CMS Paw Prints

Flesh-Eating Disease Claims Georgia Student in Zip Line Accident

AnnabelleC — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:59:08 +0000

For Aimee Copeland, an innocent kayaking trip with friends turned into a ghastly trip to the hospital, where doctors told the 24-year-old she had contracted a rare flesh-eating disease. The college student was riding a homemade zip line through Carrollton, Georgia when suddenly, the line broke. The zip line cut a gash deep into Copeland’s left leg and introduced a life-threatening disease that would claim her left leg and part of her abdomen by Friday.

Copeland’s father Andy told ABC News affiliate WSBTV, “It’s a miracle she made it past Friday night.”

After the injury last Tuesday, Copeland was admitted to a nearby emergency room where doctors used 22 staple to close the gash. Copeland returned the next day complaining of unbearable pain.

Says Schaffner, “The symptom that should ring alarm bells is serious, unremitting pain. An otherwise healthy individual with a seemingly superficial injury who has severe pain should have a much more thorough evaluation.”

Copeland was sent home with painkillers, but she returned again on Thursday, subsequently sent back with antibiotics. By Friday, doctors diagnosed Copeland with necrotizing fasciitis and her left leg was amputated at the hip.

Even minor cuts in the skin can lead to the dreaded flesh-eating disease, medically known as necrotizing fasciitis. The rare but severe bacterial infection muscles, skin, and underlying tissue while causing the patient tremendous pain. According to Dr. William Schaffner, “The bacteria produce enzymes that can dissolve muscle deep down and because it’s so deep, it can be a sneaky infection that’s not immediately appreciated by the patient.”

Though the source of the infection remains unclear, Schaffner tells us, “The symptom that should ring alarm bells is serious, unremitting pain. An otherwise healthy individual with a seemingly superficial injury who has severe pain should have a much more thorough evaluation.”

Information from the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation says frequent hand washing and avoiding people with sore throats can help prevent the unwanted disease.

1 Year After Osama bin Laden’s Death

AndrewK — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:59:06 +0000

About one year ago on May 2nd 2011, A group of U.S. Navy SEALS raided the compound of al-Qaeda member Osama bin Laden who is infamously known for planning the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. At Abbottābad, Pakistan,a Black Hawk helicopter unintentionally crashed inside the compound of bin Laden but the SEALS inside the aircraft got out safely. Meanwhile, the other helicopter with the remaining SEALS touched down just outside of the compound . Three of the SEALS entered the compound and killed 5 people inside including bin Laden who was in his bedroom on the 3rd floor of the compound with his wife. 17 people were also were captured out of the 22 people in the house. Later in the year, President Obama announced Osama bin Ladens death in front of a cheering crowd of people ecstatic about the death of one of the nations most wanted terrorists. It is usually considered against moral principles for humans to celebrate the death of another person of their own kind. With everybody being happy about Osama bin Laden’s death, it seems that many people are considering Osama bin Laden and exception since he has done so many harmful acts to mankind. What do you think about this? Should we be happy or sad about bin Ladens death? Share your thoughts by commenting below. In New York on May 2nd, police and security workers increased the security because the anniversary of bin Ladens death could have sparked some new terrorist attacks in the populous and vulnerable city of New York. So after all, has killing bin Laden actually made the world a better place? Even after his death, terrorist attacks are still continuing and his supporters are enraged and are likely to plan more harmful attacks on the United States.

Tasty Furniture

SarahK — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:58:35 +0000

Calling all waffle lovers! The newest type of waffles has arrived- as furniture. A radical new waffle maker creates waffles in the shape of miniature furniture. Waffles have been around since the Middle Ages, but no one has ever thought of this idea before. Two innovative designers, Ryosuke Fukusada and Rui Rereira, are the creators of this project. They call it Sapora Del Mobili, or Taste of Furniture. Their goal was to make a statement about the lack of innovation in furniture design. Well, they definitely made us hungry!

Instead of the usual criss-crossed waffles, this waffle maker creates yummy, 3 dimensional furniture worthy of the finest dollhouses (You could literally play with your food). While this crazy waffle maker has not yet been created for commercial purposes, it has gained a lot of publicity. Hopefully, a company will begin to manufacture them soon. Who knew furniture could taste so good?

