Watercooler Sensation

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Because We Can Always Use More Rodents…Scientists Clone Mouse Sperm

• Yesterday, we told you all about how super-stressed out people tend to have trouble having kids. [MIC CHECK]
• Today, continuing with the fertility fun, we’re here to report that scientists at CornellUniversity have successfully cloned a mouse sperm, possibly paving the way for similar treatments in humans that could help men with low sperm counts to become fathers. [BBC]
• How did they do it? Single healthy mouse sperm + generic mouse egg with no genetic material = new sperm! Sounds simple enough, but researchers say it’ll be a while before they can even think about a similar procedure for humans.
• There are also a few kinks that need to be worked out. Some of the mice born from cloned sperm were “abnormal,” and scientists also want to monitor future generations to see if any more weirdness shows up later.
• Still, this is definitely a big deal. One in seven couples experience fertility problems with their first pregnancy attempts, and sperm cloning could provide a solution to the 40% of these cases that result from problems with sperm.
• However, the idea of cloning weirds people out, including some lawmakers. A similar procedure in humans, were it developed, might not be made available for legal or ethical reasons.

The breakthroughs just keep on coming. Goooo scientists!

Enjoy Cheap Gas While It Lasts

• Consider it a holiday treat from Lucifer and his minions over there at Exxon Mobile: Gas prices have been dropping, even as American families pack up their cars and rev up the engines for Fourth of July road trips. [LA Times]
• Gasoline at U.S. pumps averaged $2.95 a gallon yesterday, according to Heathrow, Florida-based AAA. That’s down from the May 21 peak of $3.22. And that’s good news for a whole lotta people. Of the 41.1 million people who are expected to travel for the holiday, 84% of them will be driving. Fourth of July ranks as the holiday with the most drivers. [Bloomberg]
• Still, expect traffic. “Travelers should expect that the fuel prices will not measurably reduce traffic congestion,'’ said Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance trade group in Washington. Remember, there will be a record stream of 34.7 million people journeying by car this week, a 0.7 percent boost over last year.
• And when it comes to those lower prices, you’d better them while they last. “Gas prices will be going up like the fireworks,” said Phil Flynn, vice president and senior market analyst for Alaron Trading Co. in Chicago, adding that prices nationwide could rise 5 cents to 10 cents over the next month.
• Impress your old econ professor: Continued refinery problems, the longer-than-normal Fourth of July holiday, and increased demand have all been cited as reasons prices are expected to rise. Meanwhile, the terror threats in London have sparked concerns which are expected to drive up the price of crude oil.

Still though, this year’s price is up from $2.93 a year ago and the highest on record for a July Fourth.

For Sale: Dracula’s Castle

• Ve vant to take out a mortgage. Mwa ha ha. [AP]
• A spooky Romanian castle that once hosted Vlad the Impaler (the 15th century lord that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula) is up for sale.
• The castle, now known as “Dracula’s Castle” had become a tourist attraction since the fall of communism in Romania, attracting over 450,000 visitors every year.
• An heir of the former Romanian royal family, who currently own the castle, says he wants the castle to go to someone who will “respect the property and its history.” Vampires preferred, in other words.
• So, if you’ve got a hankering for blood, a fear of garlic, and $135 million, have we got a home for you.

Just don’t be surprised when villagers show up at your doorstep one night carrying torches and shaking pitchforks.

Yawning: Gatorade For Your Brain

• Next time you yawn during a first date, tell the chump you’re sitting across from that you’re not bored — your brain’s just overheating. [New York Times]
• You’ve heard all the theories about why we yawn: exhaustion, low oxygen levels in the blood, really bad German films. Turns out, they’re all wrong. Now, scientists are saying that yawning is actually a way for the body to cool the brain.
• Writing in the May issue of Evolutionary Psychology, researchers — led by Andrew C. Gallup, a psychology professor at the State University of New York at Albany — reported that volunteers yawned more often in situations in which their brains were likely to be warmer.
• In an experiment, volunteers “were asked to step into a room by themselves and watch a video showing people behaving neutrally, laughing or yawning. Observers watching through a one-way mirror counted how many times the volunteers yawned.”
• Some volunteers were asked to breathe only through their noses as they watched. Later, volunteers were asked to press warm or cold packs on their foreheads. Both activities — which have been proven to cool the brain — virtually eliminated contagious yawning.
• If yawning’s the body’s way of keeping the brain more alert, how does that explain contagious yawning? Gallup says the phenomenon may have evolved to help groups remain vigilant against danger.

So next time someone yawns during a meeting, thank him.

You Think You Know The Fourth Of July? You Have No Idea.

