In what researchers describe as the largest, most comprehensive analysis to date of cocaine contamination in banknotes, scientists are reporting that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, particularly in large cities such as Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit. The scientists found traces of cocaine in 95 percent of the banknotes analysed from Washington, DC, alone
It is possible to successfully fend off a zombie attack, according to Canadian mathematicians. The key is to hit hard and hit often
. Oh yes, somebody actually did a study on mathematics of a hypothetical zombie attack, and published it in a book on infectious disease. So, while we still don’t know what to do if a deadly asteroid takes aim at Earth, an unlikely but technically possible situation, we now know what to do in case of a zombie attack
In response to rumours circulating the internet about a flesh eating
robot project, Cyclone Power Technologies Inc and Robotic Technology Inc would like to set the record straight: This robot is strictly vegetarian. RTI’s patent pending robotic system will be able to find, ingest and extract energy from biomass in the environment. Despite the far-reaching reports that this includes human bodies
, the public can be assured that the engine Cyclone has developed to power the EATR runs on fuel no scarier than twigs, grass clippings and wood chips — small, plant-based items for which RTI’s robotic technology is designed to forage. Desecration of the dead is a war crime under Article 15 of the Geneva Conventions, and is certainly not something sanctioned by DARPA, Cyclone or RTI
Cash machines offer an ever-growing menu of services beyond merely dispensing money. For tampering criminals, this now includes a squirt of pepper spray in the face. The extreme measure is the latest in South Africa’s escalating war against armed robbers who target banks and cash delivery vans. The number of cash machines blown up with explosives has risen from 54 in 2006 to 387 in 2007 and nearly 500 last year. The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene. But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics
HM Revenue and Customs has won a legal battle with Proctor and Gamble over the liability for value-added tax (VAT) purposes of its Pringles
potato chips. The Court of Appeal has ruled that Pringles are, in fact, a potato-based snack despite the fact that they are only 42% potato, and are therefore liable for VAT at the standard rate, currently 15%. Procter and Gamble had attempted to prove in a long-standing battle that their crisps should be allowed VAT-exemption — due to the fact that they are really more dough than potato. The argument was based around the fact that Pringles had been placed within the category of potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch,
by a VAT and Duties Tribunal in 2007
A commonly-used cancer drug can make patients’ fingerprints disappear, potentially causing problems for foreign travel, a doctor warns. One patient was held by US immigration officials for four hours before they allowed him to enter the country
A pet dog which was washed overboard and believed drowned has been found four months later — as a castaway on a remote Australian island. Sophie Tucker — named after the famous US entertainer — vanished as Jan and Dave Griffith sailed through stormy waters off Queensland last November. But unknown to her grieving owners, the plucky dog survived a long swim across shark-infested waters to an island. There she lived on a diet of baby goats until being found by visiting rangers. The Griffiths were amazed to hear of the discovery and have now been reunited with their pet
Italian police have found more than 100 immigrants, including 24 Afghan children, living in the sewer system beneath railway stations in Rome. The children range in age from 10 to 15 years and are now being looked after by the city’s social services. They were found when the railway police followed up reports of children living near the city’s stations. The police say they do not speak Italian and broke into the sewers by removing manhole covers. The charity Save the Children Italy says that more than 1,000 unaccompanied children arrived in Rome last year from various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America
A shopper at a Wal-Mart in Falmouth made a mysterious find on the shelves Saturday night: a wallet with a collection of human teeth in it, police said. The man was shopping at the Teaticket Highway store just after 9.30 pm when he found the 10 teeth in a zippered compartment of a wallet, said Kimberly Pacheco, a clerk at the Falmouth Police Department. The teeth were determined to be from an adult; one of them had a filling, police said. The customer brought the wallet to the attention of a sales clerk but left the store without giving his name. Police said they cannot perform DNA tests on the teeth because there was no blood or gum tissue attached
A German entrepreneur, Hermann Ramke, has invented a James Bond-like jetpack powered by high-pressure water, called the JetLev-Flyer. Designer Ramke’s invention can power the rider to a height of 50 feet (15m), has a top speed of 30mph, and can travel almost 200 miles before it needs to be refuelled. A floating pump powered by a 150 horsepower four-stroke engine sends water through a 140ft-long (43m) hose to a pair of nozzles mounted on the jet pack. The jet leaving the nozzles is sufficiently powerful to push the rider off the ground. The nozzles can then be angled to propel the pilot forward in stable, controlled flight
. The web site advertising the jetpack, which retails at around £160,000, claims the device offers freedom, exhilaration, [and] adventure
A self-described vampire
and former fringe political candidate is facing charges for threatening a teenage girl who tried to break off their online relationship by telling him she was a vampire hunter
There are some images so surreal that you just can’t quite wrap your head around them. This one comes via Neatorama:
Yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. That’s Nancy Reagan sitting on Mr. T’s lap (Santa T?), giving him a smooch, at a White House Christmas party in 1983. The First Lady actually requested Mr. T come to the party dressed as Santa Claus. This photo was printed in countless newspapers and magazines around the world.
