Scorecard

Australian lightbulbs

Credit: A. PATERSON/ALAMY

Australia, yet to sign the Kyoto Protocol, has boosted its green credentials by pledging to replace all conventional lightbulbs with energy-efficient ones.

DVD games

A new game called Body Mechanics aims to teach kids about healthy lifestyles by battling the evil Col Esterol and his cronies — while sitting in front of the television.

On the record

Credit: N. EMM/ALAMY

“Red hot ... Better performance. Better price.”

The caption accompanying a picture of a scantily clad female model featured in an advert for optical company Edmund Optics. Offended scientists of both sexes have accused the firm of insulting the scientific community.

“I always knew that a geek would make a great husband.”

Minneapolis resident Melinda Kimberly, who retrieved her stolen laptop because her husband was using it to run the alien-hunting SETI@home software. The program revealed the laptop's location when it checked in with SETI's server.

Number crunch

£18,000 (roughly US$35,000) was spent by the UK Ministry of Defence in 2002 to investigate the potential use of psychic powers to detect hidden objects.

12 self-proclaimed psychics declined to participate in the research, meaning the ministry had to rely on novice volunteers.

1 participant fell asleep during the study, which ultimately concluded that psychic techniques are of “little value”.

Sources: news.com.au, Associated Press, Cosmic Variance, BBC