G.I. JANE GETS A BOOB JOB; SOLDIERS DRINK PEE

Where would we be without the Internet? I mean, in the analog past, how the hell would we have found out about world-shaking developments, like these?

- "Soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers' dime."

The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.

"Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible," Dr. Bob Lyons, chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine, which said soldiers needed the approval of their commanding officers to get the time off."

- "Food scientists working for the US military have developed a dried food ration that troops can hydrate by... peeing on it," according to New Scientist.

The ration comes in a pouch containing a filter that removes 99.9 per cent of bacteria and most toxic chemicals from the water used to rehydrate it, according to the Combat Feeding Directorate, part of the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. This is the same organisation that created the "indestructible sandwich" that will stay fresh for three years.

The aim is to reduce the amount of water soldiers need to carry. One day's food supply of three meals, weighs 3.5 kilograms but that can be reduced to about 0.4 kilograms with the dehydrated pouches, says spokeswoman Diane Wood.