A bird dropping a piece of bread onto outdoor machinery has been blamed for a technical fault at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this week which saw significant overheating in sections of the mighty particle-punisher's subterranean 27-km supercooled magnetic doughnut.
According to scientists at the project, had the LHC been operational - it is scheduled to recommence beaming later this month - the snag would have caused it to fail safe and shut down automatically. This would put the mighty machine out of action for a few days while it was restarted, but there would be no repeat of the catastrophic damage suffered last September. On that occasion, an electrical connection in the circuit itself failed violently, causing a massive liquid-helium leak and knock-on damage along hundreds of metres of magnets.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bird takes down Large Hadron Collider.
Lou Dobbs quits CNN.
CNN should replace him with a day laborer. From the NY Post:
CNN's Lou Dobbs abruptly resigned last night, astounding viewers with a vague explanation that he'd be devoting more time to "constructive problem solving."
Eight minutes into "Lou Dobbs Tonight," the veteran anchor, who joined the cable network when it was founded by Ted Turner in 1980, announced his departure without saying exactly where he's going.
"Over the past six months, it's become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us," said Dobbs.
"And some leaders of media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day."
Dobbs' anti-immigration rhetoric has made him one of the most divisive figures in TV news.
Fox Business News had reportedly sought to lure Dobbs, 64, from CNN. He met with Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes in September, but a Fox representative said last night the network hasn't had serious talks with Dobbs.
"We have had not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business," a network spokeswoman said moments after Dobbs' dramatic on-air resignation.
Dobbs -- who had a contract with CNN through 2011 -- told viewers he and the network's president, Jonathan Klein, amicably agreed the pact could end immediately.
"I'm considering a number of options and directions, and I assure you I will let you know when I set course," Dobbs said.
10-ton fishing boat sunk by giant jellyfish.
JenK sent this one in. We're doooooomed!! From TreeHugger.com:
You could say it was the jellyfish, or you could say it was the overzealous fishermen on board. While trying to haul in a catch of several dozen giant Nomura's jellyfish - one of the largest in the world - a Japanese fishing trawler tipped right over.
According to the Telegraph, "The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler, according to the Mainichi newspaper. The local Coast Guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident."
It's no wonder only a few dozen could capsize a boat. Each jellyfish can weigh as much as 450 pounds. This year has seen a big spike in the numbers of these giant jellies, with a similar population boom not occurring since 2005, when the large numbers of jellyfish and their stinging tentacles ruined fishing nets and made catches of fish inedible. Both ideal weather conditions and a smaller number of predators, such as sea turtles and certain fish species have helped the jelly populations grow this year.
Toyota recalls 3.8 million cars because of floor mats.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found no evidence of mechanical causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, which has resulted in fatalities and Toyota's largest-ever recall, one of the company's top marketing executives said Monday.
"NHTSA recently closed another study finding that the only cause of unintended acceleration was an out-of-position or inappropriate floor mat," said Bob Carter, Toyota division group vice president. "There simply is no evidence of any other cause."Toyota, which is asking owners of 3.8 million of its Camry, Avalon, Prius, Tacoma and Tundra models to remove or replace the mats, also characterized the problem of floor mat interference as an industry safety issue.
NHTSA received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on certain Toyotas. The agency has not said how many of those incidents involved crashes. But an August accident near San Diego killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members when the Lexus ES350 he was driving barreled out of control. In a 911 call, someone in the vehicle reported the accelerator was stuck and the driver couldn't stop the vehicle.
100 things restaurant staffers should never do.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Coozer on the DL.
Nah, I broke my wrist. It's put a real dent in everything from my blogging life to my sex life. I'll try to post one-handed when I can, but I'll be back in action, 110%, no foolin', by the time of our country's annual turkey massacre. See you then! gobble gobble
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Masked men rob Halloween store.
They wore the right costumes.
Halloween Adventure, at 1675 Sunrise Hwy. in Bay Shore, LI was robbed at gunpoint by two masked men late Thursday.
Police said they robbed the business and three employees.
"Were they dressed as robbers? I would say yes. They were masked," Suffolk Police Department spokesman Sonny DiStefano said Friday morning.
Karaoke blamed for losing Afghanistan war.
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The United States is cutting back on luxuries and distractions such as salsa and karaoke nights to free up space for troops fighting an increasingly violent eight-year war in Afghanistan.
Kandahar airfield is the main air transport hub for the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan and is so cramped its sewage pool is almost overflowing. But the plan to cut recreational facilities is causing a bigger stink.
"I think it's pretty disheartening for all the soldiers, taking away what little morale they have here," said U.S. military driver Private First Class John Armstrong as he sipped gourmet coffee, one of several comforts that may be cut.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Children's TV safari guide killed by charging elephant.
A Safari guide who was working on a BBC children's television programme was killed after an elephant charged and trampled over him yesterday.
Anton Turner, 38, was assisting the filming of the CBBC series 'Serious Explorers' which is retracing the footsteps of legendary explorer David Livingstone in Tanzania, Africa.
Mr Turner, a Brit who is a former Army officer and experienced safari ranger, was seriously injured after the elephant attacked him.
The crew were filming in the Selous Game Reserve - Tanzania's largest safari park - when he was trampled.
A doctor travelling with the expedition treated him, but he died soon after the rampage.
Three children who had been picked by the BBC to travel with the party were present during the fatal charge but both were unhurt.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Man dies after single sneeze.
From Daily Mail:
A father died after suffering a brain haemorrhage and a heart attack caused by a heavy sneeze, an inquest heard.
Retired design engineer John Oram, 79, collapsed after he was seen sneezing 'violently' by care home staff.
The force of the sneeze caused brain and heart trauma and he died in hospital two days later on July 18, an inquest was told.
His son Mark, 50, said his father was 'sorely missed' and it was surprised something as 'innocuous' as a sneeze could have killed him.
He said: 'It does seem to be unusual demise from sneezing but his medical history of having heart condition 30 years necessitated him being on medication.
'I guess as you get everything gets weaker more susceptible to being damaged.'
China to remake Great Wall out of chocolate.
China plans to remake iconic Great Wall and terra-cotta warriors with a history of over 2,000 years. But this time, neither stones nor clay will be used.
The only building material is pure chocolate.
A Beijing company told Xinhua Wednesday that the 10-meter-long and two-meter-high "Choc Wall", a mimic of the Great Wall, will be erected at a chocolate theme park early next year.
It may be tiny if compared with the old stone-and-brick wall zigzagging thousands of kilometers across north China. But it would be as attractive as the real one, because chocolate is gaining a dazzling popularity among the Chinese, said Tan Liya, PR manager of the proposed World Chocolate Wonderland.
Located in northern Beijing, the park covering some 20,000 square meters will be open on January 29, next year, with an aim to "promote the chocolate culture" in China, Tan said.
Over 100 tonnes of chocolate will be used to remake these ancient Chinese wonders, including more than 500 duplicates of the Qin Dynasty (211-206 B.C.) warrior statues.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Junk food as addictive as heroin.
Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat.“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings,” says study coauthor Paul Johnson of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla.
