A University of Texas poll has found that 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim. Only 45 percent of the people polled correctly identified Obama as a Protestant Christian. Nationwide, the number of people who believe in the "Secret Muslim Conspiracy" is about the same as those who believe that the moon landing was faked (5-10 percent), which makes the high numbers in Texas unusual.

New research has discovered some of the genetic changes that allowed vampire bats to live on a diet of pure blood. One of the bats' most important evolutionary traits is the ability to manipulate an anticoagulant protein in their blood and saliva. In humans similar proteins protect against heart attack by breaking up blood clots and clearing vessels.

Don't take your work home with you.

Nutiket writes "Ever stop to think about how you would rank the Top 10 Ghosts in Pop Culture? Well now you don't have to, as Gunaxin.com has released their list. Included on this list are ghosts from Books, Movies, Television, Video Games, and even Cereal Boxes. Where does Boo Berry rank? Did Patrick Swayze make it?" No A Christmas Carol ghosts, or King Hamlet?

It's a few years old so you should be able to find it in the bargain bin.

I think the knitted booties scare me the most.

Cosplay is not right for everyone. Talk to your doctor before beginning cosplay.

I'm not sure how many electoral votes Azeroth has, but it could be a key battleground state.

George Bates criticized an "unhelpful" worker at an Indian call center and gave him a low rating in a post-call customer satisfaction survey. After the survey Mr. Bates alleges the clerk froze his account and changed his identity to that of a Ugandan divorcee, In retaliation. Mr Bates alleges that the operator had "obviously seen that I have given him bad feedback and has decided to change all my details in revenge. When I heard my details had been changed to Ugandan I was terrified that my account had been emptied by somebody else and I would never get my money back." A bank spokesman said, "An error occurred on Mr Bates's overdraft. We have since returned his account to the correct position and refunded any charges relating to this error. In relation to Mr Bates's other claims, we can confirm that we have fully investigated these complaints but we do not comment on individual employees."

chebucto writes "The opening chord to A Hard Day's Night is famous because for 40 years, no one quite knew exactly what chord Harrison was playing. Musicians, scholars and amateur guitar players alike had all come up with their own theories, but it took a Dalhousie mathematician to figure out the exact formula. Dr. Brown used Fourier transforms to find the notes in the chord, and deduced that another George — George Martin, the Beatles producer — also played on the chord, adding a piano chord that included an F note impossible to play with the other notes on the guitar."

An extremely lonely Japanese man has started a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world." "I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world. However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorize marriage with a two-dimensional character?" he wrote. Hundreds of equally isolated people have joined his campaign so far.

The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of cute.

Halloween isn't just for kids.

Get this kid some Pepto Bismol.

An anonymous reader writes "A guy at Lumenlab has created a way to carve his face on a pumpkin using his DIY CNC gantry robot. I think this demonstration says a lot about the future ubiquity of the technology. I'm really looking forward to the day that I have one of these machines in my garage."

The finishing touches are being added for the opening of Gold Class Cinemas in Redmond, Washington. The theater will charge $35 a person, but you will be greeted by a concierge at the door. The theater offers jazz, modern art, a bar and a full wine list, with the most expensive bottle going for $625. You can also enjoy a menu selected by a world renowned chef. "We have a fresh crab cakes, which is made with fresh Dungeness and lemon aioli and wines from around the world, Italy France, Americas, Spain," said Kirk Senior, CEO of Gold Class Cinemas. It's good to know that there is a place where you can drop a few hundred while watching the latest installment of the Deuce Bigalow franchise.

Under a new proposal anyone with a chest under 28 inches will be banned from driving a motorbike in Vietnam. "The new proposals are very funny, but many Vietnamese people could become the victim of this joke," said Le Quang Minh, 31, a Hanoi stockbroker. "Many Vietnamese women have small chests. I have many friends who won't meet these criteria." Anyone who is too short, too thin or too sickly will also be banned from motorbikes. It won't be long before dealerships will offer customers padded bra or shoe lift packages.

What is 10' tall, has six hydraulic legs, and is powered by the wind and solar panels? The prototype pod house built by art collective N55 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With the help of MIT, N55 built the pod over a two-year period at a cost of £30,000. Designers say it provides a solution to the problem of rising water levels as the house can simply walk away from floods. One of the designers says, "This house is not just for travellers but also for anyone interested in a more general way of nomadic living." It won't be long now until the Japanese make Howl's Moving Castle.

CWmike writes "Ever picked up a cold, frosty beer on a hot summer's day and thought that it simply couldn't get any better? Well, think again. A team of researchers at Rice University in Houston is working on helping Joe Six Pack fight aging and cancer with every swill of beer." Thank you science! Now we just need cigarettes that cure baldness.

When it comes to sleeping in odd places nobody can beat the Chinese, or so says Bernd Hagemann. Bernd moved to the Far East in 2002 and has spent his time taking photographs of Chinese people sleeping in any position and situation. He divides his subjects into three categories: hardsleepers, softsleepers and groupsleepers, and he has more than 600 photographs at his website. Hagemann says,"Whenever I linger through the boomtown Shanghai, I carry my snap shot camera with me. Because at every corner you can discover people that either are napping in the strangest positions and situations, or are even snoring, while sunk in a deep sleep. Noteworthy are the missing mattresses and pillows!" Lets hope Bernd keeps it on the street and doesn't start breaking into houses at night to feed his sleep picture fetish.