On the Record

“I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.”

Christian talk-show host Pat Robertson attacks the result of the school-board election in Dover, Pennsylvania, which saw eight proponents of intelligent design lose their seats (see page 267).

“Even if a dynamic physics model suggests cow tipping is possible, the biology ultimately gets in the way.”

Margo Lillie of the University of British Columbia argues that, contrary to popular belief, it is far from easy to tip over a cow.

Sources: Reuters, The Times

Scorecard

Music

Astronauts on the International Space Station get an unusual wake-up call as Paul McCartney becomes the first person to broadcast live music into space.

Espionage

A Russian researcher claims to have found a way to control turtles remotely. The creatures can be used to spy behind enemy lines and even deliver bombs, he says.

Lunar land prospecting

Chinese authorities have shut down a ‘Lunar Embassy’ that sold plots on the Moon for US$37 an acre.

Overhyped

Treatments for bird flu

The threat of an avian flu pandemic has worried many people. As a result, a number of unconventional remedies are being offered as ways to combat the disease. In recent weeks, oil of oregano, colloidal silver and the pickled Korean cabbage known as kimchi have all been touted for their purported flu-fighting properties. None has been proved to work — and none can beat the advice of the experts in the event of a pandemic: just stay at home.