To see how junk food affects the brain’s natural reward system — the network of nerve cells that release feel-good chemicals — Johnson started at the grocery store. He loaded up on typical Western fare, including Ho Hos, sausage, pound cake, bacon and cheesecake. Johnson fed rats either a standard diet of high-nutrient, low-calorie chow, or unlimited amounts of the palatable junk food. Rats that ate the junk food soon developed compulsive eating habits and became obese. “They’re taking in twice the amount of calories as the control rats,” says Johnson’s coauthor Paul Kenny, also of Scripps.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Great White shark bitten in half by sea monster.
Swimmers were warned that a "monster shark" was prowling off a popular Australian beach, one that nearly bit a 10-foot great white shark in half last week, London's Daily Mail reported.
Based on the bite marks, experts say the larger shark must be twice its victim's size.
The smaller - relatively speaking - great white was hooked on a baited drum line when it was attacked, and was still alive when it was hauled onto a boat off north Stradbroke Island in Queensland.
The fatally wounded shark was found just a few miles away from the island's popular beaches, a haven for surfers and bathers.
"That cannibal thing is what great whites do; they'll eat anything, including their own kind," Hugh Edwards, a local shark expert, told Australia's 7 News. "It would be sensible not to swim in that area for a little while."
7,500 NYC drivers ticketed for cell phones in one day.
From the NY Post:
A ticket blitz aimed at New York City drivers using handheld cell phones has resulted in police issuing more than 7,500 tickets in 24 hours.
Each ticket handed out last Thursday carries a $130 fine.
Police did not say how many of the 7,529 tickets were given to taxi drivers.
It was the department’s third one-day initiative so far this year to encourage drivers to use a handsfree device in their vehicles. The other crackdowns occurred in May and August.
Last year, police say officers issued an average of 536 tickets a day to drivers holding handheld cell phones while driving.
Next generation of DVDs to be made out of mantis shrimp eyes.
The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published today in Nature Photonics.
The mantis shrimps in the study are found on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have the most complex vision systems known to science. They can see in twelve colours (humans see in only three) and can distinguish between different forms of polarized light.
Special light-sensitive cells in mantis shrimp eyes act as quarter-wave plates -- which can rotate the plane of the oscillations (the polarization) of a light wave as it travels through it. This capability makes it possible for mantis shrimps to convert linearly polarized light to circularly polarized light and vice versa. Manmade quarter-wave plates perform this essential function in CD and DVD players and in circular polarizing filters for cameras.
However, these artificial devices only tend to work well for one colour of light while the natural mechanism in the mantis shrimp's eyes works almost perfectly across the whole visible spectrum -- from near-ultra violet to infra-red.
McDonald's too expensive in Iceland, closes stores.
The Big Mac, long a symbol of globalization, has become the latest victim of this tiny island nation's overexposure to the world financial crisis.
Iceland's three McDonald's restaurants — all in the capital Reykjavik — will close next weekend, as the franchise owner gives in to falling profits caused by the collapse in the Icelandic krona.
"The economic situation has just made it too expensive for us," Magnus Ogmundsson, the managing director of Lyst Hr., McDonald's franchise holder in Iceland, told The Associated Press by telephone on Monday.
Lyst was bound by McDonald's requirement that it import all the goods required for its restaurants — from packaging to meat and cheeses — from Germany.
Costs had doubled over the past year because of the fall in the krona currency and high import tariffs on imported goods, Ogmundsson said, making it impossible for the company to raise prices further and remain competitive with competitors that use locally sourced produce.
A Big Mac in Reykjavik already retails for 650 krona ($5.29). But the 20 percent increase needed to make a decent profit would have pushed that to 780 krona ($6.36), he said.
That would have made the Icelandic version of the burger the most expensive in the world, a title currently held jointly by Switzerland and Norway where it costs $5.75, according to The Economist magazine's 2009 Big Mac index.
Sandra Bullock in custody battle with porn star.
Miss Congeniality star Sandra Bullock is in a custody battle with her husband’s porn star ex-wife.
Bullock is trying to prove that she is a better parent for her husband’s five year-old daughter, Sunny, than the girl’s mother, 40-year-old Janine Lindemulder, who has just served six months in prison for tax evasion.
Lindemulder is currently in a halfway house and can apply for custody of her child at the beginning of next year but Bullock’s husband, US television star Jesse James, has already taken action to keep the child with them.
Bullock, James and Lindemulder all have homes in the wealthy Los Angeles beach front suburb Orange County.
“Good cause exists for the court to conduct a review to determine if (the girl) will be safe with (Lindemulder),” James said in a statement to the court. “She should be restrained from allowing the child around pornographers, drug addicts, guns and firearms, felons and other unsafe environments.”
Man opens museum dedicated to Mad Max 2.
A Mad Max-obsessed Yorkshireman has ploughed his life savings into his dream of opening a museum to the movies in the town where Mad Max 2 was filmed.
Adrian Bennett, from Bradford, has moved to Silverton, in the Australian outback, with his wife and teenage sons, reports Sky News.
His love affair with the trilogy of films starring Mel Gibson began when a friend persuaded him to go along to a Mad Max double-bill 28 years ago.
"From the opening credits of the first film to the closing credits of Mad Max 2, my jaw was on the floor and I was just blown away by what I'd seen," he said.
He bought an old Ford Falcon from a collector in Texas, shipped it to England, and turned it into a replica of the Interceptor car driven by Mel Gibson's character.
Then after a holiday in Australia, he decided to give up his job as a panel beater and move there permanently, first settling in Adelaide, and then buying a property in Silverton earlier this year.
His wife Linda said: "It's gone from a hobby, to an obsession, to here," she said - adding that because it was a gradual progression, she thinks it is all quite normal.
Mr Bennett has several other replica vehicles, including a buggy covered in kangaroo skin, plus many other items of memorabilia.
He also has a dog called Dog, just like Mel Gibson's canine sidekick in the movie, and together they cruise the outback roads in the Interceptor, attracting the attention of tourists.
Mr Bennett plans to open his museum next year, and is convinced there is enough interest to make it a viable business venture.
Clean smells promote moral behavior.
People are unconsciously fairer and more generous when they are in clean-smelling environments, according to a soon-to-be published study led by a Brigham Young University professor.
The research found a dramatic improvement in ethical behavior with just a few spritzes of citrus-scented Windex.
Katie Liljenquist, assistant professor of organizational leadership at BYU's Marriott School of Management, is the lead author on the piece in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science. Co-authors are Chen-Bo Zhong of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
The researchers see implications for workplaces, retail stores and other organizations that have relied on traditional surveillance and security measures to enforce rules.
"Companies often employ heavy-handed interventions to regulate conduct, but they can be costly or oppressive," said Liljenquist, whose office smells quite average. "This is a very simple, unobtrusive way to promote ethical behavior."
England falling in love with US-style buffets.
Mmm... all-you-can-eat blood pudding and treacle... From BBC:Taybarns is modelled on the American all-you-can-eat chain, Golden Corral, which opened in 1973 and now turns over more than $1bn a year. It claims its focus on freshness differentiates it from other steakhouses, featuring a large hot and cold buffet, grill, carving station and bakery.
The all-you-can-eat concept originated in the US's working areas in the 1930s. Golden Corral has capitalised on that trend, focusing on small-town America, it now has more than 450 restaurants across 41 states.
But with warnings that the UK is following the US with rising levels of obesity, isn't this sort of dining experience a cause for concern?
