Bloodsucking serial killers from the sky!

No, that title wasn't just a pathetic attempt at getting people to read my journal. That's an honest-to-goodness headline from today's Metro, one of the local papers. It's an article about vampire bats in Brazil that, since they have been deprived of their usual sources of food due to habitat loss, are now increasingly feeding on humans, and spreading rabies as a result. It's a story that could have been approached from any number of angles (deforestation, poor public health conditions, urban encroachment on wilderness, etc.), and yet the British press, true to form, took the most sensational tack they could find. It's further proof of my theory that every paper over here (with the possible exception of the Guardian) is basically a glorified tabloid (well, not even so glorified in some cases). So, to all of you who scoff at US journalism, I have this to tell you: it could be much, much worse.
Speaking of things with wings (and things that come from the sky and can kill you), I learned a fun fact about that most important of fossils, the Berlin Archaeopteryx. For those of you who aren't up to date on fossil birds, the Berlin specimen is the best fossil we have of Archaeopteryx, the so-called missing link between dinosaurs and birds. As such, it is literally priceless. Apparently the museum in Berlin takes their curatorship of such an object very seriously, and they store it in a nuclear bomb-proof safe. So, effectively what that means is that had the Cold War "gone hot" and Berlin had been bombed, the entire city and centuries of cultural achievement would have been gone, but a crow-sized bird fossil with teeth and a tail would be safe. I'm not sure whether I admire or am disturbed by their priorities.
On the subject of radioactivity (the segues just keep coming!), our department received this rather worrisome e-mail this afternoon:
This is an appeal for information regarding a radioactive source discovered in B14. If anybody knows anything about it, please contact me. A lead-lined green cylindrical container (90 mm x 50 mm diam) was discovered in B14. It contains a 4 mL polypropylene vial with screw cap containing a dark grey granular material. The number 5 is written on the vial. Radiation penetrating the vial is very low level (~100 Bq). None of the present or recent past occupants of B14 have any recollection of this. It was being used as a doorstop. I will dispose of the material through the Safety Office but, in anticipation of the obvious question "what is it" from them, any information would be helpful.
The long and short of it all? Someone's been storing "radioactive sources" in our department. What's more, they've been using them as doorstops. A subsequent e-mail revealed that there is in fact a University Radiation Protection Adviser who - seriously - wants us all to check our cupboards and old equipment to see if there are any other sources floating around out there. To be fair, I'm pretty sure none of this radiation is significant enough to present a real hazard, but seriously, using a lead-lined case of unidentified containing "dark gray granular material" as a doorstop? Who could possibly think that was a good idea?
So, what have we learned today? That the world is full of danger, apparently. Vampire bats, rabies, poor-quality English journalism, and of course "radioactive sources." On the plus side, at least the Berlin Archaeopteryx will be safe!