Blogs / Discoblog

• A new music video, “Take Aim at Climate Change,” puts some beats to an earth-inspired message. It was released by Polar-Palooza, a multimedia initiative supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

• Thanks to new iPods for the womb, your unborn children can hear your REO Speedwagon playlist.

• Health officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil plan to perform vasectomies on 25 wild capuchin monkeys.

• A man helped his wife deliver a baby he did not know was coming—he thought her weight gain was related to quitting smoking.

• They’re not on a low-cal diet, red pandas just prefer Sweet’N Low (and other artificial sweeteners) to natural sugar.

• And if you think you had a rough week—at least you’re not 26 and trapped inside a two-year-old’s body.

Yes, it’s true: The economic crisis has not only clobbered the restaurant industry, but now it’s brought at least one business to hire monkeys. CNN reports that a sake house in Tokyo has “recruited” two Japanese Macaques as waitstaff. Yes, you heard right—they’re using trained monkeys as employees.

The monkeys’ job duties—which can last no more than two hours a day to avoid violating animal rights regulations—include offering hot towels to diners, delivering change, and serving beers. While health regulations in the area are as strict as anywhere else, the monkeys have been “deemed sanitary” by health inspectors so long as they wear their (adorable) checkered kimono uniforms.

(more…)