US Navy to test fire electric hypercannon Record-breaking railgun crowdpleaser Published Wednesday 30th January 2008 22:15 GMT The US Navy will astound the world tomorrow by test-firing a radical new weapon system at an unprecedented power level. The new piece of war-tech on trial is that old sci-fi favourite, an electromagnetic railgun. According to the Office of Naval Research, which is in charge of the project, the electric cannon will deliver over ten megajoules of energy in one shot. The ONR say this is "a power level never before achieved" by a railgun, and already represents significantly more poke than a normal five-inch naval gun can put behind its shells. Another triumph from the Office of Dodgy Mottos. The designers hope in future to get the technology up to 64 megajoule muzzle-energy levels, able to shoot hypervelocity projectiles at a blistering Mach 7 and strike targets two hundred miles away - still going at Mach 5 - with pinpoint precision. The US navy is interested in the kit for a number of reasons. For one, its next generation warships are expected to use electric drive systems, meaning that they will be have 80 megawatts or more on hand. If this power can be used to put violence onto the enemy as well as driving the ship, that's good news for logistics and supply. The only ammo you need is solid shot with guidance fins; there's no need for tons of high-explosive warheads and low-explosive chemical propellants for regular shells and missiles. These are replaced by nice simple fuel for the ship's engines.

World’s Largest Swimming Pool You’re looking at the world’s largest swimming pool in the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile. The pool’s more than 1,000 yards (914 m) long, covers 20 acres and holds about 66 million gallons (250,000 m3) of water: The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile’s southern coast, since it opened last month. Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end. It dwarfs the world’s second biggest pool, the Orthlieb – nicknamed the Big Splash – in Morocco, which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympicsize pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards. Chile’s monster pool uses a computer- controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other.

A Hamburger? That’ll be 15 Million Zimbabwe Dollars, Please! If you think your money doesn’t go as far as it used to, be thankful that you’re not in Zimbabwe. There, the country’s central bank has issued a new 10 million Zimbabwe dollar note. The problem is, that’s not enough to buy even a hamburger! The new 10 million note is the equivalent of about £2 at the dominant black market exchange rate. A hamburger at an ordinary cafe costs about 15 million Zimbabwe dollars (£3). That hamburger has trebled in price this month amid shortages of bread, meat and most basic goods. Zimbabwe faces the world’s highest official inflation of an estimated 25,000 per cent. Independent financial institutions say real inflation is closer to 150,000 per cent.

Lottery winner's sweet wish.. Retired hospital porter Steve Smith, who is suffering from a potentially fatal heart defect, won almost 19 million pounds ($38 million) on Britain's National Lottery -- but said he would give it all up if he could spend a few more years living with his wife Ida. "I have a one in 10 chance of living. It's like a ticking time bomb," said the 58-year-old Smith, enjoying a bittersweet glass of celebratory champagne with his wife Ida. Smith, who has an aortic aneurysm, told reporters when collecting his check: "It's Ida I worry for, it's leaving her behind. I would give all that back if I am allowed to still be with her because there are no shops in the cemetery are there?" Smith landed the giant prize with an extra stroke of luck -- the couple stopped off on the way home from a family visit to buy some lucky dip tickets and it was one of those which hit the jackpot.

In 1961, LEGO was awarded its first US patent for "Toy Building Brick." The design calls for a hollow rectangular bricks with studs on top and a round hollow tube on the bottom. This was a marked improvement, as it allows for the precise "tube and stud" coupling.

Pot Vending Machines Take Root in LA Jan 30 06:00 AM US/Eastern LOS ANGELES (AP) - The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines. Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock. "Convenient access, lower prices, safety, anonymity," inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine. The computerized machine requires fingerprint identification and a prepaid card with a magnetic stripe. Once the card and fingerprint are verified, a bright green envelope with the pot drops down a slot. Mehdizadeh says any user approved for medical marijuana and registered in a computer database at his dispensaries can pre-purchase the drug and then use the machine to pick up. The process provides convenience and privacy for users who may otherwise feel uncomfortable about buying marijuana, Mehdizadeh said. Mehdizadeh said he sought the advice of doctors, and decided to limit the amount of marijuana per user to an ounce per week. Each purchase from the machine yields 1/8th or 2/8th of an ounce. By eliminating a vendor behind the counter, he said, the machine offers users lower drug prices. The 1/8th ounce packet would cost about $40—$20 lower than the average price at other dispensaries.

Teacher To Student: "You Were Good" Cops: Mississippi woman had sex with boy, 15, in her white Jaguar JANUARY 30--A Mississippi teacher admitted to cops that she had sex with a 15-year-old male student to whom she sent explicit text messages and trysted with in her Jaguar, which bore the license plate "GRRRRR." Those are just some of the sleazy details in a Biloxi Police Department report detailing Rebecca Dawn Bogard's alleged sexual assault of the boy, who the 27-year-old educator taught at the Biloxi Alternative School (which is described in the January 18 report, which you'll find below, as a school for troubled teens). According to the document, Bogard referred to the teenager as "her little 'sex fiend'" in one text message. Investigators were contacted by the boy's mother after she discovered raunchy messages on the boy's phone, including one from a "Dawn" who wrote, "I love you, yeah it was the best, which night was the best 4 you, I'm sensitive but not sore, you were good..." Bogard, pictured in the mug shot at right, is facing felony sexual battery charges. She has been suspended with pay and is free on $50,000 bail.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) talks with fellow members of congress after U.S. President George W. Bush delivered the final State of the Union address of his presidency to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington January 28, 2008.

Drew at Armory Airbrush usually paints camouflage patterns on weapons, but this time, he was asked to make the Hello Kitty AR-15 assault rifle!

Police Seek Morin Maine man with flexible face wanted on domestic assault warrant JANUARY 30--Police in Lewiston, Maine are seeking your help in the apprehension of Robert Morin, who is being sought on a warrant charging him with domestic assault. Morin, 39, is pictured in the below mug shot, which was snapped by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office following a previous arrest. If you have information on his whereabouts, give the police a call at (207) 784-6421. And, no, that's not some kind of malady. A jail administrator told TSG that after Morin "removed his teeth, he became very flexible." If you're really serious about spotting his face in a crowd, we're including a more conventional booking. And remember, that's Morin, not Moron.

What is a Butterface? There is no other question that compares with the gut wrenching hard decision that tears a man’s brain in half as the question: “To sleep or not to sleep with a butterface” And in case you didn’t know what a butter face is, here’s the formal definition: Butterface : Scientifically, it’s a monstrous alien beast that tears a hot women’s head off and uses their alien technology to symbiotically fuse to the hot women’s body and feed on the feelings of disappointment of men everywhere. Or more simply… Everything “But - Her - Face”. What’s the worst about these women is that from the side, back, from afar, these women are HOT - so the disappointment you receive when you actually see the face is crushing. Why couldn’t these beasts just have a body that reflects their face so men like us won’t have to suffer these let downs - I mean, I honestly die a little inside when I see a great body wasted on a butterface. ………..*see photographs on the following slides:

Viva Brazil