Mr Ewins is adamant that offering variety, as well as value, is the key to Taybarns success too. It is not about encouraging overindulgence he says. It is about offering the opportunity to experiment with food in a non-risky way.
"People want to try new things. But if you go out on a Friday night and you try a new main course in a traditional restaurant and you don't like it, that's a disaster. At Taybarns you can just try something else or go back to your favourites."
So it could be that in cash-strapped times Taybarns offers a safe way to eat out. You know exactly how much it costs and what you get for the price.
But some believe the all-you-can-eat concept promotes poor dietary habits. And, that contrary to the suggestion that more choice encourages experimentation, it actually stifles it.
Net set for language shake-up.
The internet is on the brink of the "biggest change" to its working "since it was invented 40 years ago", the net regulator Icann has said.
The body said it that it was finalising plans to introduce web addresses using non-Latin characters.
The proposal - initially approved in 2008 - would allow domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts.
The body said if the final plans were approved on 30 October, it would accept the first applications by 16 November.
The first Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) could be up and running by "mid 2010" said the president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).
"Of the 1.6 billion internet users today worldwide, more than half use languages that have scripts that are not Latin-based," said Rod Beckstrom at the opening of Icann's conference in Seoul, South Korea.
"So this change is very much necessary for not only half the world's internet users today but more than half, probably, of the future users as the internet continues to spread."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Study: Younger wife secret to marital bliss.
The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you, say UK experts.
These pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past, according to the Bath University team.
The findings predict a happy future for pop star Beyonce Knowles, 28, and rapper husband Jay-Z, 39.
The work is published in the European Journal of Operational Research.
The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship.
Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.
They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age.
If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.
Add in a better education for the woman - Beyonce has her high school diploma, unlike husband Jay-Z - and the chances of lasting happiness improve further.
Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.
Hugo Chavez orders Venezuelans to stop singing in the shower.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has instructed his citizens to stop singing in the shower.As his country suffers from a chronic water and energy crisis, Chavez told the public to limit the amount of time they spend in the bathroom.
"Some people sing in the shower, stay in the shower for half an hour," he fumed in a televised cabinet meeting, according to the Daily Mail.
He then revealed that he was taking the lead in the fight against wasted energy.
"No, kids," he urged, "three minutes is more than enough. I've counted, three minutes, and I don't stink."
Warming to his subject, he continued: "If you're going to lie back in the bath with the soap and you turn on the Jacuzzi, imagine that - what kind of Communism is that?"
Increased demand and a lack of investment have caused serious blackouts in Venezeula in recent months, with the situation made worse by low rainfall affecting the hydroelectric dams that generate much of the country's power.
Chavez has already announced measures to curb energy use, instructing government departments and nationalised companies to reduce their consumption by 20%.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Congressman outs Cheney as a vampire.
The Democrats' newest quote machine was in fine form Thursday, suggesting that former Vice President Dick Cheney is a vampire.Speaking on Hardball, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) denounced Cheney's attacks on President Barack Obama, who posited that Obama was "dithering" in failing to endorse a troop surge.
"I have trouble listening to what he says sometimes, because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he's talking," Grayson quipped. "But my response is this: He's just angry because the president doesn't shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away?"
Matthews, somewhat aghast, replied: "Oh God -- we gotta keep a level here. Let me ask you this: Don't you have any Republican friends?"
Grayson laughed.
"Some of my best friends are Republicans," Grayson answered.
On Wednesday, Grayson offered another quote that made the rounds, saying, "Fox News and their Republican collaborators are the enemy of America. They're the enemy of anybody who cares about health care in this country, the enemy of anybody who cares about educating their children, the enemy of anybody who wants energy independence or anything good for this country. And certainly the enemy of peace, there's no doubt about that. They are the enemy."
43% of Americans are blithering morons.
The number of Americans who believe in global warming has plummeted in just three years, a poll has revealed.
Some 57 per cent believe that world temperatures are rising - a drop of 20 points - while only one in three thinks humans are causing climate change.
It comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to debate legislation that will curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Last month, Cardiff University found an increasing number of Britons are also becoming more sceptical about climate change.
According to the U.S. survey, carried out by think-tank the Pew Research Centre, 36 per cent of the 1,500 adults questioned believe human activities - such as pollution from power plants and vehicles - are behind an increase in global temperatures. This was down from 47 per cent in 2006.
32 planets discovered outside solar system.
From CNN:Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth's solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday.The existence of the so-called exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- was announced at the European Southern Observatory/Center for Astrophysics, University of Porto conference in Porto, Portugal, according to a statement issued by the observatory.
The announcement was made by a consortium of international researchers, headed by the Geneva Observatory, who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS. The device can detect slight wobbles of stars as they respond to tugs from exoplanets' gravity. That tactic, known as the radial velocity method, "has been the most prolific method in the search for exoplanets," according to the European Southern Observatory statement.
The instrument detects movements as small as 3.5 km/hr (2.1 mph), a slow walking pace, the observatory said.
With the discovery, the tally of new exoplanets found by HARPS is now at 75, out of about 400 known exoplanets, the organization said, "cementing HARPS's position as the world's foremost exoplanet hunter." The 75 planets are in 30 planetary systems, the European Southern Observatory said.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Happy Birthday, Jeff Goldblum!!
Congratulations to The Goldblum who has shared yet another full 365-day cycle with us puny mortals. Thank you, O Fly of Chaos, O Half-Gay Tall Guy.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Gone Adventurin'.
I just got back into the swing of posting more often, but unfortunately I won't have access to the Coozer Files for the next week or two. I'm heading off into unknown jungles and swamps to wrangle giant otters and avoid dengue fever.In the meanwhile, please reply to this post with links to any Coozer-worthy article. This way, y'all can keep each other apprised of zombie and robot and Jeff Goldblum happenings. I'll also put them up when I get back as a retrospective Coozer-Bit.
Bible recreated with Legos.
From Ananova:The Bible has been recreated in Lego in the world's most comprehensive illustrated online version of the Good Book.
The Brick Testament features more than 4,500 illustrations, depicting more than 400 Bible tales from Genesis to Revelations, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Displayed online at thebricktestament.com, it is the ongoing project of one man, Brendan Powell Smith, nicknamed The Reverend, who says he isn't "at all religious".
He says it is intended to educate people about the Bible "in a way that is fun and compelling, while remaining true to the text of the scriptures".
"To this end, all stories are retold using direct quotes from The Bible," said Mr Smith.
It is huge, detailed, occasionally gory and frequently satirical. The excerpts from 1 Samuel are entitled "Saul rejected for incomplete genocide", after the leader of the Israelites left some sheep and cattle alive after being ordered to exterminate the Amalekites.
Obama wins "Glad You're Not Bush" Prize.
OSLO — President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.
Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to inform Obama before the announcement because it didn't want to wake him up, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.
"Waking up a president in the middle of the night, this isn't really something you do," Jagland said.
The Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Jagland said.
Obama's election and foreign policy moves caused a dramatic improvement in the image of the U.S. around the world. A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world. That indicator had plunged across the world under President George W. Bush.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Gloria Estefan gives free tickets to laid-off workers.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Thousands of laid-off government employees in Puerto Rico will be doing the conga for free, thanks to Gloria Estefan.
