moonbuggy

This is a review of nuclear criticality accidents made in 2000 by the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

There’s 158 pages of cool technical stuff.

(3.7meg PDF)

‘Newfoundland police had been searching extensively for an American fugitive, only to discover Thursday that he had already been arrested 10 days ago in Vermont. [..]

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, believing he was in St. John’s, called in a ground search team and the Canadian Coast Guard to help with the search. They released Estep’s photo and a description of his car in the hopes someone would provide a clue to his whereabouts.

It turned out Estep was arrested and jailed on May 1.’

One guy lost an arm and died. The other lost both legs and survived.

No close up gore or anything, so safe for work.

(6.7meg Flash video)

see it here »

‘Riot police have been sent to a remote mountainous village in Papua New Guinea after a gun battle between police and members of a cult involved in human sacrifices, local media reported Wednesday. [..]

Black magic is widespread in Papua New Guinea, a jungle-clad, mountainous South Pacific island nation where some villages only encountered Western civilization in the 1930s. Women suspected of being witches are often hanged or burnt to death. [..]

Morobe’s chief police inspector, Augustine Wampe, said suspicions of cult activity started in April when a child was kidnapped and police were attacked trying to rescue the child. [..]

“Gunfire was exchanged and one of the policemen was injured in the leg with an arrow. Another policeman fell over a cliff.”

Police reinforcements were attacked and forced to retreat. The villagers then went on a rampage killing one man and chopping up his body and burning houses, Wampe said.’

‘Second Life is being investigated by German police following allegations that some members are trading child abuse images in the online world.

The investigation follows a report by a German TV news programme which uncovered the trading group and members who pay for sex with virtual children.

The police are now trying to identify the Second Life members involved. [..]

Under Germany law possession of “virtual” child pornography is punishable by up to three years in jail.’

‘If it seems Canadians weigh less than their American neighbours, they do – but not for the reasons you might think. A large swath of Canada actually boasts lower gravity than its surroundings.

Researchers have puzzled for years over whether this was due to the crust there rebounding slowly after the end of the last ice age or a deeper issue involving convection in the Earth’s mantle – or some combination of the two.

Now, ultra-precise measurements taken over four years by a pair of satellites known as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) reveal that each effect is equally responsible for Canada’s low gravity. The work could shed light on how continents form and evolve over time.’

‘More than 7,000 – including rock star Pete Townshend – were said to have downloaded child-porn images from a U.S. website.

But an investigation has found that many of those charged as part of the police inquiry codenamed Operation Ore were innocent and their card details had been used illegally.

Simon Bunce, who was accused of using the Texas-based Landslide website, said he was certain his personal information had been used fraudulently. Police found no evidence on his computer but his credit card details were found on the site.

“Thirty-nine people committed suicide after being accused of what I was accused of,” he said. “I reacted in a different way. I investigated it diligently and I established I was the victim of credit card fraud.”‘

‘This is a really funny prank call to a public access Christian TV show where a guy named TDawg reveals he just read the bible for the first time and loved it.’

(9.4meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘Texas State University’s plan to build the nation’s largest “body farm” of cadavers is on hold after the school scrapped its proposed site amid concerns that buzzards could endanger nearby planes.

The university will now scout a new location for what will be only the third body farm in the nation. The school had hoped to begin burying bodies later this year.

By burying cadavers and studying human decomposition, researchers aim to help police better solve questions like time and manner of death at crime scenes.’

‘On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq’s parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.

It’s a hugely significant development. Lawmakers demanding an end to the occupation now have the upper hand in the Iraqi legislature for the first time [..]’

I’m curious as to how much the US will respect the “democracy” they went to war for, now that they’ve been democratically asked to leave.

Or rather, the democracy they claimed they went to war for when it became apparent to the world that their first few reasons were made up nonsense. 🙂

‘Queensland health authorities have told parents to use their common sense and not use pet products to treat head lice on their children.

The warning from Chief health officer Jeannette Young came after a child became sick from a pet flea and tick product used to kill head lice.

Queensland Health would not release more information about the child but said the poisons in pet treatments had serious side-effects on humans.

