A father in central China has been refused permission to name his son ‘@’.

The dad wanted to name his son after keyboard character that appears in every email address, arguing it was now in common usage.

But officials in Zhengzhou, Henan province, refused to register the name on a legal technicality, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Under [...]

Metphomod is a 3D visualization tool for modeling meteorology and atmospheric chemistry — that is, smog. It was used to study pollution patterns in Europe in the late 1990s, with a particular focus on the air chemistry over Grenoble and over the Swiss canton of Obwalden. The illustration at right is from work done in [...]

The Japanese researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto, is the author of many books concerning the phenomenon of ‘ Hado’. The two ideograms comprising this expression Hado (pronounced hadou to rhyme with shadow) literally mean “wave” and “move”. This following definition is how Dr. Emoto himself describes the phenomenon, which led him to a series of remarkable [...]

In the not-so-distant future, your wristwatch could stop you if you try to run out the door without the necessities you need for the day, like your keys, wallet or cell phone.

At work, it could prompt you for important items needed for a meeting or a business lunch. In an academic setting, it could remind [...]

IBM and United Arab Emirates University jointly developed a “smart box” telematics system that can warn drivers if they’re breaking the speed limit, record actions taken during an accident and even issue speeding tickets to offenders. The system combines cellular, GPS and voice recognition technologies to provide totalitarian control of the driving populus. Oh, and [...]

It’s been two years since President Bush declared that in Afghanistan, “Today, women are free.” But that’s news to the inmates.

Then there is Sohailla, 18, who says she was kidnapped for three days by the family of a young man who wanted to marry her (the police suspect that she went to his house voluntarily). [...]

FISHING APPARATUS, WILLIAM R. LAMB, patented february 20, 1894,

SALUTING DEVICE, JAMES C. BOYLE, patented march 10, 1896

FINGERTIP TOOTHBRUSH, US patent 5,875,513 / issued 1999

INSTANT FACE LIFT, US patent 4,995,379 / issued 1991

‘butter stick’ (not patented), 1995

‘food cooler’ (not patented), 1997

‘drymobile’ (not patented), 1997

If that peculiar question ever crossed your mind-seek professional help ! But if you really want to know, you can visit Sulabh in New Delhi, India or just browse this website where they brings the museum onto your screens, virtually.

Photo: King Louis XIII and Louis the XIV used to give audience while using the toilet. [...]

I have 5 gmail invites left. The first 5 people to leave a comment with their email address can have them. No random gift or good deed necessary consider it a “Thank You” for reading.

In June 2002, the police say, members of a high-status tribe sexually abused one of Ms. Mukhtaran’s brothers and then covered up their crime by falsely accusing him of having an affair with a high-status woman. The village’s tribal council determined that the suitable punishment for the supposed affair was for high-status men to rape [...]