Asha Anujeeva

I was reading a BBC.com website news story today about how 48% of the world’s primate species are facing extinction.  The article explains that a large reason for that was the deforestation of the world; people are cutting down and/or burning the forests that the primates live in.  That was depressing news.  But what really surprised me was to read in the article that the extinction is being exacerbated by hunters who are hunting the primates for food!  I did not realize that people considered monkeys as edible!  I don’t know why, I just never really thought people would eat monkeys.  That makes me especially sad, since I consider primates to be so closely related to humans that it almost seems cannibalistic to eat them!

I was reading that researchers have determined that eating watermelon can have a similar effect on the human body as name brand ED prescriptions do. They say you have to eat the yellow fleshed variety, and eat six cups of it, but that would do it!  Of course, you’d be so busy running the bathroom to relieve your bladder that the whole pleasure part would be pretty limited!  Watermelon is a diuretic and has been used homeopathically to help people with kidney problems.  The same chemical is found in cucumbers and cantaloupe, but at a much lower level.  And, eating that much watermelon would cause havoc with blood sugar levels, so I guess the men should stick with ED prescriptions for now, and just eat a little bit of watermelon for the other healthy benefits that eating fruit produces.

I was reading in the time.com health and science section that an accidental discovery by scientists have left them with new knowledge that may prove helpful in predicting future earthquakes!  They were measuring how barometric pressure effected underground changes and discovered that there were changes shortly before a couple of earthquakes happened!  So the scientists are thinking that they may be able to use this technology to help predict earthquakes and give residents advance warning to get to safer places.  This is really big news and I’m surprised that I didn’t hear it on television news!

My cousin sent me the link to a BBC website that was talking about a new store in Germany called “The Future Store.”  He included the note “I thought you might get a kick out of this.”  So I clicked on the link and watched a video made for a tv news show where the reporter was going around the store and explaining how new technology was being used at this store.

It really was very interesting; the customers use their cell phones to scan the bar code of the product they are buying when they take it off of the shelf before they put it in their cart.  The meat counter has microchips in the meat packages to advise the store that the meat package has been removed, so the store can keep track of when they need to re-stock.  When the customer is finished shopping, they press a button on their phone, which produces a “master bar code” which they use to scan at a self-service checkout counter.  Really all quite interesting.  The biggest question I have about the process is regarding how the store expects to keep the customers “honest” and reduce the risk of shop-lifting?  I’d be curious to learn about that part of the equation!

Posted by Darwin Garza

Thank goodness that I have local internet service. I have been on the internet all day today reading everything about Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ divorce. I was sad to hear that they are divorcing after only seventy-two days. I really like Kim and think that she is a sweet spirit. I hate to hear when marriages don’t work out. All over the internet people are giving her a really hard time about not working on the relationship. I wish that people wouldn’t be so critical. Sometimes people make mistakes. I know that I have made a lot, that’s for sure!! Yes, I’m sure she is upset that she wasted so much time and money and others are too, but I’m sure that this situation is emotionally trying for her. For people to be so hateful about the situation just isn’t nice. I haven’t seen the gossip magazines been this mean in a while. CNN and Fox News were even reporting on the divorce! It is like she is a politician and not a reality television star!