Slide 2: D-Day Soldier's Dog Tag Found in Sand
Published: 6/6/07, 4:46 PM EDT HUNTINGDON, Tenn. (AP) - The family of Pvt. William Bernice Clark never had a funeral for him, never got to say goodbye and never really accepted his fate among the fallen during the Normandy DDay landings in World War II. That was until the young soldier's dog tag, recently discovered in the sands of Omaha Beach in France, was returned to his native Tennessee on Wednesday - exactly 63 years after that tragic day. "This feels like an ending," said the soldier's first cousin, 79-year-old Lota Park, who along with another cousin accepted the dog tag at a ceremony in the small town of Huntingdon, about 90 miles west of Nashville. The tag has blackened with age, but his name, identification number, religion (Protestant) and blood type (Type O) are all clearly visible. It remained out of sight for more than five decades until a collector from England found it five years ago while combing the beach for D-Day artifacts, likely near the very spot where the 20-year-old Clark was killed. The collector gave the dog tag to a World War II buff from New Jersey, who turned it over to the National D-Day Memorial.
Slide 3: Study finds cocaine, pot in Rome's air
07:40 PM CDT on Thursday, May 31, 2007 Associated Press ROME - Researchers may have figured out what makes la vita so dolce in Rome. A report from Italy's National Research Council released Thursday found that there are traces of cocaine and cannabis in the air of the Eternal City. The institute made the discovery during a study of toxic substances in the air of Rome, Taranto, in the heel of boot-shaped Italy, as well as in Algiers. The results found that in Rome, there were traces of cocaine and cannabis — as well as nicotine, caffeine and benzopirene, which is commonly released in cigarette smoke and auto emissions. "The highest concentrations of cocaine were found in the center of Rome and especially in the area of the University of La Sapienza," said Dr. Angelo Cecinato, who led the investigation. Researchers can't say for sure why the high concentrations were registered in those locations, but Cecinato stressed that the findings didn't necessarily mean that cocaine and cannabis are more heavily used there. The report said the maximum concentration of cocaine in Rome — 0.1 nanograms per cubic meter — was five times less than the legal limit for toxic substances in the air. Nevertheless, researchers said even the small amount was reason for concern. There were small traces of the drugs found in Taranto and none in Algiers, the researchers said.
Slide 4: Boy Hooks Piranha-Like Fish From Ohio River
Experts Believe Catch Is Amazon Species POSTED: 4:30 pm EDT June 4, 2007 CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Kyle Owens has a fish tale straight from the waters of the Ohio River. The 10-year-old Chilo boy went fishing for catfish this past weekend but caught something he was not expecting. "I thought it was like a 10-pound catfish, reeling it in," said Owens. "I thought, 'It's a big blue gill,' and I was about to stick my thumb into its mouth and then I saw its teeth." In fact, the fish Owens caught had two rows of teeth, top and bottom. "I didn't know what the heck it was," said Owen. His neighbors were at a loss as well. "I didn't know what to think," said Brian Thornberry. "I thought I was in a scene from Jaws." Owens and his father had another idea. "It was my first piranha I ever caught in my life," said Owens. But local exotic fish store employees told Owens that he had probably caught a cousin of the piranha called a Pacu, a native to the Amazon. Officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said someone likely dumped the fish when it got too big. Wherever the fish came from, Owens said he has big plans for his big catch. "We're going to stuff it," he said.
Slide 5: Dutch students develop powdered alcohol
Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors. The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 11.5 euros (70 pence-1 pound). Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-coloured and -flavoured drink with just 3 percent alcohol content. "We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters. Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project. "Because the alcohol is not in liquid form, we can sell it to people below 16," said project member Martyn van Nierop. The legal age for drinking alcohol and smoking is 16 in the Netherlands. In Germany, alcopops -- sweet drinks containing alcohol and in powder form -- caused quite a stir when launched on to the market. Alcohol powder, classified as a flavoring, was sold in the United States three years ago. The students said companies interested in making the product commercially could avoid taxes because the alcohol was in powder form. A number of companies are interested, they said.
