The man who first created and marketed the painfully noisy vuvuzela horn is now including ear plugs with the plastic noisemakers.  But Neil Van Schalkwyk’s generosity may come too late for thousands whose hearing has already been damaged or destroyed.
Meanwhile, shipments of thousands of the hearing-annihilating horns are arriving this week at some U.S. ballparks [...]

Some well-organized gangs are showing the sort of criminal skill and chutzpa usually found only on the big screen as they thwart elaborate alarm systems, drop through warehouse roofs and empty shelves.  They aren’t stealing electronics or jewels. These nervy types are making off with millions of dollars worth of prescription drugs, baby formula and [...]

Until recently, anyone needing to confirm that the liquid golden syrup they had bought from overseas brokers was actually honey and not an altered and mislabeled blend from China had to queue up at a couple of very busy analytical labs in Germany.  That included U.S. federal investigators working to identify the origin of the [...]

Would you believe that building the touch screens on Apple’s iPhone and other popular high-tech toys is sickening and perhaps killing Chinese workers who put them together?
The electronics-assembly company Wintek has admitted that more than 60 workers were sickened by exposure to n-hexane exposure, a highly toxic solvent used to clean the electronic touch [...]

A newly released report has criticized America’s food safety watchdog for systemically failing to ensure the safety of what food manufacturers put in what we eat.
After months of research, the Government Accountability Office told Congress it was concerned about a well-known loophole in the Food and Drug Administration regulations that for decades has concerned consumer [...]

Remember last year’s epic recall of salmonella-tainted peanuts? The number of food manufacturers added to the recall list grew to more than a thousand over the following weeks because, it turned out, they were all buying goobers from Peanut Corporation of America.
Well, it may be happening again, but this [...]

Those seeking information on H1N1 flu online should be careful because the Centers for Disease Control says the Swine Flu isn’t the only virus around.
The national disease detectives have issued a warning saying that there are bogus emails being distributed under the logo of CDC which urge people to sign up for a non-existent program.
The [...]

The worst nightmare a mother can confront could be the knowledge that she’s poisoning the baby in her belly and there is little she can do about it.
Nine women from California, Oregon and Washington found out that was just what happened, but they learned it after their babies were born.
They were participants in a first-of-its-kind [...]

As lawmakers in Washington try to control the swirling tornado know as health care reform, a study has been released showing that thousands die each year because they have no health insurance.
What makes the fate of this group of patients even more puzzling is that they are victims of trauma and thought to be protected [...]

Balsamic vinegar has been coveted by Italians for centuries. Over the past 30 or so years the popularity in the U.S. of the dark, syrupy ambrosia has soared and has become loved by foodies, used sparingly by chefs and often too liberally by home cooks.
Forgetting the exquisite culinary joy that comes with the almost magical [...]