“Animal products are poisons and are not safe for human use,” Dr Young said.’

‘An 11-year-old student and two parents at Evergreen Elementary School got a scare this morning when a squirrel ran into the building and attacked them, drawing blood in two cases, school officials said.

All three victims were treated for bites and scratches at a local hospital, said district spokesman Will Ector, and all are undergoing rabies treatment as a precaution. They also were administered antibiotics, he said.

The attack occurred as a classroom of first-graders was preparing to go on a field trip, said Ector. Two parent chaperones were standing in the room when a squirrel ran in and then up the leg of one of the parents, he said. [..]

Finally, the squirrel jumped off the mom, did a loop around the classroom, then ran out the door and jumped on an 11-year-old student walking by. She was bitten on the arm as well, Ector said.’

‘Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a US Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified.

Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dismissed, also said he watched his squad leader shoot down five Iraqi civilians trying to surrender.

In dramatic testimony in a pre-trial hearing for one of the seven Marines charged in the November 2005 Haditha killings and alleged cover-up, Dela Cruz described his bitterness after a roadside bomb ripped Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, known as T J, into two bloody pieces.

“I know it was a bad thing what I’ve done, but I done it because I was angry T J was dead and I pissed on one Iraqi’s head,” said an unemotional Dela Cruz in a military courtroom in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, California.’

see it here »

‘Groups of elderly Australians are reportedly setting up backyard laboratories to manufacture an illegal euthanasia drug so they can kill themselves when they have had enough of life.

One group has already succeeded in producing the drug nembutal, which is used by vets to put down animals, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday night.

At least four other backyard factories were planned for major cities across the country, with a total of some 800 elderly people prepared to become involved in producing the drug.

Dozens of older Australians were also engaged in illegally importing nembutal from the Mexican border town of Tijuana, close to the US city of San Diego, according to the report.’

‘Cold fusion, the ability to generate nuclear power at room temperatures, has proven to be a highly elusive feat. In fact, it is considered by many experts to be a mere pipe dream — a potentially unlimited source of clean energy that remains tantalizing, but so far unattainable.

However, a recently published academic paper from the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in San Diego throws cold water on skeptics of cold fusion. Appearing in the respected journal Naturwissenschaften, which counts Albert Einstein among its distinguished authors, the article claims that Spawar scientists Stanislaw Szpak and Pamela Mosier-Boss have achieved a low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) that can be replicated and verified by the scientific community.’

‘A rare cancer in the back of the throat is “strongly associated” with a virus transmitted during oral sex, US researchers believe.

A study of 100 women diagnosed with cancers at the back of the throat, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has linked human papillomavirus (HPV) with throat cancer. It concluded oral HPV infection was associated with oropharyngeal cancer among people with or without the other risk factors of tobacco and alcohol use.

Infection with sexually transmitted HPV is a cause of virtually all cervical cancers.’

‘A college degree is fast becoming a necessity for anyone looking to maintain a comfortable middle-class living. Unfortunately for many college students, just paying for this degree is a struggle. The cost of tuition is rising, and two-thirds of all college graduates leave college with debt averaging close to $20,000 (Herbert). In some cases this figure is much higher, and in countless others students can’t even afford to finish college in the first place. According to Tamara Draut, the director of the Economic Opportunity Program for public policy group Demos, the problem is “rooted in the reality that our government no longer really helps people pay for college” (qtd in Herbert). If college students truly want to reap the benefits of their education, they need another source of assistance in paying for college. [..]

This is why I believe students should have the opportunity to sell their organs to the college they are attending in exchange for cash or financial credit.’

‘A 48-year-old man has died while dancing, trying to outdo a rival with an acrobatic move while “battle dancing,” police said.

Robert Stitt and his rival were competing in a parking lot on Main Street Monday night when he tried a forward flip and landed on his head.

“It was just two guys dancing. Everybody was laughing,” Stitt’s friend John Boxley said.

Boxley said James Brown was on the radio and Stitt wanted to outdo a rival dancer, who had flipped in the air.

Police said the victim went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead a short time at a local hospital.’

Looks like he got served.