• The Fourth of July isn’t the day America declared its independence. While the Declaration of Independence was signed on that date, the colonies actually declared independence two days earlier. In fact, in a letter John Adams wrote to his wife on July 3, 1776, he declared, “the Second Day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America.” (When this letter waws republished years later, that date was changed to reflect the holiday.) [Forbes]
• Three of the founding fathers – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe – all died on the Fourth of July.
• James Madison thought the best way to determine how much to pay Congressmen was to figure out the average price of wheat for the previous six years at the start of each congressional session. [Constitution Facts]
• Although tradition teaches us that the Liberty Bell rang out in triumph from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that’s not quite true. While it did hang there, it did not ring and no one really gave it a second thought. (In fact, the city tried to sell it for scrap metal in 1828, but had no buyers.) It wasn’t until a fictional story by George Lippard in 1847 that the Bell became a symbol of American Independence. [US History.org]
• The Founding Fathers initially planned to add stripes to the flag with each additional state. In 1795, two stripes were added to for Kentucky and Vermont, making a 15-stripe flag. Luckily, someone realized this could make for one cluttered Old Glory, and in 1818 Congress decided to go with the star thing instead. [Flags of the World]

Now don’t you feel all warm and patriotic inside?

By the Numbers

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Today, America celebrates the alien attacks on major global landmarks and Will Smith’s daring plot to save the world. Uh. We mean, the American revolution against those foul-toothed British people. Who we actually think are ok now. In any case, we’ll be driving far, drinking lots of beer, sneaking fireworks across state lines, and eating way way too much red meat. Here are the numbers: [Forbes]

61%

Percentage of Americans are at a barbecue today.

$275 million

Amount Americans will spend on hot dogs and hamburgers to celebrate the 4th of July

$2.5 billion

Total costs of America’s barbecuing, including beer, buns and “all other snacks.”

45%

Percentage of Americans with “July Fourth garb (think flag shirts or festive hats) in their closets.”

41.1 million

Americans who will travel this week, 81% by car.

9,600

Number of Americans seen in the emergency room each year from fireworks-related injuries. [Prevent Blindness]

July, 2nd

The date of Ithaca, NY’s community fireworks because hiring a fireworks display for the 4th is too expensive. [Ithaca Community Fireworks]

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“I sent a negative answer by Ahmadinejad to Oliver Stone. It is right that this person is considered part of the opposition in the U.S., but opposition in the U.S. is a part of the Great Satan.”

—Mehdi Kalhor, media adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on declining Oliver Stone’s request to film a documentary on the Iranian President.

Speed Round

IDENTITY THEFT AND YOU

2.3 million: Number of bank, credit card and other private financial records stolen from Fidelity National Information Services. [MSNBC]

CRIME

How to fight crime in most cities: Hire more cops, buy more weapons. How to fight crime in Seattle: Hire some tap-dancing folk singers to hang out in the park. [LA Times]

ANCIENT CHINESE SECRET

Archaeologists discover a secret chamber in a Chinese tomb dating back to 210 BC. (We hope they’ve seen The Mummy.) [CBS News]

YOUR BRAIN

Ambitions people: More focused and driven than you? Or raging psychotics? (We’ll go with the latter. Pass the remote and the Cheetoes.) [ABC News]

SAD

Derek Fisher, point guard for the Utah Jazz, quits the team to care for his baby daughter, who has cancer. [Sports Illustrated]

POO

Five in Virginia are killed by deadly methane gas coming from their giant manure pit. [CBS News]

THEY’RE [FAKE], AND THEY’RE SPECTACULAR

Victoria Beckham’s breasts are about as real as Velveeta cheese in a can. [Jossip]

THE FAT LADY SANG

Opera sensation Beverly Sills has passed away. [AP]

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES

“Paris Hilton’s Garbage Sells Big on eBay” [AP]

WHEN ALLITERATION ATTACKS

“Prominent Polish priest plans his own perfumes” [Reuters]

ROBOT IMPERIALISM

Is a New Zealand company starting to develop robot soldiers to “help police developing nations”? Actually, it’s just a short film by Neill Blomkamp. But check it out here: [VSL]

SPEAKING OF ROBOTS

Transformers, the movie, is “poorly paced, formulaic, and at times nearly incomprehensible.” But critics are divided over “whether this spoils the fun.” [Slate]

LUCKY LADIES

New study shows bartenders have difficulty telling if a young woman is under age or not. [Slate]

DEADLY FART TRAGEDY

Methane gas, a common component of flatulence, kills five on a virginia farm. The gas was “emanating from a manure pit.” [AP]

INFLUENCE, TABLOID STYLE

Who are the most influential celebrities? OK! magazine includes “Katie Holmes, Rosie O’Donnell and Anna Nicole Smith’s baby daughter, Dannielynn” on their list. [AP]