Short Takes: News From All Over: December 2, 2004

Staff Utne.com

Brain Scan Shows Differences in Truth, Lying
By Maggie Fox, Reuters
MRI's have always been used to look deeply into people's brains; these days, they look so deeply that they can tell when people are telling the truth and when they are lying. According to a study conducted by the Functional Brain Imaging Center at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, different parts of the frontal lobe of the brain became active when participants were consciously deceiving their interviewers than when they answered questions truthfully. -- Elizabeth Dwoskin
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=6945206

Bank Sends Confidential Faxes to Scrapyard
By Staff, Reuters
The owner of a scrapyard in West Virginia is suing CIBC, Canada's fourth largest bank, for negligence after repeated attempts to alert the bank that he was being bombarded by faxes with confidential client information for three consecutive years. Outraged CIBC clients are demanding that the bank overhaul its primary procedures for storing confidential information -- and the company is rushing to do so. -- Elizabeth Dwoskin
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=6942102

Genetically Engineered Plants Detect Land Mines
By Warren Ginn, Core77
Genetically modified organisms are a source of global controversy, but it's tough to dislike a recently developed plant that detects buried land mines. Nitrogen dioxide that leaks from aging explosives triggers the shrub's color change mechanism, making it the safest and most effective way to preserve life and limb in countries haunted by the deadly remnants of conflict. -- Brendan Themes
http://tinyurl.com/4lb5d

Toxic Technology Test
By Staff, Greenpeace
There may be more evil villains in your television than you realize! Take the Toxic Technology Test and find out if your television, mobile phone, or computer contains hazardous chemical pollutants. In the likely event that is does, use the included form letter to contact the offending manufacturer and demand greener gadgetry upon pain of muted sales. -- Brendan Themes
http://www.greenpeaceweb.org/consumingchemicals/ddtest.asp

The Sweatsuit Statement
By Staff, The Grey Sweatsuit Revolution.com
Fashion is an endless cycle of appropriation. Say ironic artists begin to wear trucker hats. Fashion steals the idea, and soon there's a sea of trucker hats for no apparent reason. A stupid cycle indeed, but alas, what's to be done? Two Canadians, Simon Wilkinson and Jeremy Stewart, have an answer: wear a gray sweatsuit as much as you can. Refuse to change with the seasons, and eventually fashion will close in on itself. The only downside: no pockets. -- Alyssa Ford
http://www.thegreysweatsuitrevolution.com/

Learning to Weed
By Staff, Just a Plant.com
A new children's book explains marijuana, the drug war, and why pot smoking is an activity for responsible adults only. Ricardo Cort?s, the director of the New York-based art collective Magic Propaganda Mill, wrote and illustrated the 48-page hardcover book to give parents a tool to explain the issue before the DEA, the kids on the playground or the drug manufacturers weigh in. -- Alyssa Ford
http://www.justaplant.com/

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