Some people just can’t wait to open their Christmas presents. That apparently was the case with a short and very fast thief who went to a store in Murray, grabbed a present and made a clean getaway on all fours.
At Smith’s Food & Drug in Murray, a popular place these days is the manager’s office, where they have the surveillance video.
You had to see to believe it, but it happened. So, it’s crazy,said Tracy Jacobson, with Smith’s Food & Drug.A suspicious character entered through the front door.
I’ve never seen him shop in here before; brand new customer, didn’t even have his Fresh Value card,store manager Roger Adamson said.What happened next is already becoming legend.
I mean, how likely is that? For a dog to walk into a store, go down the pet aisle, get his bone and walk out?Jacobson said.
— via ksl.com
A coroner has matched a dismembered female right foot discovered on the British Columbia coastline in November with a left foot discovered in May. Both feet were encased in New Balance running shoes and were among five feet that have mysteriously floated ashore in Canada’s West Coast area since 2007. A sixth foot was found on the shores of Washington State’s Orcas Island in Puget Sound in August
UCLA physicists demonstrated that if you pull off a piece of Scotch tape inside a vacuum chamber, the tape releases enough X-rays to image bones through skin. Grad student Juan Escobar and his colleagues managed to make an X-ray of a thumb using the technique. Apparently, Russian scientists reported fifty years ago that the act of peeling sticking tape can emit X-rays, but the new research confirms the early results
Now here’s a creative military operation: the British set up a fake Laundromat in Belfast, where they wanted to find IRA bomb-makers. They staffed the Laundromat with locals and sent out coupons to different neighbourhoods, with each neighbourhoods coupon a different colour. When people brought their clothes and coupons in, they got their clothes washed, but while their clothes were being washed, they were secretly being analysed for bomb-making chemical residue — via Gizmodo
A camera sold on eBay contained photos and confidential records of MI6 terror suspects. Photographs, fingerprints and confidential documents relating to suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists were allegedly found in the memory of the second-hand Nikon Coolpix camera, which was bought on the auction site for only £17. The confidential files were discovered after the buyer downloaded his holiday photos. He immediately reported the files to the police, who initially treated it as a joke
To infinity and beyond. But first, Kent. Daredevil Swiss pilot Yves Rossy soared into the record books yesterday by making the first solo flight across the English Channel — using a single, homemade rocket-powered wing strapped to his back
A man who chose Lloyds is pants
as his telephone banking password said he found it had been changed by a member of staff to no it’s not
. Steve Jetley, from Shrewsbury, said he chose the password after falling out with Lloyds TSB over insurance that came free with an account. He said he was then banned from changing it back or to another password of Barclays is better
. The bank apologised and said the staff member no longer worked there
Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.
She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.
Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.
Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.
There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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