On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, as a famous New Yorker cartoon once said. Nobody knows when you're the CEO of a big company, either, or a popular doctor, or a columnist posting comments on his or her own writings if you're writing under an assumed name. And while anonymity can be an attractive feature of the Internet, how and when you use it raises some interesting ethical questions.

Do you like to glug away at cans of sugar-free fizzy drinks but simultaneously worry that the artificial sweeteners might not be that much better than sugar itself? So the news of a plant-derived sweetener with claimed health-promoting effects would be good news.

Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours.

Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef.

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens (published in the United Kingdom as God is Not Great: The Case Against Religion) is the latest in a rash of athiestic manifestos attempting to portray religion as a malignant force in the world. Currently the book has been on the New York Times best seller list for 14 weeks and has sold over 58,000 copies. This review by Stephen Prothero from The Washington Post casts an interesting light on the methods Hitchens uses to communicate his frustration with theistic thinking and the influence it has on society.

U.S. Hindu organizations are urging presidential candidates to denounce the protesters who disrupted the Senate as the first-ever Hindu opening prayer was being delivered last month.

The three protesters -- identified in the Christian media as a couple and their daughter -- were removed from the Senate floor and arrested by Capitol Police on July 12 after they began shouting, "This is an abomination," and asking for forgiveness from God.

In the USA, spending on veterinary care is expected to reach US$9.8 billion in 2007, up from US$7.2 billion five years ago, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.