The arsenal includes grenades and rocket launchers. We’re not even going to mention the selection of targets.

Lush Life.

Because the roast chicken and salad were not quite enough.

I picked up a couple of six-packs Sunday.

The hollow crest atop the lambeosaur, also known as the duck-billed dinosaur, perhaps lesser known as the Cow of the Cretaceous Period, is not an organ of smell. A University of Toronto doctoral student of zoology has ruled that possibility out.

In Palo Alto.

It closed at $432.66, but after falling below expected earnings results, it is currently at $377.

Oh come on, you know you want some.

In such a procedure, the head has to be absolutely still. To provide comfort to an anxious patient, a volunteer will hold his hand throughout. This service seems to be provided only in the UK.

If you don’t know about it already, maybe you should.

And if you inhale it, would it give you hay fever?

Described as SUVs with wings, the little jets cost half as much as business jets. The worry among major airlines is that before long, these affordable planes will jam up the airspace around major cities.

Shown at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show, the hybrid’s hydrogen supply will go for 300 miles.

The orphaned cub was only a few months old, near death from starvation. Villagers saw the dogs closing in. They put it in the electricity station, the only warm place in an area suffering from record cold temperatures.

A hunter fed it walrus meat and seal fat by hand. The little bear, named Dumka by its rescuers, will be moved to the Moscow Zoo.

The major players are seeking ways to speed up their services. How? By making their menus less wordy, showing your order on a screen so you can eliminate mistakes, and by using call centers instead of a teen at the window.

Nah. What we need is an in-car touch screen with menu choices of our favorite burger and pizza joints. Imagine what that would do to obesity rates. Because if the technology arrives for that, then TVs will come equipped as well.

The human subjects seem to be from another era, and the situations to be from a parallel universe that collided with ours.

The slugs like them too.

There’s still a bag of 50 waiting to be planted. Too rainy today.

Some can be found here, more here, still more here.

And just one more that you might not expect.

When someone is in a mad rush, those who aren’t in such a hurry can be a source of supreme irritation.

Or, in this case, supreme beauty.

A Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle, whose speeds will range from 6,000 to 15,000 mph at altitudes of 100,000 to 150,000 feet will have a test flight in September 2007.

It’s Monday. I’m having trouble comprehending such numbers.

Before you laugh, consider this: a human pathogen, adenovirus AD-37, makes chickens fat. Two others, AD-36 and Ad-5 can cause animals to become obese.

Scientists agree that the viruses could only be a part of the global obesity problem, and that other factors, such as diet, should be factored in.

The obesity epidemic, as it has been called, may be just that.

A series of old-time portraits gone horribly wrong can be seen here. To get the full effect, click for the larger size.

His website, which includes sculpture, is here.

A professor at Cambridge University believes that children born to scientist, mathematician, or engineering parents are more likely to have autism.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen calls such professionals ’systemizers’, who frequently neglect sociability while tending to minute details. In addition, systemizers are attracted to one another.

Just as we’ve been told to eat more fruits and veggies, today there’s news that the same foods are top sources of food poisoning. Salmonella and E. coli are two of the main culprits.

While we have no control over how clean restaurant produce is, we can certainly be sure to scrub and peel in our own kitchens.

A British Columbia researcher was amazed to see the 100-lb octopus on video going after his $200,000 machine. He put the mini-sub in reverse, which sent a volley of sea bottom particles at the octopus, discouraging it from further aggression.

Music from machines, using components of traditional instruments in new ways.

Ophiocoma wendtii, a brittlestar, is covered with tiny lenses that are distortion-free. Researchers hope to capitalize on lessons learned from studying the creature, whose unique eyes may influence the design of optical computers.

Four nations stand behind it - Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Here’s a picture gallery, and at this site, there are mission games and a chance to design and test your own jet.

Stunning forms using Mathematica and various ray-tracing programs.

Last year, faber-castell turned 100. At this site, you can see sculptures made from sharpened castell 9000 pencils. Chairs, tables, and lamps bristling with extremely well-sharpened pencils.

Less than a day after Disney bought Pixar, the creative chief of Pixar, John Lasseter, killed the Toy Story 3 project. Despite Pixar’s opposition, Disney had forged ahead with plans for the sequel. Lasseter has creative control over all the animation from both studios.

Eating more than five fruits and vegetables each day cuts the risk of stroke - up to 26 percent, according to a new study.

