That’s why they call it ‘hazardous’

It may sound obvious to anyone who knows me, but “hazardous, tricky clean-up of nuclear sites”:http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996199 is for me the single compelling reason to avoid nuclear power as a major energy source. I don’t worry nearly so much about Chernobyl-style accidents as I do about subtle, continuous contamination of an ecosystem due to nuclear byproducts.

Training young capitalist pigs?

Help me here. It is an odd thing to have one of your favorite mythical worlds spun in an unpleasant way. I came across a mind-twisting article on Harry Potter, the capitalist pig. Nevermind that J.K. Rowling is richer than God now; the fantastical world she created was a lift to my spirit every time [...]

Contagious yawning

Apparently “chimps are subject to contagious yawning”:http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996182 just like humans. _The team played videos of chimps either yawning or exhibiting other open-mouth behaviours such as grinning to six adult chimps and three infants at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University in Japan._ _…They argue that their figure of 33 per cent of adults showing [...]

MacGyver would be proud

I don’t know how many times I wish I had a tripod along, even for my pocket-sized camera. Now that won’t be a problem, because I can carry a “home-made bottle-cap tripod”:http://www.fiendishthingy.org/tripod/ and pop it on a handy water bottle. To the Ace Hardware, Robin!

cuts both ways

I ordered my copy of “Outfoxed”:http://www.outfoxed.org today, and it’s left me feeling ornery. Here are some political quickies: * “The bin Laden vote”:http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001393 * “Something to make us ill with shame”:http://www.boingboing.net/2004/07/20/evidence_for_hershs_.html * “Refreshing humor”:http://www.boingboing.net/2004/07/18/daily_show_on_possib.html * “The facts behind the film”:http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/ * “A little something to chew on”:http://www.brothercanyouspareajob.com/