Friday Ark #133 has started to board.  Be sure to visit regularly throughout the weekend for your beastly fill.

Now we’ll give those Romulans a run for their money!  “Harry Potter fans take note: scientists have finally come up with a workable design for an invisibility cloak. Physicists figured out the complex mathematical equations for making objects invisible by bending light around them last year. A group of engineers at Purdue University in Indiana have now used those calculations to design a relatively simple device that ought to be able to—one day soon—make objects as big as an airplane simply disappear.”

And to the idiot who wrote that article, the Romulans from Star Trek had cloaking devices long before Harry Potter was a twinkle in his creator’s eye, so next time do a little research and find a comparison with a broader audience and a longer history.  In other words, don’t be daft!

I was going to write an entry about the Snap Preview function that seems to have infiltrated the far reaches of the intertubes, much to my dismay and frustration, but Chris Clarke already did a much better job than I ever could.  I echo his sentiments about it.  Also note his post includes a link where you can go disable it for your machine (using cookies) and where you can find information for disabling it for your site.

Annie shares some interesting insight into the witchery of chocolate.  I know it certainly has cast its spell on me.  At least now I know why.  And I also know a bit more about what makes it so delicious and virtually impossible to replicate artificially.

The pet food recall continues to expand.  “The Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday it has identified additional contaminated pet food products — dog biscuits made by Sunshine Mills of Red Bay, Alabama. […] Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of wet pet food on March 16 after the chemical melamine, which can be toxic in high doses, showed up in federal testing of some of its cat and dog food varieties. Since then, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, Del Monte Pet Products and Hill’s Pet Nutrition have also recalled some products.”

As for the number of dead animals, the official count remains at 16 but…  “Sundlof said the number of pet deaths confirmed as being related to the recall remains at 16 despite reports in the thousands from veterinarians across the country. Menu Foods spokeswoman Sarah Tuite told CNN that one dog and 15 cats have died. The pet owner community Web site www.petconnection.com said it has received reports of 3,240 pet deaths related to the recall. The causes of those deaths have not been confirmed by government officials. The Michigan Veterinary Medical Association said it suspects 46 animals — 33 cats and 13 dogs — in Michigan have died due to ingestion of the contaminated food, and Oregon’s public health veterinarian, Dr. Emilio DeBess, said he suspects 38 pet deaths reported in that state are linked to the allegedly toxic food.”  I still think it’s going to go way up.  And that’s terribly unfortunate.

I again reiterate that everyone should check the FDA’s page for the latest news releases.  It also has links to all of the recalled products, and you should be checking yours and the list on a regular basis.