May 21, 2006

Mindmapping, Lateral Thinking, Brainstorming, and Problem Solving

Thought these 4 bullet points are good tips for life...found it while reading about something on Mindmapping...a technique to organize ideas and to facilitate problem solving, which I was reading about this morning as I was preparing for some work (coordinating a brainstorming session) for this coming week.

Anyways, here goes..

Learn to manage your time better.
Make your brain your hobby. When you invest interest in your brain it pays you back a much greater interest. It's the best investment you can make.
Stay physically fit. When you're physically fit, your brain gets as much as 50% more oxygen per second every day of your life.
Learn at least one new subject every year. Could be astronomy - go to the planetarium and drift around in the stars for a while. It could be Chinese archaeology. It could be the guitar. Could be learning about a different profession that you'd never really thought about before, like mushroom growing. But learn something new to keep the brain stimulated.

===
I do #2 and #4 a lot.. but keep trying to improve on #1 and #3...

P.S. As part of my continuing efforts on #4, here is my work for the day... I have heard his name before but am going to do my 'learning' today about Edward de Bono , who over the years has popularized the idea of Lateral Thinking through his books, lectures and courses and spawned a whole genre of lateral thinking puzzles!

May 20, 2006

News from here and there..

Miscallaneous News from this weekend..

Sherpa breaks records by climbing Mt Everest for 16th time

A small, nondescript village in the central Doaba region of India's northern Punjab state has successfully turned the tide over the high number of male births.

The state governor of India's western state of Rajasthan has refused to sign a contentious religious freedom bill. Pratibha Patil's refusal comes amid widespread criticism of the bill, which would ban people from being converted to religions against their will. (Previously - India law bans forced conversion
and State to bar religious conversion)

http://web.mid-day.com/sports/international/2006/may/137612.htm DUJON

Gladwell Effect

I finally read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (still on my to-read books list is his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference ) and I will write about my own thoughts about the book soon... in the meantime read Rachel Donadio's praise in the NYT for Malcolm Gladwell, wondering if The Tipping Point and Blink, which have made the author a global phenomenon, have made the author 'the Dale Carnegie, or perhaps the Norman Vincent Peale, of the iPod generation.'

She writes about the 'Gladwell effect', which has made the author 'an all-out international phenomenon — and has helped create a highly contagious hybrid genre of nonfiction, one that takes a nonthreatening and counterintuitive look at pop culture and the mysteries of the everyday. In the past year, several other books in the Gladwell vein have appeared. They include the best-selling Freakonomics (NYT Review, Authors' blog) a breezy collection of case studies by Steven Levitt, an economist at the University of Chicago, and the journalist Stephen Dubner'; The Wisdom of Crowds (The NYT Review), a business book for thinking people in which the New Yorker writer James Surowiecki argues that groups are collectively smarter and more innovative than individuals; and Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, Steven Johnson's case that pop culture is becoming increasingly sophisticated.' (Note: I've modified/added the hyperlinks but the words are from Donadio's article)

Link via Amit Varma's blog about a review by Malcom Gladwell on a book that looks at performance in sport in an entirely new way.

One year later...

...what a long ways we have come..atleast on the ODI side.

Greg Chappell is India's new coach - May 20, 2005

We shall continue to strive for excellence.. ('Commitment to excellence will be the watchword' - Greg Chappell, May 20, 2005)

Masters of War

Ran into the phrase 'Masters of War' in context of reading something about Bush/Rumsfeld this morning and so did a search to see who came up with this phraseology. Looks like the original reference is a Bob Dylan song (if someone can find me an even earlier reference, please email me.) but it has been referenced in the last few years quite a few times with reference to Bush administration policies.

Masters of War - A review of Todd S. Purdum's " A Time of our Choosing: America's War in Iraq" by Michael Lind (From the The New York Times, November 30, 2003)

Moments of Truth, Masters of War by Paul Street, March 18, 2003

Bush and His Masters of War, by Joyce Marcel, March 21, 2003

Iraq Heartache by David Corn, October 27, 2004

Masters of War; Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire by Carl Boggs (Also read excerpts from the book here)

And finally the last word by Chomsky.
Failed States : The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy by Noam Chomsky

Masters of War
( Bob Dylan)

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave

'Til I'm sure that you're dead

May 18, 2006

Everybody hates Brian?

