Toucan’s bill is hot stuffBirds’ bills are not “dead tissues” and actually help them regulate body temperature. And a toucan can change its beak temperature by up to 10 Celsius degrees within a few minutes.
July, 2009
In the eclipse’s shadow
On July 22, 2009, the Moon’s shadow engulfed Taiwan and a large swath of southeastern China and the Pacific Ocean during an unusually long total eclipse of the Sun. NASA has the images.
What caused the sub-prime crisis?
In a three part series, Obamanomics author John Talbott and former chief IMF economist Simon Johnson spread the blame far and wide.
Did the NYT Co. really pull a profit?
The NYT Co. reports that it has defied the current media and economic climate by making a profit last quarter. And it did… technically. But they did so by cutting spending and raising prices.
Could Tasmania become a party pooper?
The Beltana branch of Tasmania’s ALP has a radical plan to curb under-age drinking and violence: replace 18th and 21st bashes with community “rite of passage” celebrations and milestone certificates.
Video of the Day: Fast food Gwyneth-style
Gwyneth Paltrow, the next Martha Stewart, makes her own “fast food”: roast chicken with a farmers’ market salad (including arugula, English peas that taste like “candy” and champagne vinegar).
End of the road for Einfeld
Marcus Einfeld, the one-time Federal Court judge whose career was undone by a speeding fine, has now been struck off the roll of legal practitioners. Read how it unravelled here (Clive James’ piece is particularly eloquent).
The Politico on Charlie Rose
Politico’s editors and publisher pat themselves on the back while discussing the death of newspaper in an interview on Charlie Rose.
Constructing the NYTimes.com‘s home page
The art of constructing a newspaper front page is a time-honoured craft, but what happens when papers go online? New York Times editors discuss the science — or lack thereof — behind one of the world’s most visited home pages.
101 salads in 5 pages
101 — count ‘em — creative and simple salad recipes by the NYT’s resident foodie, Mark Bittman. Serious food pr0n ahead.
Wall Street’s sick culture of simultaneity
Wall Street worker-turned-anthropologist Karen Ho has written an “ethnography of Wall Street” and says a culture of temporary cost-cutting has crippled the US economy.
Unemployment around the world
This visual representation of unemployment trouble-spots around the globe shows Australia isn’t doing all that badly, comparatively speaking.
The Birthers: who are they and what do they want?
A new movement amongst US conservatives is growing (or at least growing in hype): the Birthers, folk who believe Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya and is thus not a legitimate president. But just who are they? And when are they going away?
Bush and Cheney’s final hours
TIME tells the tale of the tumultuous final hours of the Bush presidency, as Dubbya and VP Dick Cheney butted heads over whether to grant a pardon to Cheney’s former chief of staff and convicted felon, Scooter Libby.
Boeing’s toxic corporate culture
With every lie and evasion that Boeing utters about its 787 Dreamliner, the story becomes less about an airliner than the wider issue of corporate cultural failure, says Ben Sandilands
Abbott: This ETS shall come to pass
The government’s Emissions Trading Scheme is poor policy, says Tony Abbott in an op-ed for The Oz, but the Coalition would risk making it even worse by blocking it in the Senate.
ALSO
Breakfast Media Wrap: Shock! Horror! Probe! Bid! Footballers behaving badly!
The pick of this morning’s media.
Why are we seeking terrorism advice from Singapore?
The man with whom Attorney General Robert McClelland recently meet to discuss anti-terrorism strategies, the Singaporean Minister for Security Professor Jayakumar, is not a big believer in universal human rights, writes Greg Barns.
To embrace Palestine, embrace Sharia Law
Israel and the US can peacefully coexist with Palestine, say Osama Abu-Irshaid and Paul Scham, but to do so, they must understand Sharia Law, which is at the heart of Hamas’ every move.
Twitter is now a job qualification
Job seekers in the media and marketing industry are now increasingly expected to be expert Twitter users, with some roles requiring applicants to have a minimum number of followers on the service. Bonus points for 140-character resumes?
On TV, teen sex will always end in tears — or death
Just once, can TV producers let two young people have sex with no shock pregnancies, miscarriages, screaming arguments, deaths by car-crash, drowning or rogue flight of stairs? pleads Clem Bastow.
Robert Capa’s iconic Spanish War photo a fake?
Spanish newspaper El Periodico claims to have proven the Magnum founder and war photographer Robert Capa’s famous Spanish Civil War ‘falling soldier’ picture was set up.
Is the media ready to embrace the Twitter-sized press release?
Media tweet-aggregating site Muck Rack has launched a new service for PR pros to publish one-line press releases, up to 130 characters long, at a rate of $1 per character. But is the media world ready to pay more for less?
5 gum: chewy for blokes
Masticating just got manly, with Wrigley’s latest addition to the gum world: 5. Andrew Tijs looks at how the company has taken something so seemingly benign, and branded it butch.
The business of gossip
Janice Min reflects on six years at the helm of US Weekly magazine, and how the public’s relationship with celebrities has changed markedly in that time alongside the rise of “celebrity journalism”.