Now that beluga and sevruga caviar from the Caspian Sea are banned, hope lies in the roe from spoonfish and rainbow trout in Appalachia.

A 2 oz tin of spoonfish caviar, said to taste like sevruga, goes for $35.

An Australian woman was upset when she found 19 cigarette butts in her box of Kellogg’s Coco Pops.

If it’s clear where you are, Saturn will be seen in the east an hour after sunset. Earth passes between Saturn and the sun today.

My last try at the ribs, while good, was a little lacking in something. I bought two large packages of ribs (not boneless) at Costco the other night, and will be spending part of the weekend experimenting with different recipes.

To this morning’s effort, I’m adding tomatoes.

In the Banda Sea. No tsunami warnings. Via Briefing.com.

Now that both Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron have turned down the role, Thandie Newton has been chosen to play Vesper Lynd.

The patient thought the packaging machine was shut off when she cleaned it. The nine surgeons wanted to make sure that not only were the fingers reattached, but that she would have full use of them as well.

These new surface coatings are made with nanomaterials activated by light. The tiny particles will have oxidising capabilities, which can kill germs and break down harmful substances.

Currently, the coatings react to UVA, so applications only work outdoors. But potential use in hospitals and care institutions, where cleanliness is a priority, will drive the technology forward.

Johns Hopkins University researchers report that the brain needs to see only a fragment of an image to know what that image is. It’s a very complex process, and incredibly fast.

At the University of Pittsburgh, scientists report that the vaccine is 100% effective in chickens and mice.

Their wool goes for 357 times the usual price, being much, much finer than the usual wool produced by sheep who do not listen to opera.

Scotland’s Nutritional Guidance for Early Years is recommending that haggis be served to kids only once per week due to its fatty and salty nature.

Nutritionists are alarmed at the average Scotsman’s poor health, and believe that teaching good eating habits from an early age is part of the answer.

So how long do you take for lunch? Not long enough? Welcome to the club.

It’s all about the work, and looking like you’re a dedicated employee.

Vodaphone and Sony will offer a new customizable streaming music service that lets the user select from 500,000 tracks. It’s called Radio DJ, and will be available in Europe in the spring.

What happens when an important scavenger is brought to the edge of extinction through the use of a cattle drug? In Pakistan, India, and Nepal, diclofenac is routinely used as an anti-inflammatory in cows. When a cow carcass is left to rot, as is customary in those regions, vultures take in the drug while feeding.

Scientists fear that when there are no more vultures, the carcasses will become sites where anthrax can breed.

It would help if my connection problems were over, and I didn’t have to spend the first hour trying to cobble together something that will work.

If only I didn’t have such interesting books (The Widow of the South) that keep me up past a decent bedtime.

Beginning next month, a staffing service will offer robots as options to personnel needs.

Yorisoi ifbot is designed to work in nursing homes, asking residents riddles to keep minds sharp.

Imagine walking into a business to be greeted by the Hello Kitty Robo receptionist, who transmits a picture and voice message to the human employees elsewhere.

Last week, I roasted some beets for a family member. The peel didn’t come off as easily as promised, and before long, the sink looked as though some carnage had occurred. Judging by my vivid hands, I was clearly the perpetrator.

What do beets have going for them? Hardly any fat, for one thing. Iron, magnesium, folic acid, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C. More here.

The image of the ultra-thin Frenchwoman is disappearing. As we bemoaned the increasing weight problems of developed nations, France has been somewhat quiet. When the curious wondered how the average French citizen could stay so sleek despite a diet that included butter and cream, we were told that small portions were key.

Now it seems that we haven’t been getting the full picture.

Researchers in Japan exposed mice to enough tobacco smoke to cause emphysema. The ones given a tomato juice drink during the test period did not develop the disease.

When you travel, are you overwhelmed by how much stuff you have? Perhaps you should take a look at really large duffels, wheeled, of course, to scoot your bulky things from terminal to terminal.

Alternately, if you’re planning a heist of the Ocean’s 11 or 12 sort, these are just what you need. Tom Hanks would not have required three trunks in Joe Versus the Volcano had he bought one of these duffels instead. Whether they would make a seaworthy raft is another matter.

Did you figure out how to use your iPod pretty quickly? Maybe checked the manual once or twice to figure how to recharge the battery? Or did you, as one in-law did, turn it over to a youngster along with your music collection, and say, ‘Put this in there’.

If you have no idea, Selfridges in London will be happy to assist you. Put down your money, and they will instruct in in every aspect of your new toy.

