Blame it on the Squirrels

At Riverside Golf Course in Edmonton, Alberta, golfers are increasingly seeing squirrels "sprint from the bush, scoop golf balls from the green, and run off with them." A convenient excuse for playing poorly, perhaps?

The Smelly Power of Vinegar

Who knew regular household vinegar can kill poison ivy?  Vinegar is also useful in neutralizing the odors in wood.  Here are some more ideas to help you get rid of your vinegar.

Good News for Idaho...

EMTs with the Clinton City Fire Department in Utah are using a new FDA approved powder made from potatoes that "instantly stops traumatic bleeding at the site of wounds." The potato powder can't react adversely with the body and "works as a sponge, removing the water properties of the blood, allowing the blood to become concentrated with the important ingredients that actually help blood to clot."

Clean Cheese: Bacteria-Killing Countertops

New countertops are being developed by researchers at Penn State University and PPG Industries that combine titanium dioxide with ultraviolet light to "rip apart the chemical bonds of bacteria." The substance "destroys any organic molecules it touches, including dirt." Here's a little known fact, humans are made of organic molecules. I'm assuming this is safe and won't "destroy" the organic molecules in, say, my fingers, if I touch the countertop.

Counters would be coated with a thin layer — about 80,000 times thinner than a human hair — of the new chemical compounds. When hit by ultraviolet rays from lights, the coating would produce electrically charged particles that rip apart the chemical bonds of bacteria. The slightly charged coating would also be chemically slippery, preventing bacteria from sticking to the surface.

U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., is working to secure a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help PPG and Penn State accelerate the development of this technology and bring it to market as quickly as possible.

"It's something that is so new and so cutting edge that it deems us looking at it, especially in light of the recent" food outbreaks in western Pennsylvania," Hart said.

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When a House Just Won't Do...

Not satisfied with your tiny 3,000 square foot home? You could have this company build you an authentic-looking and realistically-built castle instead, complete with "great hall" and "village."

The Death Star? No, It's Saturn's Moon

NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this picture of Saturn's moon, Mimas, on July 3. Needless to say, it bears a striking resemblance to the Death Star of Star Wars fame.

Real Cheese? Optical Illusions

Like this picture shows, we don't always see what's really there (the image is made of straight lines and equal squares). Check out the other optical illusions on this page.

Say Cheese: The Smiling Car

Four Toyota developers in Japan have invented a car that can "help drivers communicate better by glaring angrily at another car cutting through traffic as well as appear to cry, laugh, wink, or just look around." They want to make driving more entertaining while also cutting down on incidents of road rage.

A Real-Life 'Home Alone'

Janice Gentry took action when she discovered that burglars had removed belongings from her home, stashed them in her SUV, and then left to get another vehicle. She tied a fishing line from her SUV to a bicycle in her garage, and she was alerted to the burglars return when the bike came crashing down. She called the police, blocked the burglars in her driveway with her car, and the burglars were all arrested.