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February 2013

Parachuting Poison Rodents to Guam

Poisoned Mice Parachute to Guam: Brown Tree Snakes Beware!
Poisoned Mice Parachute to Guam: Brown Tree Snakes Beware!

In Guam, the invasive Brown Tree Snake  has eaten almost all the birds!  According to ThinkProgress

there are only a few hundred birds left on the island.  The decimation of the bird population has lead to an explosion in the spider population and the snakes have also been “biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.”

So the USA to the rescue will be air-dropping poisoned mice with “little parachutes”

The problem illustrates the substantial economic and health risks posed by invasive species in an increasingly global economy.

… Read the rest

Origami-Inspired Nanochemistry

Origami or Nanotech?
Origami or Nanotech?

Go to NewsWise to watch a sample of this cool instructional video on nanotech.

Cambridge, MA: The nanotechnology research space is rapidly growing, with vast implications for the healthcare, consumer electronics, surveillance, and defense industries.  However, a major limitation to this research is the ability to create particles that vary in shape and function on a micrometer or nanometer scale.… Read the rest

It’s Gunpowder, Not Guns, Lawmakers Should Worry About

With controversy swirling over gun-sale background checks, limiting the size of weapon magazines and retaining Second Amendment rights, the problem of making homemade guns with 3-D printers has become a matter of public concern.

Laws mean little if a determined criminal or a hobbyist teen wants to make plastic guns or extra-high capacity magazines, says Hod Lipson, Cornell University professor of engineering and a pioneer in 3-D printing.… Read the rest

The Last Pope?

Duude, you can’t ignore it is mightily strange for the Catholic church to let a pope retire after 600 years of sticking to tradition and working them to death! Some say it is just too weird that the “olive pope” has backed away from the throne – and by-the-way have you seen this supernatural throne room?… Read the rest

The First Valentine’s Day Card

A valentine created by Esther Howland
A valentine created by Esther Howland

Thirsty readers, did you know the American tradition of sending valentines originated with a young graduate of Mount Holyoke College?

The Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections holds an impressive collection of historic valentines — many of which were created by Esther Howland (1828-1904), a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, and a Mount Holyoke alumna credited with having established the commercial valentine industry in the United States.… Read the rest

Quote by Buddha

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” — Buddha

… Read the rest

Yes, Margaret. There is an Alternative.

 

A Better World
(Source: Flickr / jimkang)

Andrea Brower is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Auckland who says Margaret Thatcher is dead wrong about the locked-in nature of the current neo-capitalist system.  Instead, Bower says

 imagine the innovative possibilities of a world where all people had access to everything they needed to live, to think, and to contribute to the common good. 

… Read the rest