Category: Life Is Like Science Fiction


AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water

A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

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Scientists create three-parent embryos

British scientists have created human embryos with three parents in a development they hope could lead to effective treatments for a range of serious hereditary diseases within five years.Researchers from Newcastle University, in northern England, presented their findings at a medical conference at the weekend, a university spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The IVF, or test-tube, embryos were created using DNA from one man and two women.

Source: Reuters

UFO Sightings in Stephenville, Texas

Dozens of people in a small Texas town are talking about an unexpected visitor, but the question is, where did it come from? View full article »

Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze

From Scientific American:

Have you ever emerged from a matinee movie, squinted into the sudden burst of sunlight and sneezed uncontrollably? Up to a third of the population will answer this question with an emphatic “Yes!” (whereas nearly everyone else scratches their head in confusion).

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Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones

We compulsively wash our hands, spray our countertops and grimace when someone sneezes near us—in fact, we do everything we can to avoid unnecessary encounters with the germ world. But the truth is we are practically walking petri dishes, rife with bacterial colonies from our skin to the deepest recesses of our guts.

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NYC Decides to Clone Historical Trees

NEW YORK (AP) — Squat, homely, dwarfed by the stately oaks and poplars nearby and unnoticed by the tourists passing in horse-drawn carriages, it’s a tree that only birds and nut-hungry squirrels could love.

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Swedes to Capture, Recycle Commuter Body Heat

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) —  A Swedish company plans to harness the body heat generated by thousands of commuters scrambling to catch their trains at Stockholm’s main railway station and use it for heating a nearby office building.

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Winner of the Worst Warning Labels of 2007 Announced

Words to live by, from a warning label on a small tractor: “Danger: Avoid Death.” That warning was selected Wednesday as the winner of the 11th annual “Wacky Warning Label Contest,” sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch.   The contest is part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels.

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Schwarzenegger: California will sue federal government

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sue the federal government over its decision not to allow a California plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he announced Thursday.Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson announced the decision Wednesday, refusing the state’s request for a waiver that would have allowed it to cut emissions faster than a new federal plan the president signed into law Wednesday. View full article »

Snakey smells help squirrels stay safe

It’s scary being a little, tasty squirrel, but some species of the rodents have come up with an intimidating camouflage — snake smells. View full article »