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Seeds 200 years old breathe again By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website The unknown acacia species is now half a metre tall Seeds which have been stored away since the time of George III have been persuaded into new life. Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank, operated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, have induced seeds from three species to germinate. They had been brought to Britain from South Africa by a Dutch merchant in 1803, and were found in a notebook stored in the National Archives. Given this history, the team said it was surprised by...

Tonight's Sci-Fi Listing for 08/18/06: 8/7 - SciFi Inside: Stargate SG1 200 Well the name itself says it all... 9/8 - Stargate SG1 200: Martin Lloyd seeks out SG-1 for assistance when his failed TV show based on the real Stargate program becomes a feature film. Fun Episdoe alert and we are going to see the Furlings!!!! Last weeks was boring... 10/9 - Stargate Atlantis The Real World: Elizabeth Weir wakes up in a mental institution, where she is told that the expedition to Atlantis and the Stargate are figments of her imagination. Last weeks was decent... It seems that...

Remember back in 200 when George W. Bush was running for President? Even if you didn't support him, you were somewhat anticipating a Presidency with this amusing guy who didn't know the names of foreign leaders and who spoke with the eloquence of a second greater. Remember how after he was elected,Comedy Central even saw his Presidency as being whimsical enough to create a show, "That's my Bush." It was a laugh a minute back in those Bush salad days. Now we have quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan, a budding world war centered around Israel, $3 a gallon gas, $85...

INTELLIGENCER Remember the Jared Paul Stern gossip-ethics kerfuffle? The FBI does. Stern, a longtime freelance contributor to the Post’s “Page Six,” was accused by billionaire Ron Burkle of trying to extort $200,000 from him in exchange for keeping negative stories about him out of the paper. Now the “Page Six” editor, Richard Johnson, has been contacted for questioning by a group that includes prosecutors from the Southern District and federal agents. Asked about a looming interview with the G-men, Johnson referred calls to a publicist. One of Johnson’s lawyers, Ed Hayes, says he is aware the Feds requested a routine...

Miko, the police service dog who died in the line of duty last month, got a hero's farewell Wednesday morning during a memorial service attended by approximately 200 people. The ceremony, which was held at Reid Park, was attended by law enforcement agencies from all over the state, as well as Tucson residents who wanted to express their gratitude for Miko's 2 1/2 years of service with the Tucson Police Department. "Law enforcement officers are one of a few people who pledge to give up their lives for others, and that commitment transcends to our K-9s," Police Chief Richard Miranda...

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (March 15) - Carlos G. Rojas didn't know what to think when the military life insurance checks started showing up at his office. He didn't know anyone who would have named him a beneficiary, and the checks totaled $200,000. He called Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, which pays death benefits to military families, and the customer service representatives insisted the money was his and he should cash the checks, he said. Rojas couldn't do it. "It's not like picking up a penny you just found," said Rojas, a 29-year-old marketing consultant. "Somebody's life was connected with that money."...

WASHINGTON - Police and other government workers in the U.S. have come in contact with terrorists or people suspected of foreign terror ties more than 6,000 times in the past 28 months, the director of the federal Terrorist Screening Center said Tuesday. The encounters in traffic stops, applications for permits and other situations have resulted in fewer than 60 arrests, said Donna Bucella, whose agency maintains a list of 200,000 people known or suspected to be terrorists. The list contains an additional 150,000 records that have only partial names, Bucella said. The vast majority of people on the list are...

FORT HUACHUCA — Last month, 177 illegal immigrant were detained by post law enforcement and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. The number held on the fort last month is about 100 less than February 2005, according to statistics provided by the post public affairs office. Since Oct. 1 through the end of last month 546 illegal immigrants were detained on the fort compared to 940 for the first five months of the previous federal budget year.

PHOENIX ¡ª State election officials are scrambling to interpret a ruling that Arizonans do not need to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote with a federal registration form. Issued Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the ruling amounts to a potential loophole in Proposition 200, the voter-approved initiative that made Arizona the first state in the nation to require proof of citizenship for voter registration. The ruling says "Arizona may not refuse to register individuals to vote in a federal election for failing to provide supplemental proof of citizenship," as required under Prop. 200. In a...

