17 Jun 2006
Rat study shows dirty better than clean

More proof that while cleanliness may be next to godliness, it's also next to asthma, allergies and superbugs.

I think the real key here is moderation: there are certainly legitimate uses for antibiotics and antibacterials, but there's also a habit we've developed of overusing them. Balance is the answer, in this as in so many other pressing environmental issues.

AP - Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy antiseptic labs, two studies indicate. The lesson for humans: Clean living may make us sick.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

11:45 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Knife amnesty nets 17,700 weapons

What's next for the Brits? Banning cricket bats?

Over 17,700 weapons are handed in during the first week of the national knives amnesty.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

11:40 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

A New Technique to Quickly Erase Hard Drives

Good old permanent magnets, albeit of a new design, were what finally did the trick. Fascinating stuff, especially that crushed drives could be reconstructed for data. Somebody's got a lot more patience than I do, that's for sure!

Stories about 'wiped' hard drives appearing on eBay (and other channels) and being stuffed with personably-identifiable data are legion; rarer are spy planes having to land on enemy territory, but it happened in 2001 to a US spy plane over an un-declared enemy (China, and that's a topic in itself). Dark Reading reports the development of a technique to securely wipe a hard drive in seconds, and which is safe for flying. (The safe for flying criterion rules out things like fun with packing the drives in thermite. Also thermiting the drives may not erase the platters to the standard required, which is moderately interesting itself.

(link) [Slashdot]

11:39 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link