Most analysts do not believe the two Iranians who used stolen passports to board the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight were terrorists. So why were they on the plane? The most probable reason being… they were simply hoping to find a better life in the West. Decades of debilitating, punitive sanctions have destroyed Iran’s economy, environment, and health-care system. Sanctions have […]
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Having a baby in some Alabama hospitals can mean getting tested for drugs without a woman’s consent—and winding up in jail for a positive result. Alabama’s chemical endangerment law, in effect for nine years, spurred an investigation by ProPublica and AL.com into hospital drug-testing policies due to the law’s strict penalties. A woman who tests positive for drugs in a […]
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A hallucinatory party drug could point the way to the first new treatments for depression in a generation. Scientists have discovered that ketamine (“Special K”), which club-goers take for dream-like highs, also improves mood disorders by repairing damaged connections in the brain. What’s more, ketamine works within hours as opposed to weeks— even for people whose mood disorders have proved […]
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Dead and dying bottlenose dolphins are washing up along the Mid-Atlantic coast at an alarming rate. Since June, more than 120 dolphins have appeared on beaches from New York to Virginia—seven times the typical number. Early this month, the National Marine Fisheries Service declared the strandings “an unusual mortality event” requiring immediate attention. “All indications show there’s something serious going […]
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Porn star murder suspect nabbed: The Canadian porn actor suspected of murdering his boyfriend in Montreal, then mailing his severed body parts to Canada’s political parties, was arrested in Germany this week. Luka Magnotta, 29, a gay prostitute, was Googling articles about himself in a Berlin cybercafe when the owner recognized him and called police. Authorities allege that Magnotta filmed […]
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As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve, comparisons have been drawn to influenza. Both cause respiratory disease, yet there are important differences between the two viruses and how they spread. This has important implications for the public health measures that can be implemented to respond to each virus. How are COVID-19 and influenza viruses similar? Firstly, COVID-19 and influenza […]
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Wellfleet, Mass. Over a two week span, more than 85 dolphins had become stranded along the craggy Cape Codcoastline, including 30 in one day, said the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Typically, 120 dolphins beach themselves from January to April, the high season for stranding. They are regularly pulled by extreme tides into the U-shaped Cape Cod Bay, but never […]
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Thousands of pigs were found dead in rivers supplying Shanghai’s water, a grisly discovery that has drawn attention again to China’s toxic pollution, which contributes to some 700,000 deaths each year. Here are some points of concern: WASTE Tai Lake—a massive basin that holds China’s third largest body of freshwater, providing water for 30 million people—has been classified as a […]
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Worrying about everyday problems will shorten your life. A British study found that people who reported feeling even mild anxiety—the sort that distracted them, depleted their self-confidence, or occasionally kept them awake at night were 16 percent more likely to die over a 10-year period than people with no such concerns. About one in four people experiences mild anxiety, but […]
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If you experience loneliness you are not alone according to a recent survey. A survey of 20,000 adults conducted by USA TODAY showed that about half of them said that they suffer from loneliness. They said that most of the people in their lives don’t understand them or they lack meaningful relationships and companionship. Some that sufferers may have some […]
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