Master Race, Disaster Race
Someone's been getting a little too excited about his science fiction. London School of Economics evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry has said that HG Wells's classic work The Time Machine may be a good description of our future as a species. The Bravo Evolution Report, which the British men's television station Bravo commissioned of Curry for its 21st anniversary, predicts that in 100,000 years, selective mating may have split our species into two sub-species. One will be "tall, thin, symmetrical, clean, healthy, intelligent, and creative;" and the other will be "short, stocky, asymmetrical, grubby, unhealthy and less intelligent." These poles bear a shocking resemblance to Wells's graceful and intelligent Eloi and his robust, savage, underground-dwelling Morlocks. But biologists don't seem to buy Curry's theory. They say that major gene flow between all populations of humans will prevent us from subspeciating. Also, they say, we cannot predict which traits will afford greatest reproductive success in our future, since it's still unclear what traits are associated with favorable outcomes. Curry fully admits that the Bravo Evolution Report was a "think piece," not a scientific study, and that its main goal was to introduce some basic evolutionary principles to a popular audience, not to foretell our ultimate fate.
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Blood, Sweets, and Tears
Mosquitoes are learning the lesson that Hansel and Gretel learned generations ago: beware of that sweet tooth. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have exploited the poor blood-sucking insects' taste for all things sweet and sprayed acacia trees with a sucrose solution spiked with Spinosad, an oral insecticide. By spraying in an oasis of trees that flower throughout the year, the team managed to eliminate almost the entire mosquito population. The results are published in the International Journal for Parasitology. Luckily for us human fruit-lovers, the insecticide has low toxicity to birds and mammals, so the researchers say it can be safely used to wipe out the insects. They suggest that sugar-coated poison could also be useful in sub-Saharan Africa, where the technique might halt the spread of malaria and save lives.
Hip To Waste
In the name of all that is right and good, don't drink the water. The U.K. is experiencing a long-term shortage of drinking water, and the Institution of Civil Engineers has bit the bullet, suggesting the nation turn to the water-source-that-must-not-be-named: treated sewage. In a report issued on Oct. 17, the ICE said that, among other solutions, Britain should pursue relatively untapped sources of water, such as "effluent reuse." And though recycled water may seem a far cry from Evian, the company Essex & Suffolk Water has been following the maxim "what goes out must go in" since 2003. Sewage is clarified, filtered and disinfected before it is returned to rivers, where it is further purified before it comes out of your tap. While the stuff is totally safe, some people, um, pooh-pooh the idea—Australians are protesting the measure in their own country. So the U.K.'s Consumer Council for Water has said that the country should probably fix its leaking pipes before they resort to stuffing them with lots of crap.
Threat Down
During an August trip to Russia, his majesty Juan Carlos I of Spain reportedly slew a bear named Mitrofan with a single bullet. While we might normally gaze with admiration at the Spanish king's manliness, Russia's Vologda region has begun an inquiry into reports that hunt organizers provided a bear that was both tame and drunk on classic Russian vodka. By allegedly feeding the bear vodka-soaked honey and forcing it out of its cage, the organizers assured that the king would feel like he was shooting fish in a barrel. Enormous, sharp-toothed, furry fish in a barrel. The king's spokeswoman fully denies the incident. Hm, I know a few bears who might have some advice for the king of Spain.