Humor-

Comics are supposed to be fun, light reading. Something I read on MSNBC’s Comics & Games website has been on my mind for a few months. The column titled "News of the Weird" by Chuck Shepherd (March 30, 2008) had one paragraph that caught my attention.

"A team of researchers from the University of Calgary and the Tokyo Institute of Technology proudly announced in February that they had successfully stored "nothing" inside a puff of gas and then had managed to retrieve that same "nothing." That "nothing," is called a "squeezed vacuum," and the physicists tell us that a light wave can be manipulated so that its phases are of uncertain amplitude, then the light itself removed so that only the "uncertainty" property of the wave remains. ScienceNOW Daily News, 2-29-08"

WASHINGTON DC, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Bavarian Nordic, the Danish-based biopharmaceutical company, has initiated a Phase I/II clinical study with its HIV vaccine candidate: MVA-BN(R) HIV multiantigen.

Enrolment in a Phase I/II safety and immunogenicity study in 15 HIV-infected patients (CD4 counts >350 ul/ml) has begun in the United States. The first safety data is expected by the end of 2008 and immunogenicity data will be available during first half of 2009.

SINGAPORE, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In the news release, "Energenics Agrees Enercat Fuel Nanocatalyst Distribution With Eastern European Leader in Nanotechnology" issued on 27 May 2008 09:12 GMT, by Energenics over PR Newswire, we are advised by a representative of the company that in the 9th paragraph, the phrase 'Enercat reduces fuel efficiency' should read 'Enercat increases fuel efficiency' Complete, corrected release follows:

Energenics Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energenics Holdings Pte Ltd, announced today it has recently agreed to appoint Nanotrade sro as an exclusive Eastern European distributor for its Enercat fuel borne catalyst product.

GENEVA, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

On World No Tobacco Day, 31 May, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) joins the World Health Organization in calling for a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products.

Globally, most smokers start smoking before the age of 18. Almost one fourth begin before they are ten. The younger children are when they first try smoking, the more likely they are to become regular tobacco users and the less likely they are to quit.

Advertising is a net deliberately set by the tobacco industry to entrap them into addiction.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Aleris International, Inc. announced today that Galdino Claro will join Aleris as Executive Vice President and CEO, Aleris Americas, reporting to Steven J. Demetriou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, on June 3, 2008. In this role, Mr. Claro will be responsible for all Aleris business operations in the Americas.

Throughout his career in the metals industry, Mr. Claro, 49 has held key operational, marketing and product development roles with broad global responsibilities. Since September 2007, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Heico Metal Processing Group, a US$2 billion conglomerate with operations in the United States, Canada and Europe.

STOCKHOLM, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Qtel Award Ascade the Contract for the Complete Suite of the Carrier Cockpit(TM) Platform; From Routing and Trading to Quality Management and Interconnect Billing.

Ascade, the global market-leader in advanced Routing & Trading, Billing and Quality solutions for the Interconnect market, today announced that Qtel, the Qatar based highly international carrier, has awarded a contract for the full suite of Carrier Cockpit(TM).

Qtel made a thorough evaluation of the existing systems in the market and found Carrier Cockpit(TM) to provide the best support for its future growth; both within Qatar and through its international affiliates.

Planting biofuel crops on converted forestlands or other ecologically valuable lands has already become a hotly debated practice. Now, a new report co-authored by Nature Conservancy scientists says that biofuel crops could also become invasive species -- and that the risk needs to be evaluated before these crops are planted. The Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) and Conservancy scientists have identified all the crops currently being used or considered for biofuel production and ranked them according to the risk they pose of becoming invasive species.

BAAR, Switzerland, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Manas Petroleum Corporation (MNAP.OB) today announces that its wholly owned subsidiary DWM Petroleum AG signed a contract for the acquisition of 400 kilometers 2D seismic with GII, which will augment the 679 kilometers of seismic data recently reprocessed by Denver based GeoConcept. This seismic program, which is using a combination of Vibroseis and dynamite sources, aims to refine the definition of 9 prospects identified in the Albanian fold thrust belt and is to commence in July 2008, prior to drilling in 2009. The expected costs for the seismic acquisition are EUR 2.2 million (USD 3.5 million) for 2008 and EUR 3.4 million (USD 5.4 million) for 2009, thus, largely secured by a USD 6.2 million cash bank guarantee.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina and LONDON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Strategic Supply Agreement for Aerospace & Defense Market Valued at Approximately US$20 Million Through 2013

RF Micro Devices, (Nasdaq: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance semiconductor components, and SELEX GALILEO, one of Europe's leading defense electronics suppliers, today announced the two companies have signed a strategic supply agreement. The strategic supply agreement expands upon a former agreement signed in 2001 between SELEX GALILEO and a division of the former Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd, which was acquired by RFMD(R) on February 29, 2008.

ADLINGTON, England, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --