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How was your weekend?
- The world did not end on Saturday. Sorry, kids, there will be final exams.
- It's probably just as well. A Facebook page titled "Post-rapture looting" has been offering this invitation, says Associated Press: "When everyone is gone and god's not looking, we need to pick up some sweet stereo equipment and maybe some new furniture for the mansion we're going to squat in."
- Entrepreneurs have been offering post-"rapture" services, such as pet care for rapture believers and a chance to send letters to non-believing loved ones in the event the faithful are swept away. Lisa Fairfax, a George Washington University law professor who has studied religious-based investment-fraud schemes, told the Los Angeles Times: "Usually most of these things sound too good to be true, and people, instead of trusting their own instincts, will fall back on: 'There can't be anything wrong with it because it's my group, it's my religion.' "
We're a bunch of defects?
"Tiny structural errors in proteins may have been responsible for changes that sparked complex life, researchers say," reports BBC News. "A comparison of proteins across 36 modern species suggests that protein flaws called 'dehydrons' may have made proteins less stable in water. This would have made them more adhesive and more likely to end up working together, building up complex function. The Nature study adds weight to the idea that natural selection is not the only means by which complexity rises."
Hurricane amnesia
"The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, looks to be another above-average year, federal forecasters say. … Unfortunately, people can experience 'hurricane amnesia,' adds Craig Fugate, who heads the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington," says The Christian Science Monitor. "He is referring to the long time spans that can elapse between land-falling hurricanes in any one location, and the tendency of people to forget how serious the storms can be. … In other cases, he continues, people will say they've experienced a hurricane and say that [it]wasn't too bad, when they actually have experienced only a hurricane's outer, tropical-storm-force winds."
Texas allows noodling
Texans who want to catch catfish using only their bare hands will be able to do so legally under legislation approved by the state Senate, reports Associated Press. Currently, hand fishing, called noodling in Texas, carries a $500 (U.S.) fine. The bill requires "noodlers" to have a fishing licence and freshwater fishing stamp.
What your greeting means
"How you start an e-mail reveals a lot more about your intentions than you know," contends Graham Beck of The Morning News. For example:
- "Hey," means you want something from me.
- "Hey:" means you expect something from me.
- "Greetings:" denotes that I signed up for your dreadful boutique's mailing list.
- "To Whom It May Concern:" indicates that you are looking for information or professional placement. I am an unlikely source for either, so this is probably spam.
- "Hello" signifies that you spent too much time thinking about everything that follows, or that you are high.
- "Hi," suggests you think you're important.
- "Hi!" means I'm going to delete your e-mail without reading it.
- "Hi all." implies that you're in over your head.
- "What up?" means you're an old friend asking for a favour. No.
Making a husband happy
"Household chores often get in the way when dual-earner couples want to unwind after a stress-filled day on the job," says USA Today. "Now, a new study shows that while wives' stress levels drop when their husbands are helping them with chores, for men it's the opposite: Stress levels fall when their wives are busy while they're relaxing. The research, conducted at the Center for the Everyday Lives of Families at the University of California, Los Angeles, between 2004 and 2006, measured stress hormones and daily activities among 30 dual-earner couples in Los Angeles."
Richie tempts fate
New York's ban on smoking in public parks came into effect this week, says Aol.com, "and the folks at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! thought they'd conjured the perfect stunt to drive home an anti-smoking message - Richie (The Human Ashtray) Magic would show the world just how gross smoking could be by extinguishing 200 cigarettes on his pain-proof tongue." But the May 23 event was abruptly cancelled after the sideshow performer admitted he had fallen off the wagon and started smoking again.
Thought du jour
"The vast majority of human beings are not interested in reason or satisfied with what it teaches."
- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), English writer and intellectual