Conspiracy theories, both real or imagined, will soon run rampant
The credit crisis shaking the global economy is forcing a dramatic reconfiguration of Wall Street, where the financial industry in recent years has been driven to take ever-greater risks on increasingly esoteric investments. The fragility of Wall Street’s architecture was exposed this week when two icons […]

 
Senator Barack Obama used one to announce to the world his choice of a running mate. Thousands of Americans have used them to vote for their favorite “American Idol” contestants. Many teenagers prefer them to actually talking. Almost overnight, text messages have become the preferred form of communication for millions.

Cutting through the crap…
Count on Warren E. Buffett to cut to the truth. Years ago, referring to reckless corporate debt, Buffett noted: “You never know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out.”

The past two weeks have seen some of the biggest names in finance brought to their knees. The bailout of AIG followed bankruptcy at Lehman Brothers, the sale of brokerage house Merrill Lynch and the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the quasi-public mortgage buyers. So with all that going on, […]

There is no such thing as a safe tan, U.S. and British researchers said on Thursday.
They said in their review of published studies that tans and skin cancer both begin with DNA damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet light but many people, especially the young, ignore or are unaware of this danger in a quest […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHzDG7E9GjM

 
In this chilling security camera footage, a female suicide bomber
is seen patiently answering questions in a bustling government office
before calmly standing up and detonating the bomb hidden in her bra.
Since the 2003 invasion, 53 Iraqi women have either carried out suicide attacks or were apprehended before they could do so, according to the U.S. […]

 
The great food challenges with kids
While most parents haven’t resorted to the chocolate diet, they can relate to the daily challenge of finding foods that children will eat. Although obesity dominates the national discussion on childhood health, many parents are also worried that their child’s preferred diet of nuggets and noodles could lead to a […]

 
A study has for the first time linked a common chemical used in everyday products such as plastic drink containers and baby bottles to health problems, specifically heart disease and diabetes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TesF9UBJq8

Great example of an idiot driver
This idiot waits until the last moment to try crossing the railroad tracks and beating the barriers. Not quite a clean getaway. Second video after the jump.
 

 
Bullying is the top “health” concern among parents with overweight and obese children, according to a new report.

 
At the end of a dirt road in northern Mexico, the conveyer belts processing hundreds of tons of vegetables a year for U.S. and Mexican markets are open to the elements, protected only by a corrugated metal roof.

 
Just 25 percent of Americans get at least eight hours of rest on
weekdays, and 60 percent of women say they often sleep poorly
Women experience significantly more nightmares than men and have more emotional dreams, research suggests. (Pics)

 
After almost two years perched in the sky, Berkeley’s tree-sitters came back to earth Tuesday. The final four were handcuffed and escorted by police down steep steps of scaffolding for a safe-and-certain descent cheered by hundreds of bystanders, who anxiously gathered in fear of a conflict at the top of a 100-foot redwood.

 ”Troubled homes” are a rather broad category
Troubled children hurt their classmates’ math and reading scores and worsen their behavior, according to new research by economists at the University of California, Davis, and University of Pittsburgh.

 
A mother’s stress may contribute to her young children being overweight in low income households with sufficient food, according to a new Iowa State University study published in the September issue of Pediatrics, the professional journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study analyzed data collected from 841 children in 425 households in the […]

 
Problems associated with over-eating begin to mount
In a new and disturbing twist on the obesity epidemic, some overweight teenagers have severe liver damage caused by too much body fat, and a handful have needed liver transplants.

 
Is it OK to bend international rules over the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons? That’s the question raised by the lifting of ban that has prevented India from trading in commercial nuclear fuel, equipment and technology.

 Hell hath no fury like an angry Argentinian and a tough rush hour commute
Furious rail commuters in Argentina set fire to a train on Thursday in anger over delays during the morning rush hour.

 
An active brain creates an active appetite
Intellectual activities make people eat more than when just resting, according to a study that sheds new light on brain food.
This finding might also help explain the obesity epidemic of an increasingly sedentary society in which people still have to think now and then.

 
Just when you thought you were eating healthier…
The growing popularity of pre-packed salads is likely to lead to an increase in food-poisoning cases, scientists warned today. They also said that while scientists have a role to play in protecting food from contamination, consumers should be aware of the risks.

 
 Twelve major minority groups in China
Disdained by the Chinese majority and harassed by the government, Beijing uses its ethnic minorities to portray itself as a seemingly tolerant and multi-ethnic nation. Now the identity of China’s minorities is threatened by modernization, commerce and pop culture. (Pics)

 
 Columbia Glacier is adding to ocean levels this century, the total global sea rise by 2100 may be lower than many are anticipating.
Despite projections by some scientists of global seas rising by 20 feet or more by the end of this century as a result of warming, a new University of Colorado at Boulder study […]

High gas prices lead to more riders on public transportation
U.S. cities are racing to cope with ever-increasing demand on public transportation as gas prices remain at record levels.

Large pieces of ice are seen drifting off the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf in this photo.
A chunk of ice shelf nearly the size of Manhattan has broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada’s northern Arctic, another dramatic indication of how warmer temperatures are changing the polar frontier, scientists said Wednesday. (Pics)

  
Space-age technology helps combat an old disease 
Though we may often think of cholera as a disease of the past, virtually eradicated when John Snow famously linked an 1854 outbreak of the epidemic in London to an infected water well on Broad Street, it still poses a threat in almost every single developing country in the […]