Nate Edel's blog
Jack Russell registers to vote in N.Z. election
Dog’s enrollment angers local electoral official
Updated: 12:20 p.m. ET Sept. 23, 2005WELLINGTON, New Zealand – It was almost inevitable New Zealand’s election would turn into a dog fight when you look at one of the country’s 2.83 million voters — Toby the Jack Russell terrier.
Penguins stay snug and secure in minefields
Tuesday, September 27, 2005; Posted: 11:46 a.m. EDT (15:46 GMT)
KIDNEY COVE, Falkland Islands (Reuters) — There’s a mating ritual going on in the minefield.
Fortunately the would-be lovers are penguins, too light to detonate the deadly mines laid more than two decades ago during a war on the far-flung Falkland Islands.
Thousands of penguins and other feathered and amphibious friends choose to nest and rest in no-go zones. The British estimate that some 25,000 land mines, mostly sown by Argentine forces in the 1982 war with Britain, remain.
via Sherm on DBA
Mice Infected With Bubonic Plague Missing
NEWARK, N.J. — Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search though health experts said there was scant public risk.
No, Seriously. Save the Bananas.
By PAUL B. BROWN
Published: August 13, 2005A two-pronged frantic race is under way to save the banana.
It’s no joke, as Popular Science reports in a fascinating account this month. The Cavendish, the version of the banana that rests on top of American breakfast cereals, is “on a crash course toward extinction.”
The plight of the Cavendish Banana hasn’t really been new news for a while, but it’s a good article… and I loved the title.
“Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho?
Via the Portsmouth Herald:
BRENTWOOD – The “family jewels” of one Brentwood man recently were locked up for two weeks – literally.
On Saturday, July 30, at about 3:40 a.m., Brentwood police assisted ambulance and rescue personnel with a 39-year-old man with a padlock on his testicles.
via DBA
From the Times Online in the UK: Young men suffering from ‘early life crisis’
ONE in seven of Britain’s young men is anxiety ridden, according to a new report. Instead of enjoying their carefree twenties and thirties, men are racked with worry about employment issues, time pressures and financing their lifestyles.
While one in ten of men of all ages feels that the pressure of modern living is too much to handle, the anxiety peaks among those aged 25-44 who feel stressed and overworked.
Via AmericaBLOG
(I resembled those remarks quite a lot a few years ago… still a little bit now. Ah well.)
Via comp.sys.ibm-pc.chips, on the Inquirer: Smoking laptop nearly brings down plane
Person with burning crotch
By Nick Farrell: Friday 15 July 2005, 08:12
AN AUSSIE aircraft hit panic stations after the smell from an overheated laptop was thought to mean that the plane was on fire.
SCIENTISTS have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans.
US scientists have succeeded in reviving the dogs after three hours of clinical death, paving the way for trials on humans within years.
Via RASSF
I’m not sure I buy it, but he (British) Times Online says research shows exactly that:
The experiments also revealed a rather surprising effect: both men and women found it easier to have an orgasm when they kept their socks on. Draughts in the scanning room left couples complaining of “literally cold feet”, and providing a pair of socks allowed 80 per cent rather than 50 per cent to reach a climax while their brains were scanned.
Via The Sideshow
Oregon Cat Born With Two Faces
A newborn kitten recently entered the world with two faces and, hopefully, at least nine lives. Gemini was born Sunday with two mouths, two tongues, two noses and four eyes.
“I kind of feel sorry for her, because I can’t know for a fact if she’s going to live or die,” its owner, Lee Bluetear of Glide, told the (Roseburg) News-Review. “If she makes it, she should be a perfectly normal and healthy cat. Other than having two faces.”
Roseburg veterinarian Alan Ross, who examined the kitten on Tuesday, said he can’t estimate the kitten’s life span. He said when he first saw the kitten, he wouldn’t have given her more than a 10 percent chance of survival.
Via an aside on AMERICAblog
Most people use personalized license plates to send a message. This is a pretty
straightforward message.
From the recent Daily Illuminator:
Researchers at the University of Zurich have discovered that a hormone nasal spray causes subjects to be more trusting and to invest more money in a proposal made by a stranger. Read about it in (of course) The Economist. Fnord.