The Inane Asylum

I know I've been doing a lot of science posts, but I had to post about this one. It's just creepy. But I guess Ronnie Lott could have used it.

from theaustralian.news.com.au:

It's a miracle: mice regrow hearts

SCIENTISTS have created "miracle mice" that can regenerate amputated limbs or damaged vital organs, making them able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.

The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.

And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.

Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine.

...

The research leader, Ellen Heber-Katz, professor of immunology at the Wistar Institute, a US biomedical research centre, said the ability of the mice at her laboratory to regenerate organs appeared to be controlled by about a dozen genes.

Professor Heber-Katz says she is still researching the genes' exact functions, but it seems almost certain humans have comparable genes.

Forget regenerating mice! More important to society is the news that Frankenstein prefers Burger King over McDonalds...

Around 11:20pm ET, on the program "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast", Chris Rock, just before introducing the next band, muttered under his breath, "George Bush hates midgets."

That Bush is a son of a bitch.

The mix doesn't sound all too appealing to me, but I guess people must have drank it...and still do 5,000 years later...

From agi.it:

The first cocktail ever was made in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago, using wine, beer, apple juice and honey. Patrick McGovern defined the mix as "grog", an archaic drink in the United States is sold as the "Midas Touch".

According to a survey done by Playboy magazine, 54% of college girls would cheat on their boyfriends to sleep with Brad Pitt. Nothing surprising there. But 57% of college girls polled said they would sleep with Angelina Jolie.

I knew that saying about college girls was true...

Also in the survey:

* 26 percent of the gals would sleep with Justin Timberlake.

* 23 percent have the hots for Britney Spears, the same percentage that would usher Usher into their bed.

* 20 percent would say “oh yes” to The O.C. star Adam Brody.

* 12 percent want to spend a night in Paris Hilton.

* Finally, Beyonce Knowles - four percent of co-eds said they want to sleep with her.

Google has release Google BlogSearch beta. Their index isn't too big yet, but it's growing fast.

Seems like the Inane Asylum is indexed.

from espn.com:

Shaq helps Miami police make arrest

Shaquille O'Neal provided an assist to police over the weekend, trailing a man who allegedly assaulted a gay couple before alerting an arresting officer.

The 7-foot-1 Miami Heat center, who is in the process of becoming a Miami Beach reserve officer, was driving on South Beach around 3 a.m. Sunday. He saw a passenger in a car yell anti-gay slurs at the couple, who were walking, said Bobby Hernandez, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department.

The man then got out of the car and threw a bottle, hitting one of the pedestrians, who was not seriously hurt. The man got back in the car, which sped off. O'Neal followed, flagging down an officer who made an arrest, Hernandez said.

Michael Gonzalez, 18, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon. The driver of the car was not charged.

O'Neal, who hopes to be a police chief or county sheriff one day, was already being fitted for his Miami Beach police uniform before he helped the police out.

"For this incident I don't want to be credited as an individual who does police work," O'Neal said in a statement. "I want to be credited as a Miami Beach police officer."

This is great. I wish I had the audio from ESPN Radio from when they were talking about this. They were saying imagine getting pulled over by Shaq, and hearing his voice on the loud speaker. Then they played the tail end of the quote of Shaq saying, "Every time I get fouled hard, I have a legitimate reason to turn around and punch you in the face."

For those of you who grew up playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out like I did, you should get a kick out of this:

The Return of Little Mac, a short movie for Punch-Out fans.

And for those of you feeling really nostalgic, you can play the emulated version on-line:
NESCafe's Mike Tyson's Punch Out

You can also play the equally fun, commercially exploited version:
Frusion Breakfast Brawl

And in related news, Millions of Games is a social bookmarking service for flash, shockwave and java games although any type of game can be added, such a MMORPGs or downloadable games.

They have a pretty large collection, although they seem to be missing what jsmooth and I would consider one of the best:
Monkey Curling

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?

Number Two: Dolphins.

Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.

Number Two: They're armed with toxic dart guns.

Dr. Evil: Are they military trained?

Number Two: Absolutely.

Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

From guardian.co.uk:

Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.