home > news > archive

Counter Intelligence: Polar Bears, Cartoons & Poison

Read this and you'll look smart and have something to talk about...

Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 | Updated 7:57 AM CST

Counter Intelligence: Polar Bears, Cartoons & Poison

AFP/Getty Images

A polar bear at the Berlin Zoo has become the latest victim of the credit crunch.

Read this and you'll look smart. You don't have to be intelligent to impress people -- you just have to fake it. Here's a daily list of fascinating articles that will wow your friends, surprise your co-workers and make you seem sharp at a cocktail party or over the lunch counter....

A polar bear at the Berlin Zoo may be the latest victim of the credit crunch. Knut, who is the only bear to grace the cover of "Vanity Fair," has outgrown his habitat and -- without adequate funds to build a new compound -- the zoo is trying to find him a new home.
A group of insurgent animators have embraced the old-school method of animation and target an adult audience despite the wild success of 3-D animation films like "Bolt" and "Madagascar."
A surgeon in Congo successfully completed a life-saving amputation on a teenage boy by following instructions that his colleague in London had text messaged to him.
Scientists were able to trick individuals into having faux out-of-body experiences and hope the research could lead to better intuitive remote control of robots along with treatment for phantom limb pain and possibly anorexia.
India and Thailand have pulled their tourism campaigns in the wake of upheaval in both nations. Indian officials are already working on a "repair" tourism campaign after terror attacks that devastated Mumbai and left hundreds dead and wounded.
The worst industrial accident his history happened on this day in 1984 when thousands of people were killed by poison that escaped from a pesticide factory in India. Many more died in a chaotic stampede and tens of thousands suffered adverse health effects.