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Rainforest fungus that makes ‘myco-diesel’ discovered

Washington, Nov 4: Scientists have found a fungus that produces a new type of fuel, which they call ‘myco-diesel.’

Gary Strobel, Montana State University professor of plant sciences and plant pathology, said that the discovery might offer an alternative to fossil fuels.

Strobel found the diesel-producing fungus in a Patagonia rainforest. He visited the rainforest in 2002 and collected a variety of specimens, including the branches from an ancient family of trees known as "ulmo."

When Strobel and his research team examined the branches, they found fungus growing inside.

They continued to investigate and discovered that the fungus, called "Gliocladium roseum," was producing gases.

Angelina Jolie says she’s ‘a punk kid with tattoos’ at heart

Angelina JolieNew Delhi, Nov 4 : Shen might have received loads of praise for her activism and style, but according to Angelina Jolie, she’s just ‘a punk kid with tattoos’ at heart.

The ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ actress, who has been the face of many magazines, may have acted in many Hollywood flicks, but she still feels like an outsider, reports China Daily.

“I am still, at heart – and always will be – just a punk kid with tattoos,” Angelina told Harper Bazaar.

Salma Hayek back with French billionaire ex?

Salma HayekWashingtonWashington, Nov 4 : Hollywood actress Salma Hayek was recently spotted getting cozy with her ex beau billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault at a football game in France.

Though, the two were there to watch a game, they only had eyes for each other, according to a witness.

"They were very together, they talked a lot during the match and exchanged tender looks. ... They seemed very much in synch with each other,” People magazine quoted a fan, as saying.

The ‘Fled’ actress and Hayek and luxury goods mogul Pinault, have a 2-year-old daughter, Valentina Paloma.

One UK official disciplined over data loss every day

London, Nov. 4: A public official is sacked or reprimanded virtually every single working day for losing data or breaching protection rules, official figures show.

According to The Telegraph, parliamentary answers from three Government Departments reveal that up to 260 officials were disciplined or dismissed "for alleged breaches of data protection requirements and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data" in the past year.

Most of the people - 192 - were disciplined or dismissed at HM Revenue and Customs, which last November admitted losing personal details of 25 million people from the child benefit database.

How to avoid voting machine errors

Washington, November 4: A University of Maryland researcher has come up with several recommendations that can enable voters to minimize the chance of election machine-related errors.

Paul S. Herrnson, the University of Maryland political scientist, has revealed that his team’s recommendations are based on a comprehensive study of the problems voters may face while using touch screen and paper-based machines.

"In our experiments, even with the simplest ballot design and the most user-friendly machines, we found voters still cast their ballots for the wrong candidate about three percent of the time," Herrnson says.

Manipuris protest against bomb blast in Imphal

Manipur, ImphalImphal, Nov 4 : The recent bomb blast in Manipur’s capital Imphal, has broken all barriers of patience of the people of the state. They have condemned militancy and asked the government to act tough against such elements.

People from all walks of life and from all communities recently held a massive rally to protest against the Imphal blast that claimed over 15 lives.

The anger and frustration was palpable on the faces of the protestors. Everybody said bombs are not the solution in society.

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