Could Clouds be Zapped by Laser to Stop it Raining? Scientists to Discuss Plans to Control the Weather

Photo Credit: Glenn Copus

Photo Credit: Glenn Copus

We may have all dreamt of zapping away the rainclouds when it’s damp and miserable outside. But it seems that one day, the dream could actually come true.

Scientists are hopeful that lasers could be used to guarantee a cloudless sky – and will gather next month to discuss the possibility of shooting pulses of light into the heavens to control the weather.

In laboratory tests Swiss researchers have succeeded in using the technology to promote cloud formation. In theory, it could be used to trigger rainfall far out at sea or over uninhabited land – and keep it away from a major event.

The technique has also been used to control lightning, with the long-term aim of diverting it away from built-up areas.
Controlling the weather has been attempted before, most famously during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when scientists apparently fired chemicals into the sky to disperse cloud for the opening ceremony.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dunkin’ Donuts Apologises for ‘Bizarre and Racist’ Thai Advert

Photo Credit: Dunkin' Donuts

Photo Credit: Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts has apologised after it ran an advertisement in Thailand featuring a woman in “blackface” make-up. The advert, which was used to promote the donut giant’s “charcoal donut”, was called “bizarre and racist” by a leading human rights group.

Dunkin’ Donuts chief executive in Thailand defended the campaign, but a spokesman for Dunkin’ Brands told the Guardian on Friday it would immediately pull a planned television spot featuring the imagery.

“Dunkin’ Donuts recognizes the insensitivity of this spot and on behalf of our Thailand franchisee and our company, we apologize for any offense it caused,” Karen Raskopf, chief communications officer for Dunkin’ Brands, said in a statement provided to the Guardian. “We are working with our franchisee to immediately pull the television spot and to change the campaign.”

The Thai arm of Dunkin’ Donuts had planned a poster and television campaign around the image, which it shared on Facebook. The advert shows a woman apparently wearing dark make-up and bright pink lipstick, with a 1950s beehive hairstyle. She is holding a “charcoal donut”, out of which a bite has been taken. The slogan next to the image reads: “Break every rule of deliciousness.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Naked Juice Forced to Give Customers up to $75 Each after Settling $9m Class-Action

Photo Credit: Amazon

Photo Credit: Amazon

Naked Juice fans who bought bottles could get up to $75 in payments from a $9 million class action settlement fund after plaintiffs questioned the company’s claims of labels including ‘100 percent juice’ and ‘all natural’.

ABC News reports that customers who purchased eligible Naked Juice flavors between Sept. 27, 2007 and Aug. 19, 2013 can send in a claim form online at Nakedjuiceclaims.com or mail it by Dec. 17, 2013.

Those who have proof of purchase are entitled to a cash payment of up to $75.

Without proof, customers can claim up to $45 – depending on how much they spent on the juice.

Naked Juice, founded in 1983, helped put mass-produced green smoothies in the map.

Read more from this story HERE.

First Human Brain-to-Brain Interface (+video)

Photo Credit: University of Washington

Photo Credit: University of Washington

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.

Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stocco on the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard.

While researchers at Duke University have demonstrated brain-to-brain communication between two rats, and Harvard researchers have demonstrated it between a human and a rat, Rao and Stocco believe this is the first demonstration of human-to-human brain interfacing.

“The Internet was a way to connect computers, and now it can be a way to connect brains,” Stocco said. “We want to take the knowledge of a brain and transmit it directly from brain to brain.”

The researchers captured the full demonstration on video recorded in both labs. The following version has been edited for length. This video and high-resolution photos also are available on the research website.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gigantic Cat Prowls Detroit Neighborhood and Has Residents More than a Little Afraid (+video)

Photo Credit: WJBK-TV

Photo Credit: WJBK-TV

This Motor City cat doesn’t purr; it hisses, observers say.

And it’s no kitten; it’s said to stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, believe it or not, and is lanky with a long tail.

If you think it’s hanging out at the Detroit Zoo, think again.

It’s hunkering down in a neighborhood…and the residents are afraid of what the giant feline might do if, for example, an inquisitive toddler approaches it.

