Now here's some science that everyone can get behind!

Quoted: International Business Machines Corp. is working with candy maker Mars Inc. and the U.S. government to study the genetic code of cocoa trees to safeguard the world's chocolate supply.
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Closely held Mars, the maker of M&M candies and Snickers bars, and the U.S. Agriculture Department will sequence the entire cocoa genome, deciphering the plant's biological map. IBM will analyze the results using Blue Gene, the world's second- fastest supercomputer, the company said today in a statement.

Super bien! I'm proud to be a Spaniard! Now if we can just get to work on the rights of bulls not to be stabbed in the neck with sharp sticks ...

Quoted: Spain's parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans.

Thank god that Exxon gets to keep more of its hard-earned billions ...

Quoted: The Supreme Court has reduced a $2.5 billion punitive damages award against energy giant Exxon for its role in an infamous 1989 maritime oil spill.

Some fun ideas for those of us in Seattle this summer ...

Quoted: But Puget Sound is packed with fun activities that won't break the bank. We've compiled a list of 30 ideas – each less than $30 ...

Nellie goes after Cuban's stupid remarks from yesterday about the Olympics being all about the monetary effects on the NBA ...

Quoted: The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, which will include Dallas Mavericks' guard Jason Kidd, is one of the top honors an athlete or coach can have, and former Mavs coach Don Nelson said Wednesday that it's a travesty that Mark Cuban views the Olympics as strictly a financial proposition.
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"I couldn't disagree more," Nelson said. "It's not about the money. There is pride in these athletes. He ought to have more respect for his country. Everybody in the NBA makes plenty of money. It's not too much to ask that every four years you give something back to your country."

Okay, this is absolutely the grossest and most mysterious story of the year (most of the feet have been found STILL IN SHOES) and the Canadian police say "[i]t is a little mysterious, but we don't know if it is linked to others". Understated much? Yeah, my money is on them all being linked and on there being a serious mystery here.

Quoted: A severed foot -- the sixth this year -- washed up on the shore of a Canadian island on Wednesday, police said.

If you needed more proof that oil companies are evil, read this transcript ... (like we can believe that an oil CEO doesn't "know enough about Sen. Obama's position or Sen. McCain's position [on the energy crisis] to pass judgment on either one of them"). BS.

Quoted: Chevron Corp. CEO David O'Reilly says Big Oil is not to blame for skyrocketing gas prices.
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O'Reilly: Well, I don't think they blame us as much as you think. It looks to me like there's a lot of blame to go around.
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Blitzer: There's other blame, but more than any other single source, they blame Big Oil.
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O'Reilly: It depends on the poll you look at.
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Blitzer: The recent Gallup Poll.

Mmm ... tap water.

Quoted: Tap water is making a comeback. With a day's worth of bottled water costing hundreds to thousands of dollars a year, more people are opting to slurp water that comes from the sink.
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The lousy economy may be accomplishing what environmentalists have been trying to do for years — wean people off the disposable plastic bottles of water that were sold as stylish, portable, healthier and safer than water from the tap.

Bummer. Stan Winston was an amazing genius in his field.

Quoted: Ain't It Cool is reporting that Stan Winston the Academy Award winning special effects artist who worked on the Terminator, Predator and Aliens movies, has died. According to the site, Winston, who had won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park, passed away early last night from cancer.