Or, as this article points out, go to the Apple Store where the staff will help you for free.

The tomato-like fruit of Solanum lycocarpum, also known as wolf apple, makes up half of the maned wolf’s diet.

The stuff of protection - razor wire, sharp railings, locks, chains, and motion cameras belong in the no-frills category of products. Till now.

At Sweet Dreams, whose output has been exhibited at MoMa and the London Design Museum, razor wire looks sprightly and whimsical, while the lock sports a teddy bear face. Despite the friendly appearance, the products retain their primary function.

Chronic coughing can disrupt a person’s life, affecting their sleeping, ability to work, and social interactions. One patient suffered for 24 years before finding relief.

There are doctors who specialize in the treatment of coughing, and medical centers that focus on it as well.

Did you leave something at the hospital? Do you want it back? To maybe sell online? Maybe they’ll give it to you, and maybe they won’t.

The neighbor’s pine tree is dispensing its bountiful load of pollen, and until the antihistamines kick in, I’m unable to do much more than try to breathe. The pills make me sleepy, headachy, and grumpy.

I finished The Good Priest’s Son by Reynolds Price last night (very good), and not having much else to read, snuffled and snorted my way to the library after supper. The route there is lined with acacia trees in full bloom, the carpets in the aisles chock full of the tracked-in pollens. I beat a hasty retreat, but not before finding

The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
English as She is Spoke by Jose de Fonseca & Pedro Carolino

The pills will make me sink into a profound stupor, from which it will be difficult to wake. I am sticking to the 5:30 a.m. rising time, because I made the resolution.

Ten entries, one winner - the GMC Pad. But you might want to take a look at the Mercedes Mojave Runner, the hi-res versions.

I’m still sorting through pictures from Steinhart Aquarium.

When the farmer didn’t come home, his wife was led by the dog to where he fell. That’s heartwarming and all, but one line jumps out of the story:

‘Mr. Crowther had broken his pelvis when he fell from a horse he was riding bareback. . .’

He is 90 years old.

When it first rises from a sperm whale’s stomach, it’s soft, and smells awful. As it floats on the ocean, the sun and salt water transform the mass into a smooth, perfumed lump known as ambergris, or ‘floating gold’ that goes for $20 per gram.

New imaging processes lets the viewer see the usually invisible effects of gunshots, explosions, and the complex bursting of a balloon. Article and riveting photos here.

One of my resolutions this year was to rise by 5:30 a.m. and be at my desk before 6:00. Actually, the earlier the better, but these dark winter mornings, it’s very difficult.

I finally managed this morning. But there was no internet connection. I went outside and gazed upward into a mostly clear sky for a short time. Then, I had to come back in to mutter at the efforts to get back online. If I’d known it would take two hours, I would have stayed outside.

The pitohuis is known as a rubbish bird in its native New Guinea. In a surprise discovery, scientists found that the toxins in its dander are the same as those in poison dart frogs half a world away.

Researchers are unsure what the source of the birds’ poison is, and what the exact purpose might be.

It can be a scary place on Sunday morning. But there I was, looking at the tomato seeds. The name ‘Bloody Butcher’ jumped out. Somehow, when I hear such a term, I don’t think of a sturdy-looking Heirloom tomato.

Of course, I bought some seeds. And just so I’ll have a terrible time chasing away the squirrels in late summer, a lot of sunflower seeds as well.

She may be weary, women do get weary. . .

I’ll come back when the vines leaf out. For sure, I’ll stop and have a hot fudge sundae or something appropriate at the Peninsula Creamery nearby.

A team from MIT proposes using a technique based on pleaching, which utilizes the weaving of branches to create structural components. This would take many years. To keep out cold and moisture, they would use a composite of clay and straw. More details involving a water collection system and waste removal are here.

Why are there so many 100-year olds there who seem to keep their mental alertness till they reach 95 at least?

Part of the answer may lie in their daily foods, which include servings of sweet potato, tempeh, oily fish, whole grains, nuts, and greens.

Researchers point out that sweet potato flavonoids encourage the body to go into preservation (as opposed to reproductive) mode.

Is light slowing down? A Portugese cosmologist and a research team from Sydney are out to prove that it is.

It depends on which animal, perhaps, or who’s doing the research. Or maybe ‘personality’ is too human a word.

Scientists steer clear of anthropomorphism. Should another term be invented that describes the familiar traits observed in an octopus, a monkey, a hyena, or a dog?