Science Times!

Today’s Science Times section was full of interesting stuff:

North Korea’s biological arms threat is greater than its nuclear weapons.  Unleashing a smallpox virus will kill a third of those infected.  A gallon of anthrax, if suitably distributed, could end human life.

A big, ugly creature they’re calling a dicynodonts roamed the earth with the dinosaurs 200 million years ago.  Ranging in size from a pig to a hippo, the thing had a short neck, a large skull, beaks and tusks.

Good news.  Scientists may have discovered a new way to kill brain-eating amoebae.  This monster is a lethal microbe that invades through the sinuses and feeds on human brain tissue.  Not many people are infected, since 1962 only four of 143 known victims in the U.S. have survived, but if you are one of the unlucky ones, any promising med would be welcome.

The average American man weighs 198 pounds, is 5’9” tall, has a 40” waist and a body mass index of 29, at the high end of the overweight category.  The average woman is 5’4” tall, weighs 171 pounds, has a 39” waist and a body mass index of 30.  We used to weigh a lot less.  Since 1960, both men and women have gained an average 32 pounds.

Notice to women:  Removing your pubic hair has health consequences.  You are at greater risk for vaginal infections and sexually transmitted diseases.

Not in Science Times, but funny.  In a Japanese hotel managed by robots a man trying to sleep was awakened frequently when his room robot assistant kept saying it didn’t understand what was being said and asked to repeat the instructions.  Turns out the man’s snoring kept activating the robot.