Gum disease, both in smokers and non-smokers, may be a warning sign of an increased risk of cancer. Imperial College London researchers found gum disease was linked to a higher chance of lung, kidney, pancreatic and blood cancers. Writing in Lancet Oncology, the team, who studied the health records of 50,000 men, said an immune system weakness could cause both illnesses. The British Dental Association stressed the need for regular check-ups. The majority of Britons are said to suffer from some sort of gum disease, caused by a persistent bacterial infection, and the problem is more common in people who smoke. However, the latest research suggests that, even in those who have never smoked, the presence of gum disease means a bigger risk of cancer. The Imperial College team analysed questionnaires and health information provided by US men from 1986 onwards. They found that those with a history of gum disease had a 14% higher chance of cancer compared with those with no history of g...
They didn't get the memo. Seven months after the national Republican Party issued a report exhorting the GOP to "stop talking to itself" and appeal to minorities and swing voters, conservatives banded together on Friday in a defiant show of unity against the party's political pragmatists. Top conservatives rally at summit in Washington At the opening session of the Values Voter Summit, a yearly gathering of social conservatives in Washington sponsored by the Family Research Council, a procession of conservative leaders urged their most dedicated supporters to stand firm on principle and defend their values in the face of calls for moderation. Q & A: Tony Perkins "They say we have to reach out beyond our conservative base," said Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a driving force behind the movement on Capitol Hill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. "I think they make a great point. Times have changed. We do have to broaden our appeal and we do have to chang...
Steve Worswick has spent nine years refining the code behind the Mitsuku chatbot A chatbot called Mitsuku has won an annual contest to see if computers can convincingly imitate humans. The chatbot took top prize in the Loebner contest that puts the artificially intelligent programs through their paces. The contest involves the programs trying to convince judges they are human by answering questions put to them via an instant message system. Briton Steve Worswick who wrote Mitsuku won $4,000 (£2,500) for his creation. World knowledge Created by US businessman Hugh Loebner, the annual competition is an attempt to stage a real-world test of a question posed by mathematician Alan Turing in the 1950s. Turing suggested that if the responses a computer gave to a series of questions were as convincing as those from a human it could reasonably be said to be thinking. Mr Loebner has offered a prize of $100,000 (£62,000) for the computer program that meets Turing's standard for artifi...
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