50 years ago, the Beatles rolled through New Jersey on a magical mystery train tour (via NJ.com)On a stormy Tuesday in February of 1964, Karen Muldoon put on her boots and trundled out in the snow to greet the Beatles. A high school junior at the time, she had the day off, thanks to the weather. With a little help from her parents and Mother Nature…
White House hits back at Republicans on immigration 'trust' (via AFP)The White House Friday hit back at Republican claims that a long-delayed overhaul of America's immigration system is stalled because President Barack Obama cannot be trusted to carry it out. Republican House Speaker John Boehner Thursday poured cold…
Winter Olympics 2014 hockey schedule: USA, Canada women kick things off (via SB Nation)By Travis Hughes @TravisSBN on Feb 8 2014, 3:07a + The USA takes on Finland and Canada faces Switzerland in the first women's hockey action of the 2014 Winter Olympics. If all goes according to plan, the United States and Canada will meet in the…
Root of life: Bill Nye debates creationist Ken Ham (video) (via NJ.com)Creation vs. evolution. A time-honored debate, to be sure, but after a new matchup last night between two titans representing each side, the question is still hot on social media. So are the debaters. On the side of evolution was Bill Nye, well known…
Apple pulls last remaining Bitcoin app from the App Store (via The Inquirer)GADGET DESIGNER Apple is pulling Bitcoin related applications from its App Store, much to the chagrin of digital currency brokers. The latest app to fall is Blockchains, and the app's developer took to the internet to make its case and plead for reconsideration…
US Export-Import Bank opens to Myanmar (via AFP)The US Export-Import Bank on Thursday began to offer credit for trade with Myanmar, hoping to support businesses against competitors in a market that has boomed since democratic reforms. The decision sends "a strong signal that we are committed to strengthening…
Japan's Yamada debuts Olympic women's ski jumping (via AFP)Japan's Yurina Yamada made history on Saturday when she became the first competitor to jump in an Olympic Games women's ski jump event. Yamada was first down the normal hill in the opening training session at Rosa Khutor. Women's ski jumping is making…
Records fall on golden day in Sochi (via AFP)Records tumbled on the first day of medal action at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Saturday as organisers breathed a sigh of relief after a dazzling opening ceremony hailed as a success around the world. Under picture-perfect blue skies US snowboarder…
Betting on the Super Bowl? Get math on your side (via PBS News Hour)By: Rebecca Jacobson For players, teams and gamblers, millions of dollars ride on this year's Superbowl. Can math give an edge to predicting the winner? Left: Quarterback Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos. Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images. Right…
Bilawal Bhutto on Pakistani politics: Renaissance man (via The Economist)MODELS in skimpy outfits, dancing around a fiery cauldron in a strange homage to an ancient, pre-Islamic past…is not most people’s idea of how to launch a political career in Pakistan. But Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 25-year-old heir to one of the…
HP teases an Intel Haswell powered Chromebox for UK release (via The Inquirer)PC MAKER HP has spilled some details about its first Chromebox device, which will be coming to the UK in the second quarter. The pint-sized device is designed to connect to monitors as a low-cost desktop replacement or to a television to add Smart TV…
White House hits back at Republicans on immigration 'trust' (via AFP)The White House Friday hit back at Republican claims that a long delayed overhaul of America's immigration system is stalled because President Barack Obama cannot be trusted to carry it out. Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday poured cold…
After 22 years, 'Tonight Show' host Jay Leno signs off (via AFP)Talk show host Jay Leno bids farewell to his remarkable 22-year run at the top of the late-night US television heap on Thursday when he signs off from NBC's "The Tonight Show" for the last time. Country music titan Garth Brooks and comedian Billy Crystal…
Study Links Gas Drilling to Heart Defects in Babies (via Desmogblog)A newly-published study specific to Colorado (pdf) links the rate of congenital heart defects in babies to how close they live to natural gas wells. The study, published January 28, 2014 in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the…
Cancer Explosion Forecast for Next 20 Years (via Environment News Service)GENEVA, Switzerland, February 4, 2014 (ENS) – Cancer is now the world’s biggest killer, and the number of cases will explode over the next 20 years, warns a new global report compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency…
