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Science

Aussie Scientists Find Coconut-Carrying Octopus 205

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from an AP report: "Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot. ... 'I was gobsmacked,' said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. 'I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh.'"
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NASA Tests Flying Airbag 118

coondoggie writes "NASA is looking to reduce the deadly impact of helicopter crashes on their pilots and passengers with what the agency calls a high-tech honeycomb airbag known as a deployable energy absorber. So in order to test out its technology NASA dropped a small helicopter from a height of 35 feet to see whether its deployable energy absorber, made up of an expandable honeycomb cushion, could handle the stress. The test crash hit the ground at about 54MPH at a 33 degree angle, what NASA called a relatively severe helicopter crash."

Comment Americans err on the side of individual freedoms? (Score -1, Troll) 911

I guess that is the reason why people are having so much fun in Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo.... And in Abu Ghraib.... Oh, well, I guess you will use one of your "battle-tested pilot sitting up front" to enforce those individual freedoms (For as long as those are freedom of Yankee invaders stealing petrol and killing women and children). Just grow a brain and keep quiet.

Comment Re:Miranda rights, asshole (Score 1) 210

Moryath,

There are a few things you need to know before you open your mouth:

1.- These people were defending themselves and their country against a foreign invasion that was unjustifiable (Keep on reading before you blast me in an uninformed way) and they have every right to do it.

2.- If you justify the torture done on them, you must also justify the torture on every person (either military or not) done by other parties on any other person captured during a violent incident. I justify neither.

3.- The war on Afghanistan was started on the pretext that the Afghani government (the taliban) was harboring Usama Bin Laden and he was accused of 9/11, however, there is no evidence to that. Even the FBI does not include any actions related to 9/11 in their charges against Bin Laden (You can check yourself at http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm)

4.- The war in Iraq was based in even more pathetic lies by claiming that Saddam Husein had "weapons of mass destruction" and was willing to use them (funny enough, the US has the biggest stock pile of weapons of mass destruction and is the only country so far using nuclear weapons against civilians). After several years of illegal occupation of Iraq while thousands of women and children have been murdered by your heroes, no weapons of mass destruction have been found, that is quite surprising considering that your heroes had satellite photographs of them.

5.- What I have written in the previous four points is based on research and are undeniable facts. I condemn violence regardless of it's origin, unfortunately, these days is always starting from a country that his current (And fortunately not for much longer) idiotic president calls "A beacon for freedom"

Just do a bit of work and think what the US has been doing in the middle east since the second world war, supporting Israel, a country that was illegally created on land stolen from the Palestinians and helping them mass murder civilians. The whole issue is nothing short of repugnant and both the US and Israel owe the whole world an apology.

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