The Cuban-born singer bought some 2,000 tickets for her weekend concert and they will distributed by raffle among the nearly 17,000 workers who learned last month that they will lose their jobs beginning Nov. 6.
Stefan bought all the remaining upper-level tickets - at $40 each - as a gift to those who were affected, said Harold Rosario, the singer's spokesman in Puerto Rico, said Thursday.
Officials have begun distributing the tickets to various government agencies, which will raffle them.
The government announced the layoffs in late September as it tries to close the gap on a $3.2 billion deficit. The U.S. territory is struggling with its third year of recession with a 15 per cent unemployment rate, higher than any U.S. state.
Gay ban in military has disproportionate affect on women.
Women are far more likely than men to be kicked out of the military under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy against gays in uniform, according to government figures released Thursday that critics said reflect deep-seated sexism in the armed forces.
Women accounted for 15 percent of all active-duty and reserve members of the military but more than one-third of the 619 people discharged last year because of their sexual orientation.
The disparity was particularly striking in the Air Force, where women represented 20 percent of all personnel but 61 percent of those expelled. That is a significant jump from the previous year and marks the first time women in any branch of the military constituted a majority of those dismissed under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” researchers said.
Nathaniel Frank, a researcher at the Palm Center, a University of California, Santa Barbara, center specializing in gays and the military, said one partial explanation is that homosexuality is more common among women in the service than among their male comrades.
But Frank and some women who served in the military said the gap could also be a result of “lesbian-baiting” rumors and investigations that arise when women rebuff sexual overtures from male colleagues or do not meet traditional notions of feminine beauty.
Jerk creates cocaine vaccine.
Immunization with an experimental anti-cocaine vaccine resulted in a substantial reduction in cocaine use in 38 percent of vaccinated patients in a clinical trial supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, is the first successful, placebo-controlled demonstration of a vaccine against an illicit drug of abuse.
"The results of this study represent a promising step toward an effective medical treatment for cocaine addiction," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow." Provided that larger follow-up studies confirm its safety and efficacy, this vaccine would offer a valuable new approach to treating cocaine addiction, for which no FDA-approved medication is currently available."
Like vaccines against infectious diseases such as measles and influenza, the anti-cocaine vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies. Unlike antibodies against infectious diseases, which destroy or deactivate the disease-causing agents, anti-cocaine antibodies attach themselves to cocaine molecules in the blood, preventing them from passing through the blood-brain barrier. By preventing the drug’s entry into the brain, the vaccine inhibits or blocks the cocaine-induced euphoria.
Kraken becomes one of the fastest computers in the world.
Kraken's speedy tentacles will surely petaflop and kill us all. From EurekAlert:The National Institute for Computational Sciences' (NICS's) Cray XT5 supercomputer—Kraken—has been upgraded to become the first academic system to surpass a thousand trillion calculations a second, or one petaflop, a landmark achievement that will greatly accelerate science and place Kraken among the top five computers in the world.
Managed by the University of Tennessee (UT) for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the system came online Oct. 5 with a peak performance of 1.03 petaflops. It features more than 16,000 six-core 2.6-GHz AMD Istanbul processors with nearly 100,000 compute cores.
In addition, an upgrade to 129 terabytes of memory (the equivalent of more than 13 thousand movies on DVD) effectively doubles the size of Kraken for researchers running some of the world's most sophisticated 3-D scientific computing applications. Simulation has become a key tool for researchers in a number of fields, from climate change to materials.
"At over a petaflop of peak computing power, and the ability to routinely run full machine jobs, Kraken will dominate large-scale NSF computing in the near future," said NICS Project Director Phil Andrews. "Its unprecedented computational capability and total available memory will allow academic users to treat problems that were previously inaccessible."
Six women attack karaoke singer.
Six young Connecticut women have been arraigned on assault charges accusing them of beating up another woman because they didn't like the way she was singing karaoke.
Five of the women were arraigned Wednesday in Stamford Superior Court, and the other appeared in court Monday.
Police say the attack on the 25-year-old woman from Port Chester, N.Y., happened on the night of Sept. 23 when she was singing a Spanish song at Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe in Stamford.
Authorities say the six women, all under the legal drinking age of 21, knocked the singer to the floor, punched her and pulled her hair. The victim suffered bruises and a chipped tooth.
The defendants are charged with third-degree assault and other crimes. They're due back in court later this month.
Tourists desperate to find lesbian city.
Swedish tourism bodies have been swamped with inquiries from millions of men captivated by a mythical town rumoured to be home to 25,000 sex-mad lesbians.
The town of "Chako Paul City" is said to have been founded in 1820 in the northern Swedish woods by a wealthy man-hating widow.
Two blonde women are rumoured to stand guard at the town, which also features a medieval castle.
Many of the town’s female residents became lesbians “because they could not suppress their sexual needs”, Chinese news service Harbin News reports.
The myth has been embraced by the Chinese media, with millions of men crippling the country’s internet providers trying to find out how to get to the town.
However, men have been warned by media reports that they risk being “beaten half to death” by police if they dare pay a visit.
"I've no idea where this came from but it's not true," local authorities' spokesman Claes Bertilson told Sweden’s new service The Local about the rumour.
“At 25,000 residents, the town would be one of the largest in northern Sweden, and I find it hard to believe that you could keep something like that a secret for more than 150 years.”
Coozer-Bits.
Hero: Schoolboy compared to Mozart.
Creepy: France's Cultural Minister admits to paying boys for sex.
Awesome: Al Capone's hideout auctioned off.
Awesome: The Pill has turned women off from masculine men.
Prophesy: Asteroid to kill us all in 2068.
Russia's doomsday device still ready for action.
It's supposed to be the stuff of science fiction: A device that triggers a nuclear holocaust in the event of a U.S. strike against Russia.But the "Dr. Strangelove"-esque technology isn't just fantasy. The Cold War-era Soviet "doomsday machine" was -- and might still be -- very much a reality.
From interviews with former Soviet arms officials and Defense Department documents, Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor for Wired magazine and author of "The Hawk and The Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War," learned that the system was built 25 years ago to ensure a nuclear retaliation if Russia were attacked by the U.S.
When triggered by an elaborate system of sensors placed around Russia, the program was designed to launch a fleet of missiles at major targets across the U.S. Some experts estimate that a Russian counter-strike could have killed more than one hundred million Americans.
And though the Iron Curtain was lifted more than a decade ago, it's believed that the "doomsday" system was never retired, according to Thompson.
"The Soviets really did fear that the U.S. was going to launch a nuclear strike," he said. "It's still in place, but it's not as though they're sitting around waiting for America to strike. It's on lower alert."
The top-secret Russian program, he continued, virtually guaranteed the ability to strike back, even if the entire chain of command had been wiped out.
Sick girl's wish to destroy gnomes with a guitar while dressed like Angus Young fulfilled.
This might very well be the coolest girl ever. And I post this in honor of Jeff N., someone who mentioned today that he reads this blog. From Metro.co.uk:A teenage girl had a smashing time when a bizarre wish she made from her sickbed allowed her to destroy garden gnomes with a guitar while dressed as a rocker from the band AC/DC.
Paige Jones, who made the request to a charity while recovering from a jaw operation, whacked her way through dozens of the garden ornaments with a bass guitar.
