Brian Gongol
A whole new way to be terrorized
The stupid color-coded "homeland security threat level" system is going away. It was obvious years ago that the color-coded system was a failure, but at last it's being ended. The new system is the NTAS (National Terrorism Advisory System), which appears to be just a specific list of threats people ought to know about. We'll see how the implementation goes, but it looks like a vastly better approach than the yellow-that-never-ends threat level of the old system.
The gorilla who strolls around like one of us
An adult silverback gorilla in the UK has been captured on video walking around on his hind legs like a human being, and a former caretaker says he was doing that 20 years ago. While walking on two legs isn't itself a particular signal of evolution, it is a reminder that some animals are capable of learning innovations from one another, as well as a reminder that evolution itself hasn't simply stopped for any animals, just because we've figured out the science. Quite to the contrary, all of our animal neighbors are still evolving, just as we are.
Downsizing (student) government
The Northern Iowa Student Government has voted to shrink itself. An unusual move.
Dig a big hole, then leave it unfilled
That's what kids sometimes do in the yard, but what about a developer who wants to build a tower in downtown Omaha? The city's getting upset because a developer started work four years ago and hasn't gotten past the big-hole-in-the-ground stage.
