I am Ironworm

National Geographic reports that a population of earthworms in the UK have evolved to eat heavy metal-laden waste at abandoned mining sites, rendering the foul goup inert. We always knew worms were tough, what with the not dying when cut in half and such, but such unusual metabolisms are more typical of bacteria than more complex organisms. The practical upshot is that the worms could be collected and used to clean up polluted areas around the world. Now were is that global warming fighting nematode?

EU trade laws continue to be amusing, with the busting last week of a group of companies that had allegedly formed a cartel to control the price of ... paraffin wax. WTF? I suppose this is not withour historical precident, the Canadian government was once in a cartel to control the prices of tin and nickel. Now it seems such behaviour will net you a 676 million Euro fine.

Now that our supplies of super-earthworms and wax are assured, perhaps we should look into coming up with a non-fossil fuel for jets. One of the hard truths about declining global oil reserves is that long before the oil actually ran dry, the last remaining reserves would have to be earmarked for aviation, as jet engines can't run on anything else becuase of energy-density, evaporative, and combustion property requirements. One project seeks to solve this problem with a form of biodeisel derived from algae. It seems that a lot of problems can be solved using primitive life forms (insert politician joke here).

Turning to a recurring theme on this blog, it is time to talk about Apple. It seems that, once again, reports of Steve Job's death are greatly exaggerated. This time it was a rumour coming out of CNN that Jobs had suffered a heart attack and had been rushed to hospital. Turns out that everyone's favourite turtlenecked CEO is just fine and never had any sort of medical emergency. The SEC is now investigating if the report was a deliberate attempt to manipulate Apple's share price, which briefly plunged following the report. Which is what happens when the economy is driven by fear and speculation rather than fact. It certainly does nothing for CNN's reputation with respect to responsible journalism.

In rat bastard news, a movie licensing group is demanding that Irish preschools pay a 3-euro per year per child fee to show Spongebob DVDs. It seems that the kids are alright, it is the grown-ups that do not play well with others.

And finally, on-line EULAs and privacy policies would cost $ 365 Billion a year in lost productivity... if anyone actually read them. I'm looking at you, Google. Shorten that puppy down.