Favolaschia รจ un genere di fungo molto strano, infestante, originario dei tropici. Ma la globalizzazione l'ha portato anche nei nostri boschi! Questo sito non parla di funghi, ma favolaschia mi sembrava un nome significativo e evocativo di qualcosa di simile a quello che qui viene raccontato...

14 giugno 2007

Today's news (abstracts)


Stressed execs get to smash hotel rooms
MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish hotel chain is running a competition for stressed executives to let off steam in a fashion usually reserved for rock stars -- by smashing hotel rooms.

Australia scientists invent virtual fence for cows
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Australian scientists have invented a virtual fence for cattle, doing away with the need to erect real barriers or keep gates closed to secure livestock.

Elderly care home for dogs to open in Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's first elderly care home for dogs is set to open this week, tapping into a growing market as the problem of ageing spreads from humans to the pet population.

Bostonians walk to work, Portlanders cycle, but most drive
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Boston has the highest percentage of commuters who walk to work, Portland can boast the most cycling commuters, but the vast majority of Americans still drive to work, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study.

70 Million Years Ago, Birdlike Giant in China
(C)
Scientists have uncovered a huge surprise in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China: the fossil skeleton of an unusually robust birdlike dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago.

Plants can tell who's who(C)
Telling apart relatives from strangers is crucial in many animal species, helping them to share precious resources or avoid inbreeding. Now it seems that plants can perform the same trick.


Pac-Man skull

Website helps you get your gra filendparents FBIs
GetGrandpasFBIFile.Com will automatically generate the letters you need to send in to get a (deceased) relative's FBI files. The site was created by a couple of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) advocates as a way of spreading the FOIA meme.

Headphones to Shut Out the World

New York Politician Not Happy with Staten Island Landfill-Themed Ice Cream
NEW YORK -- One New York City politician apparently does not have a sweet tooth for a locally made vanilla ice cream with brownie chunks and cherries. That is because the ice cream in question, marketed under the name "Staten Island Landfill," is "insulting and derogatory," Staten Island borough president James Molinaro wrote in a letter on his Web site, in which he calls for a boycott of the treat.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Too Little, Too Late for Lost Generation Aborigines
MELBOURNE, Jun 13 (IPS) - A decade after the release of the landmark 'Bringing Them Home Report' on the forced removal of indigenous children from their families -- known as the Stolen Generations -- the situation for indigenous Australians remains desperate.

TreeHugger Picks: Biodegradable from Beach to Green
An items' "biodegradability" goes a long way to making it more TreeHugger-friendly, and while we've seen lots of things like bioplastics and disposable cutlery that really make sense to be easily (and harmlessly) degradable, we've seen some kinda wacky, less intuitive, but still (mostly) practical examples, too