More-Efficient Organic Solar Cells Coming Soon Thanks To New Research On Charge Separation (via Clean Technica)A new multi-university study focusing on the fundamental science of charge separation has resulted in a greatly improved understanding of the subject — an improved understanding that should lead to more-efficient organic solar cells in the near future…
Sochi 2014: What's the deal with independent Olympic athletes? (via SB Nation)By Travis Hughes @TravisSBN on Feb 7 2014, 12:19p + You may have seen three athletes march into Fisht Olympic Stadium under an Olympic flag, not a national flag. What's the deal with that? Three athletes will compete under the Olympic flag at the…
The Economist explains: Why Sochi is, ironically, the perfect place for the winter Olympics (via The Economist)SOCHI, a subtropical resort on the Black Sea coast, seems an odd place to stage the winter Olympics. It is the warmest place in Russia, where people go to escape winter. The weather forecast for the coast where the opening ceremony will be held on February…
Book review - The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars now Available in Paperback (via Skeptical Science)Posted on 6 November 2013 by John Cook This is an updated book review of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, by Michael Mann, with the paperback edition released this week. The re-release features a foreword by Bill "The Science Guy" Nye (which opens…
Free computer game - World at the Crossroads (via Skeptical Science)Posted on 11 November 2013 by Marcin Popkiewicz Polish chapter of ASPO, together with The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe have prepared a computer strategy game "World at the Crossroads". The game simulates the rise of…
Global warming is increasing the risk of heatwaves (via Skeptical Science)Posted on 30 January 2014 by dana1981, Rob Painting, John Cook A number of studies, both regional and global, have found that heatwaves are becoming more frequent. According to research by climate scientists David Karoly and Sophie Lewis, Australian…
Why rainbows and oil slicks help to show the greenhouse effect (via Skeptical Science)Posted on 3 February 2014 by MarkR The greenhouse effect, where some atmospheric gases let through sunlight but absorb the infrared heat given off by Earth, can be understood in amazing detail by starting off with the spread of colours in a rainbow…
2013 was the second-hottest year on record without an El Niño (via Skeptical Science)Posted on 6 February 2014 by dana1981 According to the global surface temperate data set compiled by Kevin Cowtan & Robert Way, which achieves the best coverage of the rapidly-warming Arctic by filling in data gaps between temperature stations using…
MIT president makes confronting campus sexual assault a 'central priority' (via boston.com)By Matt Rocheleau, Boston.com Staff MIT President L. Rafael Reif announced Friday he has asked the institute’s newly appointed chancellor to make confronting campus sexual assault a “central priority” in response to an anonymous alumna who…
Local students earn honors at Malden Catholic High School (via boston.com)The following was submitted by Malden Catholic High School: Malden Catholic High School, one of New England’s leading college preparatory high schools for young men, has announced that the following local students received honors for distinguished…
Twitter takes hit as user growth disappoints (via AFP)Twitter got a reality check as the high-flying messaging company reported modest user growth during a quarter in which it lost $511 million. Even more disconcerting, in the eyes of some industry watchers, was that the typical amount of time people spent…
Can Bill Gates Pull a Steve Jobs? (via slashdot)Bill Gates is coming back to Microsoft part-time as a technology advisor to new CEO Satya Nadella. As pointed out by many a media source (most notably BusinessWeek), Gates assuming a more active role in Microsoft’s day-to-day product development has…
Renewables, Natural Gas, and Efficiency Leading American Energy Transformation (via Clean Technica)Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released their 2014 installment of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook for The Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and found that renewable energy, natural gas, and energy efficiency advancements are leading…
Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony: Live Report (via AFP)18:04 GMT - Historical memories - A perhaps surprisingly light-hearted recollection of the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century now. Dynamic dance moves combine with the aesthetic of 1950s propaganda posters before a new Russia is symbolically born.…
