> The international nature of the electric bicycle market has posed some problems, too. Different countries have different standards for how fast and powerful electric bicycles can be. For example, electric bike motors in the European Union can be only 250 watts, while they can be up to 750 watts in the United States. China allows a top speed of about 12 miles per hour; the EU, about 15 miles per hour; the United States and Canada, 20 miles per hour.<br /> <br /> Much of the confusion has to do with what, exactly, counts as an electric bike. Some places consider electric bikes and mopeds with internal combustion engines to be essentially the same thing, while others draw strong lines between them. Some places require helmets or registrations, while others don't.<br /> <br /> The United States, for its part, has at least come up with a standard definition (put forth in H.R. 727, an amendment to the Consumer Product Safety Act that became law in 2002). Even with federal guidance, confusion remains. State and local regulations of electric bicycles vary widely across the country, especially with regard to whether they belong in roads or bike lanes (or both). "Some municipalities and states are more equating electric bikes with the bicycle, and others are more equating them with a moped or motorized cycle," says MacArthur. The inconsistency has led to some places restricting electric bikes from using bike lanes.<br /> <br /> Clearing up the regulations will take time, and it may take more electric bikes on city streets. Though numbers are rising, the main challenge for electric bike makers and evangelists is to make them mainstream. Convincing the U.S. market to consider electric bikes as transportation will be key, according to Benjamin and Jamerson, the industry trackers. A big way to open the market will be to make them more affordable. Even more important will be to make them cool.<br /> <br /> •       •       •       •       •<br /> <br /> Superpedestrian has done the first run of production in the workshop of their Cambridge office, and are working on industrializing the process for factory production by the thousands later this year. The project is venture-backed, and Superpedestrian has inked deals with a few undisclosed major international companies to get even more of the bikes on the road. The design and idea behind the Copenhagen Wheel has even inspired some competition. A very similar back wheel pedal-assist add-on called FlyKly raised $701,239 on Kickstarter in November 2013, and the company expects to ship its first wheels in the fall.<br /> <br /> Benjamin, who works as an adviser to many electric bike manufacturers, says he's happy to see these new players get into the electric bike market. They're worlds away from the low-quality lead acid battery bikes he saw in China in the mid-'90s, and he thinks that these newer, sleeker, simpler electric bikes could finally help transition the U.S. bike market to start thinking seriously about going electric. The Copenhagen Wheel is leading the way, he says.<br /> <br /> "The Superpedestrian wheel is so far in the lead in terms of the engineering and coming to market that they are probably going to define the market entirely," says Benjamin. "I'd say that on my list of customers that are going to hit a home run, that one's at the top."<br /> <br /> But changing perceptions takes time. Jamerson, who's been watching the electric bike market since it first emerged, says electric bike makers will have to do all they can to take advantage of America's cycling momentum. He even suggests one of the oldest tricks in the marketing playbook: the celebrity endorsement. "We have not had enough pictures of celebrities riding electric bikes," he says.<br /> <br /> He's got some ideas. He says that a few years ago, during a reception with then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Chinese delegation gave electric bicycles to Chu and Barack Obama as gifts. If someone could get Obama to ride his electric bike, says Jamerson, that could really get them into the hearts and minds of the American public. "If you know anybody in the White House," he says, "tell them there's an electric bike somewhere in storage that they ought to pull out."<br /> <br /> This article is part of 'The Future of Transportation,' a CityLab series made possible with support from The Rockefeller Foundation.

If an Electric Bike Is Ever Going to Hit It Big in the U.S., It's This One

On a sunny but brisk spring morning near the Charles River in Cambridge, I took a test ride on the bicycle of the future. No rockets or lase...