The 14-year-old, who dressed up as guitarist Angus Young in a school uniform and shorts, admitted she may have been under the influence of anaesthetic when she made the request to Russells Hall Wishing Well charity.
'I had a really good time; I don't really remember making the wish but it was great to do,' said the youngster from Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, who had a piece of her jaw bone removed to allow a tooth room to grow.
'I wasn't too scared of people trying to stop me, although my mum has a few gnomes which I wasn't allowed to touch of course.' Her mother, 43-year-old Jane, said: 'Paige likes her rock and pop and that is where she got the inspiration from for the wish. This is a strange request I know but Paige can be a strange girl.'
Gay man tries to kill two lesbians with poisoned curry after stealing their three-legged cat.
England is such a weird place.A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat.More here.
Gary Stewart, 37, had been at loggerheads with Marie Walton and Beverley Sales for months.
But things looked brighter when he made a peace offering of some curry, claiming he had ordered too much from the Indian takeaway.
When the women started to eat, they found the curry studded with slug pellets.
They called the police and Stewart was arrested.
He appeared before magistrates in Manchester where he admitted attempting to poison the two women on September 22.
He denied a further charge of making threats to kill.
Last night it emerged that Miss Walton, a full-time mother, and Miss Sales, a goods vehicle driver, had been the victims of an apparent hate campaign by Stewart at their home in Denton, Manchester.
Stewart is even alleged to have kidnapped the family's three-legged cat, Amber, and dumped her in a village miles away.
The cat was eventually found after posters were put up with her photograph.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
House cuts work week to 2 1/2 days.
In theory, the best job in American politics is the President of the United States.
But the president's now got some competition: House Representative. The Democratic-led House -- in the middle of the biggest healthcare fight in a generation -- has now trimmed their workweek to just two and a half days, leaving members of Congress plenty of time to ski or play golf.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) promised after the Democrats won the House in 2006 and then after Obama's election this year that the House would hold longer workweeks. But as the fall of 2009 wanes, the House has taken to starting on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm and adjourning "before the sun goes down" on Thursdays.
Carrying a gun increases the risk of getting shot and killed.
Packing heat may backfire. People who carry guns are far likelier to get shot – and killed – than those who are unarmed, a study of shooting victims in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has found.
It would be impractical – not to say unethical – to randomly assign volunteers to carry a gun or not and see what happens. So Charles Branas's team at the University of Pennsylvania analysed 677 shootings over two-and-a-half years to discover whether victims were carrying at the time, and compared them to other Philly residents of similar age, sex and ethnicity. The team also accounted for other potentially confounding differences, such as the socioeconomic status of their neighbourhood.
Despite the US having the highest rate of firearms-related homicide in the industrialised world, the relationship between gun culture and violence is poorly understood. A recent study found that treating violence like an infectious disease led to a dramatic fall in shootings and killings.
Overall, Branas's study found that people who carried guns were 4.5 times as likely to be shot and 4.2 times as likely to get killed compared with unarmed citizens. When the team looked at shootings in which victims had a chance to defend themselves, their odds of getting shot were even higher.
While it may be that the type of people who carry firearms are simply more likely to get shot, it may be that guns give a sense of empowerment that causes carriers to overreact in tense situations, or encourages them to visit neighbourhoods they probably shouldn't, Branas speculates. Supporters of the Second Amendment shouldn't worry that the right to bear arms is under threat, however. "We don't have an answer as to whether guns are protective or perilous," Branas says. "This study is a beginning."
Coozer-Bits.
Yipes: Is the US planning to bomb Iran?
ZombieWatch: Edgar Allan Poe finally getting proper burial.
D'oh: Drunk man accidentally gets tattoo of giant penis.
Creepy: Man grows new skull.
WTF: Saudi man who bragged about sex life gets 5 years in prison.
Follow-Up: Disastrous iSnack 2.0 renamed as CheesyBite.
D'oh: Pirates mistaken navy ship for cargo ship, get promptly captured.
Boozalicious: Racing fans limited to "only" 24 beers a day.
Film: Propaganda film most popular film of all time in China.
Lame: Phoenix cops shoot homeowner instead of intruder and get caught trying to cover it up.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Women mauled by gang of raccoons.
A 74-year-old Lakeland woman was hospitalized after being mauled by a pack of raccoons she tried to shoo from her yard.
Gretchen Whitted fell when five raccoons surrounded and attacked, suffering extensive cuts from her neck to her legs.
"We're not talking about a lot of little bites here," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted."
A neighbor called for help after hearing the woman's cries and seeing her covered in blood.
Whitted received dozens of staples and sutures and was treated for rabies, though officials doubt the animals were infected.
Fire crews flooded nearby drains where some of the animals escaped, but none turned up. Animal Control officers hope to catch them in traps baited with wet cat food and sardines.
NYC bans bake sales.
There shall be no cupcakes. No chocolate cake and no carrot cake. According to New York City’s latest regulations, not even zucchini bread makes the cut.
In an effort to limit how much sugar and fat students put in their bellies at school, the Education Department has effectively banned most bake sales, the lucrative if not quite healthy fund-raising tool for generations of teams and clubs.
The change is part of a new wellness policy that also limits what can be sold in vending machines and student-run stores, which use profits to help finance activities like pep rallies and proms. The elaborate rules were outlined in a three-page memo issued at the end of June, but in the new school year, principals and parents are just beginning to, well, digest them.
Parent groups and Parent-Teacher Associations are conspicuously given an exception: once a month they are allowed to sell as many dark fudge brownies and lemon bars as they please, so long as lunch has ended. And after 6 p.m. on weekdays, anything goes. But at that hour, most students are long gone, and as far as the Education Department is concerned, stuffing oneself with coconut macaroons and peanut butter cookies at that hour is one’s prerogative.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has made both public health and public education centerpieces of his tenure, and the changes in the schools’ food are an outgrowth of his efforts to curb trans fats, salt and other unwanted additives.
Cops raid Darth Vader "porno."
Police raided the set of a film starring veteran Star Wars actor David Prowse after reports it was being used to shoot a porn movie.The Staffordshire bungalow location was instead found to house actors filming dialogue for The Kindness of Strangers.
David Prowse, 74, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films, is starring in the action thriller, reports Metro.
Neighbours had jumped to the wrong conclusion after seeing a camera and lighting equipment being taken into the bungalow in Newhall.
One film crew member, who did not want to be named, said: "It was hilarious to see a bunch of policemen enter the bungalow expecting to see a porn film carrying on.
"When the officers saw two dressed actors talking, they looked quite disappointed. The curtain twitchers certainly have a vivid imagination."
Arrested Development movie a go!
Narrator: Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything ... and just may get some of it back."Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz and his co-executive producer James Vallely are working on a screenplay for the long-debated feature version of their short-lived Fox series. Even as they prep a new Fox comedy series with "Arrested" star Will Arnett, the writers are spinning more bizarre encounters for the eccentric, spoiled Bluth clan for possible feature production in the spring.
Hurwitz would also direct the Fox Searchlight feature.
Hurwitz had said that he wouldn't start writing a film unless all the main actors, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Arnett, Alia Shawkat, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor, were committed. Scheduling might be difficult, however, as several -- Bateman, Cera and Arnett -- have seen their careers bloom since the series began its three-season run in 2003.
