Mind Soup

Population Forecast up to 2050 1- The world currently has 6.9 billion people. It is projected to hit 10 billion people in the year 2050! (right) 2- Parents in Denmark must choose from a list of 7,000 pre-approved names for their babies! 3- The FDA allows an average of 30 insect fragments and one or more rodent hairs per 100 grams of peanut butter. 4- Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy  and that comics of him were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear trousers. 5- In Moscow, weathermen can be fined for inaccurate weather forecasting. 6- You can cure a stomach ache if you lie on your left side for 5 minutes. The stomach is on the left side, the oesophagus enters it on the right and therefore gas bubbles can rise and allow you to burp. 7- A sharon fruit  (Kharma in Arabic) is a persimmon that has been artificially ripened. No, I had no idea what a persimmon was either.

H1N1 Flu Virus under an electron microscope The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved vaccines designed to protect against the H1N1 influenza virus, a key step before starting a vaccination campaign. The approval was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a hearing that was held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. An FDA spokeswoman said the agency approved vaccines made by a unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA, Novartis AG, CSL Ltd. and AstraZeneca PLC's MedImmune unit. MedImmune makes a vaccine in the form of mist delivered through the nose rather than a shot. Ms. Sebelius said a large-scale vaccination program will begin in mid-October. The U.S. has spent more than $1 billion to purchase and administer a total of 195 million H1N1 vaccine doses being made by five companies, including GlaxoSmithKline PLC. Ms. Sebelius said that the agency's officials are still working on that application. About 40 million to 50 million vac...

After cocoa beans are harvested they need to be fermented. This means that they are put in an earthen pit near where they are harvested and covered with leaves. In the hot sun they ferment (rot) and then can be shoveled out as mature cocoa beans. Of course during this process lots of insects are present. Almost all chocolate have bugs in it, because it is too expensive to manufacture without bugs. The FDA allows a certain amount of bugs or animal in most foods you eat. Almost all manufactured food you eat comes with an animal you won't think would be in it. Cottage cheese is allowed to have 10 fecal coliforms / gram (fecal coliform being bacteria like Escherichia coli that is normally associated with human and animal feces). Doesn't mean that it will hurt you either.