(Title is take-off on the TV show, 'Everybody Hates Chris' by Chris Rock, about his childhood growing up in Brooklyn. The show is on UPN and is not as popular as it should be..funny, funny show!)

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Lara returns for 3rd stint as West Indies captain

Richardson disagrees with Lara' s appointment

Richards surprised by Lara's appointment

Everyone seems to be against Lara! Chanderpaul obviously was not fit to be captain and had been forced into the role because there was no one else to take over the job and so the choice of Lara makes sense to me as a temporary stop-gap measure till World Cup 2007 (nothing wrong with that, Viv!) instead of putting Sarwan through the same excercise as they did with Chanderpaul. Sarwan didn't really step up to the plate and seem excited to take on that responsibility. He seems more in the Chanderpaul mold as a leader (great individual player but not a leader*) than say a Lloyd or even a Richards and WI has more to lose if under the pressure of captaincy, Sarwan's batting suffers than what it will gain by having him as captain. The others in the team are either too junior or not too sure of their place in the side even!

* The same can be said about Tendulkar or even Lara maybe... two of the greatest batsmen ever but certainly not good stints as captains. Maybe with that individual streak of genius comes a self-obsession and self-commitment that kinda goes against the grain of being a good captain? Qualities needed in a good captain (Vaughn, Brearly, etc.) come not from being the best batsman or bowler in the team but the most astute and the best team player..

May 16, 2006

War-Profiteers

Halliburton earned a record $2.4 billion last year (2005 Annual report), but Houston executives will forgo Texas-sized luxury when they come to this rural Oklahoma county seat this week. Halliburton Co. says it moved its meeting to this company town of 22,500 to honor its southern Oklahoma roots. The company's critics accuse it of running to a prairie outpost to hide.

Re: 2004 Annual Report (pdf), Warprofiteers.com reported - On May 18,2005, Halliburton will hold its annual shareholders meeting at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Houston. Inside, CEO David Lesar will be congratulating himself on the astonishing $7.1 billion revenue the company has made off its recent work in Iraq. This number is double what the company made in the war-torn country the previous year and boosts Halliburton 's overall revenue some 25 percent, bringing it to over $20 billion for 2004.

Last year... On March 19, more than 250 protesters demonstrated outside of the Halliburton shareholder meeting in Houston. The demonstrators far outnumbered the number of shareholders who attended the company's annual meeting at the Four Seasons hotel. Coinciding with the annual Halliburton shareholders meeting a report: "Houston We Still Have a Problem" was issued by CorpWatch. The report, which is an alternative annual Report on Halliburton is co-authored by by Andrea Buffa and Pratap Chatterjee.

This year, CorpWatch and its partners today released an alternative annual report on Halliburton titled: "Hurricane Halliburton - Conflict, Climate Change and Catastrophe." The new report was prepared in association with Asociacion Civil Labor in Peru, Environmental Rights Action Nigeria (members of the Friends of the Earth International network), HalliburtonWatch and the Oil & Gas Project. - May 15th, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

Reviews at WaPo, New York Times, various bloggers

Trailer of Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth (also available via Apple)

via Dailykos

Crooks and Liars has posted the trailer for Vice-President Al Gore's movie debut in An Inconvenient Truth here. The film is an in depth look at the case for global warming as well a graphic illustration of the devastating effects in store for mankind as a result of climate change.

An Inconvenient Truth: About the Film--Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced ... Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.

Realclimate--This isn't the "wooden" Gore of the 2000 campaign; he is clearly in his element here, talking about something he has cared deeply about for over 30 years.

There's also a blog and news site, along with a schedule of locations and dates where it will be showing.

