bad science.....

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Q.How are chickens involved in the Iraq war?

A.Like the proverbial canaries in coal mines (if the birds died, miners knew it was time to flee the mine to avoid deadly underground gas), chickens rode along last month with some U.S. Marines in the desert. The idea was to warn the troops of a Iraqi chemical attack and allow them some time to don gas masks. The chickens, in cages strapped atop U.S. military Humvees, died -- but the suspected cause is flu, rather than chemicals. Marines of the 7th Regiment brought in pigeons to take over duties of the 42 dead chickens, the Associated Press reported.

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The Voronezh region is Russia's leading territory on the number of mushroom poisonings: the passion for forest food has killed 128 people over the recent five years in the region. The year 1992 was the most horrible period in the region at this point, when over 400 mushroom-pickers were hospitalized, 44 of whom died. About 360 individuals were hospitalized with acute food poisoning and 28 of them deceased in 1999.

Local specialists say that there is a variety of mushrooms growing in the Voronezh region of Russia: about 500 species, including 90 species of inedible and poisonous mushrooms. Other specialists believe that mushrooms and their spawn absorbs all hazardous substances and heavy metal salts, which accumulate in the soil. An edible mushroom picked not far from a chemical factory may therefore kill a mushroom-picker easily. There are a lot of factories and plants in the Voronezh region, which harm the environment with pollutant emissions in the atmosphere. Rains return hazardous chemicals to the ground, where they may often be saved in the mushroom spawn.

Doctors say that methods of instructions and recommendations will now help solve the problem of acute mushroom poisonings. As a rule, Russian people suffer from toadstools because of their unwillingness to pay for mushrooms in stores: they prefer to pick and eat them for free. In addition, the majority of Russian mushroom-pickers, presumably the elderly, receive low incomes. To crown it all, going to pick mushrooms in the woods is a very popular and traditional hobby with many Russians.

A similar story has recently happened in the southwest China, where nearly 50 people died and dozens were sickened from eating poisonous wild. One hundred and eighty-three individuals have been hospitalized in China with mushroom poisoning since the beginning of the year, 48 of whom died, Xinhua News Agency said.

Well... I'm a VEGETARIAN... but I'm going to fry myself some over the date mushrooms in a minute...