15 December 2013
Weird News of the Week
15/12/13 05:57
It’s been a slow week for us but fortunately there has been a lot of odd things in the news. I guess it’s because it’s Christmas and the weather has been weird and, well, I guess people are getting a little stir crazy. Whatever the reason, the news has been interesting.
China has landed a probe on the moon. It’s the first lunar rover since the Soviet Union landed a couple of them in the early 1970s. Technologically it’s on a par with some of the US’s Mars rovers. They’re going to get some very interesting data from it. It also landed in the Sinus Iridum on the edge of the Mare Imbrium Basin, an area of great geological interest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25356603
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25384057
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25393826
Now this is also just a couple of weeks after India launched a probe to Mars.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25163113
The solar system isn’t NASA’s playground any more. Who would have thought?
Here on Earth it’s almost Christmas. This weekend there was an event that is becoming a tradition. The Santa Pub Crawl
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/santacon-vancouver-public-pub-crawl-draws-hundreds-1.2464597
Yes, hundreds of people, of both genders, dressed as Santa stampede from pub to pub getting hammered. It’s an odd tradition, but it does answer the question I’ve had since I was a kid; why is Santa’s nose red.
The weather across Canada has been a bit much. Snow and cold. I wrote last week about how rough it’s been here. However Alberta has been getting hammered really hard. However they know how to bring a bit of dry wit to the situation. The following ad appeared in Kajiji this week:
edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-1980-Tauntaun-Great-winter-driver-W0QQAdIdZ550901066
I gotta agree though. It would be a good winter drive.
One of the best stories this week was from The Oslo University Hospital.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131214144837.htm
They found evidence that Coffee and Cigarettes can protect against liver disease. Now it’s only one particular kind of rare liver disease, and only the Norwegians have studied it but I know of more than a few people that will be quoting from this research.
But the best story all week is from the BBC. You gotta love the BBC. They have the driest sense of humour in the world. This week during the court proceedings against some former Buckingham Palace staff, there was a revelation. (For those that don’t recall this is related to the allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World engaged in an extensive hacking program of the telephones of celebrities, Royals, and people just unlucky enough to be in the news. The revelations have cost a lot of people their careers, resulted in the shutting down of The News of the World, and put a number of people in the dock for various crimes.) In any event it was revealed that police investigating the crimes were nibbling on bowls of nuts that had been left out for the Queen. She was not amused about it either and they were asked to depart. In reporting on this story though the BBC just used the headline “Police Told to Leave Queen’s Nuts.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25344656
At first I thought there should have been a comma after ‘Leave’ but that didn’t really help.
Doug & Marsha
PIX: The Nanaimo blizzard of 2013, and then our Christmas tree. Lastly a bit of a nosh Marsha picked up for me. It's three Oreo cookies glued together with peanut butter, and then sunk in a big dish of dark chocolate. Marsha is a wonderful person.
China has landed a probe on the moon. It’s the first lunar rover since the Soviet Union landed a couple of them in the early 1970s. Technologically it’s on a par with some of the US’s Mars rovers. They’re going to get some very interesting data from it. It also landed in the Sinus Iridum on the edge of the Mare Imbrium Basin, an area of great geological interest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25356603
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25384057
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25393826
Now this is also just a couple of weeks after India launched a probe to Mars.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25163113
The solar system isn’t NASA’s playground any more. Who would have thought?
Here on Earth it’s almost Christmas. This weekend there was an event that is becoming a tradition. The Santa Pub Crawl
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/santacon-vancouver-public-pub-crawl-draws-hundreds-1.2464597
Yes, hundreds of people, of both genders, dressed as Santa stampede from pub to pub getting hammered. It’s an odd tradition, but it does answer the question I’ve had since I was a kid; why is Santa’s nose red.
The weather across Canada has been a bit much. Snow and cold. I wrote last week about how rough it’s been here. However Alberta has been getting hammered really hard. However they know how to bring a bit of dry wit to the situation. The following ad appeared in Kajiji this week:
edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-1980-Tauntaun-Great-winter-driver-W0QQAdIdZ550901066
I gotta agree though. It would be a good winter drive.
One of the best stories this week was from The Oslo University Hospital.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131214144837.htm
They found evidence that Coffee and Cigarettes can protect against liver disease. Now it’s only one particular kind of rare liver disease, and only the Norwegians have studied it but I know of more than a few people that will be quoting from this research.
But the best story all week is from the BBC. You gotta love the BBC. They have the driest sense of humour in the world. This week during the court proceedings against some former Buckingham Palace staff, there was a revelation. (For those that don’t recall this is related to the allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World engaged in an extensive hacking program of the telephones of celebrities, Royals, and people just unlucky enough to be in the news. The revelations have cost a lot of people their careers, resulted in the shutting down of The News of the World, and put a number of people in the dock for various crimes.) In any event it was revealed that police investigating the crimes were nibbling on bowls of nuts that had been left out for the Queen. She was not amused about it either and they were asked to depart. In reporting on this story though the BBC just used the headline “Police Told to Leave Queen’s Nuts.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25344656
At first I thought there should have been a comma after ‘Leave’ but that didn’t really help.
Doug & Marsha
PIX: The Nanaimo blizzard of 2013, and then our Christmas tree. Lastly a bit of a nosh Marsha picked up for me. It's three Oreo cookies glued together with peanut butter, and then sunk in a big dish of dark chocolate. Marsha is a wonderful person.