Hello Hybrid Cars, Goodbye Human Hand Massages

Check out what's coming and going in February 2009.

Hello...

Louder ambulances and hybrid cars. In an attempt to cut down on accidents at intersections, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, ambulance fleet will outfit its vehicles with soul-shaking Howler sirens in the next six months. Researchers are looking into adding subtle noises to those humming hybrids, according to Scientific American, so more pedestrians can hear them coming too.

At-home karaoke competitions. Who needs $7 popcorn and $10.50 movie tickets when you can entertain yourself at home? With karaokeparty.com, you can see lyrics, perform alone or with friends, and be scored, says Time, according to "a Simon Cowellesque algorithm."

The "recombobulation" area. The Milwaukee airport has set aside areas for passengers to put on their shoes and belts and take a deep breath after passing through the security checkpoint, reports the Journal Sentinel.Goodbye…

Acorns and hickory nuts. Botanist Rod Simmonsdoesn't know why these were so scarce along parts of the East Coast this past season. "Nothing crunched underfoot,” reported the Washington Post. "Nothing hit [Simmons] on the head." Maybe it was the rain in May (three times normal in the D.C. area). But botanist Alan Whittemire isn't worried: Oaks will produce acorns again "when they're ready to."

Simple, old human-hand massages. A spa in Israel offers an $80 treatment in which a clutch of nonvenomous snakes wander across the backs and bellies of clients. "People either like it a lot or they hate it," the spa's owner told Time.

Electricity. A Pennsylvania electric company increased shutoffs by 78 percent in the first three quarters of 2008, says wsj.com. The company is entitled to the money, and Allentown's PPL utility said the shutoffs were an attempt to "prevent people from getting further into debt."

From Reader's Digest - February 2009

 

• • Watercooler
• • Budgeting

• Hello Layaway, Goodbye CDs and DVDs
• Check out what's coming and going in the new year.
• 
• Big Idea, Small Detail: Energy, Money and Environment
• A few quick ways to deal with energy, money and environmental issues.
• 
• Hello/Goodbye: What's In and What's Out
• Out with the old and in with the new. Check out what's coming back into vogue and what is going out.
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