‘Chimpanzees scampering on a treadmill have provided support for the notion that ancient human ancestors began walking on two legs because it used less energy than quadrupedal knuckle-walking, scientists said.
Writing on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said people walking on a treadmill used just a quarter of the energy relative to their size compared to chimpanzees knuckle-walking on four legs.
The scientists equipped five chimpanzees and four people with face masks to track oxygen usage and looked at other measures to assess energy expenditure and biomechanics on a treadmill.’
‘Pagans have pledged to perform “rain magic” to wash away a cartoon character painted next to their famous fertility symbol – the Cerne Abbas giant.
A doughnut-brandishing Homer Simpson was painted next to the giant on the hill above Cerne Abbas, Dorset, to promote the new Simpsons film.
Many believe the ancient chalk outline of the naked, sexually aroused giant to be a symbol of ancient spirituality.
Many couples also believe the 180ft carving aids fertility.’
‘Gov. Bill Ritter heard the shots echo in the hallway — pop, pop, pop.
Just outside his Capitol office, a man who declared “I am the emperor” had been shot and killed by a state trooper when he refused to drop his gun, authorities said. [..]
Authorities said the unidentified man — described as wearing dark pants and a white shirt — had at least two verbal confrontations with state troopers in Ritter’s security. The man had walked into the reception area of Ritter’s office and was being escorted out before he produced a gun and refused orders to put it down, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. [..]
Before he was shot, the gunman said, “I am the emperor and I’m here to take over state government,” said Evan Dreyer, the governor’s spokesman.
Police said they did not know his name or motive.’
‘A German man who startled his neighbors when he hurled his computer out of the window in the middle of the night, was let off for disturbing the peace by police who sympathized with his technical frustrations.
Police in the northern city of Hanover said they would not press charges after responding to calls made by residents in an apartment block who were woken by a loud crash in the early hours of Saturday. [..]
Asked what had driven him to the night-time outburst, the 51-year-old man said he had simply got annoyed with his computer.
“Who hasn’t felt like doing that?” said a police spokesman.’
‘A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. [..]
Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care.
“They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games,” Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.’
‘A German bus driver threatened to throw a 20-year-old sales clerk off his bus in the southern town of Lindau because he said she was too sexy.
“Suddenly he stopped the bus,” the woman named Debora C told Bild newspaper.
“He opened the door and shouted at me ‘Your cleavage is distracting me every time I look into my mirror and I can’t concentrate on the traffic. If you don’t sit somewhere else, I’m going to have to throw you off the bus.””
‘An investigation is under way involving a nude woman in the middle of a busy road claiming she was taking her 7-week-old baby to meet Satan.
News Five’s Emily Longnecker reported that Lebanon police are calling this one of the most bizarre cases they’ve ever seen.
A South Lebanon man discovered the woman walking along Miller Road Saturday morning, with her baby in her arms.
“She said flat out she was going up to meet Satan and take the baby to Satan. He told her to walk up there naked and bring him the baby. So I didn’t know what to think after that,” said Steven McCabe. [..]
When police got to Mitchell, they said there was no sign of her baby. When they asked Mitchell what she’d done with him, she told them she had given the baby to Satan because he told her he wanted it, Sgt. Jeffrey Mitchell said.’
‘A strong earthquake struck central Japan, killing at least eight people, injuring hundreds and causing a fire and radioactive leak at the world’s biggest nuclear power plant.
The 6.8-magnitude quake levelled buildings, derailed trains and buckled roads after it struck about 10 miles off the coast of Niigata yesterday. The local media reported that four elderly women and a man were crushed to death by falling buildings and at least 800 people were hurt, some seriously. [..]
The quake, which hit just after 10am local time, also started a fire at the No 3 reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa light-water nuclear plant, the largest nuclear complex in the world. A spokesman for the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said there was a “small leak” of radioactive water from reactors 3 and 6 into the sea but denied the reactor was ever in any danger. “The radiation was well within safe limits,” he said.’
‘Former AFL star Warwick Capper has turned his focus to politics and announced he will run for mayor of the Gold Coast.
Capper, who has recently worked as a Gold Coast “meter man” topping up parking meters on the Queensland tourist strip, said he would run as a mayoral candidate in the March 2008 Gold Coast City election. [..]
Among the 44-year-old’s election policies are the legalisation of prostitution and the introduction of a curfew on the coast’s licensed venues.
“I want to legalise prostitution, I think that would be a good thing,” Capper said.
“I also want to clean the Gold Coast up. [..]
Capper has his own domain name for his website – described as his “online crib” – although his name is spelt incorrectly.
The address is warrickcapper.com.’
This is both hilarious and embarrassing. The best of both worlds. :)
(3.6meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘A 24-year-old Texas mother is in jail after she treated her 2-year-old son’s head injury with a Popsicle instead of calling 9-1-1.
Ebony Thorne’s son Joshua later died of the injury.
Arlington police said the boy fell eight feet down a U-shaped stairwell in Thorne’s apartment Wednesday morning. Investigators said instead of calling for an ambulance, Thorne placed a Popsicle on her son’s head and put him to bed.
When the boy’s father arrived later, he found Joshua unresponsive. Police said he called Thorne’s mother, who drove to the apartment from Fort Worth and called 911.’
‘Police are looking for whoever stole and mutilated an autistic California child’s 42-pound pet tortoise.
Bob, an African spurred tortoise, was in guarded condition Saturday after thieves stole him July 7 and tried to cut his neck and slice his legs from his shell, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. [..]
William, whose autism makes him wary of talking to people, freely chatted with 25-year-old Bob, whose species is known to grunt, whistle and croak in response.
