1. When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn’t work at zero gravity (ink won’t flow down to the writing surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C. And what did the Russians do? They used a pencil. www.snailmails.com/news
2. The current corporate globalization model the WTO has implemented is being challenged – increasingly by large numbers of parliamentarians, economists and civil society analysts worldwide – because the policies embodied in the model have proven harmful to workers, farmers and the environment across the globe. This same failed corporate model is increasingly being challenged in protracted battles against bilateral and regional free trade agreements as well. Doha Round Agricultural and Non agricultural market access (NAMA) proposals are vehemently opposed by the global organizations representing subsistence farmers, fishers and forest dwellers. www.healthy.net/scr/news.
3. Two Chinese web logs (blogs) by a leading Tibetan poet, Woeser, have disappeared suddenly, and rights activists believe Beijing may be trying to stop her from distributing her work online. The blogs by Woeser, one of the few Tibetan writers to write in Chinese, were shut down by the web sites that hosted them: Tibetcult.net, a Tibetan cultural portal, and Daqi.com, a local blog platform. There are more than 120 million internet users in China and the government sees cyberspace as a potential hotbed of dissent. Clifford Coonan in Beijing
4. Paleontologists digging in northern Australia claim to have found the fossilized remains of the ultimate fighting marsupial - a flesh eating “killer kangaroo” known as Ekaltadeta, that had wolf-like fangs and walked the earth more than 10 million years ago. The team from the University of New South Wales made the discovery along with 20 other previously unknown species in northern Queensland, including a large predatory bird described by the team as a “demon duck of doom”.
5. Trinity College, Dublin geneticist says that more than three million men living today are descendants of a prolific patriarch, fifth-century Irish king Niall. The Y chromosome remains intact as it is passed down, and 20% of the male population in some parts of Ireland carry Niall’s Y gene. Popular Science June, 06
6. Washington University researchers have recently identified a naturally occurring intestinal bacteria that influences fat storage. In the future we may have bacteria-containing shakes as a slim-down solution. Popular Science June 06
7. This month is the anniversary of 9-11. Let’s not forget the freedom that we have lost as a result of our legislator’s knee-jerk reaction and the fear of those who value security over freedom.