Category: You Decide

Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs
by Rick Weiss
Washington Post
October 9, 2007

Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month.

“I heard someone say, ‘Oh my god, look at those,’ ” the college senior from New York recalled. “I look up and I’m like, ‘What the hell is that?’ They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects.”

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too.

“I’d never seen anything like it in my life,” the Washington lawyer said. “They were large for dragonflies. I thought, ‘Is that mechanical, or is that alive?’ ”

That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security. Continue reading “Bugged by Bugs”

Survivor Duck: 15 Years and 17,000 Miles Later
Wierd Asia News
September 4, 2007

For 15 years there have been thousands of “Made in China” bathtime ducks floating halfway around the world”s oceans. Just recently the armada of yellow rubber friends started to arrive in Clyde, England and are about to begin showing up in the Glasgow river.

The mass of yellow ducks, blue turtles, and green frogs broke free from a container in Pacific ocean due to bad weather 15 years ago. Continue reading “Quack! Quack!”

Cat pooh coffee costs a lot
Sonia Legg reports
Reuters
August 19, 2007

A rare type of coffee made from the droppings of the civet cat is wowing coffee connoisseurs around the world.

Enzymes in the cats’ stomach break down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste, thus enhancing its flavour and creating a brew many consider superb. A cup of the special civet cat or luwak coffee sells for as much as 50 Australian dollars in trendy cafes Downunder while hip New Yorkers pay around 75 U.S. dollars for a quarter pound.

Check out the video here.

via Linkfilter

Editor’s Note: A similar story appeared in the Telegraph.co.uk in 2004. In 2003, the SARS virus was traced to the endangered civet cat and eating this culinary delicacy was thought to have been a possible point of origin for the fatal virus. Civet cats are also the source of a high-valued musk which can induce vomiting in humans in strong amounts. This makes drinking coffee made with civet poo an even greater adventure, or more accurately, folly.