Saturday, February 26, 2011
New Zealand earthquake toll at 145 dead
Libya expats' horrifying tales
People fleeing the chaos give horrifying details about their escape and life under Gadhafi's regime.
Also: Turmoil rocks Libya's oil sector
The massive oil terminal at Brega feels strangely deserted for Libya's second-largest hydrocarbon complex.
'Cash-for-organs' horror hoax dupes South Africans
The authorities in South Africa have been duped by a "cash-for-organs" hoax, which turned out to be a publicity stunt for an upcoming horror film. "We pay the best prices for all your body parts and organs," read pamphlets widely circulated in Johannesburg city.
Police were reported to be trying to track down "Dr Uba", who advertised quick and painless same-day procedures. The Health Department also issued a statement of concern before the hoax was revealed on Thursday afternoon.
The flyers advertised Dr Uba's Clinic and directed people to an active website that had gory photos of the procedures. It said Dr Uba was offering 5,000 rand ($700; £432) for a pair of eyes, 2,500 rand for a tongue and testicles could fetch up to 1,600 rand each.
"Stop suffering in silence. Rush to get that cash you need. If not for you, do it for your loved one," the pamphlet said. By Thursday morning, newspapers, social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and blogs were dominated by news of the surgery that was harvesting human body parts. When it turned out to be a hoax, many people were shocked.
Police were reported to be trying to track down "Dr Uba", who advertised quick and painless same-day procedures. The Health Department also issued a statement of concern before the hoax was revealed on Thursday afternoon.
The flyers advertised Dr Uba's Clinic and directed people to an active website that had gory photos of the procedures. It said Dr Uba was offering 5,000 rand ($700; £432) for a pair of eyes, 2,500 rand for a tongue and testicles could fetch up to 1,600 rand each.
"Stop suffering in silence. Rush to get that cash you need. If not for you, do it for your loved one," the pamphlet said. By Thursday morning, newspapers, social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and blogs were dominated by news of the surgery that was harvesting human body parts. When it turned out to be a hoax, many people were shocked.
Adopt A Terrorist
For those who have nothing better to do: Adopt-A-Terrorist For Prayer.
Surprisingly, there is no fee to adopt a terrorist. But they accept donations, and they have a store where they sell t-shirts. One customer reports:
This site features FBI and State Department identified terrorists and terrorism sponsors. Terrorism inspires fear. According to Jesus, the antidote to fear is love.Here are two that have been adopted:
Adopt a terrorist for prayer and register to be tabulated in this spiritual initiative against violence that is sponsored and perpetrated by people who think that they are following God.
Awesome product! Wore the tshirt into a mosque - after the response I got, I have a WHOLE bunch more people to pray for!
New Camera Law?
In Florida: Photographing cows or other farm scenery could land you in jail under Senate bill.
How often have you been a victim of such photography, Mr. Simpson?Taking photographs from the roadside of a sunrise over hay bales near the Suwannee River, horses grazing near Ocala or sunset over citrus groves along the Indian River could land you in jail under a Senate bill filed Monday.
SB 1246 by Sen. Jim Norman, retard-Tampa, would make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner. A farm is defined as any land "cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals or the storage of a commodity."
Media law experts say the ban would violate freedoms protected in the U. S. Constitution. But Wilton Simpson, a farmer who lives in Norman's district, said the bill is needed to protect the property rights of farmers and the "intellectual property" involving farm operations.
Simpson, president of Simpson Farms near Dade City, said the law would prevent people from posing as farmworkers so that they can secretly film agricultural operations.
He said he could not name an instance in which that happened. But animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Animal Freedom display undercover videos on their web sites to make their case that livestock farming and meat consumption are cruel.Senator Jim Norman is shown here, trying to think up some other frivolous law to keep him occupied.
Sunsets Of Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a Crimean town of great natural beauty and historical importance. Umm, and have a look at these sunsets.
Chess Games Converted into Musical Notation, Then Played
Jonathan W. Stokes observed:One can’t help but notice that algebraic chess notation maps almost perfectly to scientific pitch notation…So he devised a means of expressing chess moves musically and then converted several famous chess games into piano compositions. Here, for example, is a 1858 game in which Paul Morphy defeated Duke Karl of Brunswick and Count Isouard.
Billboard replaced after clothes painted on nude Venus
A billboard for a Minneapolis museum has been replaced after someone spray-painted clothing and the word "Brrr!" in red over its depiction of nudity from a 16th-century Venus painting.
