Science Round-Up, 2/2/04

Making War Zones Pretty Again – Reference BBC News

This week, scientists have come up with a plant the can detect the presence of landmines.

Plants developed by Copenhagen firm Aresa Biodetection are said to turn from green to red when they come in contact with explosives in the soil.

This follows in the footsteps of the decending evolutionary chain of searchers. First we had dogs sniffing about. Then, we trained bees of all things to locate mines. Now plants. The option of sending the idiots responsible for planting them is still on the drawing board however.

The benefits of this new decetion method is obvious. They are pletiful and easy to plant, as you can spread a large area with a crop duster. And in a few weeks, you’ll have a general area of where a land mine could be. And since it’s a variation of Cress, you’ll have a nice garnish when you eat it on the battlefield!

And speaking of vegetables…

Man With More Than A Few Bugs in His Hard Drive – Reference BBC news

Jon Blake Cusack, from Holland, Michigan, told local newspapers the US practice of adding “Junior” or “II” after a boy’s name was too common.

So, when his son was born last week, he decided on the name Jon Blake Cusack 2.0, as if he were a software upgrade.

Yep, that pretty much sums itself up.

Later in the article, the father got all excited at the possibility of his grandson being termed 3.0. That would, however, require 2.0 getting past beta testing. But with a name like that, I doubt he’d get past grade school with his RAM intact.