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International News Desk
At Home: Ice Breaker
Around the World: Shut Up
Volume 20 Issue 11 2012-03-16
 At Home: Ice Breaker
Fishing from a boat has its challenges. Ice fishing is a completely different story. But a group of ice fishermen unwillingly experienced both when the piece of ice they were standing on broke away from shore and started floating out into the lake.
As The Toronto Star reports, 26 fishermen were recently "stranded on Lake Simcoe after a dramatic change in wind direction forced the ice . . . to suddenly crack away from shore."
The two-kilometre chunk of ice, shrinking, floated "further and further away from shore" for about 90 minutes until a rescue effort was mustered.
One of the fishermen attempted to jump his ATV across the breach before it widened too far. However, it couldn't manage the six-foot gap; the "ATV crashed into the water, and his head struck the ice, severely cutting his face." He later needed 300 stitches.
All the fishermen were rescued "just in time." Five or six had to be pulled from the water due to the ice's deterioration, and an OPP representative told reporters that "[if] it had been another ten minutes, another 5 or 10 more people would have been pulled from the water."
Around the World: Shut Up
It's the stuff of sci-fi--and maybe of our dreams. But getting the obnoxious to hush up for a bit may be closer to reality than ever, thanks to a new invention by two Japanese researchers.
As CBC News reports, the scientists have made a speech-jamming gun that "works by 'shooting' the offending voice back at the source."
According to the researchers' report, the device jams speech by playing back the speaker's words "at a delay of a few hundred milliseconds."
Because our brains "need to hear what comes out of our mouths," this delayed auditory feedback disturbs speakers, making it "nearly impossible" for them to continue speaking.
Currently, delayed auditory feedback devices are used to help in speech therapy situations, but they are disruptive to those without a stutter.
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