Bizarre News

[Corribus]

...a special instrument that splits light to find wobbles in different wave lengths. Those wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.

Wow, that's taking "dumbing down the science" to a new level.

[Caradoc]

How about some science jokes?

Q: Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? A: To get to the same side.

A neutron walks into a bar; he asks the bartender, 'How much for a beer?' The bartender looks at him, and says 'For you, no charge.'

Two fermions walk into a bar. One orders a drink. The other says 'I'll have what he's having.

Heisenberg is out for a drive when he's stopped by a traffic cop. The cop says 'Do you know how fast you were going?' Heisenberg says 'No, but I know where I am.'

Entropy isn't what it used to be.

Elementary particles are the dreams that stuff is made of.

A sign in Munich says, "Heisenberg might have slept here."

For sale: Klein bottle. Enquire within.

[asandir]

Italian scientist works on 'spider-man' suit
An Italian researcher is working on a project that could lead to the development of a real-life 'spider-man' suit.

Nicola Pugno, a 35-year-old researcher at the Polytechnic University of Turin, says he has spent the past 10 years working on a form of adhesion based on the feet of gecko lizards.

"It's a field that can have very interesting applications in science, like in space, for example," Mr Pugno said.

"An astronaut could use a suit with a suction-cup adhesion system."

He estimates the suit could be constructed in another 10 years.

The gecko's feet are covered with tiny hairs called setae that allow for strong adhesion to different types of surfaces.

Mr Pugno is seeking to mimic the effect of the setae, though several problems remain to be worked through.

His suit, he said, is to include extremely fine, sticky filament.

"One of the problems that has arisen is the control of the adhesion, because remaining attached to a wall is not difficult," he said.

"All you have to do is attach it with superglue. But then how do you detach it and re-attach it again?"

A self-cleaning mechanism also has to be developed for the system, he said.

"A gecko that walks in the sand has to clean his feet after a few steps," he said.

Despite his work's obvious spider-man similarities, Mr Pugno said he has no particular interest in the hit movies and that science is what fascinates him. Science fiction, he said, "leads to nothing".

[ThunderTitan]

Despite his work's obvious spider-man similarities, Mr Pugno said he has no particular interest in the hit movies and that science is what fascinates him. Science fiction, he said, "leads to nothing".

This coming from the guy inventing the spider-man suit.

And he never heard of Jules Verne? Cpt. Nemo FTW.

[Kareeah Indaga]

A new way to go green.

[asandir]

'Slow motion' runner finishes marathon a week late
'Slow motion' marathon runner Greg Billingham has finished the London Marathon one week after the event started.

Thirty-nine-year-old Billingham decided to "run" the 42-kilometre event at an ultra-slow pace of 4.8 kilometres every 10 hours, to raise money for the charity Children with Leukaemia.

He said he ran in slow motion because people who become ill often find their lives slowed down.

Billingham, who had never run a marathon before, hopes to have raised between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds for the charity.

"At first people look at you strangely... People weren't too sure whether it was a joke," he said.

He said when people waved at him "I would look at them in slow motion".

Billingham developed his technique of lifting each leg in the air for several seconds at a time during his training, which involved moving very slowly on a treadmill and running slowly in a farmer's field "where nobody could see me".

"When I turned up in London, I had a tenner (a 10 pound note) and a sleeping bag," the building developer said.

"The more I did, the better I was getting at it. The word got around London."

Billingham says he is "still adapting" to his success.

[asandir]

Artist to fill Mexico City square with nudes
US artist Spencer Tunick will fill Mexico City's Zocalo square - the centre of the ancient Aztec empire and the heart of modern Mexico - with thousands of naked Mexicans next week for his latest mass nude photo shoot.

Tunick, who was refused permission to stage his nude photo shoot at Mexico's famed Teotihuacan pyramids outside the capital, has been granted permission to use the Zocalo for his shoot next Sunday (local time), local media reported.

The Mexico City Government was not available for comment.

One of the world's biggest and most imposing squares, the Zocalo is framed by the city cathedral, City Hall and the Diego Rivera mural-adorned National Palace and dominated by a huge flagpole flying the red, white and green national flag.

A ruined temple underneath it was once used for Aztec worship and human sacrifice, and Spanish conquistadors used bricks from the temple to help build their own capital.

Tunick has raised eyebrows by staging mass nude photo shoots in cities from Dusseldorf, Germany, to Caracas. Participants often lie down to create an image resembling a sea of multi-hued flesh.

Organisers hope the Mexico City event might top his record of 7,000 naked people photographed in Barcelona in 2003.

and

Diggers to be issued with non-melting chocolate
By ABC Science Online's Anna Salleh

Australian defence scientists are developing a dark chocolate for soldiers that does not melt in extreme desert heat and lasts for years.

