MelSkunk's stories

Pyramid shaft to be explored tonight
Mon 16 Sep 2002 - 11:55

The great pyramid of Cheops is the largest pyramid in Egypt, but in spite of contant study by experts and daily visits by tourists, it still contains mystery. Some of that mystery will hopefully be cleared up when a small roving robot is sent up up a vent shaft tonight to probe behind the door of an unexplored chamber. The event will be carried on live television in some places, hosted by the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass.

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"First ever smilie" unearthed in the depths of computer history
Fri 13 Sep 2002 - 11:21

Ahh, how archaeology has fallen. At one time, to discover history ment you had to get out into the outdoors to dig it up. Now you just have to look through hundreds of thousands of early eighties computer messages. Discovered by a Microsoft researcher, no less, the definative message is apparently from the Carnegie Mellon University BBS on September 19th, 1982 and reads: "I propose that the following character sequence for markers :-)." If so, someone's 20th birthday is coming up.
;-)

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Humans littered early
Fri 13 Sep 2002 - 11:13

Though early homonids were adept tool makers, the concept of recycling the tools for multiple uses seemed to not hit them yet. A quarry in central India is surrounded by discarded Homo erectus stone tools, suggesting that the tools were used nearby and discarded after use. Though this stage of homonids were very humanlike in an ability to design and make tools, they were quite chimplike in a lack of ability to plan ahead. Chimps and other tool making animals also discard tools as an 'as needed' item.

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Russia struggles to save the tiger
Fri 13 Sep 2002 - 11:13

Siberian and Amur tigers have never had it easy, but with the fall of communism and a lack of government interest in their protection, the numbers are dropping off fast. With few jobs available in the far east of Russia, hunting and poaching are a new way of life. Locals are baffled at Western conservationists interest in an animal so threatening to them, and the few nature reserves are stops for them to take caviar, deer and even tigers. Though education is continuing, especially for the young, to encourage them to have pride in the big cats of Russia's taiga, the future range of the Amur and Siberian tigers might end up behind zoo bars.

Poor dead badger on the road
Tue 10 Sep 2002 - 21:55

It's bad enough when you're an English badger who's now flat at the side of a road. But when the construction crew paints the road line right over you, well, that's just sad. Brought to the attention of the local council by pictures in the newspaper, they're 'investigating' and say that the road work was done by contractors.

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Greece bans all electronic games!
Fri 6 Sep 2002 - 12:41

The headline should really be "Governments are @#$%&#ing stupid!" Since the Grecian government admitted they cannot tell the difference between innocuous video games and illegal gambling machines, they've banned ALL games played on an electronic device. Though the headline makes it sound like just violent shoot-em-up games are banned, any game is included.This means internet chess. This means Minesweeper on your Windows. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if MUCKs might be a borderline game. Major fines are being levied against any person, tourist or local, caught playing an electronic game or even simply owning the software or console to play one.
Fight the power, play Super Mario...

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Pausing last year's hunt did not bring fox plague to UK
Thu 5 Sep 2002 - 09:40

In spite of the claim by hunt supporters that foxes would overrun the UK if the horse and hound fox hunt was banned, the aborted hunt season last year due to foot and mouth has not led to any rise in fox numbers, researchers say. In fact, if anything, the numbers dropped slightly. The Countryside Alliance disregards the fecal drop count as innacurate, claiming farmers have been telling them that there are more foxes. And the debate goes on...

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Do you suffer from Bad Astronomy?
Tue 3 Sep 2002 - 13:26

Everyone knows that meteors heat up in the Earth's atmosphere because of friction and that the moon only looks bigger at the horizon because the thick air acts like a lens... right?
If this and other cosmic myths are your "well known facts", maybe you need BadAstronomy.com

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Raven too smart for owner
Fri 30 Aug 2002 - 12:07

Richard Cooper owns a talking raven and wishes he could make him the star of a bird of prey show. But instead of saying cute things, like 'come back soon', Zeus, who spontaniously started picking up words at 6 months, keeps telling Richard to shut up, teases the dogs and torments visitors. Not so stupid.

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Caffeine could cure cancer
Tue 27 Aug 2002 - 19:41

Though it's no Jolt Cola, green tea has been found to be remarkably effective as a treatment for skin cancers in mice, and scientists hope that caffeine may soon be used to help kill these harmful cells in humans. Though previous studies have shown injesting caffeine can also combat skin cancer, there are doubts to whether the amount needed is suitable for human consumption.
"Whether you can give enough orally to be effective in humans is not known," Allan Conney, researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says."Whether people could ingest that amount without becoming hyperactive is also a real question mark."

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