Yummy Wakame Weblog

NewScientist.com: A hydrogen fuel cell that uses enzymes instead of expensive metal catalysts to drive chemical reactions has been developed by UK researchers.

… Researchers from Oxford University in the UK used two enzymes, one harvested from bacteria and the other from fungus, to catalyse the same chemical reactions. Each electrode is coated in one of the two enzymes. The bacterial enzymes break down hydrogen as part of their natural metabolism, and the fungal enzymes naturally combine hydrogen with oxygen – usually to break down wood.

More at NewScientist.com

monster rabbit devours English veggie plots
In a tale reminiscent of the last Wallace and Gromit movie, furious villagers in northeast England have hired armed guards to protect their beloved communal vegetable gardens from a suspected monster rabbit.

BBC: Zimbabwe’s white farmers say they have been invited to apply for land – in an apparent U-turn by the government which has seized their land.

All but 300 of the 4,000 white farmers have been forced off their land since President Robert Mugabe started his “fast-track” land reform in 2000. A farmers’ leader says some 200 applications have already been made and more are coming in.

Critics say the reforms have devastated the economy and led to massive hunger. Much of the formerly white-owned land is no longer being productively used – either because the beneficiaries have no experience of farming or they lack finance and tools. Many farms were wrecked when they were invaded by government supporters.

The government has admitted that the exercise has been beset by corruption. But Mr Mugabe blames Zimbabwe’s economic problems on a plot by Western countries to topple him.But Mr Mugabe blames Zimbabwe’s economic problems on a plot by Western countries to topple him.

“Oggie” is a skater. Like many other skaters, he’s been at it for a long time and can do amazing things like flip the board around under him and slide down big rails. The big difference between him and other skaters is that Oggie doesn’t have the use of his legs. He does everything with his hands.

Check Og in motion.

From one of my favourite authors – whytheluckystiff:

I don’t know how he figured it out, but this one particular 21st century human male discovered that by rubbing his face against a goat’s face, he could produce this ungodly wailing sound that was so loud most people in the countryside thought a village was getting ripped in half. One old man heard the sound through ten stacked windshields he fell asleep underneath. The soundmaker’s name was Jentle and he was a real troublesome guy, always kicking milk pails or running off to making that ungodly sound with the goat. (more…)

Tom Cruise is intending to eat Katie Holmes’ placenta after his fiancée has given birth to their baby.

“I’m gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I’m gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there,” Cruise said in an interview with GQ.

Following his latest statement, the GQ interviewer pointed out that it would be quite a task to eat a placenta as it is rather large.
“OK, maybe I won’t,” the star of the forthcoming ‘Mission: Impossible III’ retorted.

Some believe that eating the placenta helps avoid postnatal depression, although that’s a condition that would apply to the mother — and not the father. Placentophagia, eating the placenta, is practised in many cultures, although it is less common in western society. In 1998 a British TV chef fried a placenta and served it to his guests. Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster took their baby’s placenta home and buried it in their garden.

Check out the slick new Sussex County Cricket club website, for England’s oldest county cricket club – developed by local Brighton agency Solv.it.

Wow this is the best live steaming wildlife cam I’ve seen! That said… eagles don’t get round to doing much:

Thanks Cait.

From whytheluckystiff.net

“Years ago, I lost touch with Arthur Aide, but I just ran into him at the theater. Turns out he got into a huge fight with his girlfriend and she moved out after that. But instead of his heart breaking, his right hand broke. The minute she was gone, it fell to pieces.

So he went to the hospital to get his digits stitched back on and during recooperation he started to reflect on his relationship and he remembered that this distressed hand was often the most committed part of him. It stroked her hair, it wiped the smudges from her chin, it snapped the photos, pushed the button, focused the lens. And often she would remark on how warm his hand was, such that he felt an obligation to run it under the hot faucet prior to their encounters. It really made sense. His hand loved his girlfriend more than he himself did—and its heart had broken. (more…)