flickering pictures

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal are hoping that mutant roundworms will help the West win its epic struggle with obesity. Led by researchers Patrick Narbonne and Richard Roy, the team discovered a genetic mutation that makes some C. elegans worms burn off fat extremely quickly, and are hoping to apply their new knowledge […]

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The BBC reports:

On Thursday, [Zimbabwe president Robert] Mugabe said a deadly cholera outbreak had been stopped, as aid workers warned it was worsening.
He said Western powers were plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade and overthrow him.
The World Health Organization says the outbreak has not been contained and the death toll has […]

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If this isn’t the strangest thing you’ll read today, it’s up there.
A woman in China has apparently lost all hearing in her left ear after a session of “passionate” kissing with her boyfriend.
The BBC reports:

The doctor who treated the girl in hospital was quoted in the paper explaining what had happened.
“The kiss reduced the pressure […]

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According to a new study, nearly a third of Canadians diagnosed with asthma may not actually have it. The CBC reports:

In Monday’s online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Shawn Aaron of the Ottawa Health Research Institute and his colleagues looked at 496 adults from eight Canadian cities — Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, […]

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The Los Angeles Times reports that peeling a strip of Scotch tape off the roll in a vacuum chamber releases enough energy to x-ray your finger. The process is called triboluminescence and apparently creates visible light, too — something you can try at home — though you likely haven’t noticed unless you’ve been taping […]

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Reason #874 why I love the Times of India.
The article is actually pretty interesting too — apparently the Indian state of West Bengal is losing out on millions of dollars from the international Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use because its chief minister refuses to set an example by kicking the habit. West Bengal […]

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A new study apparently shows that the birth control pill messes with a woman’s pheromone recognition process, making her more likely to be attracted to men who are genetically similar to her. That’s a bad thing — broad genetic diversity minimizes nature’s “mistakes,” and children resulting from parents with similar genes are more likely […]

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From an exchange between the eminently reasonable British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) and the lunatic hothead American Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), in the movie Dr. Strangelove (1964):

Ripper: Mandrake?
Mandrake: Yes, Jack?
Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?
Mandrake: Well, I can’t say I have.
Ripper: Vodka, that’s what […]

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From the Telegraph:

Viruses are glorified scraps of genetic code that are exquisitely designed to pirate a host to reproduce: the common cold virus needs cells in the nose and respiratory tract to reproduce, before being spread with a sneeze.
But the discovery of a giant virus that itself falls ill through infection by another virus seems […]

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If that’s not the strangest thing you’ve read today, I’d like to know what is.
From the Telegraph:

Mak Erot developed a family business empire offering penis extensions and cures for other sexual maladies using the power of Muslim prayer and a cocktail of 141 herbs. One of her 40 grandchildren, Haji Saifuloh, 37, explained that the […]

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