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a tabletop accelerator that produces nuclear fusion at room temperature, providing confirmation of an earlier experiment conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), while offering substantial improvements over the original design. The device, which uses two opposing crystals to generate a powerful electric field, could potentially lead to a portable, battery-operated neutron generator for a variety of applications, from non-destructive testing to detecting explosives and scanning luggage at airports. The new results are described in the Feb. 10 issue of Physical Review Letters. "Our study shows that 'crystal fusion' is a...

ELGIN ¡ª The federal government took to the air to kill 200 coyotes in Southeast Arizona over the past three weeks, in response to ranchers' concerns they were eating calves. Wildlife Services, a federal program formerly known as Animal Damage Control, wrapped up aerial gunning Friday. It hunted on private and public land, including national forest land, used by 10 to 15 ranchers in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program. A rancher from the Elgin area said every calf lost to a coyote ultimately costs him $500 to...

Unfair Labor Practice On December 22, 2005 NJSCA/FOP 200 Parole Officer State Representative Joseph Martin sent an email to the State Parole Board Chairman John D’Amico regarding three very serious labor related issues. Those issues involved the State Parole Board administration forcing parole officers to become essential status without negotiation, the recent epidemic of involuntary transfers against the negotiated contract, and the grievance procedure (a recent grievance decision in particular). Later that same day, State Parole Board Executive Director Michael Dowling scheduled a meeting with the Parole Officer State Representative for 12/23/05 at 9:00am. The following administration staff were present...

The call to the police came in at 1 a.m. Thursday and sounded like a supermarket tabloid headline. A man in the small Iron Range town of Gilbert was being eaten alive in his home by rats, the caller said. Police needed to do something! Skepticism turned to disbelief when they responded. More than 200 black rats -- a colony originating from one pregnant pet-store type of rat that the mentally disabled man had taken in -- had overrun the small house.

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (August 5, 2005) -- Coming to Iraq, the Marines of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment knew they would be fighting as ‘street cops’ on the roads. The job includes locating hidden bombs before the enemy could use them against the Marines, Iraqi Security Forces and civilians. Their most recent find on a combat patrol brought their total number of bombs found to nearly 200. Over the past six months, they have maintained a ratio of three found to one detonated. “We are successful at this because we are outsmarting them and they’re very predictable,” explained...

/begin my translation N. Korea: 200 Dollar Bounty per Escaped N. Korean Workers in Russia  N. Koreans workers encountered in Khabarovsk     In order to encourage the arrest of N. Korean escapees(N. Korean workers who escaped from N. Korea-operated enterprise inside Russia,) N. Korean Consulate at Khabarovsk, Russia, announced that local Security Dept. of Construction Association is offering a bounty of $200 for catching an escapee, in order to root out this long-running problem.   As a result, N. Korean workers, who can barely earn $300 per month even after back-breaking work, are now abandoning all other efforts to capitalize on the only opportunity for earning large...

Illegal aliens are invading our country and an army of some 20 million now occupy it. 150,000 are known dead in South Asia and up to 1 million are homeless due to the tsunamis. The 109th U.S. Congress is convening. But, don't worry. I've got some good news for you. And, no, I didn't just save a boatload of money on my car insurance. There's a movie sweeping the nation right now, capturing the imaginations of young Americans, making them laugh and entertaining them – and doing all that without sex, violence, obscenity or profanity. There's nothing politically correct about...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

BESLAN, Russia (AP) - Commandos stormed a school Friday in southern Russia and overcame separatist rebels holding hundreds of hostages as crying children, some naked and covered in blood, fled the building through explosions and gunfire. Health officials said more than 200 people died, the Interfax news agency reported. Ninety-five victims were identified - many of them children whose shattered, bloodied bodies were placed on lines of stretchers - and Interfax quoted unnamed sources in the regional Health Ministry as saying more than 200 people were killed by fire from the militants or died from their wounds. Hundreds of hostages...

<p>Republicans yesterday piled on Democrat John Kerry after the revelation that his wife drives a pricey German Audi import while he's preaching the importance of buying American cars to save U.S. jobs.</p> <p>"I don't care what car someone drives, but Kerry is a total hypocrite," said Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.), who drives a Mercury.</p>