The advertisement is for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' exhibition of works by the Italian master Titian. The museum chose to feature the famous "Venus Rising from the Sea" painting on the billboard because "it's very typical of paintings in the show," said MIA spokeswoman Anne-Marie Wagener.
The graffiti was discovered on a billboard in Long Lake, a western suburb, last week. None of the other Minneapolis area billboards advertising the show have been damaged. The one that was vandalized has been restored to its previous condition, despite objections from museum officials. "We said 'We think it's funny, just leave it, don't bother replacing it,'" Wagener said on Thursday.
But she said Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that owns the billboard, has a policy that ads with graffiti must be taken down so as not to encourage vandalism. The museum has fielded about 10 calls from angry passers-by who said they weren't comfortable seeing nudity outside of the museum, said MIA marketing director Kristin Prestegaard. Some people said it forced them to talk to their children about nudity in art, a conversation they weren't ready to have.
The advertisement is for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' exhibition of works by the Italian master Titian. The museum chose to feature the famous "Venus Rising from the Sea" painting on the billboard because "it's very typical of paintings in the show," said MIA spokeswoman Anne-Marie Wagener.
The graffiti was discovered on a billboard in Long Lake, a western suburb, last week. None of the other Minneapolis area billboards advertising the show have been damaged. The one that was vandalized has been restored to its previous condition, despite objections from museum officials. "We said 'We think it's funny, just leave it, don't bother replacing it,'" Wagener said on Thursday.
But she said Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that owns the billboard, has a policy that ads with graffiti must be taken down so as not to encourage vandalism. The museum has fielded about 10 calls from angry passers-by who said they weren't comfortable seeing nudity outside of the museum, said MIA marketing director Kristin Prestegaard. Some people said it forced them to talk to their children about nudity in art, a conversation they weren't ready to have.
Are You Giving Away Your Password On Facebook?
While most Facebook users are smart enough not to post secret passwords online, many compromise the security of their identity without ever realizing it.
Homeless Man Finds Daughter Through Twitter
A New York City homeless man has been reunited with his daughter after 11 years, thanks to Twitter.
How shopping habits changed
Americans now shop smarter and find ways to get more out of what they own.
Also: 
Bilingualism good for the brain
It depends on who you ask.
Lose Weight by Thinking Negatively
As anyone who’s ever tried to stick to a diet knows, it’s hard work!
But why is changing the way we eat so difficult if we know, rationally, that it’s good for us?
Culinary DeLites
Panera Bread's ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on whole grain will fill you up.
Also: Shoppers wary of genetically engineered foods find they're everywhere
You may not want to eat genetically engineered foods.
Chances are, you are eating them anyway.
The simple solution to back pain
Stop popping ibuprofen.Hold off on that massage.
Putting an end to back pain could be as easy as standing up once in a while.
Here are 10 ways to make sure you get off your seat.
Six Good Things a Little Snooze Can Do
Your office may not have a literal "rest" room yet, but your employer might be smart to create one, as Nike and Google have.Studies show that a quick afternoon power nap has major benefits.
There's even an app for the power nap.
Here's how to get the best from your siesta.
Six Surprising Home Remedies That Actually Work
Does anyone remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with the dad who insisted a spritz of Windex was all you needed to cure anything, from pimples to psoriasis?
Heh!
Windex is hardly a cure-all, but there are other kinds of home remedies that actually do work...
Sprucing up your garden this spring
Tree-killing disease found in Florida
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has positively identified the presence of a destructive disease that affects avocado trees and other trees in the laurel family.
Meet Otzi Face to Face
Lucy in the sky IS diamonds
Fifty light years — that’s about 300,000,000,000,000 (300 quadrillion) miles — away from Earth is Lucy, a former star whose proverbial bulb has burned out. And Lucy’s core has turned into a diamond. In this case, the diamond is huge — the largest in the galaxy. At 10 billion trillion trillion carats — 1 followed by 34 zeroes! — it’s, well, huge beyond imagination. The largest terrestrial diamond, the Golden Jubilee Diamond, is about 500 carats — a 5, followed by two lonely zeroes.How’d this happen?
When a star consumes all of its fuel, it burns out, leaving behind a white dwarf — a hot, crystallizing core. For years, scientists have believed that the core, made mostly of carbon, turns into a diamond, but we have had no evidence supporting that thesis. That all changed in 2004, when astronomers were able to use gong-like pulsations emanating from Lucy to determine that its core was a really big diamond and developed the model pictured above.
Astronomical News
Baby Planet Birth Spotted for First Time
The discovery shows how material around young stars clump together in the early stages of planetary formation. 
