“If God wants us to live the rest of our lives as two separate, independent individuals, we will.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Ladan Bijani before an operation to separate her from her conjoined twin sister Laleh (The Independent online, 7 July). Neither twin survived
“We have found the smoking gun.”
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Columbia Accident Investigation Board member Scott Hubbard, after a piece of foam insulation blew a 35-centimetre hole through a simulated shuttle wing (Associated Press, 7 July)
“They’re basically creating expensive urine.”
Cynthia Morris of Oregon 91ɫÇéƬ & Science University on people who take vitamin supplements as protection against heart disease and cancer (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2 July)
“Nature hasn’t the slightest respect for species and racial barriers.”
Richard Mabey, author of the plant encyclopedia Flora Britannica, who has dubbed attempts to eradicate alien plants and animals “ecological fascism” (The Independent, London, 6 July)
“It had a very particular smell, very different from a dead cetacean and from anything we have smelt before.”
Elsa Cabrera, director of the Centre for Cetacean Conservation in Santiago, after a gelatinous mass of flesh washed ashore in southern Chile (National Geographic online, 2 July)
“The camel safety problem is a serious one.”
Yossi Golan, commander of the Dimona police district in the eastern Negev desert, on why Israeli police are sticking fluorescent strips onto camels so that drivers can see them at night (, 3 July)