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The Alps are falling

Someone alert Al Gore! Heck, alert Roland Emmerich! Global warming is implicated in the destruction of the Alps, which is happening right now -- a rock on Eiger Mountain the size of two Empire State Buildings is threatening to collapse and fall nearly 700 feet to the ground because the glacier ice that supports it is melting. More from the article: A rockslide of over 1 million cubic meters -- officially called a landslide by geologists -- on average happens every 20 to 50 years in Switzerland. In... READ ON

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Liz Taylor, take heart: 132 is the new 116

According to my copy of The Old Testament, in Genesis (23:1), it says "And Sara was a hundred and twenty seven years old: these were the years of Sara's life. And Sara died in Qiryat-arba; that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan"¦" Now while you might think 127 would earn her a place in the Guinness Book (topping even Maria Esther de Capovilla of Ecuador, who is 116 years young and still going) here comes Moloko Temo of South Africa. According to this article in Breitbart.com:... READ ON

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In space, no one can hear you burp

Astronauts on the International Space Station got a taste treat last month that would make plenty of Earthbound proles jealous: a meal from Emeril "BAM" Lagasse, who'll be chatting with (and hopefully getting four-star reviews from) the spacemen tomorrow. On the menu: jambalaya, mashed potatoes with bacon, green beans with garlic, rice pudding, and mixed fruit. Hungry yet? If the cuisine has as much spice as Lagasse is known for, all the better for the astronauts. In space, some astronauts say that food... READ ON

5 Questions: Be My Pal

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Are you ready for some jail time?

What is in the water in Cincinnati, other than boats driven by allegedy drunk football players? Adding to the Phat Phree's NFL All-Criminal Team from last year, five Bengals have been arrested in the past three months: NEWPORT, Ky. -- Bengals guard Eric Steinbach pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of boating under the influence on the Ohio River, the fifth Cincinnati player in three months accused of breaking the law. ... The Bengals have been on the defensive [editors' note: ha!] over the recent... READ ON

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2,218 years later, another "Eureka!" moment

You probably know the Greek mathematician Archimedes as the guy who figured out how buoyancy worked, leapt from his bath yelling "Eureka!," and ran through the streets of Syracuse as naked as Will Ferrell in, oh, any of his movies. But don't judge him based on his exhibitionism; some mathematicians put his work on a level with Isaac Newton's. Though many of Archimedes' manuscripts were lost when the library at Alexandria went up in flames (twice), a few survive, including one that until now has been... READ ON

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Watercooler Ammo: The Manhattan Manatee

Perhaps inspired by its hapless British counterpart, a manatee from Florida appears to have swum upstream -- way upstream, past Manhattan and several miles north into the Hudson River. Unlike the whale in the Thames, the manatee isn't in any danger as long as the water stays warm. It's normal for these creatures to take a summer vacation, though usually not this far afield. Manatee trivia abounds on the Internet; here's the best of it, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: A... READ ON

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Seems just a little crowded

In case you ever wondered what it looks like when 200,000 people head to the beach -- this is a picture of the Chinese resort of Quindao. Link via... READ ON

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Susan Butcher, Queen of the Mush

No matter how you feel about the Iditarod, the annual Alaskan dog-and-driver race that covers more than 1,000 miles, you've got to admire Susan Butcher, arguably its greatest champion. From her site: A child of the American upper middle class, she turned her back on the civilized world of Cambridge, Mass., to carve out a niche for herself and her beloved dogs in a cold, difficult corner of Bush Alaska. Through her 20s and into her 30s, she lived an almost cloistered existence in the Interior with her... READ ON

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Will Celibacy Turn Paris Into a Genius?

With CNN reporting that Paris Hilton has apparently sworn off boys and taken some sort of vow of celibacy (that's hot!), it strikes me that Paris might be blossoming into the genius we always knew she was. Seriously, consider all the geniuses who've given up sex, and focused on their resumes instead: Nikola Tesla: Genius behind AC current, the real brains behind the radio (take that, Marconi!), and notorious lover of pigeons. Celibate. Isaac Newton: Gravity, a giant of physics and... READ ON