Making Science More Better For You on 07/01/08

Today's headlines

Giraffe gathers troops, escapes circus (CNN)
We hear the chase was neck and neck.

National outbreak of grave robbing; stems from lagging economy. (Drudge)
Make no bones about it, they just can’t bury this story.

How does Mars taste? Salty, reports lander (MSNBC)
Did they find any peanuts? How about caramel?


He’s either hiding in a junior high school or at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Toilet-trained chimp on the run in Calif. forest
Animal served as owner's best man at wedding; linked to horrific attack (MSNBC)

“LOS ANGELES - A 42-year-old chimpanzee who is toilet-trained and can eat with a knife and fork is believed to be at large in a Southern California forest after escaping his cage.

The chimp called Moe disappeared Friday from Jungle Exotics, which trains animals for the entertainment industry. The chimp wandered into a house next door, surprising construction workers who saw him head for a nearby mountain.

A weekend search in the San Bernardino National Forest 50 miles east of Los Angeles came up empty.
"I yelled his name out for hours, for hours, with no one else around. Nothing. Not even a hoot," said LaDonna Davis, who owns Moe with husband St. James Davis.” (MSNBC)


We’re not sure about the wisdom of walking around in a forest near L.A. yelling “Hey Moe.” You might get more than you bargained for. No word about Curly or Larry.


This just in: Some products don’t deliver on advertised benefits. Film at 11.

Study: Some sunscreens overpromise on protection (CNN)

“The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says four out of five don't adequately protect consumers and may contain harmful chemicals.

The group says some of the products of the nation's leading brands -- including Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat -- are the poorest performers.

Coppertone was named by the Environmental Working Group as having 41 products that failed to meet the group's criteria for issues ranging from failing to protect adequately to containing potentially harmful ingredients to making unsubstantiated claims.

But in a statement to CNN, the company says it "rigorously tests all its products in the lab and in the real world," to ensure they're safe and effective.” (CNN)



Breaking news: People with enough to eat tend to be happier

The world is getting happier, study says

(Science Daily) The World Values Survey (WVS) is the work of a global network of social scientists who perform periodic surveys addressing a number of issues. The latest surveys, taken in the United States and in several developing countries, showed increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries for which substantial time series data was available.

Researchers responsible for the analysis, from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) in Ann Arbor, say the overall rise in reported happiness is due to greater economic growth, democratization and social tolerance.

Denmark tops the list of surveyed nations, along with Puerto Rico and Colombia. A dozen other countries, including Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden also rank above the United States, which maintains about the same relative position as it did in WVS's 2000 survey.

We hear they dropped Darfur’s questionnaires out of a plane.