Woman Fails To Shut Down LHC
“A German woman has failed in a bid to force her country’s government to halt experiments at the world’s largest atom smasher which she feared would lead to the Earth’s destruction.
The country’s highest court said that the woman — whom it didn’t identify — had failed to demonstrate any connection between experiments at the CERN collider outside Geneva and the apocalypse.
The Federal Constitutional Court in the western Germany city of Karlsruhe threw out the woman’s appeal because she was “unable to give a coherent account of how her fears would come about.”
“The overwhelming scientific opinion is that the experiments carried out at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) present no dangers,” the court ruled.
CERN scientists are looking to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to mimic the conditions that followed the Big Bang and help explain the origins of the universe.
Housed inside a 27-kilometre (16.8-mile) tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border, the collider was started with great fanfare in September 2008, only to break down after nine days for the next 14 months.
It was shut down again in December, this time to ready it for collisions at unfathomed energy levels which began last month.”
Read more at The Telegraph
Romanian street sign warns drivers of ‘drunk pedestrians’
Street signs warning Romanian drivers to be careful of drunken pedestrians lying on roads were erected by road safety chiefs worried about the “despairing” levels of accidents.
Officials in Pecica, a village town about 13 miles from the Hungarian border in the country’s west, ordered the bright red signs, complete with the phrase “Attention – Drunks”. The 10 road signs, which also show a person crawling on their knees while clutching a glass in one hand, were erected in popular nightspot areas close to the city’s bars and restaurants.
Japanese Town Baffled By ‘Kangaroo’ Sightings
“It may seem odd, but the locals swear it’s true. People in a Japanese mountain region have reported a number of kangaroo sightings, and journalists are now trying to stalk the marsupials.
The descriptions given by the apparent eyewitnesses seem close enough. For years they have spoken of a beige animal with large ears, one to 1.5 metres (three to five feet) tall, that stands by the roadside and then hops away.
The sightings were all reported in the Mayama mountain district of Osaki city in Miyagi prefecture, a community of 441 households, located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of Tokyo.
The city has received about 30 reports of ‘kangaroo-like animals,’ including three cases since December, when the mountain area was often covered in snow, said local official Tetsuya Sasaki.”
Read more at Yahoo
The Mystery Of The Missing Gorilla from Bristol Museum
“When the stuffed body of Alfred, a 7ft gorilla, disappeared from Bristol Museum in March 1956 it sparked one of the more unusual police investigations.
Alfred had been one of the prize attractions at Bristol Zoo during his 18 years in captivity. Such was his appeal that after his death in 1946 he was stuffed and mounted in a glass case at the museum.
Police appealed for information, scoured the local university campus and interviewed leaders of the student union in an attempt to find him, but to no avail. They suspected he may have been stolen by rival students.
For nearly three days there was no sign of Alfred, until Donald Boulton, the university caretaker, found him in a doctor’s waiting room.
But the mystery of who took Alfred and where he went has remained a mystery for more than 50 years.
Now, after the death of one of the culprits, Ron Morgan, 79, a former estate agent in Bristol, the secret behind the `escape’ from the museum has been revealed.”
Read more at The Telegraph (thanks, Tammy)
Nepalese Celebrate ‘Cursing Festival’
“KATHMANDU (AFP) – Each year, Nepalese youth in two villages in the south of the Himalayan country save up their choicest insults for a 10-day “cursing festival” that reaches its climax Sunday.
The youngsters in the neighbouring villages of Parsawa and Laxmipur hurl insults at each other, their neighbours, villagers and passers-by — and then laugh.
They gather in parks and other areas around straw heaped in the shape of a phallus to launch into the insults.
Insults like, “Monkey face, I hope your sons are as ugly as frogs,” and “I hope your buffaloes die of diarrhea,” ring out along with more obscene curses.
Village elders say the annual festival, which is just for youngsters, has been going on for as long as they can remember.”
Read more at Yahoo News
Real-Life Flat Earthers Still Continue To Believe
“Daniel Shenton should be the most irrational man in the world. As the new president of the Flat Earth Society, you’d imagine he would also think that evolution is a scam and global warming a myth. He should argue that smoking does not cause cancer and HIV does not lead to Aids.
Yes, that Flat Earth Society, a group that has become a living metaphor for backward thinking and a refusal to face scientific facts. Yes, it is still going, and no, this isn’t an early April fool.
In fact, Shenton turns out to have resolutely mainstream views on most issues. The 33-year-old American, originally from Virginia but now living and working in London, is happy with the work of Charles Darwin. He thinks the evidence for man-made global warming is strong, and he dismisses suggestions that his own government was involved with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”
Read more at The Guardian
‘Smart Salad Dressing’ Could Save Venice
“Venice could be saved from sinking into the sea by releasing fat globules similar to olive oil into the water that are ‘programmed’ to form limestone reefs, say architects.
The novel solution for the threatened Italian city, built on silty islands on the Adriatic coast, uses experimental technology that they have dubbed “smart salad dressing”.
It would work by releasing oil droplets into the water that are chemically programmed to react with carbon dioxide in the water, precipitating an artificial limestone carbonate.
Two British architects at University College, London, are among those behind the Future Venice project.
Rachel Armstrong, from UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture, explained the “protocell” technology.
She said: “This technology is based on the chemistry of oil and water and has the special property of transforming carbon dioxide into a limestone-like substance.”
The globules would form “solid pearls” of artificial limestone that could protect buildings from future damage, she argued. ”
Read more at The Telegraph (thanks, Eiza)
UV-glowing skulls stamped onto thousands of pounds’ worth of UK bank-notes
Shardcore sez, “For the last two years I’ve been stamping UV skulls on the Queen’s face on all the money that I get out of the ATM. There’s now thousands of pounds worth floating around the UK economy, visible only to bees and humans with a blacklight. Given the events in the world’s economy over the last couple of years, it seems all the more (im)pertinent.”
UK shopkeepers often keep a UV light by the till to check notes to ensure they’re not counterfeit.
Via Boing Boing
James Randi at TED
James Randi discussing cold reading and homeopathy.
UPDATE: The video was removed so we have this one instead:
Sarah The Talking Ram
First debauched video of the tour. This was late in Torquay, and features Sarah, a ram (?) bought from the Marble Museum gift shop, showing off her talking skills. This followed a gigglesome evening in front of YouTube, watching the talking cats and dogs compilation you’ll be no doubt familiar with (if not, watch first, otherwise this will be even more pointless). Iain donned Sarah, hid behind the chair and is doing the voice.
This may be a waste of valuable minutes for you in the cold light of day, but at the time we nigh on wat ourselves.
but,..."
