Afraid of sharks? Stinging insects kill more: "That whole hyped 'Summer of the Shark' thing last year never really happened, at least not when you look at the cold, hard numbers. Blame it on the media, if you must. Newspapers and TV stations latched onto the shark story in July and August, during a news lull that didn't end until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."
Copy-proof CDs cracked with 99-cent marker pen: "Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker." Thanks Loyd.
How many regular-sized helium-filled balloons would it take to lift someone?. "One balloon that is 30 meters (about 100 feet) in diameter displaces 14,137,000 liters, so it can lift 14,000 kilograms (about 31,000 pounds) -- this is roughly the size of a large blimp."
labs.google.com: "Google labs showcases a few of our favorite ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time. Your feedback can help us improve them. Please play with these prototypes and send your comments directly to the Googlers who developed them."
Weather goes retro: "The weather pattern over much of the country resembles February not May."
Heavy rain causes traffic chaos: "Monsoon rains hit [Bangkok, Thailand] early yesterday morning causing floods and traffic chaos in many areas."
Heat wave death toll goes up to 737: "Thirteen more people have died in the intense heat wave sweeping [India] taking the death toll to 737 so far, 666 of them in worst-hit Andhra Pradesh alone, but some respite was likely with rain forecast in most of the states."
How one creature drives so many species to extinction: "Planet Earth is going through its sixth and probably its most devastating period of mass extinction with scores, and possibly hundreds of species of animals and plants dying out each year. But unlike the previous five extinction waves, this time the culprit is just another lifeform, Homo sapiens."
Busy hurricane season ahead? "The 2002 Atlantic hurricane season could see an above-average number of tropical storms and up to eight hurricanes, U.S. government forecasters said on Monday."