For many Americans, collecting disability has become a career, said Michael Barone. Over the past 50 years, the number of people receiving benefits from the Social Security disability program created to help Americans who are too sick to work—has rocketed from 455,000 to 8.6 million. An incredible 5.6 percent of adults are now getting disability checks, with a cost to […]
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Have we found Earth’s twin? For the first time, astronomers have identified a planet outside our solar system that is both Earth-size and orbits its star in the so-called Goldilocks zone, where temperatures may be “just right” for supporting liquid water—and, therefore, life. Researchers discovered the planet while reviewing data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which has spent the past […]
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How did the U.S. debt get so high? The crucial turning point came back in 2001, said Lori Montgomery. At the time, Uncle Sam was actually running surpluses, and “the outlook was so rosy” that forecasters were predicting the U.S. could pay back every dime it had ever borrowed. That’s when President George W. Bush made a pivotal decision: Rather […]
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In the rain forests of Bolivia, the Tsimane people say that they have the healthiest hearts in the world. This is due to their diet of complex carbohydrates like rice, plantains, and corn with an addition of wild game and fish. During their daily life they have six hours of exercise and chores. These people live a pre-industrialized lifestyle that […]
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■ When Claire Johnson, 50, took her seeing-eye dog, Venice, to training classes in Stoke-on-Trent, England, the canine helper quickly became friends with fellow student Rodd, owned by 52-year-old Mark Gaffey. As the two dogs became inseparable pals, their sight-impaired owners struck up a friendship that soon turned into romance. Now, after an 11-month courtship, Johnson and Gaffey are to […]
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The more ziplining becomes popular the more injuries are soaring. A study shows that the rise between 2009 and 2012 rose about 50% where kids under the age of 9 rose about 45% of that number. Most of the injuries were broken bones, fractures and about 10% of the injured needed to be hospitalized. Most of the injuries occurred by […]
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■ When Lindsay Crumbley Scallan lost her underwater camera in the waters off Maui, Hawaii, in 2007, she figured her precious vacation photos were gone forever. But six years later, Scallan’s camera washed up on a beach over 5,200 miles away inTaiwan, with its memory card intact. Scallan was identified after pictures of her from the camera were shown on […]
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Bratislava, Slovakia At least a dozen planes briefly disappeared from Central European radar screens on two occasions last week, and nobody knows why. Air traffic controllers in Slovakia, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic reported that radar information on positions of civilian passenger planes flickered in and out for nearly half an hour, and only voice contact with the pilots […]
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Space scientists are trying to figure out how the mystery Mars rock shaped like a jelly doughnut suddenly appeared on Mars’s surface, in full view of the rover Opportunity’s camera. NASA scientists noticed the mystery Mars rock when reviewing images taken by Opportunity as it explored Endeavor Crater. One shot depicted an empty patch of ruddy ground, but the next […]
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The Ministry of Education announced that due to high levels of air pollution that they are closing schools in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Private schools are not required to close but are recommended to do so for the health of their students. According to the Department of Pollution Control the air quality numbers have fallen to harmful levels exceeding safe […]
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