Turandot will never be the same. Washington Post is reporting that Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in Modena.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 10:13 PM on September 5, 2007 (87 comments)

Big freeze an alternative to cremation A town in Sweden plans to become the first place in the world where corpses will be disposed of by freeze-drying, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial. Jönköping, in southern Sweden, is to turn its crematorium into a so-called promatorium next year. Sorry - registration is required to access Sydney Morning Herald so more of the article will be included: "the pioneering method ... involves freezing the body, dipping it in liquid nitrogen and gently vibrating it to shatter it into powder. This is put into a small box made of potato or corn starch and placed in a shallow grave, where it will disintegrate in six to 12 months. People are to be encouraged to plant a tree on the grave. It would feed off the compost formed from the body, to emphasise the organic cycle of life." After seeing the destruction Katrina wreaked on the above ground graves in Louisiana, one might seriously consider an environmentally friendly alternative.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 1:59 PM on September 29, 2005 (48 comments)

Going to the moon? Be careful. A new kind of solar storm can take you by surprise. Biggest proton storm since 1956 - before there were satellites monitoring the sun.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 4:44 PM on June 10, 2005 (11 comments)

Come and get it? Some researchers believe there's water on the Moon in reach of human explorers. ...as we look towards the Moon with thoughts of setting up a permanent home there, one new question is paramount: does the Moon have water? Although none has been definitely detected, recent evidence suggests that it's there.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 4:01 PM on April 14, 2005 (24 comments)

NASA takes ultrasound to space No astronaut is pregnant, but NASA is using ultrasound as a portable diagnostic tool in space. If the NHL ever settles its labor dispute, the Red Wings' trainer may use it too.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 1:27 PM on February 16, 2005 (3 comments)

NASA has released some pictures from another moon The article has some pictures - almost actual and computer-enhanced of Titan. There are also links to the radar signals Huygens received in its descent to Titan and Cassini sent back to NASA. (They sound a bit like a Vespa buzzing past a window.)
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 11:24 AM on January 17, 2005 (28 comments)

'Tsunami' born out of disaster A young mother gives birth to one child while losing track of another.
posted to MetaFilter by Cranberry at 11:14 AM on January 1, 2005 (26 comments)