While normal chocolate melts at around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) says the new chocolate will be expected to keep its shape despite extended periods at over 49C.

DSTO food technologist Dr Lan Bui says the research team is substituting existing fats in the chocolate with other fats that have higher melting points to reduce the chance of the chocolate melting.

Combat ration packs must supply soldiers with their daily nutrition needs without weighing too much, yet be varied to make the daily menu interesting.

Soldiers' chocolate is fortified with vitamins A, C and B1 (thiamine) but extreme heat or humidity can melt it, change its texture and flavour, and reduce the stability and effectiveness of its vitamins.

"Ration chocolate has a longer shelf life, is more stable compared to other chocolate and is also fortified with vitamins," DSTO food technologist Dr Bui said.

"It's a bit firmer but the flavour is nice."

The researchers are also developing ways to keep the vitamins in the chocolate fresh until it is eaten, possibly years later.

Dr Bui, who is based in Scottsdale, Tasmania, says they are working with university researchers and the food industry to micro-encapsulate vitamins in hydrocolloids, such as gum arabic.

She says the coating keeps out heat, humidity, moisture and oxygen, and allows the vitamins to be slowly released into the body.

Another part of the research is making sure the chocolate's flavour lasts longer.

Dr Bui says the aim is to ensure the coated vitamins and flavour stay stable up to 48C.

She says sensory evaluations suggest the new chocolate still tastes, looks and feels good in the mouth.

The team is also developing less permeable packaging to help extend the chocolate's shelf life.

how marvelous

[MistWeaver]

Student Arrested for “Suspected Terrorist Activity”

A Chinese student has been arrested in Texas, charged with “Suspected Terrorist Activity”. This student was apprehended after parents discovered that he had used plans of his High School in the creation of a map for an online first person shooter. The authorities were notified after parents learned of the map from their children, who had downloaded it off of the internet.

While no charges have been filed against the student, he has been removed from Clements High School and will not be allowed to graduate with his former classmates.

I don’t know what to say. For most of us who have ever designed a 3d environment, using familiar surroundings is very commonplace. With no sinister motive, designers use plans for all sorts of different areas to add variety to their designs. I don’t understand the punishment given to this student, who has been cleared of any premonitions for violence.

He has been convicted of no crime but then the school expels him? I guess “innocent until proven guilty” has no merit with the school board. Even with the authorities finding no evidence of gaming-related causes for the Virginia Tech shootings… It seems that we, as gamers, still are targeted as warped killers.

--

“They arrested him,” Chen said of FBISD police, “and also went to the house to search.” The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.

http://www.1pstart.com/student-arrested ... -activity/

http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/2847/ch ... c-game-map

From other source, Ive found out that "online first person shooter" is CS.

Thats the stupidest thing Ive ever heard of. My congrats to every one living in this country.

[MistWeaver]

Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez 23 and Enrico Garza 26, probably believed they would easily overpower a home alone 11 year old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two story home.

It seems the two crooks never learned two things, they were in Montana and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine. Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.

Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buck shot from the 11 year olds knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.

It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. The victim, 50 year old David Burien, was not so lucky as he died from stab wounds to the chest.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/read ... Num=185167

[Corribus]

Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buck shot from the 11 year olds knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals.

Well that gives new meaning to getting hit below the belt.

[MistWeaver]

Thats not all, folks. Because I just cant pass by this one:

Woman ‘tricked into sex’ by penis cream treatment

A Syrian-born airline pilot allegedly tricked a schoolteacher from Haverfordwest into having sex with him by pretending he had to administer ointment on the end of his penis, a jury heard yesterday (Tuesday).
Fadi Sbano, 38, even pretended to know a gynaecologist who advised him on how often to have intercourse with her and whether to thrust "slowly or quickly". And, on the "doctor's advice", he kept a clock on the bedside table to time the sessions.

The teacher put up with the treatment for nine months before telling her doctor.
Huw Rees, prosecuting, told Swansea crown court: "The allegations here are of rape by deception."
Mr Rees said the pair met while Sbano was based at Gatwick and the teacher was working nearby.
In November, 2000, she discovered a rash of white spots and feared that typhoid, which she contracted on holiday some years before, had returned.
Sbano claimed he was in talks with a gynaecologist who was anxious for a certain cream to be applied, the prosecutor said.
"He (Sbano) suggested he would apply the cream to his penis and apply it inside her.
Mr Rees said the woman found the sessions "Clinical, not at all erotic". She consented only because she believed it was a proper treatment.

