News From Above

South Sudanese Army Accused Of Rape
Juba, South Sudan Army rapes, murders: South Sudanese soldiers have been gang raping young girls and then burning them alive, according to a new United Nations report. The army is trying to terrify the entire civilian population into fleeing rebel-held ...

Two-legged dog becomes town celebrity
Born without her front legs and abandoned on the street by her original owners, Estrella, a one-and-a-half-year-old mutt, has not let her disability hold her back. Adopted by a couple running an animal shelter in the small Peruvian town of ...

The most Earth-like planet yet
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 ...

Meditation delays aging
Meditation doesn’t just improve mental and physical health in the present. It also slows the aging process, and can help meditators stay mentally sharp into old age, a new study has found. Once people reach their mid- to late 20s, ...

Oregon city fires its grounds-keeping goats due to ‘barnyard aroma’
A crew of goats brought in to devour invasive plants at a popular park in Oregon's state capital, Salem, have been fired because they ate indiscriminately, cost nearly five times as much as human landscapers and smelled far worse, a ...

Our culture’s worship of celebrity
It was in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age that the modern concept of celebrity was born, said George Packer. But if the worship of gaudy wealth and fame began in The Great Gatsby era, we’ve taken it to new, “perverse” ...

Louisiana Wants Bible To Be Official State Book
■ Louisiana lawmakers are considering legislation that makes the Holy Bible the "official state book."The legislation was opposed by some Democrats—not because it suggests the state's endorsement of one religion, but because it originally specified the King James version, which ...

Meditation and Yoga’s Genetic Impact
Plenty of research has proved that meditation and yoga can lower blood pressure, improve mood, counter stress, and benefit your mental and physical health. Now a new study has shown for the first time that these ancient centering practices can ...

Gadgets causing depression
Spending evenings in front of a glowing computer, TV, or cellphone screen can put you at risk of depression, Science News reports. Nighttime exposure to light from gadgets has already been shown to contribute to insomnia, cancer, obesity, and diabetes ...

Earth’s bigger, older cousins
Astronomers have discovered the largest rocky planet yet, and its existence has profound implications for our understanding of the early universe and the potential for extraterrestrial life. Kepler-10c, which was spotted by NASA's Kepler space telescope, has a diameter of ...