Hurwitz and Vallely won Emmys for their writing on "Arrested Development." They work together on the animated Fox comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up."
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Iranian president Ahmadinejad was born a Jew.
In a stunning report on Saturday, a British newspaper claimed to have uncovered proof that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- notorious among the international community for denying the holocaust -- was actually born a Jew.
According to The Telegraph, a high resolution photograph of Ahmadinejad holding up his Iranian identity card, taken just before the 2008 election, reveals that his family changed its name shortly after he was born, renouncing their Jewish faith and adopting Islam.
"A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver," the UK paper reported.
"The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior," noted Israeli publication YNet News.
At the annual Quds Day rally in Tehran last month, the Iranian president reiterated his denial of the holocaust and blasted the Israeli government.
Dunkin' Donuts president quits.
The president of Dunkin' Donuts, William Kussell, is to leave the company at the end of the year.
Nigel Travis, the company's chief executive, will then also become its president.
Dunkin' Donuts - the chain famous for its filled doughnuts - is owned by Dunkin' Brands, which also owns Baskin Robbins.
Dunkin' Donuts has more than 8,800 restaurants in 31 countries. In 2008, its global sales were $5.5bn (£3.46bn).
"This has not been an easy decision for me to make given my passion for the Dunkin' Donuts brand, but it is the right decision for me as I look to the next stage of my career," Mr Kussell said.
Spiritual women have more sex.
Hey, baby, wanna come over and see my dreamcatcher? From LiveScience:
Is it sexy to be spiritual? New research has found that spirituality has a greater effect on the sex lives of young adults — especially women — than religion, impulsivity, or alcohol.
“I think people have been well aware of the role that religious and spiritual matters play in everyday life for a very long time,” said Jessica Burris, one of the study’s researchers at the University of Kentucky. “But in the research literature, the unique qualities of spirituality — apart from religiousness — are not usually considered.”
According to a research measure known as the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, those qualities are connectedness, universality, and prayer fulfillment. But the data found that of the three, connectedness plays the largest role in spiritual sexuality and leads to more sex with more partners, often without the use of condoms.
“Believing one is intimately tied to other human beings and that interconnectedness and harmony are indispensible may lead one to believe sexual intimacy possesses a divine or transcendent quality in itself,” Burris writes. “In fact, ascribing sacred qualities to sex has been positively associated with positive affective reactions to sex, frequency of sex, and number of sexual partners among university students.”
The study’s participants indeed were university students; 353 undergraduates (61 percent of whom were female) answered a questionnaire that asked them about their alcohol use, impulsivity, religiousness, spirituality, and sexual practices. The statements on spirituality, which were ranked by level of agreement, included “In the quiet of my prayers and/or meditations, I find a sense of wholeness,” and “Although individual people may be difficult, I feel an emotional bond with all of humanity.”
The study found that spiritual men weren’t sexually affected — in fact, their frequency of sex decreased. The researchers figure men might not view spirituality as sexual because they biologically don’t think of sex as a gateway to emotional intimacy.
For women, however, spirituality was the strongest predictor for the number of sexual partners, the frequency of sex, and the tendency to have sex without a condom.
You can turn one pig into 185 products.
When we tuck into a bacon sandwich, few of us wonder what has happened to the other parts of the pig whose life has been sacrificed so we can enjoy a juicy breakfast.
But one inquisitive writer set out to trace where all the body parts of one porker ended up.
Christein Meindertsma, 29, said: 'Like most people, I had little idea of what happens to a pig after it leaves the abattoir so I decided to try to find out. I approached a pig farmer friend who agreed let me follow one of his animals.'
Identified by its yellow ear tag number, 05049, her pig trail ended with her identifying an incredible 185 different uses to which it was put - from the manufacture of sweets and shampoo, to bread, body lotion, beer and bullets.
Christein said: 'I was shocked when I began to find out just how unusual and varied the different uses for a ordinary pig were. It's almost as if these days, a pig is no longer thought of an animal - more like an industrial raw material with a mind-blowing amount of different uses.'
She found that 4.9lbs of her 16st 3lb pig went to making wine gums, while 4.8lbs went into liquorice. In this process, collagen is taken from the pig and is then converted into gelatine. This finds its way into numerous foodstuffs, where it acts as a gelling agent.
Friday, October 2, 2009
University removes zombie attack plan from site.
The University of Florida's response plans for a zombie apocalypse are no longer available for public consumption.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said Friday the university removed a link to a disaster recovery exercise, which detailed how the school could respond to an outbreak of the undead. The link was taken down late Thursday afternoon.
Orlando says officials felt the joke "didn't really belong" on the site, which also included plans for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics.
The exercise lays out the university's response to attacks by "flesh-eating, apparently life impaired individuals." It notes that a zombie outbreak might include "documentation of lots of strange moaning."
Orlando says the employee who wrote the gag wasn't punished.
Africans with albinism hunted for their limbs.
Mariamu Stanford, a soft-spoken, 28-year-old single mother from rural Tanzania, has earned a grim distinction: She's one of only two people with albinism -- a group that has faced discrimination in East Africa -- to survive a brutal attack by those wanting to sell the limbs of albinos on the black market.
In her first interview with American journalists, Stanford greeted ABC News visitors with a shy smile, wearing a short-sleeve blouse that revealed the scars of her ordeal.
Last October, men armed with machetes entered her hut and began cutting at her arms in a gruesome attempt to amputate them, Stanford told ABC News.
"In the middle of the night, a group of men stormed in and said, 'We are going to cut your arm off, and if you scream we'll cut the other arm off,'" she said. "And then they started to chop my right arm off. And because I was screaming, they also started to do the same with the other."
After her attackers fled, it took six full hours for Stanford to get medical treatment. Five months pregnant at the time, she lost both arms and her unborn child.
A devout Christian and member of her church choir, Stanford was caught up in a grisly trade inspired by a renegade set of witch doctors; they claim potions made of the blood, skin or bones of an albino can make people wealthy and bring good luck.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The best approach for avoiding zombies.
When Woody Harrelson escapes the living dead in "Zombieland", a new movie opening this Friday, should he head for the hills or the mall? A recently published research paper suggests that he's probably better off hiding in the mall to save his delicious brain.
The world is full of things that move in zombie-like fashion, such as particles flowing through a turbulent fluid or the unpredictable price changes of the stock market, so physicists seek insight into this behavior by creating so called "random walking" models.
Physicist Davide Cassi at the Università di Parma in Italy looked at how long an entity hiding in a complex structure could survive if being pursued by predatory random walkers. Cassi's paper, recently published in the journal Physical Review E, is the first to describe a general principle of a prey’s likelihood to survive over time while hiding in an irregular structure.
Though the paper itself does not specifically refer to fleeing from zombies, it describes "the survival probability of immobile targets annihilated by random walkers." The conclusions suggest that the people trapped in a mall in "Dawn of the Dead" may be better off than the folks stuck in a farmhouse in "Night of the Living Dead."
Cassi found that the likelihood of survival when threatened by predatory random walkers is closely related to how complex the prey’s hideout is. The more twists and turns, the safer you'll be. In structures that are highly complex and irregular, the chances of the predator coming into contact with its target shrinks down to almost zero.
