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“April showers bring May flowers”?but do they also bring earthquakes? There seemed to be no connection to these two phenomena?until now.

In New Scientist, Michael Reilly report on the research of Lizet Christiansen, who works for the US Geological Survey. She analyzed over five thousand low to medium-strength earthquakes that occurred from 1984 to 2005 along the San Andreas fault and found that they INCREASED from August to January, about five months after the rains stopped.
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We’ve reported on why baby bottles are dangerous for boys. Now we’ve discovered another danger for growing boys: tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a substance from Australia that is found in drinks, lotions and shampoos commonly sold in health food stores. Doctors have discovered that it can lead to gynecomastia (male breast enlargement) in boys. This condition sends more men to plastic surgeons that almost any other problem. Lavender oil can also cause this condition.
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We’re all nervous about the fact that Iran and North Korea may have nuclear warheads?so much so, that some countries are considering preliminary strikes against Iran. We know from the Valerie Plame affair that governments often have reasons to lie about the types of weapons they?or other governments?have actually built or stockpiled. What we need is a good way to track the illicit trade in nuclear material, so we can decide exactly what weapons each country actually has.
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New biofuels technology can turn virtually any fat source, including vegetable oils and animal fat, into fuel to power jet airplanes. Soon we may not just be recycling or glass, paper and cans, we’ll be recycling our cooking oil as well!

Researcher William Roberts says, “We can take virtually any lipid-based feedstock, or raw material with a fat source?including cooking grease?and turn it into virtually any fuel. And we’re not competing directly with the food supply, like ethanol-based fuels that are made from corn.” The current emphasis on ethanol has raised food prices in countries like Mexico, which are dependent on corn. There is no soot or particulate matter associated with fuel from fats, so it helps reduce pollution.
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