“Now he’s scared to death that not only has he lost his friend, but that whoever did this are going to come after him too,” Vaughan said.’
‘America’s first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks.
Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler’s later seizure of emergency powers.
“It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that,” Mr Ellison said. “After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.”‘
This is a very strange prank. These guys look so confused. :)
(4.8meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘You may remember these two gentlemen, as we recently covered them in the run-up to the Transformers movie debut. Optimus Prime changed his name to honor his childhood hero, while Jason Burrows took the less drastic step of altering his middle name to Megatron. Now it seems that Optimus has had enough tomfoolery and wants to settle things once and for all:
Jason “Megatron” Burrows:
The mighty OPTIMUS PRIME is “OFFICIALLY” calling you out. If you are going to TAKE credit for bearing the name of my one true nemesis, then man up and take MEGATRON as your first and ONLY name. Otherwise, stop being a poser and come up with your OWN idea!
If you accept, we shall publically do battle to be recorded for the entire TRANSFANDOM!!!
“One shall stand, one shall fall!”‘
‘Many of you have seen or heard about Wendy the whippet – a dog with a rare genetic mutation that has led to her being called the Arnold Schwarzenegger of dogs.
The genetic mutation is a deficiency in myostatin, which is a growth factor that limits muscle tissue growth.
But that rare genetic defect does not occur only in the whippet breed. In fact, it can and has occurred in other animals… even in humans themselves!
Behold! The ultimate collection of myostatin deficient monstrosities!’
‘Police officers in the UK are to be given head-mouted video cameras to film incidents and arrests, the footage of which can then be used in evidence.
The Home Office is to give police £3 million to fund a national roll-out of head cameras after regional trials proved they were successful in fighting crime, the Government has announced. [..]
A spokesman for the force said: “The clear evidence provided by head camera footage means that offenders have less opportunity to deny their involvement, leading to less paperwork for the police, earlier guilty pleas, less time spent in court and an increase in convictions.” [..]
According to the guidelines officers are to wear a sign and to announce: “I am video recording you.”‘
Hooray for engineering. [shrug]
‘Google’s Security team has discovered vulnerabilities in the Sun Java Runtime Environment that threatens the security of all platforms, browsers and even mobile devices.
“This is as bad as it gets,” said Chris Gatford, a security expert from penetration testing firm Pure Hacking.
Advertisement
“It’s a pretty significant weakness, which will have a considerable impact if the exploit codes come to fruition quickly. It could affect a lot of organizations and users,” Gatford told ZDNet Australia. [..]
According to Gatford, the bugs threaten pretty much every modern device.’
Sounds like a lucky fellow.
(5.1meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a settlement agreement Saturday with more than 500 people who allege they were sexually abused by clergy, the main plaintiff’s attorney told The Associated Press.
Attorneys for the archdiocese, the nation’s largest, and the plaintiffs will release a joint statement Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, said plaintiff’s attorney Ray Boucher.
The deal is valued at $660 million, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.’
‘Prince Harry revealed this week that he’s been bullied because he has red hair. That takes some nerve — bullying someone whose grandma holds the keys to the Tower of London.
In Britain, redheads don’t have it easy, but since you can no longer say nasty things about race, religion, ethnic origin, disability or gender orientation, the only ones left to abuse seem to be redheads. It’s being called “gingerism.” In Britain, red hair is called ginger, and redheads, gingers. [..]
In the meantime, it looks like another home for the Chapman family in Newcastle. The Chapmans have already moved three times in as many years because of the abuse suffered by the six red-haired family members. Kevin Chapman says his 11-year-old son attempted suicide over it — not uncommon. According to the International Gingerkids Foundation, 10 percent of red-headed kids commit suicide by the age of 16.’
‘Francisco Rodriguez owes more than $10,000 in back child support payments in a paternity case involving a 15-year-old girl who, according to DNA results and the girl’s mother, is not his daughter. [..]
He now has DNA results that show the 15-year-old girl wasn’t fathered by him. He even has an affidavit from the girl’s mother — a former girlfriend from 1990 — saying he’s “not the father” and asking that Rodriguez no longer be required to pay child support.
Yet the state of Florida is continuing to push him to pay $305 a month to support the girl, as well as the more than $10,000 already owed. He spent a night in jail because of his delinquent payments. [..]
Rodriguez and his family continue to wait for answers.
“It’s hard when your daughter needs sneakers and you have to pay $305 or your husband goes to jail,” said Rodriguez’s wife, Michele. “It’s just unfair.”‘
Here’s a short video of the man driving a stolen APC through Sydney, and some of they mayhem he caused.
Followup to Man goes on rampage with tank in suburbs.
(3.2meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘A convicted killer who had already staged one helicopter-assisted prison break, again escaped from a French prison today using a helicopter.
Pascal Payet, 43, broke out of Grasse prison, southeast France, after a helicopter hijacked by four masked men landed on the roof of one of the prison buildings, said a source close to the investigation.
The helicopter landed some time later at Brignoles, 38 km northeast of Toulon, on the Mediterranean coast. Payet and his accomplices released the pilot unharmed and fled the scene.’
‘A former monk has appeared in court to contest his conviction for torturing children more than 40 years ago. [..]
In 2003, Murphy, known as Brother Benedict, was found guilty of giving children painful jolts with an electrical gadget. [..]
As well as Brother Benedict’s electric shocks, the pupils were whipped with knotted laces and made to eat their own vomit.
One boy’s arm was broken when the monk lost his temper over a cheeky comment.
A woodwork teacher at the same school is appealing against a jury’s verdict that he sexually abused boys there.’
