In The News

Got sleep apnea? Let robots fix it

NPR Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania fix a patient's sleep apnea with a procedure involving robots, according to NPR.

At 32, it just didn't make sense that Daniel Sheiner was exhausted literally from the moment he woke up. "It didn't get any better over the course of the day, and I knew that was not normal," Sheiner says.

A sleep study confirmed Sheiner had one of the worst cases of apnea his doctors had ever seen. After trying a number of different treatments, his doctors finally tried a surgery using robots to treat his stubborn apnea � with positive results.

Source: NPR
Read the full story here.

LA asks: Can the new Barnes be fiscally viable in Philadelphia?

Los Angeles Times Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Los Angeles Times is the latest major media outlet to question the move of the Barnes Museum from suburban Merion to Center City Philadelphia.

Is the new Barnes Museum headed for disaster? Designed to house the art collection of the Barnes Foundation, with its hundreds of Cezannes, Renoirs, Matisses, Picassos and other early modern masters, a new building is under construction in downtown Philadelphia where the collection is scheduled to move from its current home in Merion, Pa. Yet serious questions remain about the rationale for the move and the museum's long-term sustainability.

Source: Los Angeles Times
Read the full story here.

Blooming Baltimore: Flower Show a 'must-see' for flower, garden lovers

The Baltimore Sun Tuesday, March 08, 2011

The Baltimore Sun writes about the can't-miss-this quality of this year's Philadelphia International Flower Show.

Feeling a little winter-weary? Escape from the season of snow and ice to a refreshing look at spring at "Springtime in Paris," the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show that begins today at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Featured in "1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die," Philly's flower show is a must-see for flower and garden lovers. Each year, at least 60 florists, professional landscapers and horticultural and educational organizations create breathtaking, full-scale gardens and floral displays. Many have taken as long as 18 months to prepare.

Source: The Baltimore Sun
Read the full story here.

Aker: Data tracking saves millions at the shipyard

Industry Week Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard improves work safety and saves millions through data tracking practices, according to Industry Week.

When it takes 10,000 labor tasks and 1.2 million labor hours to build one product, tracking costs is quite a task. Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, a leading U.S. commercial shipyard constructing vessels for customers including the U.S. Navy, employs 700 full-time and 500 contractors to build 2.8 ships per year. Managing such a large workforce requires complex tracking system.

Michel Boeckx, Chief Technology Officer at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, deftly used safety data he collected, via software company Kronos, in order to improve work practices. The company saw 41% fewer eye incidents over a year. These collective improvements enabled the company to reduce medical insurance by two million dollars.

Source: Industry Week
Read the full story here.

Trust us: NCC's 'Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs' spreads to LA

Los Angeles Times Tuesday, March 08, 2011

A new exhibit about bad guys in history at The National Constitution Center is worth flying east for, according to the Los Angeles Times.

If your knowledge of spies and terrorists is limited to the names of Benedict Arnold, Timothy McVeigh and Osama bin Laden, visit Philadelphia this spring and learn about anarchists and traitors that have haunted America since its birth.

On March 4, "Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America" opens in the National Constitution Center's new exhibition space in the Center's lower level. Created by the International Spy Museum in Washington, the exhibition combines artifacts, multimedia elements and interactive exhibits to reveal tales of espionage, treason and deception in the U.S. from 1776 to today.

Source: Los Angeles Times
Read the full story here.

Thomas Jefferson researchers: How quitting smoking could signal lung cancer

The Washington Post Tuesday, March 08, 2011

A new study by Thomas Jefferson University researchers finds that spontaneous cessation of smoking may signal the onset of lung cancer, according to The Washington Post.

A provocative, though small, study suggests that the very act of quitting smoking may be a symptom of not-yet-diagnosed lung cancer.

That's the curious conclusion reached by a team of researchers led by Barbara Campling at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia when they surveyed 115 lung cancer patients, all of them current or former smokers, at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Source: The Washington Post
Read the full story here.

Back home to the future: Inaugural Steampunk Expo comes to Montco

The Princeton Packet Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Dust off that old dirigible. The first-ever Steampunk Expo comes to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center March 5-6, according to The Princeton Packet.

Imagine a computer desk, for example, that's made from an antique organ frame with the pipes still protruding from the back. Where there used to be a musical keyboard, there now sits a computer keyboard. That's Steampunk!

Produced by Bruce Rosenbaum of ModVic (Modern Victorian) and Jeff Mach of Anachronism, the exposition, called "Back Home to the Future," presents more than 75 of the country's top Steampunk artisans and related antiques exhibitors. They will present what many are now viewing as one of the most unusual and refreshing home d�cor, fashion and lifestyle trends to come along in decades.

Source: The Princeton Packet
Read the full story here.

Parisian Power: Chagall exhibit to open at Art Museum

Luxist Tuesday, March 01, 2011

In conjunction with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, a new exhibit showcases paintings and sculptures by Marc Chagall, according to Luxist.

