Latest News – Page 59

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Montana RadioShack Offers Free Gun With Dish Network Subscription

March 28, 2011

Get some BANG with your dish.

For some reason, a RadioShack in Hamilton, Montana thought it would make sense to offer a free gun with every Dish Network subscription, using the humorous and somewhat clever slogan pictured above. Even weirder than the pairing of the Dish Network and guns, is that the store’s owner claims business has tripled since the promotion began in October. In order to qualify for the deal, customers sign up for the Dish Network, pay for installation and buy a specific amount of related equipment from the RadioShack, at which point, they receive a gift certificate for a local gun store and can choose between a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun…

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Business, Entertainment, Latest News

No More Muzak

March 27, 2011

Your elevator ride will never be so flaccid again.

Elevator news: Muzak acquired by Canadian company.

The music on the elevator won’t change, but the company behind it will: Just over a year after emerging from bankruptcy, Fort Mill Township-based Muzak is being sold to a Canadian company.

Mood Media, a similar music provider based in Toronto, said Thursday that it is paying $345 million to buy Muzak, a privately held company…

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Google Map of the World’s Nuclear Power Plants

March 26, 2011

Where are all the nuclear power plants?

At Nature blogs, Declan Butler has put together a really info-dense mapping of the world’s nuclear power plants, using Google Earth. Nifty stuff for anybody whose interest in nuclear power has gone up significantly in recent weeks…

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Microsoft Switches Off Privacy for Hotmail Users in War-Torn and Repressive States

March 26, 2011

Say goodbye to privacy on Hotmail if your country is in a state of chaos.

For reasons unknown, Microsoft has changed the settings on Hotmail to disable HTTPS for users in several countries including Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Hotmail users in those countries can now be readily spied upon by ISPs and their governments. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good perspective…

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Culture, Current Events, government, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

Top 10 Cities of Tax Procrastinators

March 26, 2011

What cities played it late this year?

Thanks to the people over at TurboTax we have a list of the top late-filing cities. This year’s ranking of late-filing cities are…

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Analysis, Animals, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries

New Rodent Discovered in Brazilian Mountains

March 25, 2011

Drymoreomys albimaculatus.

A new rodent living in treetops was discovered recently in the Atlantic Forest, one of Brazil’s most-ravaged ecosystems, according to a report.

The foot-long creature, referred to as a white-spotted mountain rat or “Drymoreomys albimaculatus,” lives at an altitude of 1,000 meters in mountain ranges in southeast Brazil, biologist Alexandre Percequillo told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper…

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Low Serotonin Levels Make Mice More Bisexual

March 25, 2011

Seratonin levels have been found to affect animal’s sexual choices.

There’s a new peer-reviewed research paper out this week that purports to show a link between an animal’s levels of serotonin—a brain chemical probably best known for its association with happy feelings—and who that animal chooses to be its sex partners…

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Half Of All Primates Threatened With Extinction

March 24, 2011

Not long for this planet?

According to an article on the National Geographic website, nearly half the primate species are in danger of becoming extinct from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush-meat hunting.

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This Year’s Maximum Arctic Sea Ice Extent Ties for Lowest Ever on Satellite Record

March 24, 2011

Less Ice than expected

On March 7th, the Arctic sea ice most likely reached its maximum extent for the year — signaling the beginning of the melt season — and that maximum tied for the lowest ever seen on the satellite record. The maximum extent was 5.65 million square miles, which may sound like a lot, until you consider that’s 463,000 square miles less than the average recorded between 1979 and 2000. That’s a little more than 8% less than the average — and it gives us some more good evidence that warming is continuing to cause the Arctic to melt at a rather profound rate…

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Examining The Method Of Wiring Chips With Nerve Cells

March 24, 2011

Visions of a hybrid computer chip.

Research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison points to progress in creating hybrid computer chips combining silicon and neurons. Biomedical engineers demonstrated a novel technique for weaving the tendrils of mouse nerve cells into a network of semiconductor tubes. Yeah, that’s just an illustration above. But eventually, a neural-electronic device such as this could be used to study diseases of the nervous system, test drug efficacy, or potentially lead to new brain-machine interfaces…

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Bus Safety Rules to be Rewritten Because of People are Now Too Fat

March 24, 2011

Buses need to reassess because of our expanding rear ends.

Are buses less safe today? Yes, according to the Federal Transit Authority, because of … fat people. So it’s rewriting the rules to ensure bus safety:

The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) proposes raising the assumed average weight per bus passenger from 150 pounds to 175 pounds, which could mean that across the country, fewer people will be allowed on a city transit bus.

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Animals, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Human Behavior, Latest News

Man Sets up Hotel for Chickens

March 23, 2011

Having a clucking good time.

A Cornish man has set up a hotel for chickens to provide five star service for pampered hens while their owners are away.

David Roberts, 31, came up with idea for the Chicken Hotel in response to the growing popularity for people to rear their own hens. Many people thought he was joking at first but he now runs a thriving business on his farm in Helston, and has bookings as far ahead as Christmas…

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