This is a Rube Goldberg device that makes use of lots of fire and explosions. I like it. 🙂

(15.5meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘Spreading honey on a diabetic ulcer could prevent the need to amputate an infected foot, researchers say.

A doctor at the University of Wisconsin who helped about half a dozen of her diabetic patients avoid amputation has launched a controlled trial to promote the widespread use of honey therapy.

The therapy involves squeezing a thick layer of honey onto the wound after dead skin and bacteria have been removed.

The honey kills bacteria because it is acidic and avoids the complication of bacterial resistance found with standard antibiotics, Jennifer Eddy, a professor at the University’s School of Medicine and Public Health, told AFP.

“This is a tremendously important issue for world health,” Eddy said.’

‘Prosecutors issued arrest warrants Tuesday for eight former prison employees accused of abusing inmates, including forcing some to clean toilets with their tongues.

The eight were among 13 prison employees who had already been fired from the 605-inmate medium and minimum security wards at the Hendry Correctional Institution in the Everglades.

The previous warden and an assistant warden resigned, and three others were reassigned after an inmate was beaten and choked by guards in March.’

‘A 17-year-old boy was growing marijuana on vacant property owned by Ocala’s deputy police chief, authorities said. Deputy Chief Greg Graham said he was told about the plants by neighbors on Saturday. He had bought the lot two months ago as an investment, the Ocala Star-Banner reported. Deputies with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office confiscated nine potted marijuana plants on the lot.

Graham said he has known the teen, who was not identified because of his age, for several years.

“I have no idea why he picked my property,” Graham said.’

‘When you are walking through the park with your wife and newborn baby you must be very careful and subtle when you check out other women who pass by. Follow this guys lead and youll never get caught.’

(2.4meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘The parents of a baby that died of starvation after being fed a vegan diet have been found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and first degree cruelty to children.

Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, will get an automatic life sentence for the death of their 6-week-old infant, Crown. After being fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice, he weighed only 3 1/2 pounds when he died. [..]

Prosecutors said it was a chilling case of murder by starvation, a painful and prolonged death. Attorneys representing Sanders and Thomas told jurors the first-time parents did the best they could while adhering to their vegan lifestyle. Vegans typically live free of animal products.

“They’re not vegans, they’re baby killers,” Fulton prosecutor Mike Carlson told the jury Tuesday during his closing arguments.’

‘An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind the U.S. Defence Department’s false espionage warning earlier this year, The Associated Press has learned.

The odd-looking — but harmless — “poppy coin” was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors travelling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as “anomalous” and “filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology,” according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP. [..]

The supposed nano-technology actually was a conventional protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy’s red colour from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada’s 117,000 war dead.’

Followup to Canadian spy coins never existed.

‘Climbing into a giraffe’s cage at the local zoo seemed a good idea after a few drinks. But the prank went wrong when the 1.3-ton animal flew into a rage and attacked the three student trespassers at a zoo in Lithuania on Monday night.

Ruta Greiciute, a 22-year-old student at Kaunas Technology University, was hospitalized with a broken collar bone and nose after the 9-year-old male giraffe, named Solut, attacked her. [..]

“This was a very silly thing they did. The scared giraffe could have stomped her to death,” Kaunas Zoo spokeswoman Angele Grebliauskaite said.’

‘An upstate New York couple didn’t think a few bats in the attic were much of a problem when they were buying a house last summer.

Months later, they found out how wrong they were when they discovered more than a ton and a half of bat droppings up there.

Nick LaBoda and Jenna Caputo say a home inspector informed them about the bats. They called an exterminator, who told them to wait a while before removing the bats because the babies were too young to fly.

Then they forgot about the bats until they smelled a foul odor in January. When they checked the attic, they found dead bats and piles of guano.’

I’d call this cruel.

(3.2meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘This is what I found in someone’s stomach. Before surgery, I wasn’t quite sure what was going on until I found this big hairball in his stomach. He also had a small bowel obstruction from another hairball that had broken off and migrated downstream (aptly named Rapunzel syndrome). Post op I found he’d been eating hair, even sneaking it out of his mom’s hairbrush.’