What's in the News

Liberia: Chinese Police Arrive Monday

China's first group of riot police assigned to Africa as peacekeepers was set to depart from Beijing on Monday morning after months of training.

An advance team of 15 will arrive first in the Republic of Liberia, followed by another 125 police officers on Oct 21. The mission will last eight months.

The unit is being deployed to Liberia to maintain public security, as well as to protect United Nations staff and facilities.

Most members were chosen from the 1,350 applicants from Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Frontier Corps.

Let's all hope that their good deeds don't go unpunished like that of every other country.

Soylent founder Rob Rhinehart raises $1.5 million in funding

ENJOYING that sandwich you're tucking into?

Eat up, it could be one of your last if Rob Rhinehart, the founder of meal replacement Soylent has his way.

The young entrepreneur has secured $1.5 million in seed funding and millions of pre-orders for a nutritionally-complete drink he developed, Tech Crunch reports.

And it's not just any old investors. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, described by Forbes as some of the most powerful people in tech, all want to get in on the product.

Mr Rhinehart made headlines when he gave up food for 30 days, relying entirely on the mix of vitamins and minerals like calcium, potassium, zinc, vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K in Soylent to provide his nutrition.

Despite criticism of the look and taste, a crowdfunding campaign quickly exceeded its goals.

"I have heard from some groups I did not expect though, everyone from chefs, who understandably seem to want a simple meal when they are usually cooking complex meals for other people, to truck drivers, who find it very difficult to get healthy food on the road," Mr Rhinehart told news.com.au.

The drink takes its name from cult sci-fi film Soylent Green, in which the population lives off rations including a drink made out of people.

Tech Crunch reports 50 testers have been living off the drink for months with no major issues so far. The latest round of capital raising will be used to move the company to Los Angeles and bring manufacturing in-house.

It comes following the launch of the world's first test tube burger, backed by Google's Sergey Brin. Mr Rhinehart said ultimately "Soylent will be a household name that most people use to some extent, like coffee".

However, while he expects the appetite for synthetic food to grow, it's unlikely to replace eating altogether.

"I don't think anyone should give up food entirely. Food is a big part of life. I just think we should separate food for fun and recreation from fuel for nutrition. This way we can enjoy nice foods and still be healthy. It's about balance," he said.

"Our best foods are already novelties for special occasions. Soylent will be the most popular staple meal but food will always be enjoyed for recreation by those that have the means."

The drink is expected to cost $65 for a week's supply.

 

Hmmm... an expensive concotion of vitamins and minerals named after a sci-fi 'slurry' made from people (at least 'Soylent Green' had protien), that looks bad and tastes bad, does not sound like a wise investment to me.
 

It'll be the new Jolt/Mountain Dew. Soylent Beige - the health conscious hacker's meal in a cup.

I'd like that. I can never be bothered to cook lunch and I don't want to eat cafe food every day. It would be nice to get your nutrition without food sometimes

I'd like that. I can never be bothered to cook lunch and I don't want to eat cafe food every day. It would be nice to get your nutrition without food sometimes

I'd like it too. I sometimes eat absolute crap because I'm in a hurry, might even have breakfast once in awhile.

The final consumer product wouldn't necessarily have to taste like crap. If you've ever had an Ensure or something like that, they are not terrible.

Soylent Cola - Tastes better because it's made from people.

I never thought wearing school uniforms could be hazardous to students' health -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21583781

WOW! I know we don't do much in sports, but I think this transcends the genre. 1 of the 4 gold medals won by Jesse Owens in the '36 Olympic Games is going up for auction. The anticipated price is expected to exceed $1M. Part of it is due to the whereabouts of the other 3 medals. The family has no idea where they are (they say)

This is a piece of history

I've been waiting for this for a long time. At last, my chance to own the complete set.

We all knew this but here are the statistics

http://news.yahoo.com/study-record-number-foreign-students-hit-us-050217743.html

Beijing has submitted an offer to host the 2022 WINTER Olympics. I don't think they have a snowball's chance against Almaty Kazakhstan, Krakow Poland, Lviv Ukraine, Oslo Norway, and Stockholm Sweden. 2018 is going to be in South Korea so China is too close. I think the rule is that only Europe can hold consequtive games

My money is on Oslo.

If they do win, then Beijing would be the first city to host both a Winter and Summer Olympiad

Another brutal accident, this one in my town, actually a neighbouring city about 15KM from my place. Oil pipeline burst into flames killing at least 35. So far, the gov't has ruled out terrorism. They also say the chemical fallout is within national acceptable standards. (Yea, right) Luckily, it's too cold to go swimming

In Huangdao?

Yes, not far from the western edge of the tunnel, not the bridge