Cassi formulates a model to describe the behavior of randomly moving particles as they travel through maze-like networks. He said that his work could apply to a wide variety of situations including the distribution of information through the internet and medicine spreading through the human body.
"There are a lot of applications of these results in a lot of fields of sciences," Cassi said. "The most amazing field of applications of these results are in biology, biochemistry and other organisms."
So remember, when the zombies come, flee to the biggest shopping mall you can find and remember that, using zombie movies as a guide, the undead often win.
850 new species found in Australian outback.
Interestingly, they're all hideous. From Science Daily:Australian researchers have discovered a huge number of new species of invertebrate animals living in underground water, caves and "micro-caverns" amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.
A national team of 18 researchers has discovered 850 new species of invertebrates, which include various insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms and many others.
The team – led by Professor Andy Austin (University of Adelaide), Dr Steve Cooper (South Australian Museum) and Dr Bill Humphreys (Western Australian Museum) – has conducted a comprehensive four-year survey of underground water, caves and micro-caverns across arid and semi-arid Australia.
"What we've found is that you don't have to go searching in the depths of the ocean to discover new species of invertebrate animals – you just have to look in your own 'back yard'," says Professor Austin from the Australian Center for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity at the University of Adelaide.
Monday, September 28, 2009
20 hospitalized after van filled with bees crashes.
ANKARA, Turkey - An official says a van stacked with beehives has crashed into a truck, killing one person and causing the bees to swarm and attack five injured crash victims and their rescuers.
The state-run Anatolia news agency says around 20 people, including medics and police officers who responded to the accident, are being treated in hospitals.
Gov. Ahmet Altinparmak said the accident occurred Monday on a road near the Mediterranean resort of Marmaris.
The private Dogan news agency said beekeepers were rushed in to help rescue the victims.
Dogan video footage showed men in beekeeping clothing placing an injured man on a stretcher amid a swarm of bees.
DNA tests show that Hitler skull is that of a woman.
Adolf Hitler may not have died in a bunker after fresh research suggests the skull thought to be the tyrant's was from a woman.
US archaeologist Nick Bellantoni found fragments from the skull believed to be Hitler's were too thin to be from a male, and suspected it was the remains of a much younger woman, The Sun reports.
"The bone seemed very thin - male bone tends to be more robust. It corresponds to a woman between the ages of 20 and 40," Dr Bellantoni said.
DNA tests performed in a US laboratory confirmed the remains could not have belonged to the Nazi leader.
The discovery casts doubt on the exact circumstances of Hitler’s death and could force history books to be rewritten.
Original accounts of Hitler’s death said he shot himself in the head in a bunker after taking a cyanide tablet on April 30, 1945 as the Russian army attacked Berlin.
His remains, along with those of his wife Eva Braun, were taken from the bunker, doused in petrol and set ablaze.
A year later, skull fragments were dug up by Russian forces which seemed to confirm Hitler had shot himself in the bunker.
Chinese researchers discover dinosaur with FOUR wings.
Chinese researchers have unearthed the fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings in northeastern China, which they suggest is a missing link in dinosaurs' evolution into birds.In a paper in the journal Nature, they said they found the well-preserved fossil of the "Anchiornis huxleyi," which roamed the earth some 160 million years ago, in a geological formation in China's northeastern Liaoning province.
About the size of a chicken, the fossil has a total body length of less than 50cm (20 inches) and a skull about 6cm long, lead researcher Xing Xu at the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing told Reuters in an email.
"This finding suggests that birds are likely to be descended from a kind of small-sized four-winged dinosaur about 160 million years ago," Xu said.
"It is a link between more typical theropods (dinosaurs which moved around with two rear limbs) and birds. It lived around a time period ... that we expected for birds' ancestor."
In a statement, the researchers said: "Long feathers cover the arms and tail, but also the feet, suggesting that a four-winged stage may have existed in the transition to birds."
Electric unicycle unveiled.
Who needs to walk briskly when you've got an evil robot? From Ananova:An electric unicycle has been unveiled by Honda which says will revolutionise the way we get around.The technology used in the U3X 'personal mobility device' has been borrowed from the company's famous Asimo humanoid robot.
An internal balance control means that the experimental unicycle constantly stands upright.
In order to move, a driver simply has to lean in the direction they wish to travel _ forwards, backwards, side-to-side or diagonally.
The device stands 26ins high, weighs just 22lbs and is powered by a lithium ion battery that runs for one hour before needing to be recharged.
As well as a fold out seat it also has two foot rests and it can move at a maximum speed of 3.7mph, described by its designers as a brisk walking pace.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Police, mob force 150 monks out of monastery.
Followers of a world-famous Buddhist teacher say Vietnamese police and an angry mob have forced 150 monks from a monastery in Vietnam's Central Highlands that has been the center of a monthslong standoff.
The Buddhists say an angry mob descended on the site Sunday morning, smashing windows and knocking down doors in an effort to evict followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, an exiled Vietnam-born monk who has sold more than 1 million books in the West and now lives in southern France.
About 230 nuns remained hunkered down inside a dormitory and a courtyard at the Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province on Sunday night, said Brother Trung Hai, a close associate of Nhat Hanh's, speaking from the Zen Master's Plum Village monastery in France.
Hai said the mob, which apparently included undercover police, forced about 150 monks from their rooms, beating some of them with sticks. They were herded onto buses, which transported them away from the scene, Hai said.
"We want all the violence to stop," Hai said. "We want to find a peaceful solution."
Vegemite names new spread iSnack 2.0.
Exxxtreme vegemite to the maxxxx!!!! Cowabunga dudes! Fo' shizzle my vegezizzle!!!More Veg2K madness here.It's unlikely there'll be too many happy little Vegemites, given the obscure name attached to the new cheesy version of the Aussie spread.
iSnack 2.0 is the name Kraft Foods chose for the new, creamier recipe of the suburban staple, following a national naming competition which attracted more than 40,000 entries.
The move is a bid by the food conglomerate to align the new product with a younger market -- and the "cool" credentials of Apple's iPod and iPhone.
The product's tag line reads: "iSnack 2.0, because it's the next generation Vegemite."
The new formula, said to combine Vegemite with Kraft cream cheese, is allegedly easier to spread and is milder in taste than the original.
Spain liberalizes abortion law.
Spain's socialist government has formally unveiled plans to liberalise the country's abortion law.
Under the proposal approved by the cabinet, abortion would be made available on demand for the first time.
Girls as young as 16 would be allowed to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent.
Ministers say it is about "rights and respect" for women. The conservative opposition says young people may see abortion as a form of contraception.
Spain's current law allows a pregnancy to be terminated in three circumstances - in the aftermath of a rape, when a foetus shows genetic defects, and when the health of the pregnant woman is at risk.
The government's proposal is that abortion should be made available on demand during the first 14 weeks of a pregnancy.
Roman Polanski arrested for 1977 child rape.
Roman Polanski was today in custody in Switzerland and facing extradition to the USA in connection with a 32-year-old charge of having sex with an underage girl.
The 76-year-old Oscar-winning director was being held at a police station in Zurich under a 1978 arrest warrant issued in Los Angeles.
Polanski, whose films include Rosemary's Baby and The Pianist, has never faced justice after admitting to sleeping with 13-year-old Samantha Geimer (then Gailey) in 1977 after plying her with sedative drugs and champagne in Hollywood.