Kossack reviews: mperloe; queerbklynboy

NY Times Movie Review: Warning of Calamities and Hoping for a Change in 'An Inconvenient Truth'
Davis Guggenheim's necessary documentary about the dangers of climate change features Al Gore as the surprisingly engaging vehicle for some very disturbing information.

BAGnewsNotes: "An Inconvenient Truth," a film hosted by Al Gore, is like a global warming nightmare roller coaster ride.

Also see these videos via Youtube.com re: global warming

ABC World News Tonight on Climate Change

Climate Change is Real
While the Bush Administration has not been committed to curbing our "addiction to oil," legislators from around the world are coming together to try to stop climate change from increasing. SourceCode reports from the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal, where world leaders are enacting the next step of the Kyoto Protocol. And we'll show you how American mayors are taking the steps to stop carbon emissions despite the hesitations of the executive branch.

South East Asia Drought
Greenpeace links rising global temperatures and climate change to the onset of one of the worst droughts to have struck Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia in recent memory. Severe water shortage and damage to agriculture has affected millions.

What are we waiting for?
Two thirds of all energy generated in the UK's nuclear, coal and gas fuelled power stations is lost as waste heat - that's enough heat to meet the whole of the UK's heating and hot water needs. Greenpeace has launched a new short film, "What are we waiting for?" Made by BAFTA award-winning Memory Box Films and narrated by Clive Anderson, the film answers the crucial energy question facing the UK: how can we combat climate change and ensure energy security without nuclear power. Visit the UK Greenpeace site for more details.

Reference: My compilation post with various links on Global Warming and the Environment and also Oil Politics and Energy Alternatives.

May 13, 2006

Malay Nonsense

Yesterday had read this link about a Malaysian wingnut.... (Obviously, wingnuts are in all countries ... )

A Malaysian opposition Islamist lawmaker drew heavy criticism from his own party and government lawmakers Friday after he called divorced women prostitutes and lustful. Abdul Fatah Harun, a Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party member, said most divorced women were not 'sad and quiet' like widows, but were 'easily spotted'' at parties displaying 'gatal' behavior (Malay-language word meaning 'lewd' or 'lustful' and is usually used in a derogatory manner), his party's newspaper quoted him as telling parliament on Wednesday. He also said most divorced women were prostitutes.

Today, I ran into this odd story also from Malaysia. Now this is someone they'd deem a "Gatal" and some may not argue against it .. ;) Uggh..see the picture in the link!! I am all for freedom to love and marry anyone you please but they sure do make an odd couple..

Woman, 104, takes man, 33, as husband No. 21

A 33-year-old man in northern Malaysia has married a 104-year-old woman, saying mutual respect and friendship had turned to love...

Economics as a guide to human behaviour

Interesting article - Pricing Caffeine by Amit Varma, who also blogged about it here. It is a review of The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford and I really loved the first sentence of Amit's blogpost:

Art aims to reveal the human condition, but there is no better way to understand human behaviour than through the tools of economics.

Snared right away by a great title and even better starting line - always a good idea be it a book or a blogpost - I was

intrigued and so I did a little search and found some other related links to discussions or books on the subject.

The Economic Approach to Human Behavior by Gary S. Becker

The New Economics of Human Behaviour edited by Mariano Tommasi (UCLA) & Kathryn Ierulli (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago). Foreword by Gary Becker

Of human behaviour and economics by B. Venkatesh, in The Hindu. Article in The Hindu:

Also read Richard Epstein's (author of Skepticism and Freedom and Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School &

Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution

, and a significant contributor to the theory of limited state powers) argument that

..embracing aspects of libertarian theory and laissez faire economics—continues to offer “the best guide to human behavior” and social organization. “Classical liberalism requires us to maintain the distinction between liberty and coercion: to advance the former while constraining the latter', says Epstein. Read the entire article...some real good thoughts and even good quotable quotes like - 'Skepticism is an essential component in maintaining freedom.'

In finding out more about Richard Epstein, I found this..

