NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory A powerful M9-class solar storm that unleashed a coronal mass ejection toward Earth in the early hours of Jan. 23, 2012 (GMT).CREDIT: NASA/SDO/SOHO An immense blast of plasma spewed late Sunday night from the sun led to the strongest radiation storm bombarding our planet since 2005, and a rare warning from [...]
World News
Sen. Paul stopped by TSA at airport, law enforcement denies it was a detention
AP2012 FILE – In this Jan. 7 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., son of Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, campaigns for his father. On Jan. 23, Paul was stopped briefly by Nashville airport security, when a scanner found an “anomaly” on his knee. Sen. Rand Paul‘s office says he was held by [...]
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom denies piracy charges, embraces lavish lifestyle
The colorful founder of Megaupload — a former hacker with a fleet of luxury cars, a multimillion-dollar mansion, and a cadre of celebrity pals — denied charges of Internet piracy in a New Zealand court Monday. The 37-year-old was born Kim Schmitz, but legally changed his name to Dotcom as an homage to the business [...]
EU formally adopts Iran oil embargo as Iranian lawmakers ramp up Hormuz threats
Two Iranian lawmakers on Monday ramped up threats that their country would shutter the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for oil sanctions on Tehran — a warning that comes one day after the USS Abraham Lincoln passed through the iconic waterway. Lawmaker Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, deputy head of Iran‘s influential committee on national security, [...]
Magic mushrooms trip up brain activity
Cactu, Wikipedia Psilocybe mexicana, the mushroom from which psilocybin was first extracted. The active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms decreases brain activity, possibly explaining the vivid, mind-bending effects of the drug, a new study finds. The decreases were focused in regions that serve as crossroads for information in the brain, meaning that information may flow more [...]
Joe Paterno, former Penn State football coach, dies at 85
AP/File In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno walks off the field after warm ups before Penn State‘s NCAA college football game against Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Happy Valley was perfect for Joe Paterno, a place where “JoePa” knew best, where he not only won [...]
Possibility that unregistered passengers were aboard wrecked cruise ship, official says
AP/Pier Paolo Cito Jan. 22: A police boat sails by the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia, off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be [...]
Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to resign from Congress
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announced Sunday that she has “more work to do” on her recovery after an assassination attempt and will resign from her congressional seat this week. In a video release posted on her website and tweeted from her Twitter handle, the congresswoman said that she is getting better but wants to do what’s [...]
Bodies of missing Texas family found
SHERMAN, Texas – The Dallas County Medical Examiner on Sunday identified three bodies as members of a Texas family that disappeared last week. The bodies of Harold and Sue Harpst and Sue’s daughter, Regina Taunton, were found Saturday behind a barn near Sherman, Texas, KXAS-TV reported. They had been missing since Jan. 15. Sue Harpst‘s [...]
Father watches as daughter, 10, killed by crocodile in Indonesia
A 10-year-old girl was snatched and killed by a crocodile in Indonesia as her father and brother helplessly watched, the Daily Mail reports. The family had been hunting for turtles when the girl, Juraida, was dragged into the water by a giant saltwater crocodile, according to the paper. The rescue team dispatched to the scene [...]