Simply Dumb

December 10th, 2007

Spam Showcase: Herschel the Astronomer

It’s not often that a piece of spam turns out to be legitimately educational.  Did you know that Sir William Herschel, a British scientist, was the first to identify Uranus as a planet in 1781?  Of couse, as with all spam, there’s a catch.  At the beginning and end of the message, it discretely links […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments

November 23rd, 2007

Chocolate Powered Mission from UK to Timbuktu

Two brave gentlemen from the British Isles begin their mission today to drive 4500 miles from Great Britain to Timbuktu, Mali in a vehicle powered entirely by biofuel composed of discarded chocolate.  Just in case you were wondering, this wasn’t something stolen from the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 
No, these guys are on […]

By Ariel -- 1 comment

November 21st, 2007

This Thanksgiving Don’t Eat Hair

To say that this story is gross just doesn’t do it justice. 
The New England Journal of Medicine has reported that an 18-year-old woman recently had a 10 pound hairball removed from her stomach relieving months of pain, vomiting, and weight loss.  The mass was approximately 15 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches practically […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments

November 9th, 2007

Skynet Lauch Delayed, Doomsday Postponed

The launch of Skynet, the UK’s latest military satellite, has been delayed due to problems in the launch rocket’s fuel boosters. 
All I have to say is, phew!  Armageddon has been delayed by one more day. 
Of course, if you don’t get the joke, you weren’t watching movies in the 80s and 90s.  Skynet so happens to […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments

November 8th, 2007

Date Rape Drug in Toys

This is the oddest and perhaps most troubling chapter in the ongoing toy recall scandals.  Now I’m no chemist, but how do you accidentally coat children’s beads with chemicals which transform into GHB upon ingestion by accident?
The affected product is the popular children’s art project toy Bindeez or Aqua Dots which consist of brightly colored […]

By Ariel -- 4 comments

November 7th, 2007

Four-Armed Four-Legged Girl’s Surgery Successful

A girl born in India as what might be described as an underdeveloped conjoined twin has survived surgery to remove her extra pelvis and extraneous sets of legs and arms.
The surgery itself took 30 doctors and 15 hours to complete.  The girl is now in stable condition and there is great optimism that she will […]

By Ariel -- 1 comment

November 6th, 2007

Not a Chupacabra

Earlier this year in Texas a woman found the carcass of a hairless dog-like animal that she thought might be living…erm…excuse me… dead proof of the evil creature of Mexican urban legend, the chupacabra. 
Unfortunately, according to biologists at Texas State University, the remains are merely those of a coyote.  Better luck next time folks. Remember, […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments

November 3rd, 2007

Clone the Redwoods

This seems like a really cool idea.  I think it’s really unfortunate that we can’t just step in and save the California giant redwoods from being torn down, but this is a start. 
This is a nice mix of science and conservationism by anyone’s account.  Clone the REDWOODS!

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By Ariel -- 1 comment

October 14th, 2007

Sex with Robots

This is one of the more odd Ph.D. theses I’ve ever heard of.  It’s Isaac Asimov meets science fiction adult film.
According to David Levy, who is about to receive his doctorate from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, in the future, people will have intimate relations with robots. I am really not entirely sure why […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments

October 10th, 2007

Dentures, Don’t Swallow ‘Em

This story seems to be following up on a case that happened a few years back in which one poor soul accidentally swallowed his dentures during surgery.  Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t notice and, due to neurological problems, neither did the man. 
When things got painful, he went back to the doctors and they "rectified" their mistake.  […]

By Ariel -- 0 comments