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Photo: Reuters

MosNews reports:

The first Russian museum of erotica is opening in St. Petersburg, Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily reports. The museum is founded by Igor Knyazkin, the chief of the prostate research center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

Knyazkin told the newspaper that museums of sex and erotica exist in many European countries and he wanted Russia to be a civilized country with a view on the future and with correct views on erotica.

There is one exhibit in the museum which makes Knyazkin be especially proud of. This is the 30-centimeter preserved penis of Grigory Rasputin. “Having this exhibit, we can stop envying America, where Napoleon Bonaparte’s penis is now kept. … Napoleon’s penis is but a small “pod” it cannot stand comparison to our organ of 30 centimeters…” the head of the museum said.

(via memepool)
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Credit & Copyright: Neil deGrasse Tyson (AMNH)

Explanation: Today, if it is clear, Manhattan will flood dramatically with sunlight just as the Sun sets precisely on the centerline of every street. Usually, the tall buildings that line the gridded streets of New York City’s tallest borough will hide the setting Sun. This effect makes Manhattan a type of modern Stonehenge, although only aligned to about 30 degrees east of north. Were Manhattan’s road grid perfectly aligned to east and west, today’s effect would occur on the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox, March 21 and September 21, the only two days that the Sun rises and sets due east and west. If today’s sunset is hidden by clouds do not despair — the same thing happens every May 28 and July 12. On none of these occasions, however, should you ever look directly at the Sun.

( Astronomy Picture of the Day via MetaFilter)

Bondage, Inc. by reddoghud for Directors Cut 3 (advanced photoshop contest at Worth 1000)

Cisco CRS-1

Steve Stadland, CIO Today, reports:

Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, which is the world’s fastest router. The Cisco CRS-1 router is aimed at telecommunications carriers who route phone calls over IP networks.

It took Cisco four years, half a billion dollars, and 500 engineers to produce the world’s fastest router, known as the CRS-1. According to the Cisco, the new router represents “the future of communications the most ambitious project the company has ever undertaken.”

The CRS-1 Carrier Routing System is designed for telecommunications carriers to transport voice, data, and video services over a converged Internet Protocol (IP) network.

According to the company, the CRS-1 is a new class of routing system designed to deliver continuous system operation, service flexibility and extended system longevity to telecommunications service providers and research organizations.
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Interfax reports:

Shanghai. (Interfax-China) - The Chinese government has shown an unusually high level of concern as a result of a bold media exposure towards a scandal in which human hair was used to make soy sauce. The government has now ordered an immediate inspection of all domestic food seasoning plants before the end of January.

China Central Television (CCTV), the state television station, first raised public worries over the quality of domestic soy sauce by uncovering a substandard workshop in central China’s Hubei Province, where piles of waste human hair were found. The hairs were treated in special containers to distill amino acid, the most common substance contained in soybean sauce.

Human hair is rich in protein content, just like soybean, wheat and bran, the conventional and legally accepted raw ingredients for the production of soy sauce.

(via BoingBoing)
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Aerials in Nepal bounce the net signal to the villages

BBC Reports:

Yak farmers in the mountains of Nepal are using wireless internet technology to keep in touch with their families.
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FOX News reports:

CHICAGO Habitual marijuana use increased among U.S. adults over the past decade, particularly among young minorities and baby boomers, government figures show.

The prevalence of marijuana abuse or dependence climbed from 1.2 percent of adults in 1991-92 to 1.5 percent in 2001-02, or an estimated 3 million adults 18 and over.

That represents an increase of 800,000 people, according to data from two nationally representative surveys that each queried more than 40,000 adults.

Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate or abuse or dependence remained stable among whites but surged by about 220 percent among black men and women, to 4.5 percent of that population, and by almost 150 percent among Hispanic men, to 4.7 percent.

Among all adults ages 45 to 64, the rate increased by 355 percent, to about 0.4 percent of that population.

[..] Overall use of the drug — that is, casual use and habitual use — remained stable at around 4 percent of adults. [..]
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YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press, reports:

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — A woman believed to be the oldest in the world celebrated her 116th birthday Wednesday in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.

“I’ll drink to my own health with pleasure,” said Hanna Barysevich, a former farm worker who lives in a house outside the Belarusian capital Minsk.

“I’m tired of living already, but God still hasn’t collected me,” she said with a smile.

Barysevich was born on May 5, 1888, in the village of Buda, 37 miles east of Minsk, according to her passport. Her parents were poor, landless peasants.
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The Omaha Channel reports:

OMAHA, Neb. — A large anhydrous ammonia tank helped Sarpy County Sheriff’s deputies bust a suspected methamphetamine lab Tuesday night.

Anhydrous is the key ingredient in meth, and officers spotted a 9,600-gallon tank in front of a house at 151st and Chandler streets. The owners had run a hose from the tank inside the house, according to deputies.

Several arrests were made. No further information was immediately available.
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JIM RUTENBERG, The New York Times, reports:

WASHINGTON, May 4 The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday.

The film, “Fahrenheit 911,” links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis including the family of Osama bin Laden and criticizes Mr. Bush’s actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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The BBC reports:

Coastguard stations around the UK have been severely disrupted after a computer worm brought down IT systems.

The Sasser worm has hit all 19 coastguard stations and the service’s main headquarters, leaving staff reliant on paper maps and pens.

A UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said search and rescue operations were not affected and there was no danger to the public.
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