Chinese Shrimp injected with gelatin-like chemicals to make them heavier and plumper poses a threat to public health -

Chinese Shrimp injected with gelatin-like chemicals to make them heavier and plumper poses a threat to public health - 




Experts say that some shrimp originating in Tianjin have been injected with gelatin-like chemicals to make them heavier and plumper, posing a threat to public health.


The transparent chemical can usually be found in the heads of the shrimp. A local wholesaler, who declined to reveal his name, told Xinhua that the altered shrimp were frozen, and the gelatin-like chemical was injected to increase the weight.


"The frozen shrimp tend to shrivel after being taken out of the freezer, so lots of shrimp are injected with gelatin-like chemicals in the head and torso," he said.


Wang Shuo, vice president of the Tianjin University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times that if it is confirmed the chemical is a gelatin, it may be harmful to people's health.


"There are two kinds of gelatin. One is edible, and used as a food additive. The other is used in industrial products, which contains a certain amount of heavy metal, and thus poses a health threat," Wang said.


"Since the identity of the chemical has not been confirmed I'm not sure if it is hazardous, but adding such chemicals is definitely against the law," he added.


Read more -
http://english.people.com.cn/90882/7731941.html

White Grandfather Detained While Walking With Black Granddaughter - By Texas Police -

White Grandfather Detained While Walking With Black Granddaughter - By Texas Police - 




A crime and politics blogger living in Austin, Texas, claims he was cuffed and detained by police for simply walking home with his five-year-old granddaughter.


The reason this happened, he says, is because he is white and she is black.


Scott Henson, a political consultant who blogs about the criminal justice system at Grits For Breakfast said he was walking home from a roller skating rink with his 5-year-old granddaughter Ty last Friday night when he was stopped by a female deputy.


The officer told him that there were reports of a white man kidnapping a black girl and he was ordered to step away from Ty as the officer questioned the girl, the New York Daily News reported.


"He's my Grandpa!" was Ty's response, according to Henson's blog.


After a few minutes of questioning, Henson and Ty were allowed to walk home. They were just two blocks away when they were stopped by five flashing police cars and a crowd of police.


"The officers got out with tasers drawn demanding I raise my hands and step away from the child," Henson said.




Henson complied, but he said the cops handled him roughly, jerking his arms as they cuffed him. The scene caused Ty to edge up the hill away from the officers, crying.


"One of them called out in a comforting tone that they weren't there to hurt her, but another officer blew up any good will that might have garnered by brusquely snatching her up and scuttling her off to the back seat of one of the police cars," Henson said.


The officers kept questioning Ty over and over again, but Henson said they took their sweet time calling the phone numbers he gave them to verify that she was his granddaughter and he had permission to walk her home.


Henson said the police never apologized, even after they released them, though they did explain that they take kidnapping calls very seriously.


Read more -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/white-grandfather-detained_n_1275383.html

Goats can form accents - pick up accents as they get older and join social groups -

Goats can form accents - pick up accents as they get older and join social groups - 




Humans, elephants and dolphins do it, and apparently goats do, too.


The horned ruminants pick up accents as they get older and join social groups, according to researchers at Queen Mary University, London, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.


Experts previously thought only a select group of mammals has the ability to modify vocal sounds according to their surroundings, and that other species' "voices" were determined solely by genetics. Whales and bats pick up accents as well.


The researchers recorded the bleats of four groups of pygmy goats at one week old, when kids, as young goats are known, from the same litter remain with one another, and again at five weeks old, when they form social groups with other goats of the same age.


Not surprisingly, the study found genetically related kids produced similar calls. But it found the vocal calls of goats raised in the same social groups also became more similar as the kids grew older.




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/goats-form-accents-study-finds-article-1.1024196?localLinksEnabled=false