Harper's April Randomness

From Arabian Night by Sophia Al-Maria who spent one night last fall flipping through Arabsat's 352 channels and noting what was on (Harper's Magazine, April 2010 pg 20-23):

STV: A chicken in a sandstorm.

Alborouz: Duelling poets.

IQRA': Cell-phone video of a Land Cruiser half devoured by a mighty flood of brown water. There is a whole family in the car. The driver's side is almost totally submerged in the water, and the car is in danger of being swept away. The driver honks frantically, one long helpless horn blowing over the roar of water. Men in thobes scuttle around anxiously on dry land, helpless. Finally, one of the onlookers lunges at the passanger-side door, and a woman in full niquab and abaya leaps out onto him. She falls on the man, and they both loose their footing, disappearing under the car. Without the woman's weight in the vehicle, the whole SUV flips over; everyone on the bank screams. Then suddenly, the Land Cruiser is gone, swallowed up in the middle of the opaque water. The footage is followed by a stern message: "Remember to pray, because your place on earth is temporary."

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From: Findings - a page dedicated to brief updates on recent scientific discoveries (Harper's Magazine April 2010 pg 84):

Sharks born to virgin mothers - contrary to prior assumptions - sometimes reach adulthood.

The majority of young Swedish women are attracted to both men and women, and a quarter of British women over the age of 35 never have sex.

Marta, a Congolese bonobo, stole and ate Olivia, the baby of Olga, in the first instance of bonobo cannibalism; Olga also ate some of Olivia.

Stingless Trigona carbonaria bees encase their enemies in resin.

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photographs and a drawings from the Tree drawings series by Tim Knowles

more great stories: Harper's Magazine online