BEIJING – The greatest risk China faces in its historic modernization is the massive imbalance between urban and rural areas, according to the country’s top agriculture official. “The most important and difficult task is to resolve issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers … to realize the agricultural modernization and the urbanization of most farmers,” said Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu […]
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The VEST is the brainchild of Dr. David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He designed the device based on the principles of sensory substitution, the theory that scientists can transmit data gathered by the brain using one sense, and transfer it to another sense. In this case, the VEST translates touch into sound. […]
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Wellfleet, Mass. Over a two week span, more than 85 dolphins had become stranded along the craggy Cape Codcoastline, including 30 in one day, said the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Typically, 120 dolphins beach themselves from January to April, the high season for stranding. They are regularly pulled by extreme tides into the U-shaped Cape Cod Bay, but never […]
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A Louisiana chef had a religious experience when he cut open an eggplant and found the word “God” spelled out by the seeds inside. Line cook Jermarcus Brady was sauteing vegetables at a Baton Rouge restaurant when he sliced the eggplant in half and suddenly saw the “miraculous image.” Brady, a father of four, said his faith had gotten him […]
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If you work at a desk, you should get up on your feet for at least two hours a day to avoid the serious health consequences of prolonged sitting, a panel of scientists has recommended.The average office worker sits for 10 hours a day, then heads home to spend the evening glued to a television or computer screen. A growing […]
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■ Colorado marijuana entrepreneurs have installed the first public vending machine to dispense weed-laced edibles. Only licensed medical marijuana cardholders can buy pot brownies and similar snacks from the giant green dispenser, but company owner Stephen Shearin says of his weed-dispensing machine: “I don’t think we’ve dreamed what it can do yet.”
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The world’s most dedicated Loch Ness monster hunter has scotched reports that has finally given up looking for the legendary Scottish beast after a quarter of a century of searching. Last week, the Times newspaper reported that Steve Feltham, who gave up his job, house and girlfriend 24 years ago to look for the creature full-time, had abandoned his long […]
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If you go to the beach this summer you may come home with some bacteria from the water. Studies show that the water may be contaminated with all sorts of unsafe bacteria. Before rainwater can be absorbed by the ground or evaporated back into the air it travels down to the ocean waters through sewer pipes where it can pick […]
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Scaphism was a method of torture that caused its victims to be eaten to death by bugs. It’s even more horriffic than it sounds. Scaphism, also called “the boats,” was an ancient Persian method of torture and, inevitably, execution. The victim would be placed in a boat, and then another boat would be placed on top. The victim’s feet, head […]
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China’s wealth gap has widened so much that the country now one of the most unequal outside of sub-Saharan Africa. A respected Chinese institute found this week that China’s Gini coefficient, a number that represents income inequality, has soared from 0.41 a decade ago to 0.61 today. Anything over 0.5 is considered to be destabilizing, and South Africa, where opulent […]
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