Just for laughs?

There’s nothing funny about global warming. But one side effect of thawing permafrost in the Arctic Circle has been higher levels of nitrous oxide being released to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide, that’s laughing gas. In the journal Nature Geoscience, they report this higher levels are being released because of global warming. What if all that extra laughing gas being released into the air arrived in China? The Week investigates …

Ready, aim, deodorize

Beijing will install 100 deodorant guns at a landfill on the edge of the city by May following complaints about the smell. The (London) Guardian reports they can spray dozens of liters of fragrance per minute. That’s until new landfills can be built to accommodate Beijing’s fast-growth and fast-growing landfill needs. What else can those deodorant guns be used for?

Apples and Sausages

Apple’s cool, new iPad is going on sale this week, and people around the world are lining up to buy one. But that’s not the biggest high-tech trend around this week. The biggest trend is for iPhone users, what they are using instead of their fingers for the stylus are sausages. According to weirdasianews.com, South Koreans started it, using “Maxbong” sausage finger snacks. Now a US-based company, CaseCrown.com, offers its own iPhone Sausage Screen Stylus. Of course, you can’t eat the US version. But how about a sausage stylus with Chinese characteristics? Here’s a trendy sausage stylus that tastes good too!

Naked boatmen

Tourism officials in Hubei province have come up with a new way to attract tourism. They’re considering reviving an old custom of boat trackers pulling boats up the river wearing, well, nothing. Will naked boatmen give camera-toting tourists a new reason to visit China? The Week investigates …

Cool, new gadgets

It’s time for our segment on cool new gadgets. With summer coming, Japan’s CC Medico has introduced a new sun hat that also is a cooler. It comes equipped with a chemical cooling spray that you spray to the hat and the temperatures will be reduced to as much as minus-40 degrees Celsius. Minus-40 degrees Celsius? My advice is: Don’t over do it!

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.