ON NSA SPYING: A LETTER TO CONGRESS by Beth Nolan, Curtis Bradley, David Cole, Geoffrey Stone, Harold Hongju Koh, Kathleen M. Sullivan, Laurence H. Tribe, Martin Lederman, Philip B. Heymann, Richard Epstein, Ronald Dworkin, Walter Dellinger, William S. Sessions, William Van Alstyne.

I also ran into an article by Epstein remembering

Harvard University's John Rawls, widely regarded as the most influential political philosopher of the 20th century and author of A Theory of Justice (1971)

. The article references

Robert Nozick, also of the Harvard philosophy department, and author of Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), which laid out a lot of the libertarian principles.

May 12, 2006

Falling for a 419 scam

Absolutely unbelievable story via India Uncut (reproducing his post here in full - in italics)...

Scammed by a Nigerian

There's one thing that you can take for granted for common spam: people fall for them. If they didn't have victims, the costs of sending those mails, however negligible they may be, wouldn't be worth it for the spammers. So somewhere on the net there are people who want their thingies enlarged, who try to encash winning lottery tickets they never bought, who buy OEM software, and who help Ngbobe Obucha get his millions out of Nigeria. What are these people like, one wonders.

Well, the New Yorker relates the fascinating story of John W Worley, a psychotherapist from Massachusetts who was both victim and accomplice of a Nigerian email scam. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that Worley was a deeply religious man, for that would indicate a certain readymade gullibility. After all, if you are so eager to believe in one kind of fiction for your salvation...

I am amazed that there actually are scammers, whole hordes of them in Lagos, who are planning out these scams in great intricacy and moreso that there are thousands of people (even so-called men of “integrity and honesty') who actually fall for this too! I always dismissed emails I get like this as dead-end spam mails that go nowhere... obviously, all scam has a source and the source has an intent, which some people, in their naivete and/or greed, help them fulfill....

Particularly interesting is this paragraph from the New Yorker article..

Robert B. Reich, the former Labor Secretary, who has studied the psychology of market behavior, says, “American culture is uniquely prone to the ‘too good to miss’ fallacy. ‘Opportunity’ is our favorite word. What may seem reckless and feckless and hapless to people in many parts of the world seems a justifiable risk to Americans.” But appetite for risk is only part of it. A mark must be willing to pursue a fortune of questionable origin. The mind-set was best explained by the linguist David W. Maurer in his classic 1940 book, “The Big Con”: “As the lust for large and easy profits is fanned into a hot flame, the mark puts all his scruples behind him. He closes out his bank account, liquidates his property, borrows from his friends, embezzles from his employer or his clients. In the mad frenzy of cheating someone else, he is unaware of the fact that he is the real victim, carefully selected and fatted for the kill. Thus arises the trite but none the less sage maxim: ‘You can’t cheat an honest man.’ ”

Although I take a very serious view of such religious dogma and bigotry at my Religious Dogma compilation, maybe I should add a link to your post there...as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on my aversion to believe-in-my-god-or-go-to-hell bigots - espcially holier-than-thou bigots who scream from their pulpits about Satan 'going to be trying to destroy you every inch of the way.' Looks like though he took it to be God's will, Satan misled him here, huh? :)

It's a mad mad mad mad world - 1

Some frivolousness this Friday afternoon. I have had a long week and am fried. So time for some Friday afternoon laughs and timepass with news from this mad mad mad mad world!

I read a post by Amit Varma earlier about the Chinese being concerned about women wearing 'tight bras'....

The 'Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours' frame at that article also had this article... (Phew that picture at this link - Hope I don't get called for putting porn links on my blog... ;))

A model displays Triumph International Japan's underwear with characters that read, "stop the birth rate decline", in Tokyo May 10, 2006. The undergarment was created to increase awareness of the issue of serious decline in Japan's population, the company said

and keeping on the subject:

Tempest in a D-cup as bust sizes grow
Bra producers have been forced to offer bigger cup-sizes in China because improved nutrition is busting all previous chest measurement record

I understand the .misplaced decimal point leading to a ridiculously high bill (actually...thats one major misplacement!)....but still cannot figure out how they ended up billing a dead man? :)

$218 trillion phone bill a shocking mistake: Malaysia's largest telephone company blamed a debt collection agency Thursday for a misplaced decimal point that resulted in a $218 trillion U.S. phone bill being sent to a dead man. - via India Uncut

Some other quirky tales below:

Online radio station for dogs
The world's first internet radio station for dogs has been launched in Thailand.

