Don't Clog My Inbox

Herald Tripune: Too close for comfort

OLYMPIA, Washington: Ever since the U.S. Census Bureau released figures last month showing that married-couple households are now a minority, my phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from people asking: "How can we save marriage? How can we make Americans understand that marriage is the most significant emotional connection they will ever make, the one place to find social support and personal fulfillment?"

I think these are the wrong questions - indeed, such questions would have been almost unimaginable through most of history. It has only been in the last century that Americans have put all their emotional eggs in the basket of coupled love. Because of this change, many of us have found joys in marriage our great-great-grandparents never did. But we have also neglected our other relationships, placing too many burdens on a fragile institution and making social life poorer in the process.

Pink Plastic Flamingo Faces Extinction

Pink Plastic Flamingo Faces Extinction As Massachusetts Factory Stops Making Lawn Ornaments

But the original version of the plastic flamingo may be singing its swan song after inspiring countless pranks and being alternately celebrated as a tribute to one of nature's most graceful creatures and derided as the epitome of American pop culture kitsch.

Union Products Inc. stopped producing flamingos and other lawn ornaments at its Leominster factory in June, and is going out of business, a victim of rising expenses for plastic resin and electricity, as well financing problems.  [ MORE ]

BBC: 'Tower of Babel' translator made

A "Tower of Babel" device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists.

Users simply have to silently mouth a word in their own language for it to be translated and read out in another.

The researchers said the effect was like watching a television programme that had been dubbed.  [ MORE ]

BBC: Biometric Technology

Biometric technology uses computerised methods to identify a person by their unique physical or behavioural characteristics.

Developments and uses have increased with demand to match concerns over international, business and personal security.

[ MORE ]

Superyacht: Maltese Falcon

More photos of at Amoryross.com  See Antigua Superyacht portfolio

Waterlog: Pic of the Week

Waterlog Blog ...   More Photos at Gilles Martin-Raget

Non-Paternity Potion

Obsessed Scientist Finally Throttles ’Em!

Dr. Cheun-yan Cheng Turns Sperm to Blanks! Next: Viagra Cocktail?

The 52-year-old Dr. Cheng has good reason to be feeling exuberant these days. After nearly 30 years in the lab, plugging away for 12 hours a day, six days a week, he recently added a big notch to his researcher’s belt. Using an experimental drug called Adjudin, he proved that it was possible to halt sperm production temporarily in male rats, to stop the little swimmers from maturing.

In the process, he brought the world that much closer to an invention that many ladies have dreamed of for decades: a male contraceptive.

“This way, the man can still have sex with the woman and still can ejaculate, it’s just that the ejaculate has no sperm,” said Dr. Cheng, explaining how his discovery, if realized, would work (the results of his study were published in the prestigious Nature Medicine journal). “But you don’t need sperm, because that is not part of the joy in there, so that men should not get upset and the women should not get upset.”  [ MORE ]

Panda Porn

How To Stop Panda Extinction? Try Porn

Showing Uninitiated Males DVDs Of Mating Sparks Panda Baby Boom

AP) After years of painstaking research, scientists say they have unleashed a baby boom among one of the world's most beloved but endangered animals, China's giant panda.

A bit of panda porn has helped too, they say.

“It works,” enthuses Zhang Zhihe, a leading Chinese expert, about showing uninitiated males DVDs of fellow pandas mating.   [ MORE ]

Group scraps attempt to smoke biggest joint

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A plan to roll and smoke the world's largest joint was cancelled at short notice in Amsterdam when the organizers realized they could be breaking the law.

"We have now read the small print and realize there could be problems," Thijs Verheij, one of the organizers, was quoted as saying by ANP news agency after consulting Dutch drugs laws. [ MORE ]

Terror Fart

Flatulence Forces Plane to Land

Plane Forced to Land After Passenger Passes Gas, Lights Match to Cover Scent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)— An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.  [MORE]