Research has concluded the main cause of America’s obesity epidemic is that food has become too cheap and easy to get. The findings challenge conventional wisdom about obesity in the U.S., shifting the focus from sedentary lifestyles to the economics of eating. “It isn’t just the fact that we may be eating more high-calorie food, but we are eating more […]
Read more
Arjona, Colombia Killed at bullfight: Spectators were gored to death and dozens injured at a bullfight in northern Colombia. One man was gored through the heart, while another was tossed on a bull’s horns and then dragged around the ring. It is not uncommon for participants or spectators to be gored to death at bullfights. Unlike Spanish bullfights, in which […]
Read more
It’s official: Abortion for gender selection is widespread in Britain, said Dominic Lawson. An analysis by The Independent shows that women from Indian and Pakistani communities in Britain are aborting their female fetuses at much higher rates than male fetuses, “resulting in the ‘disappearance’ of up to 4,700 girls.” Of course, this is what we should have expected, given that […]
Read more
Meiktila, Myanmar Muslims massacred: Newly released satellite photographs have revealed the extent of the sectarian violence in central Myanmar last month, in which Buddhist mobs torched hundreds of Muslim homes, killing at least 43 people. According to Human Rights Watch, the group that released the images, more than 860 buildings in the town of Meiktila were destroyed damaged or incinerated […]
Read more
The temporary housing settlements of Williston, N.D., might seem like an unlikely haunt for archaeologists. Nonetheless, a team of “punk archaeologists” are there, finding the history in the present by peering into the lives of people at the heart of North Dakota’s oil industry. Thanks to the lucrative nature of the “Bakken boom” — the ongoing oil drilling in North […]
Read more
The ozone layer over the Arctic Circle developed a giant hole this winter, scientists say. Over the North Pole, 40 percent of the ozone layer has disappeared—a record seasonal loss. Ozone high in the atmosphere shields the Earth from harmful UV rays, and it fluctuates seasonally; usually about 25 percent of the Arctic’s ozone layer fades every winter. In the […]
Read more
Ocean temperatures first collected during one of the great 19th-century voyages of exploration confirm one of the consequences of climate change: humans have managed to warm even the deepest parts of the ocean. A new study in Nature Climate Change calculates that the amount of heat absorbed by the ocean has doubled in the last 18 years. A third of […]
Read more
■ Kim Kardashian underwent special toe liposuction so that she could fit into a stylish pair of stilettos for her recent wedding to rapper Kanye West, said Look (U.K.).The reality star spent $5,000 on an operation in which podiatrists “use tiny instruments to remove a small amount of fat— typically from the big toes,” said cosmetic surgeon Wendy Lewis. The […]
Read more
Annual global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels could drop slightly in 2015, according to a report from the Global Carbon Project led by a Stanford University researcher. This surprising result contrasts with the rapid growth in emissions before 2014, underlining the need for action to stabilize and permanently lower global CO2 emissions, the researchers conclude. “In 2014, global CO2 […]
Read more
Holocaust Redux They’ll be coming for us, the old lady told the young man next to her, the two of them sitting on stones under the bridge surrounded by trolls sworn to protect them. Victors come for those who fight and oppose them, the old lady told the young man, now almost in tears, his hands ripping his hair. They came for […]
Read more