Reference:

Baby's second head surgically removed

David Pescovitz: Ten-month-old Manar Maged is in stable condition after surgeons removed her parasitic twin yesterday at a hospital north of Cairo. From Reuters:

Manar was born with a rare condition known as craniopagus parasiticus, which occurs when an embryo begins to split into identical twins but fails to complete the process. One of the conjoined twins fails to develop fully in the womb.

As in the case of a girl who died after similar surgery in the Dominican Republic a year ago, the second twin had developed no body. The head that was removed from Manar had been capable of smiling and blinking but not independent life, doctors said.

Link(Thanks, Soupie!)

From BBC News:

Nasa Mach 7 mission achieved

An experimental plane built by Nasa has flown at seven times the speed of sound breaking the world record.

An experimental hypersonic plane has broken the world speed record by flying at seven times the speed of sound, said US space agency Nasa. The unpiloted X-43A aircraft used a scramjet engine that could one day usher in a new generation of space shuttle propulsion systems. It flew for 10 seconds on its own power over California, then glided for six minutes before falling into the ocean. "Everything went according to plan," said Nasa spokeswoman Leslie Williams. "I actually thought it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. We've been waiting a few years." "For the first time we succeeded in separating two vehicles flying at Mach 7."

NASA scores a big win with it's model-sized scramjet- Mach 7, suckin' air and movin' up!

From Boing Boing:

Hyenas and baboons for pets

These pets make pitbulls look like tweety bird. According to the headline of this page of three pictures, these guys are money collectors in Nigeria. Link (Via Sensible Erection)

Money collectors?

I bet they're good at their job.

This time it's Mandy:


You are Inigo Montoya. Your scarred childhood
drives you towards your destiny...revenge. You
are dark and sexy, yet honorable. You will harm
others only for a very good reason.

Which Sexy Rogue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Reference:

The Black Crow (13 February 2004)

This evening's dinner takes us to the small city of Beatrice, Nebraska, population 13,000. Beatrice is about 45 minutes south of Lincoln, and is a pleasant town with a traditional downtown and tree-lined residential streets, an old county courthouse of classic design, and, of course, a Wal-Mart. It is probably best known for being the original home of Beatrice Foods, which has long since been divided, sold off, merged and re-merged into large conglomerates like ConAgra and Parmalat.

Downtown Beatrice features at least one first-class restaurant, the Black Crow. It's a single, somewhat narrow high-ceilinged room in a block of brick storefronts, decorated unobtrusively with rich woods and mirrors, with a bar running much of the length of the room. On a busy night, in the middle of the dinner rush, with the clinking of glasses, laughter and pleasant conversation, you can lean back and imagine that you're in New York, London, or Paris, which is a remarkable achievement in Gage County, Nebraska.

We arrived a bit early and repaired to the bar to await the rest of our party, and ordered steamed mussels, which were classic and delicious, accompanied by a Nautilus (New Zealand) sauvignon blanc, 2001 (tasty, but a little less crisp than most). (It was a disquisition on mussels, you may remember, that planted the seed that launched Berch on Food years later.)

At the table we shared a smoked meat and cheese platter as a starter, and I went with the grilled venison chops with wild mushroom sauce as a main course. The medium-rare venison was a perfect counterpart to the rich sauce and the variety of mushrooms and the roasted potatoes. Not yet attuned to my current low-carb discipline, I shared a chocolate fudge ice cream sundae for dessert.

With the venison we drank an Australian shiraz, St. Hallett's Faith Vineyard, 2000, which was the nightly wine special, and its deep spiciness went perfectly with the venison and its sauce. (The Black Crow's chef is undoubtedly a game fan, since rabbit, wild boar, and venison are frequently on the menu.)

If you happen to be in southeast Nebraska it's worth a detour.

Mummmm, muuummm- it was good eatin'!

Reference:

Chris Null soaks a gummi

Chris Null soaks a gummi bear in water and gets a surprise. Link

OK, that's really cool.

BLOATED GUMMIS FOR EVERYONE!!!

Reference:

Final Draft 7 screenwriting software begins shipping...

Final Draft 7 screenwriting software begins shipping

Final Draft, Inc. has started shipping Final Draft 7, which adds enhanced writing tools and a new script element breakdown utility to the professional scriptwriting software. A new Panels System brings a suite of new organization and development tools for the writer, while the Tagger enables users to "tag" script elements and export the results into scheduling and breakdown software. Final Draft 7 is available for $230; current users can upgrade for $60 before April 30, or $90 thereafter.

This is great software. Unlike my attempts at screenplays.

Mikey, I'm lookin' at you, dude.

Reference:

Israel unveils tiny drone planes

The Israeli military is equipping its forces with a new range of spy drones small enough to fit in a soldier's backpack.

Whoa! Killer model airplanes!

I can hear the mini foamers cheering all over the world.

I'm afraid.

Reference:

Spain rejects 'appeasement' jibe

Spain's incoming prime minister rejects claims that his election victory was an appeasement of extremists..

He said claims that his election victory was due to Spanish voters being scared of terrorists were "simply indecent".

And he would be correct. Such talk of appeasement is indecent. It's like the US is that drunken uncle at a wedding reception that says any old thing that comes into his mind.

Reference:

Mind-bending space habitats

Bernal Spheres are theoretical space-habitats that curve in on themselves, making fantastical, topsy-turvy eschroid landscapes. Here's a page with some nice pix and details. Link (via Flickr)

Man, I love this stuff. I remember reading books from the 1950's that were filled with paintings of way-cool rocketships and moonbases and all sorts of The Future Is Now sorts of whizz-bang stuff. Nice to see some more of it.