Thursday, June 26, 2008
And in China: Pockmarked Women and Sliced Lungs Must Go...
There’s no time to lose for Beijing restaurateurs to get English translations of Chinese dishes before the Olympics open. The city’s tourism officials have told food vendors to find acceptable English for the Chinese names, often based on stories, such as ‘bean curd by a pockmarked woman’ and...
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Do We Have a Problem Here?
In the process of generating electricity, US coal plants spew more than 70 million tons of radioactive waste called fly ash. Now a Missouri company has found a way to turn the ash into bricks, an innovation that reduces fly ash while providing an extra benefit: the bricks soak up toxic mercury from...
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Monday, June 23, 2008
The Oil Crisis is Deepening...
In the United States, when people first noticed oil, they didn’t quite grasp the energy angle. Instead, they did what any industrious American would do: they bottled it, slapped a label on it, and sold it as a health tonic. Several hundred thousand bottles of the stuff are said to have been...
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
Smell of Fresh Coffee may be All You Need...
Wake up and smell the coffee. Japanese scientists have found that its mere aroma is enough for rats’ brains to express a gene associated with wakefulness. They found that the effects of a certain gene’s presence was reduced in sleep-deprived rats but increased by the aroma. If the phenomenon is...
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Friday, June 20, 2008
Today’s Special – Anti-Energy Drink...
Getting a buzz is so over. The spread of caffeine-bearing party drinks is being met with a new breed of beverages meant to do the opposite. One, Malava, is made of kava, a sedating herb. Another, Drank, is brewed with melatonin – the hormone that regulates the sleep cycle – along with valerian roots...
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
Gene Research Clears the Air Around Cattle...
Thanks to the miracle of genetic research, New Zealand scientists are on the verge of creating an inoculation that will stop cattle and sheep from passing wind. With their multiple stomachs, the ruminants account for an enormous amount of methane, which contributes to global warming. Researchers say...
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Monday, June 16, 2008
And in Ohio: Lawn Order comes to Mowtown...
The city of Canton aims to cut the US$250,000 it spends annually cutting an average of 2000 properties with overgrown grass. To combat this slovenliness, city council has passed a law that would punish miscreants with a large fine and up to 30 days in jail. Despite widespread derision for the law,...
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Performance of the Week: The One-Note Chorus...
A new arts centre in England is recruiting 100 groups with 17 people each to record a single musical note. Performance artist Bill Drummond will combine the different notes from different groups in a recorded choral performance. Among the groups that Drummond is recruiting are petty criminals and...
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Thursday, June 12, 2008
And in Texas: Judge has Old-fashioned Court Remedy...
A Los Fresnos family was shocked by a local justice of the peace calling for an errant child right to be spanked in front of him. Gustavo ‘Gus’ Garza warned the 14-year old girl’s stepfather, Daniel Zurita, she’d be found guilty of a criminal offence, but he wouldn’t pass sentence if her stepfather...
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sex Conquers All...
Gender stereotypes may be accurate after all. According to a new international study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, when men and women are observed in a speed-dating setting, women value material wealth and security, while men prioritize physical attractiveness. If...
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