Slide 6: India's richest man builds 60-storey home
· £500m Mumbai tower for family of six and 600 staff · High-rise era attacked as dawn of 'new vulgarity' Friday June 1, 2007 In the most conspicuous sign yet of India's unprecedented prosperity, the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is building a new home in the financial hub of Mumbai: a 60-storey palace with helipad, health club and six floors of car parking. The building, named Antilla after a mythical island, will have a total floor area greater than Versailles and be home for Mr Ambani, his mother, wife, three children and 600 full-time staff. Draped in hanging gardens, the building will have a floor for a home theatre, a glass-fronted apartment for guests, and a two-storey health club. As the ceilings are three times as high as a normal building's, the 173m (570ft) tower will only have 27 floors. With property prices rocketing, the building is already worth more than £500m. It is expected to be ready for the Ambanis to move in next year. The family currently live in a 14-storey building, Sea Wind. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group is India's largest private company, with interests in oil, retail and biotechnology. The 50-year-old became the country's first rupee trillionaire this week, taking his net worth to £14bn.
Slide 7: Calif. gay inmates get conjugal visits
Associated Press California has begun allowing overnight visits for gay and lesbian partners of prison inmates to conform to the state's domestic partnership law. California is one of just six states that allow overnight family visits, which take place in trailers or other housing on prison grounds. But attorneys, gay rights advocates and corrections officials said they know of no other state that permits conjugal visits by same-sex partners. "Historically, these types of requests were denied," said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Homosexuality is a touchy subject in prison. We don't want people to come to harm in prisons, but we need to comply with the law." Since the 1970s, immediate family members have been able to visit many prison inmates for up to three days at a time. The privilege is being expanded to registered domestic partners under a law signed by former Gov. Gray Davis that took effect in 2005. It requires state agencies to give the same rights to domestic partners that heterosexual couples receive.
Slide 8: Chile's black widow spider may yield spermicide
By Antonio de la Jara Fri Jun 1, 4:44 PM ET SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered a potentially marketable contraceptive in the venom of Chile's black widow spider, whose bite is fatal to many but can also cause prolonged, painful and involuntary erections in men. The venom of the Latrodectus mactans, a variety of black widow found only in the south of Chile, has spermicidal properties not found in black widows in other regions of the world, Chilean Dr Fernando Romero said. Romero heads a research team that has studied the spider's venom for seven years, prompted by tales of Chilean farmers who acquired superhuman virility after being bitten by the black widow. Initial studies focused on taking extracts from the venom to treat erectile dysfunction, but they soon discovered it had a molecule that also made it an effective contraceptive. "This is a great business opportunity, we are the creators of the spermicide," Romero told Reuters by telephone. He said he believes the molecule's natural properties are superior to those of synthetic spermicides currently on the market. "For us in Chile, this has opened a window of opportunity to an incredible market, since currently there are no naturally based spermicides that have the properties of this discovered molecule," Romero said. Romero, based at the Universidad de la Frontera in the southern city of Temuco, has already applied for a patent for his erectile dysfunction medicine. His team discovered the property after looking into Chilean folklore that describes a virile man, one known to have spectacular sexual energy or many sexual partners, as being "spider-bitten."
Slide 9: Man sues over permanent erection
June 06, 2007 10:11am A NEW York man has sued the makers of a health drink, saying it has given him a permanent erection for the last two years. Christopher Woods said he drank the vitamin-enriched Boost Plus, made by the Swiss-based Novartis pharmaceutical company, on June 5, 2004. He woke up the next morning "with an erection that would not subside" and sought treatment of the condition, called severe priapism, court papers say. Mr Woods, 29, had a penile implant to move blood from one area to another, acccording to the Associated Press. The lawsuit filed yesterday said Mr Woods later had problems that required him to have blood vessels in his penis closed off, a procedure that lessens the likelihood of an erection. Novartis's Boost Plus website described the drink as "a great-tasting, high calorie, nutritionally complete oral supplement for people who require extra energy and protein in a limited volume", in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Mr Woods' lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names Novartis Consumer Health Inc as a defendant. A spokeswoman for Novartis said the company was aware of the lawsuit but would not comment.
