Short items

Ribena claims rumbled 

GlaxoSmithKline has admitted misleading the New Zealand public over levels of vitamin C in Ribena. The company was fined NZ$217,000 (?81,000) and ordered to run corrective advertisements, three years after two schoolgirls’ science experiment found no traces of vitamin C in the blackcurrant drink.  
New Zealand Herald, 28 March 2007 

Pirates sniffed out 

Movie pirates are running scared of two US-loaned Northern Irish dogs helping Malaysian authorities uncover huge caches of illegal DVDs. Chemical sprays, plastic sheets, soap and charcoal have all failed to prevent the labrador retrievers sniffing out the discs’ polycarbonate scents. Syndicates have offered a RM100,000 (?14,600) bounty for the dogs.  
The New Straits Times, 15 April 2007  

Chemist is Su Doku champion 

Thomas Snyder, a 27-year-old chemist from Harvard University, US, has won the second Su Doku world championship. Snyder, runner-up last year, is also the US puzzle champion, and said he completed most Su Dokus in about five minutes, though his record was under two minutes.  
The Times, 2 April 2007 

Lead contaminates town 

Lead has poisoned 4000 birds in the coastal town of Esperance, in western Australia. A government investigation into the crisis found isotope testing on seabed samples around the port matched lead transported by the mining company Magellan Metals, which has subsequently suspended operations. Port authorities failed to report spikes in lead dust emission levels last year, it has emerged. 
The Australian, 4 April 2007  

Toxic towels seized 

Officials in Hebei province, northern China, have reportedly closed nine factories and seized about one million towels that had been dyed with banned toxic chemicals such as benzidine. 
China Daily, 7 April 2007