by James
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Pope Francis has called on leaders worldwide to take steps towards a global financial reform that would benefit everyone. He intends to overhaul the traditionally secretive Vatican Bank to meet Europe’s standards and boost the institution’s transparency. Continue reading
by James
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Beginning in late 2006 — early 2007, abnormally high die-offs, about 30–90% of all hives of European honey bee colonies began in North America. There are fears that neonicotinoids, a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine, are linked to the rapid decline of honeybees. Biotech conglomerates assert that no link has been proven between the use of neonicotinoids and the declining number of bees. The exact cause has been debated at length and numerous studies conducted, but no conclusive evidence has been found. Continue reading
by James
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Shortly after the designs for “The Liberator,” the world’s first functioning 3D printable gun, were on the web, they were removed from public access at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense Trade Controls citing possible arms trafficking violations and claiming control of the information. The files are currently hosted on several torrent sites like The Pirate Bay which have no intention of censoring the information. Continue reading
by James
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This morning around 9:26 AM (03:26 GMT) near the small town of Chebarkul in the Ural mountains of Russia, a meteorite crashed to Earth, injuring approximately 500 people. Russian emergencies ministry stated that thousands of rescue workers have been dispatched to the area to provide relief.
A large meteor estimated to weigh about 10 tons partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards at supersonic speed, one of which struck near Chebarkul. Continue reading
by James
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A 40-year-old cleric named Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, father of seven who commanded great respect in the community, delivered a speech denouncing Al Qaeda in a mosque in eastern Yemen. The speech did not go unnoticed and two days later he was approached by three members of Al Qaeda who wanted to talk. Mr. Jaber, his cousin Waleed Abdullah (a police officer brought along for security) and the three members of Al Qaeda were all incinerated by a missile from an American drone. Mr. Jaber is the … Continue reading
by James
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A confidential 16-page memo was leaked from the Justice Department which states legal framework whereby American citizens may be targeting by drone strikes without due process or proof of specific intent to harm.
The drone strike “does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.” Meaning we can pretty much take out anyone, anywhere, at any time so long as informed, high-level official of government gives the green light. Continue reading
by James
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Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the Universe: a large quasar group spanning 4 billion light-years in diameter. The record-breaking quasar group was spotted in data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Quasars are the nuclei of galaxies from the early days of the Universe that undergo brief periods of extremely high brightness that make them visible across huge distances. The large quasar group (LQG) is composed of 73 quasars and spans about 1.6 billion light-years in most directions, though it is 4 billion light-years … Continue reading
by James
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Aaron Swartz, computer programmer, Co-Founder of Reddit and internet freedom activist who ceaselessly fought to make online content free to the public, committed suicide last Friday, Janurary 11th, in his New York city apartment. He was only 26.
At age 14, Swartz played a key role in developing RSS (Really Simple Syndication) which is still widely used by news and social media sites, enabling people to manage what they read on the internet. He also played a vital role in the creation of Reddit, the vast and popular social networking news site. Continue reading
by James
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Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia manipulated Emma Whitehead’s (a 7-year-old leukemia patient) immune system using a disabled version of HIV to modify her white blood cells to make it target her cancerous cells. Continue reading
by James
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