Instead he fled to London in 1978, and then on to his home city of Paris, where he has lived and worked ever since, despite legally being an international fugitive.
Under a treaty with the USA, France can refuse to extradite its own citizens even if they face criminal charges.
But on Saturday Mr Polanski made a rare trip abroad to Zurich, where he was today due to pick up a lifetime achievement award at the city’s annual film festival.
Instead detectives approached him as soon as he entered the country, serving him with the 1978 arrest warrant.
‘There was no resistance to the arrest, and all cooperation was offered,’ said a Zurich police spokesman.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Kirk Cameron compares Darwin with Hitler.
He's used to getting love letters and high-fives as a former teen heartthrob, but onetime Growing Pains actor Kirk Cameron isn't letting the mockery and criticism dissuade him from promoting his controversial project to dispute evolutionary theory.
"Atheism has been on the rise for years now, and the Bible of the atheists is The Origin of Species," Cameron tells PEOPLE. "We have a situation in our country where young people are entering college with a belief in God and exiting with that faith being stripped and shredded. What we want to do is have student make an informed, educated decision before they chuck their faith."
So what is the plan that Cameron, 38, has hatched to supposedly save the souls of freshmen around the country?
He and other creationists have created thousands of editions of Charles Darwin's landmark work explaining evolutionary theory, with a 50-page introduction that picks apart aspects of Darwin's work and try to link it to everything from Nazi eugenics to the scientist's alleged "disdain for women."
[...] But never has he ruffled so many feathers, especially among academics, as he has this week, slamming evolutionary theory as untrue, inherently un-Christian and the driving force behind some of the most horrendous catastrophes of the 20th century, including Adolf Hitler's plan to destroy "inferior races."
"You can see where [Hitler] clearly takes Darwin's ideas to some of their logical conclusions and compares certain races of people to lower evolutionary life forms," Cameron says. "If you take Darwin's theory and extend it to its logical end, it can be used to justify all number of very horrendous things."
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The average Briton has slept with 2.8 million people.
The average British man or woman has slept with 2.8 million people - albeit indirectly, according to figures released to promote awareness of sexual health.
A British pharmacy chain has launched an online calculator which helps you work out how many partners you have had, in the sense of exposure to risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).
The "Sex Degrees of Separation" ready reckoner tots up the numbers based on your number of partners, then their previous partners, and their former lovers, and so on for six "generations" of partners.
The average British man claims to have actually slept with nine people, while women put the figure at 6.3, giving an average of 7.65.
"When we sleep with someone, we are, in effect, not only sleeping with them, but also their previous partners and their partners' previous partners, and so on," said Clare Kerr, head of sexual health at Lloydspharmacy.
"It's important that people understand how exposed they are to STIs and take appropriate precautions including using condoms and getting themselves checked out where appropriate."
Teacher of the Year charged with molesting 14-year-old.
A Bronx high-school dean who was named Teacher of the Year in 2007 yesterday was busted for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old male student.
Johnathan Huff, 40, was charged with forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and sex abuse while classes were being held Saturday at the Urban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young Men, authorities said.
The dean allegedly touched the boy's genitals over his clothes, officials said, adding they learned of the incident Monday in a 911 call.
The school, part of Taft HS, is one of a handful of all-male schools in the city.
FOX News explains how to build a nuclear bomb.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Naked mole rats may help cure cancer.
I think cancer is scared of these beasts. From New Scientist:They might be bald and ugly, but naked mole rats never get cancer. If their trick can be copied it could help humans resist cancer too.
It's almost impossible to culture naked mole rat cells in the lab, which made Andrei Seluanov and Vera Gorbunova from Rochester University, New York, wonder if this might be linked to their ability to resist cancer.
They found that a dilute solution of naked mole rat skin cells did start to proliferate, but stopped once the cells reached a certain, relatively low density. Such "contact inhibition" is also used by human cells to inhibit growth, but cancer bypasses this mechanism so cells keep growing.
The researchers also found that contact inhibition in naked mole rats is controlled by two genes, p16 and p27, while in humans it is primarily controlled by p27. "Naked mole rats have an additional barrier in the way of tumour progression," says Seluanov, who presented the results at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence meeting in Cambridge, UK, last week.
If this check could be stimulated in humans, it could halt the growth of cancerous tumours.
Military creates hopping-mad robot.
A new hopping robot under development at Boston Dynamics. Although it looks like a little radio-controlled car, it conceals an unusual secret. It can jump over obstacles fifty times its own size. The final version will be able to navigate autonomously and jump over obstacles of 25 feet or more.
“The Precision Urban Hopper is part of a broad effort to bolster the capabilities of troops and special forces engaged in urban combat, giving them new ways to operate unfettered in the urban canyon,” Jon Salton, Sandia National Laboratories program manager, said in a statement.
The demonstrated hopping capability of the robots allows the small unmanned ground vehicles to overcome as many as 30 obstacles that are 40-60 times their own size. Hopping mobility has been shown to be five times more efficient than hovering when traversing obstacles at heights under 33 feet (10 meters), which allows longer station-keeping time for the same amount of fuel.
Coozer-Bits.
Awesome: FCC pushing for Net Neutrality.
D'oh: ACORN worker actually reported "pimp" and "prostitute" to police.
ZombieWatch: Zombies eat brains for charity. (Video)
Creepy: Man discovers colleague is long-lost brother.
Sad: Ohio couple hit by car, then have their car stolen.
Yipes: Man attacks roommates with sword over soda can.
US church offering polygamy tours.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like living in a polygamous community? Now you can find out, with members of a US church group now offering travellers “polygamy tours”.
“The Polygamy experience: A guided tour of Colorado City” offers visitors the chance to “learn the story of the US’s largest and most secluded polygamist colony” with a four-hour guided tour of the US towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.
The locals are notoriously uncomfortable with outsiders, with the towns’ practice of plural marriages and history of sexual assault charges, of which the group’s leader Warren Jeffs was convicted two years ago, landing them under the scrutiny of police.
However the tours operators hope to show the public that polygamists are actually peaceful people.
Richard Holm and his brother Heber are among those launching the tour. Richard was exiled from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which controls both Colorado City and Utah, in 2003, while Heber left the community 35 years ago.
Richard Holm says the four-hour tours will give travellers the chance to ask any questions they may have about polygamy.
Leading conservationist says pandas should die out.
Does this man have no love in his heart?? From News.com.au:A leading conservationist has called on wildlife groups to leave giant pandas alone and let them die out "with a degree of dignity".
BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham says it's the pandas own fault that they have not adapted to the modern environment and they are only surviving because of human intervention, the Daily Mail reports.
"Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac," Packham said. "It's not a strong species."
"I reckon we should pull the plug ... let them go, with a degree of dignity."
He said the pandas' "cute" looks and demeanour has caused valuable funding to be diverted from helping animals that have a chance of surviving without human assistance in the future.
His comments were criticised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which uses a picture of a giant panda as its logo.
WWF conservation science advisor Dr Mark Wright said the comments were "daft" because pandas have adapted to the environment.
"It's like saying the blue whale is in an evolutional cul-de-sac because it lives in the ocean," Dr Wright said.
"Pandas face extinction because of poaching and humans moving into their habitat. If left alone, then they function perfectly well."