On:

Worms that used to reproduce asexually are now having sex. Why should we care? These are worms that were contaminated by radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, and they can reproduce more efficiently this way. Ukrainian scientists think they’ve changed their sexual behavior in order to increase their chances of survival. This shows that at least some forms of life can adapt to radioactivity, so a nuclear war might wipe out mankind, but life would still survive.
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Flooding in Bangladesh will increase by up to 40% this century as global temperatures rise. Each year, about 1/5 of Bangladesh floods. As global warming increases, sea levels will rise, monsoons become wetter and more intense cyclones will lead to higher tides. Bangladesh is flood-prone because it lies in the delta of three rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. People can grow crops on the land because it is regularly fertilized by nutrient-laden silt from the rivers. But extreme floods are part of life as well, and in 1988 and 1998, over 2/3 of the country was under water at some time.
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First there were threats by terrorists, and bombings of resorts in other countries where Israelis or Americans vacation. Then there was SARS, with warnings not to travel to Asia. Now 31 tourists have been kidnapped from Algeria since February?an alarming number of people to have been taken captive, if that’s what happened to them. The tourists, including 15 Germans and 10 Austrians, weren’t on a guided tour; they were exploring on their own in small groups. They seem to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a cryptic message carved in the sand, and no one has any idea who might have taken them or why.
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Chaos broke out at the Iraq National Museum last week, and it has been stripped of artifacts. While many of these priceless treasures were undoubtedly stolen or destroyed by Muslim extremists who have wanted for years to break up all images in the museum, it remains possible that some of the collection has been carried into hiding by Iraqis who entered the museum on Wednesday with the intention of defending the artifacts. One of the items believed stolen or destroyed was the mysterious and ancient “Baghdad Battery.”
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