Link Collection

Researchers in the Netherlands created *vegetarian pork*, growing the meat from cells from the muscle of a pig. They hope to have the vegetarian meat on the market in 5 years after they figure out how to get it to taste better:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6680989/Meat-grown-in-laboratory-in-world-first.html

Study by UC-SD researchers found that some germs are good for us and prevent excessive inflammation after injury. This is similar to previous studies found that kids who are not exposed to infectious agents in childhood end up with immune systems that are less effective in dealing with bacterial invaders:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122161742.htm

Study found that cigarettes contain hundreds of different strains of bacteria, including many pathogens that may play a role in lung diseases and respiratory infections:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cigarettes-smoking-bacteria-infection-pathogen

Study found that when presented with 3 photos of Pres. Obama (one with a lighter skin tone and the other with a darker skin tone), liberals tended identify him with the photo that had the lightest skin color while conservatives tended to identify him with the darkest skin color photo. So, someone's political leanings actually correlated with a perceived change in Pres. Obama's skin color!
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1123/1

Gamer sued the makers of World of Warcraft for $1 million because he claims the game takes too much time and has negatively affected his health. He even subpoenaed Martin Lee Gore (of Depeche Mode) because he said that Gore's songs show that he's sad, lonely, and alienated, and Winona Ryder because she likes 'Catcher in the Rye' like he does:
http://gamepolitics.com/2009/11/24/winona-ryder-depeche-mode-factor-wow-lawsuit

The Olympic torch for the 2010 Winter Games in Canada was blown or frozen out of service 12 times as it went across Canada. I feel REALLY sorry for the people who ran with the torch when it was -40 degree with 40 mph winds!
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/25/Olympic-torch-snuffed-by-Canadian-weather/UPI-28441259184230/

Excerpt from a book about the history behind everyday words. The backstory behind tawdry is pretty ironic:
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103500/The_last_word_Hidden_namesakes