Vacation to space?

HanW — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:50:33 +0000

No, this is not sci-fi! During the past few years, NASA has been working on a space ship designed for short trips to space! The first one failed, so the space ship is called “SpaceShipTwo/WhiteKnightTwo.” For $200000 (geez!), people will soon be able to get into SpaceShipTwo/WhiteKnightTwo for a trip to space. NASA has been testing SpaceShipTwo/WhiteKnightTwo and the ship works! Here’s what happens: passengers will first lounge inside of SpaceShipTwo. WhiteKnightTwo is like a plane, but with two bodies. SpaceShipTwo is nestled in between. Then, WhiteKnightTwo launches SpaceShipTwo into, well, space! Passengers will enjoy an amazing view of Earth and zero gravity for six minutes. Then SpaceShipTwo starts to go down until it lands! The experience is breathtaking, but $200000 for six minutes? Luckily, in the next few years, the price will probably decrease. I can’t wait to go to space!

The first Smart City

TejG — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:35:26 +0000

A place near Hobbs, New Mexico has been chosen to be developed into a scientific “ghost town”. This 1 billion dollar city in Lea County will contain no residents and be used only for the sole purpose; to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets. Theoretically this could be the first ever “smart city”. Pegasus Holdings and its subsidiary CITE said that Hobbs beat out Las Cruces for the area to build the Center for Innovation, Technology and Testing (the “ghost town”). Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said that the town will be modeled after Rock Hill, South Carolina. Even though there will be no residents of the town, all of the houses will have appliances and plumbing.

The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing areas of an average town without interfering in everyday life. Brumley says that they will try to start building by June 30th. The initial development cost is estimated to be at $400 million but many believe that in the end it will top $1 billion.

Hobbs is a small community of 43,000 people. Currently the city of Hobbs has two nonstop flights from Houston each day. The mayor of Hobbs has said that plans to open up more flights to Hobbs has started, and because of the development of the research center the efforts to connect Hobbs to new cities will be bolstered.

Some of the projects that will start at CITE.

All information below comes directly from Pegasus Global Holdings – Test Center’s Website

-Green Energy: CITE will provide unique opportunities to drill down into the cost of introducing solar, wind, and Smart Grid technologies in a real world setting to help determine the next steps to success.

-Homeland Security: This will include a secure testing area for first responder technology with the benefit of closeness to a civil and commercial infrastructure.

-Intelligent Transportation Systems: CITE will provide a highway infrastructure that will allow clients to test and evaluate unmanned vehicle technologies, traffic management systems, and vehicle-based applications without endangering other drivers.

-Next Generation Wireless Infrastructure: A new wireless infrastructure – terrestrial and satellite – is planned to be used in CITE, allowing the development, installation, testing and commercialization of high speed broadband technologies across all areas of our economy

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/hobbs-nm-picked-scientific-ghost-town-172742847–finance.html

http://www.pegasusglobalholdings.com/test-center.html

Real Life Princesses

KathyT — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:27:18 +0000

It’s always been a childhood dream to become a princess, and now photographer Ryan Astamendi has given women a chance to feel like one. He worked to fit these models into perfect costumes, makeup, and hair to make them look exactly like if the movie screen came to life. Up next for Astamendi? He is working on Rapunzel, and this model is unique… she actually works as Rapunzel at Disney! But not every girl wants to be a princess, so Astamendi created Jessica Rabbit to life.

Drone Tone

KavinL — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:10:49 +0000

Got drone? Well, the CIA sure does. They seem to have an addiction to drones. Flying drones, special ops drones, and bomb dropping drones. In Pakistan, however, they are dropping drones like a bird drops poop. But they seem to have toned down a bit. But we have to remember, actually they have to remember that we have done them some help too. The drones played a huge part in capturing many of the Al Qaeda hierarchy. But the drones have also hurt us, such as the killing of the twelve Pakistani soldiers. Our relationship with Pakistan has been a total fallout and it is at an all time low. But the drones going down is helping and by the end of the year, we might have a better relationship with Pakistan. Who knows?

