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Science Etcetera, Mercuryday 20080611

June 11th, 2008
  • Our feline friends domesticated themselves, and other interesting facts about Cats.

  • Cat Conspiracy

    Cat Conspiracy
    Credit: Tjflex2
  • Umbilical cord blood stem cells have apparently cured a fatal genetic disease in a 2-year-old boy (HT Clint).
  • London’s Royal Botanical Gardens offers a new perspective, a walk over the treetops (HT TGAW).
  • Farmers are waiting for better weather to plant their crops, but if they plant after June 20th they may see yields drop by half.
  • Shoppers are willing to pay a third more for some foods, if they are grown locally.
  • Retired physician and amateur astronomer, Richard Green’s incredible collection of antique science texts is up for auction. You can get a copy of Nicolaus Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium for between $900,000 and $1.2 million.
  • Plant a tree today and 25 years from now your children will thank you for saving them energy with a cooler yard.
  • The fisher is a relative of the wolverine, once endangered, is now making a comeback in the Northeast, eating porcupines and housepets.

  • Fisher Martes pennanti

    Fisher Martes pennanti
    Credit: New York State Education Department
  • Britain requires anyone who wants to watch public television to have a broadcast license. To enforce this law, they needed television detectors to catch people watching the boob-tube illegally.
  • Nanopaper is stronger than cast iron.
  • Some plants show nepotism to their relatives.
  • A Ford F-250 will cost you $100,000 over five years in gas, interest, taxes, and insurance.
  • Cuttlefish can spot prey while still an embryo.
  • Just 10 more flights until the space shuttle is retired, but Congress is considering tacking on one more flight to carry a physics experiment into space.
  • AAAS Response to Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:


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