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Greenpeace uncover 'hidden trade in whale meat'

Thu, 15 May 2008 13:53:12 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: So iy was true about the whale burgers.

Greenpeace says it has uncovered a hidden trade in whale meat from Japan's Antarctic hunt.

On their return to Japan from the Antarctic last month, crew from the factory ship Nisshin Maru were documented by Greenpeace activists taking away boxes of salted whale meat for selling in apparent violation of the country's "research" permit.

A crew member of the Nisshin Maru factory ship interviewed by Greenpeace said dozens of factory hands took salted meat for resale that were not included in official whaling statistics.

Greenpeace Japan's whales campaigner Junichi Sato said the scale of the trade was so well organised that the ship's operators, the Government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, had to know that it was occurring.

"They are turning their back on large-scale corruption and theft of taxpayers' money," Mr Sato said. "What we need to know now, through a full public inquiry, is who else is profiting from the whaling programme? Who else has allowed this fraud to continue?"

Tags: murdering, wasteful, corrupt

Gecko in chicken egg may be salmonella breakthrough

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:29:25 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Which came first - the chicken, the egg or the gecko?

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

How this gecko found its way into this egg remains a mystery. (Jack Kerr)

The Northern Territory president of the Australian Medical Association says he may have accidentally discovered how the potentially deadly salmonella bacteria gets inside chicken eggs.

Dr Peter Beaumont was cooking when he discovered a dead gecko between the inner shell and the membrane of a chicken egg he cracked open.

He believes the discovery is a world first and has handed the egg shell over to health authorities who will look for the presence of bacteria in the yolk and try to work out how the gecko got into the egg.

Dr Beaumont says he suspects the gecko entered the chicken before it entered the egg.

"Eggs are made inside chooks up this tube from their bottom.

"Now obviously this tube is in contact with the whole outside world.

"It has to be that the gecko climbed up inside the chook and died up there while the egg was being formed before the shell was put on it."

Tags: nature

Undergraduates develop 'dirt-powered' microbial fuel cells to light Africa

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:10:48 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Great story - worth a visit to the site to read.

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – May 14, 2008 – A team composed of Harvard students and alumni was among the winners of the World Bank’s Lighting Africa 2008 Development Marketplace competition, held in Accra, Ghana from May 6 to 8, 2008. The innovation, microbial fuel cell-based lighting systems suitable for Sub-Saharan Africa, netted the group a $200,000 prize.

According to the World Bank, as only 26 percent of Africa’s population has access to grid-based electricity most residents rely upon dangerous kerosene lamps and candles for illumination. To encourage the development of cheaper and safer lighting technologies, the organizers of Lighting Africa 2008 sought practical solutions from around the world, ultimately funding 16 of the original 400 proposals.

Tags: science, ethics

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope delivers the universe

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:13:00 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Looks great

Clip Source: www.astronomy.com

WorldWide Telescope immerses you in astronomical imagery. WWT [View Larger Image]

May 13,2008

Microsoft took the wraps off its much-anticipated WorldWide Telescope program today. This rich web application merges imagery from the world's best ground- and space-based observatories into a detailed desktop cosmos. The platform also gives scientists and educators a tool for teaching astronomy and the process of scientific discovery.

With WorldWide Telescope, users pan left, right, up, down, back, and forward seamlessly — down to the full resolution of the available data. Users can view the stars and planets at any time and date from any point on Earth, explore the sky in dozens of different wavelengths, zoom into images by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, or see Mars from the Opportunity rover's point of view.

Game meets universe

Tags: astronomy

2 men gas themselves to death in hotel, guests and workers forced to flee

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:49:34 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: I wonder what they had been eating.

Clip Source: mdn.mainichi.jp

FUNABASHI, Chiba -- Two men apparently gassed themselves to death by producing toxic hydrogen sulfide in a hotel room, forcing 16 other guests and employees to flee, police said.

At around 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, an employee at the Sun White hotel in Funabashi called for an ambulance saying that a room where two guests were staying was giving off a smell like rotten eggs. Paramedics found the two men dead in the bathroom of the room.

Following the incident, a female employee of the hotel complained of a headache and received treatment.

Tags: true, story