£30k for yoga lesson with Gwyn
A wealthy fan has paid £30,000 for a yoga lesson with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Scarlett's pet name for her boobs
Scarlett Johansson has revealed her pet name for her boobs is "My Girls".

World's most travelled bike stolen in UK
A cyclist travelled 335,500 miles on the same bike - only for it to be stolen as soon as he arrived in Britain.

The next one reminds me of the joke.. "Father narrates the 10 commandments..guy about to steal a hat from the coatrack, runs out screaming, Thanks for saving my soul - I remember where I left my hat. Father stops him and asks...you mean the 'I shall not steal' commandment changed your mind? He replies, 'No.. the one about the adultery did. I remembered where I left my hat' :)

Visit to strip club costly for priest
Police in Romania say they have caught a thief who stole money from a priest's car while he was in a strip club.

Something fishy about this tale..

Fire blamed on pet fish
A pet fish has been blamed for a house fire which nearly cost a woman and her two daughters their lives.

Talk about ditzy people..

Jade forgets how to spell her name
Jade Goody shocked fans at a book signing when she revealed she sometimes forgets how to spell her name.

--
I used to collect such oddball stories in a thread but will maybe from time to time have a new post with such stories. Note the new category - Oddball.

Makes me feel safe...

... NOT!

Four planeloads of AK-47 assault rifles that had been used in the Bosnian war were bought by the US military and were supposed to be shipped to Iraq. But the Iraqi security forces never got them. No-one knows for sure who did get the 200,000 rifles, but many fear that they wound up in the hands of terrorists - via LiberalAvenger.com and also cross posted at appletree

Best American Fiction of last 25 years

New York Times ponders, What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?

All reviews, otherwise mentioned, are NY Times reviews

Early this year, the Book Review's editor, Sam Tanenhaus, sent out a short letter to a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages, asking them to please identify "the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years." [Read A. O. Scott's essay. See a list of the judges.] Following are the results.

THE WINNER:

§ Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987) - Review

THE RUNNERS-UP:

§ Underworld, Don DeLillo - Review

§ Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (1985) - Review

§ Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels, John Updike (1995)

o Review: 'Rabbit at Rest' (1990)

o Review: 'Rabbit Is Rich' (1981)

o Review: 'Rabbit Redux' (1971)

o Review: 'Rabbit, Run' (1960)

§ American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997) - Review

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ALSO RECEIVED MULTIPLE VOTES:

§ A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole (1980) - Review

§ Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson (1980) - (This book was not reviewed by The Times. Read a review from the Guardian here.)

§ Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin (1983) - Review

§ White Noise, Don DeLillo (1985) - Review

§ The Counterlife, Philip Roth (1986) - Review

§ Libra, Don DeLillo (1988) - Review

§ Where I'm Calling From, Raymond Carver (1988) - Review

§ The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990) - Review

§ Mating, Norman Rush (1991) - Review

§ Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson (1992) - Review

§ Operation Shylock, Philip Roth (1993) - Review

§ Independence Day, Richard Ford (1995) - Review

§ Sabbath's Theater, Philip Roth (1995) - Review

§ Border Trilogy, Cormac McCarthy (1999)

o Review: 'Cities of the Plain' (1998)

o Review: 'The Crossing' (1994)

o Review: 'All the Pretty Horses' (1992)

§ The Human Stain, Philip Roth (2000) - Review

§ The Known World, Edward P. Jones (2003) - Review

§ The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (2004) - Review

It's jail-time for Hwang

Briefly blogged about this before.. but more details and an update here.

