A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, June 27, 2007.

German authorities will dedicate resources of the federal budget to improve information about renewable resources on the German version of Wikipedia. Entries on this topic will be managed by a private-sector body.

The challenge will be to motivate experts to get involved in the community lexicon. Such expert are used to publish in the normal newspapers. But Wikipedia is radically different: articles there continually grow with input from numerous authors, who often remain anonymous. The end product is constantly changing, and third parties can publish their own texts or even change them.

Sources

  • Torsten Kleinz, Craig Morris. “German Wikipedia receives state funding” — heise online, June 26, 2007
  • “Freies Wissen zu Nachwachsenden Rohstoffen – Bund engagiert sich für Ausbau der Wikipedia” — Wikimedia Deutschland, June 26, 2007

A one-year old girl, Georgia Brown of Hampshire, United Kingdom has become the first oldest ever member of high-IQ society Mensa International. She was tested by professor Joan Freeman, an educational psychologist from Middlesex University, using the Stanford-Binet IQ test, receiving a score of 152. At two years, nine months old, Brown is the youngest current member of the society, one of only 30 members under the age of ten, and the youngest female member ever. She is the youngest of five siblings, the daughter of Martin Brown, a carpenter, and Lucy Brown, chief executive of the charity Disability Initiative.

Sources

  • “Two-year-old with IQ of 152 is youngest Mensa member” — Gulf News, June 23, 2007
  • “Girl, 2, becomes member of Mensa” — BBC News Online, June 22, 2007
  • “Two-year-old becomes Mensa member” — The Daily Telegraph, June 25, 2007
  • Stephen McGinty. “Mensa unveils its latest genius — aged two” — The Scotsman, June 22, 2007
  • Duncan Robertson. “Two-year-old ‘Matilda’ becomes youngest ever girl in Mensa” — The Daily Mail, June 22, 2007