On the Record
“This is the National Hurricane Center signing off for 2005...finally.”
A forecaster at the hurricane centre in Miami, Florida, breathes a sigh of relief that Tropical Storm Zeta has finally dissipated, more than a month after the hurricane season ended.
“Like the Loch Ness monster, this can bring some good for our country.”
A tourist official in Malaysia hopes for a flood of visitors now that Bigfoot has apparently been seen there.
Source: National Hurricane Center, Associated Press
Scorecard
Asthma
For once, your mobile phone could be good for your health. Some London-based networks are offering a text-messaging service that alerts asthma sufferers to bad-air days.
Being called Li
A survey of 300 million Chinese people has revealed that the country's most popular surname is Li, a name held by 7.4% of the population. Second and third ranked are Wang and Zhang, held by 7.2% and 6.8% of people, respectively.
Booze in space
A rumour that Russia will bring alcohol aboard the International Space Station is quashed by teetotal NASA.
Number Crunch
A report by Germany's Centre for University Development has led newspaper Die Zeit to suggest that German universities could maybe learn a trick or two from their US counterparts when it comes to raising additional funds.
$540 million was raised by Harvard University in 2003 — the most raised by any US university that year.
$16 million was raised by the University of Mannheim — the most raised in Germany in 2003.
50% of German universities do not do any fundraising at all.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sidelines. Nature 439, 126 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439126a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/439126a