Slide 10: Think you pay a lot for gas? Think again
Worried that we may soon have to pay $4/gal? Well, if we do end up paying that much, it seems that we would only be in the middle of the pack when we start looking at global gas prices: Source: CNN Money Netherlands, Amsterdam........................... $6.48 Norway, Oslo................................................ $6.27 Italy, Milan................................................... $5.96 Denmark, Copenhagen............................... $5.93 Belgium, Brussels........................................ $5.91 Sweden, Stockholm..................................... $5.80 United, Kingdom London............................ $5.79 Germany, Frankfurt.................................... $5.57 France, Paris................................................ $5.54 Portugal, Lisbon........................................... $5.35 Hungary, Budapest..................................... $4.94 Luxembourg................................................. $4.82 Croatia, Zagreb............................................ $4.81 Ireland, Dublin............................................ $4.78 Switzerland, Geneva.................................. $4.74 Spain, Madrid.............................................. $4.55 Japan, Tokyo.............................................. $4.24 Czech Republic, Prague............................. $4.19 Romania, Bucharest.................................. $4.09 Andorra....................................................... $4.08 Estonia, Tallinn........................................... $3.62 Bulgaria, Sofia............................................. $3.52 Brazil, Brasilia............................................. $3.12 Cuba, Havana............................................. $3.03 Taiwan, Taipei............................................ $2.84 Lebanon, Beirut.......................................... $2.63 South Africa, Johannesburg...................... $2.62 Nicaragua, Managua................................... $2.61 Panama, Panama City................................ $2.19 Russia, Moscow........................................... $2.10 Puerto Rico, San Juan................................ $1.74 Saudi Arabia, Riyadh................................. $0.91 Kuwait, Kuwait City................................... $0.78 Egypt, Cairo................................................ $0.65 Nigeria, Lagos............................................. $0.38 Venezuela, Caracas.................................... $0.12
Slide 11: Dubai is building the world’s first luxury underwater hotel called Hydropolis: "Hydropolis is not a project; it’s a passion," enthuses Joachim Hauser, the developer and designer of the hotel. His futuristic vision is about to take shape 20m below the surface of the Arabian Gulf, just off the Jumeirah Beach coastline in Dubai. The £300 million, 220-suite hotel is due to open at the end of 2007 and will incorporate a host of innovations that will take it far beyond the original blueprint for an underwater complex worthy of Jules Verne.
Slide 12: You’re looking at the "Arco Valley Pearl," which at 575-carat and 3.1 inches in length is the largest natural pearl in the world. The pearl, which once belonged to the descendant of Chinese Kings, Genghis Khan, and even Marco Polo, is being auctioned. If you have a spare $8 million you can buy it for yourself.
Slide 13: This ad in a 1932 Popular Science sells an attachment that will convert a car’s exhaust into a vacuum cleaner. Probably seems like a good idea at the time!
Slide 14: American Indians used to chase buffalo over a cliff. The cliff was called a buffalo jump. The most famous of Wyoming’s buffalo jumps is the Vore Buffalo Jump located near Beulah. From the layers of bones, scientists have estimated that some 20,000 bison were killed at the site and that it was in use as late as 1800 AD.
Slide 15: Army’s Diesel-Electric ‘Aggressor’ Vehicle Could Be Iraq’s First Hybrid
The diesel-electric hybrid hype has met its match: the U.S. Army. After focusing on hydrogen fuel cells in its original version of “The Aggressor,” a high-performance, off-road Alternative Mobility Vehicle (AMV) for military ground exploration and scouting missions, the Pentagon is now going the way of Detroit—with batteries. The new, second-generation prototype will still utilize the same basic chassis and exterior design for light-duty capacity. But the Army’s auto research arm—part of the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)—has developed a battery-dominant, hybrid-electric drivetrain with a diesel engine-generator. That could make the new Aggressor the first hybrid to hit the streets of Baghdad en masse.
Slide 17: This WWII propaganda poster urged carpooling not to save gas, but to save wear and tear on tires. Rubber was in short supply, and was needed for the military.
Slide 19: Yang Huimin, a 28-year-old man from Central China’s Henan Province, had what he thought was a pimple on face when he was 4. But during the next 24 years, the small swelling grew bigger and bigger, eventually covering the entire left side of his face.
Slide 20: A man from China is to finally have a huge tumour removed today after discovering it 17 years ago. Huang Liqian, 58, first discovered a bizarre growth on the back of his neck in 1990, but chose to ignore it. However, as the years rolled on, it continued to increase in size at a rapid pace, with the growth ballooning to 15kg.
Slide 21: TAKE THE TEST!!!!
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