Friday, April 25, 2008
And in Austria: Town Outraged by German Aenus...
A $400,000 statue of a naked man riding a fish has infuriated residents of Braunau, Austria, just across the river from the German town of Simach, which paid for the artwork. The statue, named Aenus, after the Latin name for the river [ Inn, in German ], faces away from Braunau, and its buttocks...
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sting Operation Ends Shooting Spree...
It’s never a good practice to use a target range when there’s a beehive on it. And it’s never a good idea, as police using the range near Tuxtla Gutierrez in Mexico learned, to pierce said beehive with a bullet, especially when it’s home to easily agitated Africanized bees. “There was a loud buzzing...
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
And in Japan: Pickled Cows are no Delicacy...
Tokyo ’s Mori Art Museum had trouble bringing in artist Damien Hirst’s famous work of formaldehyde-soaked cattle into the country for an exhibition. The work, Mother and Child, Divided, got held up by customs officials enforcing a ban on the import of British beef. The ban has been in place over a...
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Monday, April 21, 2008
Half of What’s Mine is Yours – Exactly Half...
As bloody-minded as he is precise, Branko Zivkov has complied with a Serbian court order to share all his property with his ex-wife, with whom he’d lived for 45 years. Zivkov purchased a grinder and proceeded to cut all his farm tools in half, including cattle scales, a harrow and a sowing machine....
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
Leave Knives at Home when Looking for Work...
It's certain that Demetrius Robinson won't be getting a job at the Golden Pantry convenience store in Athens, Ga. [or anywhere else, for that matter.] Robinson arrived and filled out an application form, but when the Pantry emptied of customers, he pulled a knife and robbed the cashier. Police...
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Tax on Flatulence?
The problem with agricultural animals such as cows, sheep and goats is they burp and fart methane, a gas that traps 21 times more heat than carbon dioxide. This adds up: the world’s meat industry is responsible for 18 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions, more than the total greenhouse gas...
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
My Grass is Greener than Your Grass, Na Na NaNa Na...
If you have been trying to keep up with the Joneses, you are not alone – it seems that we are all wired that way. Researchers report that the social emotions of envy and gloating are much stronger on every measure than are the sentiments of relief and regret, which are felt privately. A team led by...
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Being Gored by the Horns of a Recycling Dilemma...
But enough is enough: in 1821 Turkish soldiers surrounded the Greek forces holed up in the Parthenon and started stripping lead from temple columns to make bullets. The horrified Greek promptly sent the enemy a fresh supply of ammunition to discourage further recycling. (J. Rice and A. Fields,...
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
All You Need to Know about Cocaine, Kissing and Chocolate...
Cocaine, kissing and chocolate all arouse the brain’s “feel good” dopamine reward system. Now neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University suggest that aggressive behaviour can provide a dopamine reward as well, a result that may explain some people’s thirst to karate-chop or tackle. When the scientists...
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Saturday, April 12, 2008
Clear the Air with Your Grubby Hair…
Science is learning that dirty, greasy hair is effective in absorbing ozone. Ground- level ozone causes respiratory problems and can even hasten death. But when University of Missouri researchers exposed unwashed hair to samples of ozone for 24 hours they found that it absorbs more ozone than...
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