Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
* “Could our universe be located within the interior of a wormhole which itself is part of a black hole that lies within a much larger universe?” Dude… it’s too early for my mind to get past the first few words of that sentence. Let’s just say we’re in one of those doll-in-a-doll things and enjoy some toast here. [SCIENCE DAILY]
* CERN creates 10 million mini Big Bangs in one week! There’s a horrible pun I can make here, but I won’t. [REUTERS]
* It looks like shy people’s brains really are “wired” different from everyone else’s. “About 20 percent of people are born with a personality trait called sensory perception sensitivity (SPS) that can manifest itself as the tendency to be inhibited, or even neuroticism. The trait can be seen in some children who are “slow to warm up” in a situation but eventually join in.” A genuinely interesting read! [LIVE SCIENCE]
* “Astronomers Take Close-Up Pictures of Mysterious Dark Object.” It really is amazing how much of the universe we have learned about while still on this planet, but dammit, Jim, we should be exploring stuff like this on real spaceships by now and not just taking photos of it from Earth! [SCIENCE DAILY]
* The Greek debt crisis just got much worse. The EU desperately needs a good de-greecer. (Another horrible pun, but I couldn’t help it!) [ECONOMIST]
* Do you “share” your music? Did you know Apple, LaLa and Walmart embed your name and some of your personal information in every track? Whoops! [TECH CRUNCH]
* “Rescue workers who developed lung problems after they responded to the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, showed their breathing hadn’t returned to normal seven years after the attacks.” Very sad. [BLOOMBERG]
* “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth.” Sooooo let me get this straight. I lose a big chunk of money every single paycheck to pay for (and reserve) my own social security. This is now considered an “entitlement”? It’s an “entitlement” to get the money I worked all my life for back? So what, exactly, has all the money taken from every paycheck I work for been spent on? Do they seriously expect the people who lost all this money to sit back and not express a slight bit of discontent at this? Oops. There I go thinking again… Nothing to see here! Move along now! [WASHINGTON POST]
* Can vegans eat Oysters? According to SLATE, yes! [SLATE]
* FDA says anti-bacterial soap is the same thing as regular soap! Looks like bad news for anti-bacterial bleach! [FDA]
* OK, so now there’s no smoking allowed on submarines below decks, but smoking will be allowed above decks? Um… I think I see a problem with this when a submarine is usually underwater for months at a time! Besides, don’t submarines have very high tech scrubbers for consistently great air quality? This sounds like somebody’s personal agenda finally getting through. [CNN]
* And finally, hell just might drop a few thousand degrees this week. The man who helped come up with the idea of using explosives to extinguish oilfield fires, who put out the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter”, a real life hellfighter and hellraiser, just died. Hey Hollywood – you need to movie this man’s life. They don’t make ’em like this dude anymore. [NYTIMES]