“His tail is longer than my arm,” Antwaun Asberry, a 6-foot-5 resident, told the Detroit Free Press. “I was like, what the [expletive].. I don’t know what it is. I just want it gone.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Baby who Allegedly Catches Fire to be Monitored by Child Rights Activists (+video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

Rahul – the baby whose parents claim has spontaneously burst into flames four times since his birth – will continue to be monitored by child rights activists in Chennai, India until the mystery of his condition can be solved, the Times of India reported.

The Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) will house the 3-month-old infant, along with his mother, in a safe place for an unspecified number of days. Though the ICCW does not intend to investigate Rahul’s case, the organization will provide counseling for the parents to find out more about their condition and their intentions for their child.

Read more from this story HERE.

Razor Sales Dropping Precipitously as World Embraces the “Scruffy Look”

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Blame George Clooney, Brad Pitt, David Beckham and the rest of the facial hair-loving celebs. Blame hipster girls fawning over bearded musicians. Blame the modern caveman movement with its paleo diet and DIY ethos.

Whatever you blame, there’s no doubt that scruffy faces — and full-on beards — have been making a comeback. So much so that North American razor sales are way down, and an increasing number of British men are getting — wait for it — facial hair transplants.

Procter & Gamble, which owns shaving giant Gillette, recently announced that its razor sales are falling in developed markets. Energizer’s Schick razor has also taken a recent hit, with sales dropping 10 percent in the last year. Market research firm Euromonitor International predicts that in 2013, shaving products are expected to lose their dominance in the larger male grooming market for the first time ever.

“The vogue for stubble, the relative non-hairiness of Chinese men, growing acceptance of the unshaven look in the workplace and, most importantly, the ever increasing cost of shaving have all been damaging to men’s shaving and Gillette alike,” Nicole Tyrimou, an analyst at Euromonitor International, wrote recently. “Over the medium to long term, the desire for an unshaven look is expected to continue, especially in Western Europe where increasing unemployment coupled with stubble being in vogue will continue to damage growth of razors and blades.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Donald Trump, ‘Trump University’ in $40 Million Lawsuit for ‘Deception at Every Stage’; Trump Says Suit is Political Extortion

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

New York’s attorney general sued Donald Trump for $40 million Saturday, saying the real estate mogul helped run a phony “Trump University” that promised to make students rich but instead steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars, and even failed to deliver promised apprenticeships.

Trump shot back that the Democrat’s lawsuit is false and politically motivated.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says many of the 5,000 students who paid up to $35,000 thought they would at least meet Trump but instead all they got was their picture taken in front of a life-size picture of “The Apprentice” TV star.

“Trump University engaged in deception at every stage of consumers’ advancement through costly programs and caused real financial harm,” Schneiderman said. “Trump University, with Donald Trump’s knowledge and participation, relied on Trump’s name recognition and celebrity status to take advantage of consumers who believed in the Trump brand.”

But Trump’s attorney accused Schneiderman of trying to extort campaign contributions from the real estate mogul through his investigation of Trump. Attorney Michael D. Cohen told The Associated Press on Saturday that Schneiderman’s lawsuit was filled with falsehoods. Cohen said Trump and his university never defrauded anyone.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Sportswriter who Blogged his Suicide

Photo Credit: CNN

Photo Credit: CNN

Martin Manley hated waking up early, but on his 60th birthday he did — or more likely, never went to sleep the night before.

At 5 a.m. he entered a police station parking lot in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, walked to a spot beneath a tree on its far south end and pulled out his phone.

He dialed 911.

He said this:

“I want to report a suicide at the south end of the parking lot of the Overland Park Police Station at 123rd and Metcalf.”

Then, the blogger and former sports reporter for the Kansas City Star pulled out his Saturday Night Special, a .380 pistol, and shot himself in the head.

Read more from this story HERE.

Levin: Republican Party Stands for Mush (+video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

Mark Levin: “The issue is ‘are you going to have a civil war that’s going to hurt the Republican Party.’ The issue is ‘What’s right for America?’…I want a 1980 a 1984 those were the administrations I served under where I saw a conservative Republican president who knew what he was doing, who took on the establishment. And the Republican Party after he left lurched back to its neo-statist roots…. So what the hell are the Republicans going to run on? …

Read more from this story HERE.