Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Life Preserver

How Spider-Man Compares to the Real Thing


Livescience
Wed, 02 May 2007 01:53 UTC
In a culture that finds it hard to love most bugs, spiders are nonetheless the ones we tend to accept or at least admire at a distance for their ingenuity with locomotion, insect hunting and home-building.

In each of those areas, the web's the thing, as any Spider-Man fan can see starting Friday when "Spider-Man 3" opens. Spider silk could stop a Boeing 747 in flight, is stronger than bullet-proof Kevlar and more elastic than nylon, biologists say.
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Wolf

Life Cycle: Knut Steadily Getting Less Cute


Spiegel Online
Tue, 01 May 2007 15:12 UTC
It's a tragic fact of life. Celebrity polar bear cub Knut, now almost five months old, is gradually mutating from a fluffy porridge-lapping cub into a heavy bruiser with a penchant for meat off the bone. But the visitors are still flocking to see him.

Knut's days of extreme cuteness are numbered now that he has acquired a markedly longer snout and weighs a chubby 17 kilograms (37 pounds), twice as much as when he first appeared before an adoring public five weeks ago.

"His teeth are sharper and he's stronger, he still gets porridge but we now feed him beef on the bone occasionally," the zoo's bear expert Heiner Klös told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "He's calmed down a bit, he doesn't potter around as much as he used to and he's happy to sit on his own more often. But he still wanders back to his keeper to tank up on security."
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Life Preserver

Gorilla shares insight into Bush's mental state!


CNN
Tue, 01 May 2007 03:37 UTC


CNN
Kimani, a 2-year-old Western lowland gorilla shares an insight into Bush's mental state.
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Cloud Lightning

Noah's Ark ready for floods in Holland


Daily Mail
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:36 UTC


©
Huibers' ark stands at 150 cubits (68 metres) - three-quarters of the length of a football pitch

Following in Noah's footsteps, Dutchman Johan Huibers is ready for any floods Holland may experience - thanks to his own special ark.
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Coffee

Just when you thought it was safe - Dumm DUmm dumM - 'Hogzilla' to Hit Big Screen


AP
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:39 UTC
ALAPAHA, Ga. - Hogzilla, a near-mythical monster hog that roamed south Georgia, is about to get a little bigger. An independent filmmaker is producing a horror movie about the super swine called "The Legend of Hogzilla," and has even enlisted the beast's killer on the set as an adviser.

©AP
Chris Griffin, 31, poses beside the half-ton wild hog he shot near Alapaha, Ga., in a Thursday, June 17, 2004

Comment: In other news: Godzilla's agent is reported to be missing.

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Rocket

Dead star's ashes blasted into space in fitting stellar send-off

RICHARD ELIAS AND JEREMY WATSON
Scotsman
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:08 UTC
THEY had gathered before dawn for the spectacle and in the end they got the promised "fiery streak across the sky".

And all were agreed - Trekkies, anxious relatives and the gathered ranks of the media - that last night Scotty the Scottish engineer from Star Trek got the send-off he deserved.

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Health

How long will a bell bong? Scientist do a Bell Check Up

Alexandra Zawadil
Reuters
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:03 UTC
VIENNA - With the precision of a surgeon, Andreas Rupp carefully wraps sensor strips around a 21-tonne bell in Vienna's famous St Stephen's Cathedral.

Europe's second-largest bell, nicknamed "Pummerin", is one of several famous bells across the continent being checked to determine their life spans, and unlock the secret of the optimum chime.
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Magic Wand

Cartoon to tempt teenagers into priesthood

Jonathan Wynne-Jones
Telegraph
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:46 UTC
Japanese manga cartoons have become a multi-billion pound global market, commonly associated with martial arts warriors rather than with nuns and monks. But the Catholic Church in England and Wales is launching its own comic strip this week to attract teenagers into the priesthood.

It is using the comic book art form in an advertising campaign that aims to combat the dramatic decline in the number of applicants for ordination, and the resulting dearth of young priests.

The Church hopes that its manga comic, with pictures of nuns and monks playing pool and surfing the internet, will help to improve the image of the vocation, which leaders believe is seen as "monotonous and boring".
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Question

Trivial Pursuit! Police Say Man Was Love-Struck Thief


AP
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:36 UTC
LOS ANGELES - Whenever Antonio Moreno wanted to see his girlfriend, police say, he'd jump in a car and drive right over.
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Heart

Sydney's "free hugs guy" grapples with global fame

Madeleine Coorey
AFP
Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:19 UTC
SYDNEY - It's close to midday on one of the busiest streets in Sydney's centre and Juan Mann is getting nervous. Known to millions as the "free hugs guy," he is worried about the lunchtime rush. And with good reason.

©AFP
Sydney's 'free hugs guy'.
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