A British pilot momentarily lost control of his passenger plane when his artificial arm fell off during landing. The captain of the FlyBe turboprop was approaching Belfast City Airport in windy conditions with 47 passengers on board when his prosthetic left arm suddenly became detached, forcing him to handle the controls with just one arm. The plane touched down heavily […]
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In 2012, some 2.9 million adults and teens tried an illicit drug for the first time. More than 80% of them used pot. Among all pot users, 40% take the drug 20 or more days a month. Two states have legalized it for recreational use.
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Researchers who swabbed and tested DNA from surfaces in New York City’s subway system identified 562 species of bacteria, including microbes from mozzarella, sausage, hummus, kimchi, sauerkraut, rats, mice, and lice. Geneticist Christopher E. Mason said the bacteria found were not sufficient to cause disease, but that his work revealed the subways to be “teeming with life,” like “a rain […]
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Russia, the world’s second biggest cigarette consumer after China, has banned smoking in most public places as well as all tobacco advertising. Even popular Soviet-era cartoons featuring pipe smokers are to be censored. It’s unclear, though, how the ban will be enforced. Moscow police chief Anatoly Yakunin said his force has no plan to arrest violators. “We hope that they will […]
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A Paralympic medal winner who spent half her life in a wheelchair has made a miraculous recovery, and now hopes to represent her country in the Olympics. Monique van der Vorst had been paralyzed from the waist down since the age of 13, and won two silver medals as a hand-cyclist in the 2008 Paralympic Games. But the 27-year-old Dutch athlete […]
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Italy and Switzerland have agreed to redraw their border because global warming is melting the Alpine glaciers that mark their respective boundaries. The border had been fixed since 1861.
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Chance that a Russian believes the sun revolves around the earth: 1 in 3
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Twenty-five pilot whales beached themselves on Kice Island off southwest Florida in 2014. Sickness related to environmental problems can trigger beachings, which are on the rise.
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A New York City woman set off 21 bug bombs inside her apartment, causing an explosion that collapsed her five-story building, injuring 14 people.
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The sicker the oceans get, the more of their habitable regions vanish. Loss of aquatic habitats is mirroring the earlier pattern on land, which began with the Industrial Revolution and continues today.
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