"When the insertions took place, and depending on the instructions of his friend, he would thrust slowly or quickly for anything from one to ten minutes,"

Her doctor told her to find out the identity of Sbano's gynaecologist friend but he "became evasive and never gave his name" beyond the word "Ibby".
"It began to dawn on her that he had devised this treatment in order to have sex with her on his terms."

Mr Rees said "Ibby" was traced but said he knew nothing about the treatment.
Sbano was arrested at Heathrow while attending a pilots' training facility.

He claimed the woman had invented the entire story about the "treatment".
Sbano, from Harrow, London, denies nine charges of rape and 11 or obtaining money by deception.

The trial continues.

http://www.thisispembrokeshire.net/disp ... atment.php

--------


Condom Found in McDonald's Happy Meal

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A grandmother was alarmed to find a condom in a happy meal gift pack bought for her 7-year-old granddaughter at a McDonald's (MCD) restaurant in New Zealand, local media reported Thursday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268697,00.html

[ThunderTitan]

“They arrested him,” Chen said of FBISD police, “and also went to the house to search.” The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.

I heard that if you know martial arts they can consider punching someone "attack with a lethal weapon" too. He's just lucky they didn't find any nails.

Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buck shot from the 11 year olds knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.

When i was 11 i killed 2 people... how about you?

Now there's a way to start a conversation.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Now that's a stupid teacher.

[asandir]

Loved-up pensioner runner-up in text poetry contest
A love-struck pensioner has come up trumps in a poetry contest with a difference: the poems had to be written in "text speak".

British grandmother Eileen Bridge, 68, won 350 pounds in the "txt laureate" competition, after she took second place with an ode to her husband of six months.

The entry read: "O hart tht sorz, My luv adorz, He mAks me liv, He mAks me giv, Myslf 2 him, As my luv porz".

The retired teacher from Accrington, Lancashire was only beaten by London law student Ben Ziman-Bright, 23, who scooped the top prize of 1,000 pounds.

He wrote: "Not even the wet rustle of rain can dampen today. Your text buoys me above oil-rainbow puddles like a paper boat, so that even soaked to the skin, I am grinning."

The contest was started by mobile phone operator T-Mobile.

Luke Wright, who took his debut show "Luke Wright, Poet Laureate" to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, judged the entries.

"Ben was easily the winner because of things like his contrast of the 'oil-rainbow' puddles, which is poetic and abstract," he said.

"Then his last line about 'grinning' brings the poem right back down to earth.

"Overall, there were a lot of funny poems - good to know Britain still has a wicked sense of humour."

More than 200 entrants across the country submitted over 300 text poems of less than 160 characters.

T-Mobile set out to find Britain's "txt laureate" after research showed that 46 per cent of people crave flirty text messages and 40 per cent cherish mobile love messages by keeping them on their handset.

[ThunderTitan]

http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/05/0 ... ng-news-3/

Okay, we linked to the funnybook version on Monday, but what’s happened to Matt Boyd is more tragic than humorous.

From what I’ve gathered things were, if not exactly good, then at least no-hard-feelings for Boyd on the part of those that used to be his bosses; they understood it was a stupid overreaction on the part of people that he worked with, they didn’t personally hold it against him, and they were willing to give him good references. Couple weeks of unemployment benefits, grab a new job, all good.

Then the cops showed up on his doorstep.

Details are sketchy at this time, but it appears that making a comic about his experience counts as making terroristic threats. I realize that by this logic, me reporting on the making of a comic that’s seen as a terroristic threat may count as lending support to terrorists. If I wake up in Gitmo, tell my wife that I love her, and I’m sorry I’m not there to help walk the dog.

In the meantime, the best information appears to be from Rich Stevens (story on the front page now, here eventually); more on this as it develops.

[MistWeaver]

Vegan parents guilty in infant murder 6 wk old starved to death fed diet of soy milk & apple juice

The parents of a baby that died of starvation after being fed a vegan diet have been found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and first degree cruelty to children.

Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, will get an automatic life sentence for the death of their 6-week-old infant, Crown. After being fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice, he weighed only 3 1/2 pounds when he died.

The Fulton County jury deliberated the case for about seven hours.

Prosecutors said it was a chilling case of murder by starvation, a painful and prolonged death. Attorneys representing Sanders and Thomas told jurors the first-time parents did the best they could while adhering to their vegan lifestyle. Vegans typically live free of animal products.

"They're not vegans, they're baby killers," Fulton prosecutor Mike Carlson told the jury Tuesday during his closing arguments.

The couple's attorneys said they didn't realize their baby, born at home, was in danger until minutes before he died.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/read ... Num=185948


-------------


Comcast Plays Porn Instead of Cartoon on Disney Channel

5 year old boy watching cartoon on the Disney Channel. All of a sudden, porn comes on. The kid continues watching. Father walks in. Notices porn. Dad looks at the channel and notices this porn is airing on the Disney Channel.
Customer Paul Dunleavy would also like to know. He was stunned Tuesday morning to find his 5-year-old son watching something other than "Handy Manny," a cartoon about a bilingual Latino handyman and his talking tools.

