A $500 billion funding shortfall for retirement funds may ultimately cost many taxpayers.
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Thursday, November 11, 2010
Why stores are shrinking
Smaller versions of chains, including Bloomingdale's and Nike, make it easier to shop.
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Famous West Point applicants
Newly available documents offer a peek into the young lives of Custer, Sherman, and other military figures.
Also: Army gets 1st Sikh enlisted
Sikhs like Simran Lamba have been unable to enlist since 1984 due to a U.S. Army policy.
Also: Russian official defects
The man responsible for unmasking the spy ring busted in June changes sides.
Also: American Woman Becomes African King
Two years ago, Peggielene Bartels, a US citizen and resident of Maryland, received an early morning phone call. Her uncle, the king of a village in Ghana, had died. Bartels was the next in the line of succession, and so she became king of Otuam:Nana Amuah-Afenyi VI is Bartels’ new title, but she is better known as King Peggy. This straight-talking, 57-year-old is the first woman in her fishing community of 7,000 people in Ghana’s Central Region to be anointed a king, or “nana.”
She now juggles two lives — from the palace in Otuam and from a modest condo outside Washington, D.C. Since the 1970s, Bartels, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been a secretary at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington where she still spends most of her time, running royal affairs back home in Otuam over the phone and on trips to Ghana.
“So, when they told me, I was a little bit reluctant to accept it, because it comes with responsibilities. And here is a secretary in the United States, I have my own obligations, bills and stuff and becoming a king, you have to be really rich,” she says.
Chinese dad jailed for protest
A man whose child was sickened in one of China's worst safety scandals is sent to prison for speaking out.
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Gold Olive Branch Left on the Moon
The Apollo 11 astronauts left a variety of items on the moon. In addition to the flag, the plaque, and the silicon disk with goodwill statements, they left the item shown above. It is a small replica of an olive branch, described as “less than half a foot in length,” a traditional symbol of peace. The gesture was intended to serve as “a wish for peace for all mankind.”
Photo: Great Images in NASA
African dust caused red soil in southern Europe
Spanish and American researchers have conducted a mineralogical and chemical analysis to ascertain the origin of “terra rossa” soil in the Mediterranean.
The results of the study reveal that mineral dust from the African regions of the Sahara …
The results of the study reveal that mineral dust from the African regions of the Sahara …
Earthquake Twists Railroad Tracks
On September 4th, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand. Pictured above is a railroad track that crossed the fault line near Rolleston. Geographer Dave Petley of the American Geophysical Union writes:
The second image is particularly interesting. Note how the rails show high levels of deformation whilst the surrounding ground shows comparatively little. Notice also how the big kink on the left side has pushed the ballast aside and into the track side ditch This has happened on the right side too, but to a lesser extent. The right side bend nearest the camera has pushed the ballast towards the camera.
My initial hypothesis here (I am no expert on railway track deformation) in order to stimulate discussion is that the buckling may be the result of compressional deformation across a broad zone. The compression on the very strong railway line was accommodated when a weak point was found, leading to a comparatively rapid deformation to form the main buckle on the left. This then concentrated stress on both sides of the buckle, allowing the other (right side) bends to form.
'Healthy' kids' foods that aren't
Newly Discovered Lizard Species is All Female, Survives by Cloning
Though it's been a well-known ingredient to chefs in South East Asia for some time, the lizard is new to science.
Photo credit: L. Lee Grismer
Though it has been a regular item on menus across the Mekong delta for as long as anyone can remember, the lizard, now known as Leiolepis ngovantrii, has just recently been introduced to science.The unusual description of the species places it in the one percent of reptiles that reproduce via parthenogenesis—in which embryos are clones of their mothers.
Article continues: Newly Discovered Lizard Species is All Female, Survives by Cloning
World's Oldest Dinosaur Embryos Found
- Paleontologists have just identified the world's oldest known dinosaur embryos, which are also the oldest known embryos for any land-dwelling vertebrate.
Mummified Dogs Unearthed in Peru
- Discovered at a major pre-Columbian site, the 15th-century dogs may have been religious offerings.
Whales' problem highlights ozone
Bizarre creature washed up on Australian beach
This bizarre discovery on Diggers Beach, near Coffs Harbor, has given rise to a host of theories explaining what this creature might be and how it washed ashore. The animal, roughly two foot long, was found by surfers on Father’s Day, but only now have the photos surfaced. One of the local men who came across the animal, Peter Atkinson, is at a loss to explain it. Countless others have also been stumped in making a positive identification.
“It was found on the high water mark and we contacted National Parks, but it appears the animal was washed back out to sea on the next tide,” Mr Atkinson said. Suggestions have ranged from the credible to the ridiculous. One strongly supported possibility is that it’s a type of monkey. Others said it could be a South American sloth.
Yet web searches could not help with a positive identification. Even the experts at Taronga Zoo were brought in on the case. Mr Atkinson confirmed the photos were real and taken on a mobile phone, ruling out an email hoax, through several other credible witnesses.
Yesterday a more likely explanation came through the office. Lawrence Orel from the National Parks and Wildlife Service said on first inspection it appeared to be a brush tailed possum. “The bushy fur on the tail gives it away I think. Possums do get that dark in color, and it looks as though the fur may have come away from the face, but we’ll wait for positive confirmation from the zoo.”
“It was found on the high water mark and we contacted National Parks, but it appears the animal was washed back out to sea on the next tide,” Mr Atkinson said. Suggestions have ranged from the credible to the ridiculous. One strongly supported possibility is that it’s a type of monkey. Others said it could be a South American sloth.
Yet web searches could not help with a positive identification. Even the experts at Taronga Zoo were brought in on the case. Mr Atkinson confirmed the photos were real and taken on a mobile phone, ruling out an email hoax, through several other credible witnesses.
Yesterday a more likely explanation came through the office. Lawrence Orel from the National Parks and Wildlife Service said on first inspection it appeared to be a brush tailed possum. “The bushy fur on the tail gives it away I think. Possums do get that dark in color, and it looks as though the fur may have come away from the face, but we’ll wait for positive confirmation from the zoo.”
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