UbuneBlog

I’m as happy as anyone that the Curiosity rover got to Mars; it’s hard not to barrack for all those NASA geeks in their blue polo shirts. But before you get all apple pie about the achievement, there’s something you should know: Curiosity runs on plutonium from a Soviet-era nuclear weapons plant. Take a look […]

Picture the way Australia grinds to a halt for the Melbourne Cup. Throw in the collective nervous energy before Sally Pearson’s hurdles gold and a dash of the unfathomable expectation Jess Ennis shouldered at London’s Olympic Stadium. Now you’re starting to get close to what Katie Taylor’s historic boxing gold medal means to Ireland. The […]

After 116 years, it seems the Olympic movement has finally embraced equality. For the first time in the history of the quadrennial Summer Games, every one of the 204 competing nations at London 2012 is represented by both male and female athletes. World stars such as heptathlete Jessica Ennis, swimming sensation Missy Franklin and sprinting […]

Norway’s mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was found sane and sentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday for a bloodbath that left 77 people dead and traumatised the normally tranquil nation. An Oslo court’s unanimous verdict finding Breivik responsible for “acts of terror” was in line with what the far-right extremist himself wanted, bringing […]

U.S. Navy SEALs are used to bullets and bombs, but a book by one of the commandos who killed Osama bin Laden has deployed the secretive unit into the even bigger electoral battle for the White House. “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account Of The Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden” is due to come […]

Mark David Chapman, who shot dead Beatles star John Lennon in 1980, was denied parole from prison on Thursday for the seventh time, officials said Thursday. Chapman, 57, was told by the New York State Board of Parole at a hearing on Wednesday that despite his good behavior behind bars, he could not be freed. […]

When Oscar Pistorius made his dramatic debut in the men’s 400-meter race in London last Saturday — becoming the first double amputee to compete alongside able-bodied athletes in Olympics history — some people might have wondered if the South African’s artificial legs gave him a competitive edge over the other sprinters. But if you ask […]

A French quadruple amputee has swum between islands in the icy Bering Strait to cross from the US to Asia in the final part of a quest to link all continents. Philippe Croizon, 44, braved strong currents and near-freezing temperatures on Friday to swim the four kilometres from the US island of Little Diomede to […]

There aren’t too many 99-year-olds who thrive on working more than five days a week. And no doubt even fewer who have been “cash mobbed” by about 100 people brandishing $5 notes. But on Saturday, Fay Morley, the owner of Sydney haberdashery shop Park Lane Haberdashery was delighted when a group of enthusiastic shoppers – […]

The Prime Minister said the coins are a small token of the nation’s “enormous gratitude” to them for making the games possible. All volunteers who gave up their time to help the Olympic effort are already getting souvenir batons. However, troops and police will get additional presents, after many had to step in at the […]