A new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia explores the legacy of Marc Chagall and his artist compatriots. "Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle" runs from March 1 to July 10 and focuses on the work of Chagall and others in Paris in the early 1900s.

The museum website has a series of podcasts devoted to the exhibit which offer a comprehensive roadmap to all that is going on in a Chagall painting. For example, in the painting shown above, the artist's double-faced self-portrait in the lower right hand corner is a representation of the two sides of his spirit, looking back toward his homeland but also forward toward Paris, Cubism and a world of changing ideas and ideals.

Source: Luxist
Read the full story here.

A ticket out of the food desert from SEPTA, city

Natural Resources Defense Council: Smarter Cities Tuesday, March 01, 2011

The City of Philadelphia and SEPTA join together to address the connection between public health and public transportation, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and as reported in Flying Kite last week.

Don't see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) have made it a top goal to target food deserts--neighborhoods where it is difficult to access fresh food--and public transportation is at the core of their effort.

Source: NRDC Smarter Cities
Read the full story here.

Tek Lado Magazine goes all digital

Technically Philly Tuesday, March 01, 2011

After just two paper issues, the bilingual tech and culture magazine Tek Lado is going to an online only format, according to Technically Philly.

Editor Liz Spikol, with whom we spoke last fall about the new gig, and former publisher Mel Gomez have struck out on their own, aiming to build Tek Lado as an online-only brand, grabbing the naming rights and the tek-lado.com domain.

The Tek Lado blog will still feature English and Spanish writing on geek culture, gaming, gadgets, social media and the like, the same as the magazine, but won't have to remain tied to this region exclusively.

Source: Technically Philly
Read the full story here.

Rittenhouse Square's Continental Midtown makes list of top 10 rooftop bars

USA Today Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Philadelphia's Continental Midtown is one of the top ten rooftop bars in the United States, according to USA Today.

Global tapas are on this menu at this stylish lounge a few blocks from Rittenhouse Square. The bar, operated by Stephen Starr, the celebrity chef behind some of the city's top restaurants, has heaters to keep things warm and stays open year-round. "It's one of those places that has incredible views," Gerber says.

Original Source: USA Today
Read the full story here.

World's largest toy collection put up for sale by Philly collector

Associated Press Tuesday, February 22, 2011

35,000 vintage toys and trains assembled by a Philadelphia collector are to be auctioned by Sotheby'saccording to the Associated Press.

5,000 pieces alone fill the entire floor of Sotheby's auction house in New York, where they are on display until the end of the month.

The collector, Jerry Greene, has kept the collection in five basement rooms of his suburban Philadelphia home, Sotheby's said. He says it's now time to part with it and wants to share it with the world, but wants to find a buyer who will acquire all of it.

Known as the Jerni Collection, it is considered the largest and most comprehensive toy collection in the world, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, said Sotheby's, which is brokering the sale for Greene. It will not be auctioned.

Original Source: Associated Press
Read the full story here.

Philadelphia man forecloses on Wells Fargo

Time Magazine Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Philadelphia man turns the tables and forecloses on his mortgage company, according to Time Magazine.

A feud between a homeowner and his mortgage company ends with an order to seize property � but it's not in the order you might expect.

Patrick Rodgers is taking his frustration all the way to the bank � literally. When he was fed up with Wells Fargo's lack of answers, he sued them. When they still paid him no heed, he foreclosed on the company's local office.

Source: Time Magazine
Read the full story here.

Philly's a vegan heaven, says WashPost

Washington Post Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Washington Post goes hunting for the best of Philly's abundant crop of vegan treats.

So one Saturday last month, my vegan friends and I hit the streets of Philadelphia - where the Phillies claim the country's top-ranked vegetarian ballpark - intending to do no harm to animals, the environment and presumably our health. (At our first stop, Cafe Mocha, we did, however, sample vegan donuts and cookies, and a quick sugar high reminded me that "vegan" doesn't always equal "nutritious.")

We headed to the South Street district for lunch at Blackbird, a vegan pizzeria with a chalkboard menu, a drab interior and space heaters. Blackbird's owner, Mark Mebus, is a Philly native and former chef at Horizons, the upscale restaurant that put vegan dining on the map here. He opened the pizzeria last fall.

Source: Washington Post
Read the full story here.

Philadelphia singer-songwriter regains voice after surgery

CNN Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Jesse Teich regains vocal ability and goes on to thriving career following surgery on her vocal cords, reports CNN.

In her early 20s, the very thing most fundamental to Jessi Teich's career started to turn against her: Her voice.

The aspiring singer-songwriter, based in Philadelphia, started having pain while teaching 40 private voice students per week, in addition to singing at home for herself. She noticed she couldn't sing for as long as she used to, and lost about an octave and a half in her high range.

After many tests to diagnose her problem, including for thyroid cancer, Teich found out she had a cyst that looked like a water blister deep under her vocal fold and on the side of it.

Source: CNN
Read the full story here.