"It was two people doing their thing, it was full-on and it was disgusting," the Middletown father of three told The New York Daily News for Wednesday newspapers. "I couldn't believe it."

This issue was confirmed as a "programming error" which occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. It was isolated to "a local New Jersey facility," the article says.

"My son was extremely upset because he thought he'd done something wrong," Paul Dunleavy, Comcast Cable customer.

http://www.cartoonbarry.com/2007/05/com ... ad_of.html

[ThunderTitan]

Jeez people, check with the damn doctor about what you give you infant to eat. And what the hell happened to breast feeding?

Judge sues cleaner for $65M over pants

WASHINGTON - The Chungs, immigrants from
South Korea, realized their American dream when they opened their dry-cleaning business seven years ago in the nation's capital. For the past two years, however, they've been dealing with the nightmare of litigation: a $65 million lawsuit over a pair of missing pants.

Jin Nam Chung, Ki Chung and their son, Soo Chung, are so disheartened that they're considering moving back to Seoul, said their attorney, Chris Manning, who spoke on their behalf.

"They're out a lot of money, but more importantly, incredibly disenchanted with the system," Manning said. "This has destroyed their lives."

The lawsuit was filed by a District of Columbia administrative hearings judge, Roy Pearson, who has been representing himself in the case.

Pearson did not return phone calls and e-mails Wednesday from The Associated Press requesting comment.

According to court documents, the problem began in May 2005 when Pearson became a judge and brought several suits for alteration to Custom Cleaners in Northeast Washington, a place he patronized regularly despite previous disagreements with the Chungs. A pair of pants from one suit was not ready when he requested it two days later, and was deemed to be missing.

Pearson asked the cleaners for the full price of the suit: more than $1,000.

But a week later, the Chungs said the pants had been found and refused to pay. That's when Pearson decided to sue.

Manning said the cleaners made three settlement offers to Pearson. First they offered $3,000, then $4,600, then $12,000. But Pearson wasn't satisfied and expanded his calculations beyond one pair of pants.

Because Pearson no longer wanted to use his neighborhood dry cleaner, part of his lawsuit calls for $15,000 — the price to rent a car every weekend for 10 years to go to another business.

"He's somehow purporting that he has a constitutional right to a dry cleaner within four blocks of his apartment," Manning said.

But the bulk of the $65 million comes from Pearson's strict interpretation of D.C.'s consumer protection law, which fines violators $1,500 per violation, per day. According to court papers, Pearson added up 12 violations over 1,200 days, and then multiplied that by three defendants.

Much of Pearson's case rests on two signs that Custom Cleaners once had on its walls: "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service."

Based on Pearson's dissatisfaction and the delay in getting back the pants, he claims the signs amount to fraud.

Pearson has appointed himself to represent all customers affected by such signs, though D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz, who will hear the June 11 trial, has said that this is a case about one plaintiff, and one pair of pants.

Sherman Joyce, president of the American Tort Association, has written a letter to the group of men who will decide this week whether to renew Pearson's 10-year appointment. Joyce is asking them to reconsider.

Chief Administrative Judge Tyrone Butler had no comment regarding Pearson's reappointment.

The association, which tries to police the kind of abusive lawsuits that hurt small businesses, also has offered to buy Pearson the suit of his choice.

And former National Labors Relations Board chief administrative law judge Melvin Welles wrote to The Washington Post to urge "any bar to which Mr. Pearson belongs to immediately disbar him and the District to remove him from his position as an administrative law judge."

"There has been a significant groundswell of support for the Chungs," said Manning, adding that plans for a defense fund Web site are in the works.

To the Chungs and their attorney, one of the most frustrating aspects of the case is their claim that Pearson's gray pants were found a week after Pearson dropped them off in 2005. They've been hanging in Manning's office for more than a year.

Pearson claims in court documents that his pants had blue and red pinstripes.

"They match his inseam measurements. The ticket on the pants match his receipt," Manning said.

[Gaidal Cain]

Jeez people, check with the damn doctor about what you give you infant to eat. And what the hell happened to breast feeding?

That's milk you know, and giving milk to the child would somehow hurt the cows of this world. (interpret that as you wish)

[Omega_Destroyer]

I just heard about that pant case. That judge is just a jerk. I'll be really surprised if the case isn't dismissed. And due to his aboslutely stupid insistence on sticking it to the Cungs, he'll be considered a laughing stock for the rest of his (presumably short) career.

[Veldrynus]

That's the american way to get money.