S. Korean Cloning Scientist Hwang Indicted
South Korean prosecutors indicted disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in a scandal over faked stem cell research that shook the scientific community. Five members of Hwang's research team were indicted on lesser charges, prosecution official Lee In-kyu said in a nationally televised news conference. The 52-year-old scientist faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. The first hearing is expected in mid-June, said prosecutor Hong Man-pyo.

I say, good riddance to a guy who brought a lot of infamy to Korea and a big setback to the already controversial field of embryonic cloning and stem cell research. Life in prison does seem a harsh verdict though ...maybe he can clone himself and leave his clone to rot in jail, huh? :)

Background

Read the BBC's Profile & the Wikipedia entry for Hwang, from the Seoul National University

Timeline of a controversy

August 3, 2005 came the big announcement: South Korean scientists unveil first dog clone

Meet Snuppy

Scientists in South Korea have produced the first dog clones, they report (subscription to magazine needed to access this link) in Nature magazine... - via BBC News.

Also read the Onion's take on dog cloning :)

Apparently, the dogs are chasing the cats in the cloning worldalso.. Feb 15, 2002: Copy Cat: Cat Cloning success at Texas A&M.

11/24/05: South Koreans campaigned 'to save the country's pioneer in cloning, Hwang Woo-suk, who is facing a tough challenge in his stem-cell work in the wake of a scandal over violation of ethics guidelines.'

And then everything went downhill with these reports...

12/2/05: Truth vs. Nationalism: Hwang Cloning Scandal Invokes Nationalism

12/3/05: S Korea cloning research was fake

12/15/05: Dr. Hwang Dropped from Scientific American 50 for Faking Research

12/16/05: New York Times analysis: Scandal for Cloning Embryos: 'A Tragic Turn' for Science by Gina Kolata. Also read related articles in NYT:

Korean Scientist Said to Admit Fabrication in a Cloning Study (December 16, 2005)
American Co-Author Wants His Name Off Stem Cell Paper (December 14, 2005)
New Criticism Rages Over South Korean Cell Research (December 10, 2005)
New Questions on a Breakthrough in Human Stem Cell Research (December 6, 2005)
South Koreans Rush to Defend Cloning Researcher Against Criticism (November 29, 2005)

1/1/06: South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk, who has been indicted of faking his research data on human cloning, yesterday denied he had any involvement in doctoring data in his famous paper on human embryo cloning, published in May 2005 in the journal Science.

1/10/06: Nature magazine reports with the Verdict: Hwang's human stem cells were all fake - Landmark papers shown to be fraudulent, but Snuppy turns out to be a real cloned dog. Also read this viewpoint from the BBC on 'The fall of a scientific 'rock star'' and the BBC Science editor's article on this controversy: Only last summer his government gave him the Orwellian title of "Supreme Scientist". They promised funding of up to $15m after he claimed to have extracted human stem cells from embryos he had cloned. The investigation panel did offer Dr Hwang one small saving grace - finding that Snuppy, his claimed "world first" cloned dog, is genuine.

1/10/06: Science takes stock after clone row

1/10/06: A good article on the issue: It was late on a Wednesday night in February 2004 that Dr Hwang Woo-suk and his entourage swept into the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seattle to meet the BBC. The South Korean scientists had just flown in to the US city to announce an astonishing breakthrough: they had cloned 30 human embryos and managed to extract stem cells from one of them. Not only was that landmark 2004 work highly dubious, Hwang's research published a year later on cloned personalised stem cell lines was also built on fabricated data.

1/12/06: Prosecutors Raid Hwang’s House - Disgraced Scientist Faces Fraud, Embezzlement Charges

1/12/06: Hwang apologises to South Koreans

1/13/06: Disgraced gene scientist puts blame on team

1/13/06: Korea's national shock at scandal

1/13/06: Journal retracts Hwang research

1/23/06: S Korea probes stem cell trials

2/26/06: An Internet-based group of young Korean science researchers plan to document scandal surrounding discredited gene scientist Hwang Woo-suk. the

3/21/06: University fires professor at centre of cloning fraud

Update: August 2006 - Researcher who faked cloning data gets new job