Acid Rain good?

Mummy of big-bottomed dinosaur found

The mummified remains of a huge crested duck-billed dinosaur – the Hadrosaur – have recently been discovered, preserved by a series of freak occurences: acidic waterlogged sediments formed around the fallen beast triggering a rapid deposit of minerals and trapping organic molecules before they decayed.
The creature which lived (and died) 67 million years ago may well shake scientists’ conception of how dinosaurs looked and moved, because the herbivore was longer and had more stripes – and a bigger bottom – than previously realised.
“Big Bum” is about 25 percent larger than previously thought and changes in the size of its scales imply that it may have had an almost striped camouflage pattern rather like a tapir today.
More widely spaced vertebrae than assumed suggest the beast was around one yard longer than traditional 25-30 ft estimates.
So, acid rain – good or bad? Just think, all those taxis rattling around  without exhausts in Liverpool may well be accidentally helping to preserve remains of the human race while destroying the ecosystem!

“No, no, be honest – does my bum REALLY look big to you?”

Bit of a bore

Surgeon uses DIY drill to remove brain tumour

By Stephen Adams

Last Updated: 9:35am GMT 17/03/2008

A leading brain surgeon used a £30 DIY drill to carry out a successful operation on a fully conscious patient.
Henry Marsh used a Bosch PSR960 cordless drill because he did not have his normal equipment on him.
The do-it-yourself 9.6 volt drill cost one thousand times less the price of his preferred tool – a £30,000 compressed air medical drill.
But Mr Marsh had to use the Bosch because he was on a trip to Ukraine in Eastern Europe to help people let down by a vastly inadequate health system.
Halfway through the operation to remove the tumour from Marian Dolishny’s head, the power ran out.
His patient was only given local anaesthetic because he could not find a fully trained anaesthetist.
However, he said this gave him the reassuring benefit of being able to talk to his patient, to ensure that he was not inflicting brain damage.

Daily Telegraph