Star Spits Out Baby Planet
The discovery of a baby gas giant planet orbiting a young, 12 million-year-old star means that these types of planets can form much more quickly than previously thought. Jorge Ribas reports on the finding.
Highest-resolution photo - ever - of the moon
This is actually a mosaic of about 1300 separate images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Wide-Angle Camera — the total size is a whopping 24,000 x 24,000 pixels, producing a resolution of about 145 meters/pixel ...
Over time, as the Moon rotates underneath it, LRO can see the entire surface of the Moon. As it does this, the angle of sunlight changes, so care had to be taken when creating this mosaic to make it appear seamless; otherwise shadows would appear to jump suddenly from point to point. If you look carefully you’ll see where shadows point in different directions, but it still looks pretty natural.
But it’s not: when you see the full Moon from Earth, that means the Sun is shining straight down on the Moon — the Earth is essentially directly between the Moon and Sun. That means you don’t see any shadows on the surface when the Moon is full. Pictures of it taken from Earth look flat in that case, because our eyes and brains look to shadows to sense the topographical relief — the ups and downs in the surface. But this image shows those shadows, making it a unique view of the full Moon ...
But it’s also one of the highest resolution image ever made too! You can appreciate that if you look at the full-res 145 meters/pixel zoom-and-pannable version, which is simply extraordinary... So my advice: take a little time and peruse the zoomable version online, and pretend you’re floating over the lunar surface.
For full-res and zoomable images, visit Discover.
Images Of A Nano World
Michael Oliveri, a digital media professor from the University of Georgia, likes to snap photos, but not with a camera most photographers use. He prefers the scanning electron microscope.
In his recent project 'Innerspace,' he explores the landscapes of nano-scale worlds where objects are up to 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Striking images of tiny objects
Colorful shots of a ruby-tailed wasp and a human chromosome bring mostly unseen objects to life.
Also: 
How a sabretooth cat 'bit down'
The sabretoothed cats killed prey with a deep stabbing bite to the throat
The mystery of how prehistoric sabretoothed cats coped with their oversized teeth has been solved in part by a new analysis of the cats' jaws.
Now the new analysis reveals that the cats' jaw muscles evolved into a specialised pattern, which allowed them to open their mouths so wide.
Details are reported in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Also:
Study reveals how bats' teeth are highly specialised and attuned to their diet.
'Walking Cactus' Fossil Reveals Body Armor Evolution
The creature appears to have been the first of its kind to stride on bendable, hard-covered legs.
Training wild beasts for films
Tricks with marshmallows are just one way to keep a grizzly bear happy on set.
Also: Astrakhan Fauna
Astrakhan is a perfect place for eco-tourism. One can hardly see such a great variety of birds and animals anywhere else in Russia. Here you can spend a wonderful time fishing and simply admiring the beauty of the Astrakhan nature.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:Things are brewing between you and someone else, but everything is still deep under the surface; you will need to utilize all your insight to piece together a more complete picture.
What other people say isn't going to help -- you need to ignore any reports you've heard that are based on third-hand information.
The game of telephone is not one you should play.
There is too much overlapping communication going on, so focus on keeping your messages and intentions crystal clear.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Perth, Western Australia, Austrtalia
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Perth, Western Australia, Austrtalia
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and in cities across the United States such as Baton Rouge, Seattle, Scranton, Chicago and more.
Today is:
Today is Friday, February 25, the 56th day of 2011.
There are 309 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:
They are none.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Ice-age child's remains discovered in Alaska
Just an interesting anthropological story for the day.
The 3-year-old is only the second ice-age child discovered on the continent, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Archaeologists discovered the remains in a fire pit in an abandoned living area from 13,200 years ago and dated the child's death to about 11,500 years ago, according to research by UAF's Ben Potter and his team in the Feb. 25 edition of the journal Science.
Looking at the child's teeth, UAF bioarchaeologist Joel Irish said in initial observations that the remains had traits of North Americans and northeast Asians.
Neanderthals Wore Feathers as Fashion Accessories
While investigating Neanderthal remains in the Fumane Cave near Verona in northern Italy, paleoanthropologist Marco Peresani from the University of Ferrara and colleagues discovered 660 bird bones in layers that were dated to around 44,000 years ago.
Belonging to 22 species of birds, the remains included several wing bones which, according to the researchers, were deliberately cut to take the feathers off.
Happy Birthday George
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s alright
And I say it’s alright
Happy Birthday George Harrison who would have been 68 today…
Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
heart and soul
Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
heart and soul
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