■ An Iowa State University professor has developed a virtual reality headset for chickens that will fool factory-farmed hens into thinking they’re free-range. The gadget uses a special headset that lets caged chickens pad around a virtual farmyard, pecking at virtual bugs. “I did a lot of work to get the technology right,” said inventor Austin Stewart. He admits that […]
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Happiness may be a key to staying healthy in old age. A new long-term study involving nearly 3,200 people ages 60 and older found that those who enjoy life are better able to handle physical activities such as eating, getting dressed, and showering; the} even walk faster. By contrast, the unhappiest people were about 80 percent more likely to have […]
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The strain of worrying constantly about making ends meet depletes poor people’s brainpower, making them more likely to make bad decisions that can perpetuate the cycle of poverty. In fact, Princeton University researchers conclude in a new study, just feeling poor can quickly knock 13 points off a person’s IQ.To determine how financial worries affect thinking, the researchers posed various […]
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■ A Japanese town wants to put underpants on a replica of Michelangelo’s David. The 16-foot-tall statue has caused a stir since it was presented to the town of Okuizumo as a gift. “It’s frightening the children and worrying the adults with its nakedness,” said an official. “Several people have asked us to cover it up with underpants.” Officials are […]
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When the Liberal Party of Norway asked Gylve Nagell to run for the position of Backup Town Councilor for a suburb of Oslo he was very hesitant because he is not a politician. He is a member of the black metal band Darkthrone where his lyrics and music are about murder and mayhem. As the election got closer, he sensed […]
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Why do chimpanzees kill one another? For years, many studies have shown that chimps that were observed killing one another had become more aggressive only when humans encroached on their environment. But new studies have lent weight to an alternative theory: Chimpanzees are, like humans, natural-born killers who use violence as a means of expanding their territory and increasing their […]
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Prison Sentences – Loosening The Shackles U.S. Prison Population The U.S. prison population is the highest in the world. A quarter of the world’s inmates reside in U.S. prisons, despite being only 5% of the world population. Since the 1980’s the U.S. prison population has increased 8-fold to over 2.4 million people. More than $80 billion of taxpayer money […]
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■ When Aaron Collins of Lexington, Ky., died suddenly last year at the age of 30, he left his family instructions in his will to leave an “awesome tip” for an unsuspecting server. “I mean $500 on a f—ing pizza for a waiter or waitress,” he wrote. His family did as Aaron had requested —but his brother, Seth, didn’t want […]
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A British teenager had to be rescued by firefighters after she got stuck in a storm drain while trying to retrieve her new smartphone. Ella Birchenough, 16, dropped her iPhone down the drain while out walking her dog. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m not leaving this,’ and I jumped down to get it,” she said. But her waist became wedged […]
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A helium balloon launched by a British schoolboy was discovered in Australia after making an incredible 10,545-mile journey across the world. Joshua Blackaby, 6, from Alvaston, England, released a balloon tied to a letter in December as part of a school project. Three months later, his family received a note from a girl named Millie, informing them that she’d found […]
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