Summer Scavenger Hunt!

Ishmeet Singh — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:51:27 +0000

Over the summer, when this website isn’t as active as during the school year, we have decided to hold a scavenger hunt; to keep you entertained!

Here are the rules:

Hunt for the items on the below checklist.
You may submit a picture of yourself and the item if you would like to be published on our website!
Items can be found anywhere in the world except from the computer. Try find these outside of town!
Send the uploaded video link of your picture slideshow to cmspawprints@gmail.com by September 22, 2012 ( aka. the official end of summer).

The “list”:

A cow
National Monument
State park sign
A country flag
Field of Flowers
At a circus
On a mountaintop
Going to a famous bridge
Wearing traditional clothing
In a beach
Celebrating a national holiday
Doing something exciting (think thrill rides)
A wild animal (zoo works)
Ice skating
Amusement park
A building more than 100 years old
A beautiful sunrise
Doing gymnastics
A state flower i.e. California- Golden Poppy
Jumping on a trampoline
Putting makeup on
A rainbow

You don’t have to finish all of the things in the list, but good luck!

Hope you have a GREAT summer break.

The Robo Games!

AndrewK — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:42:25 +0000

Metal meets metal as sparks fly. Two teams of robots play a game of RoboHockey. This is the Robogames! Held anaually at the San Mateo Fairgrounds (which also hosts the famous Bay Area Maker Faire), the RoboGames is an worldwide robotics event which recently happened recently from Friday April the 20th to Sunday the 22nd. Formerly known as the RoboOlympics, the RoboGames are literally the Olympics for robots.The competition hosts over 50 bizarre robotic events such as Lego Sumo, Penalty Kicking and Combat Robotics. Competing robots are awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal depending on the rank they finish just like the modern day Olympics . The most popular event in the RoboGames is most likely the violent combat robots. In this event, robots are placed in a sturdy arena and fight each other. Robots are allowed to have weapons such as electric saws, flamethrowers , and hammers but NOT allowed to use liquids, chemicals, or destroy the other robot using invisible forces. Combat robots come in many weight categories such as 220lb or 1lb. This year, heavyweight robot Original Sin defeated the heavly favored SewerSnake and Last Rites in the 220 lb category, BassBot won the the robotic music category, and the 60lb combat robot K2 won Gold in the 60lb category (more results are available here). The RoboGames are always a great event every year and everybody should try going to the games.

One of a kind beaches

SarahK — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:37:22 +0000

Imagine your perfect beach. It might include clear blue water, sparkling white sand, and lush plants. What about cows? Below are some of the world’s most amazing beaches.

India’s Cow Beach: While relaxing at the beach, you might expect to see seagulls or even crabs. But at Goa’s Cow Beach there are, you guessed it, cows everywhere. The cows seem to enjoy sunbathing just as much as us humans. This spot has become a popular destination for tourists seeking a little bit of excitement.

California’s Glass Beach: Instead of sand, this Northern California beach is covered in thousands of pieces of glittering glass. 50 years ago, this beautiful beach was actually an official dump for locals. In 1967, this was put a stop to. The beach was cleaned up, shut down, and declared a state park. Then nature took it’s course and broke down all of the glass bottles that humans had tossed in, turned them into smooth stones, and washed them back to shore. And so “Glass Beach” was created.

Hawaii’s Green Sand Beach: At Papakolea beach, the sand is not your usual white, but instead an olive green. The sand gets its color from the semiprecious stone called Olivine. It is commonly found in Hawaiian lava, and forms crystals when the magma cools. The green crystals, dragged from a nearby crater, have mixed into the sand. The reason why the beach is so well preserved is mostly due to its secluded location. Unfortunately for tourists, you can only access after a tough 2 mile hike and a steep climb.

New Zealand Hot Water Beach: Do you love basking in the sun and playing in warm water? You can do both at the same time at the Hot Water Beach. Underground, the beach contains hot springs. When the tide is low, you can simply dig your own jacuzzi and relax!