Friday, October 7, 2005 Walking outside this morning, the average seasoned Texan will notice something amiss — the eerie quiet. The droning of air conditioners and insects has stopped, replaced with the scent of hardwood smoke and a slight shiver. A pocket of Arctic air finally pushed through well into the Gulf of Mexico, plunging temperatures across the state into the 50s and 60s. While the chilliest lows are not expected to stay for more than a few days, forecasters are expecting Texas’ normal fall pattern of a cooler front about every week to continue. Average weekly temperatures should reach steadily lower as the season progresses. Stormy Weather As an…

Thursday, August 13, 2009 NOAA photo of California drought conditions A farming town in California claims that it may disappear due to the United States federal government shutting off water pumps, though the government states the actions are necessary to save several marine species. In July 2009, action by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation to protect threatened fish stopped irrigation pumping to parts of the California Central Valley causing canals leading into Huron, California and the surrounding areas and the farms that rely on them to lose their primary irrigation source. Unemployment has reached 40% in some areas as the farms have dried up. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated the…

Eurovision 2004 winner Ruslana on her involvement in the Orange Revolution: “I realized that in our country, if you want to do something for your Motherland – you should do it by yourself, not hoping that one day somebody will hear or help you…” Monday, March 30, 2009 First becoming famous in her native Ukraine in the 1990s, long-haired self-described “Amazon” Ruslana gained international recognition for winning the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with her song “Wild Dances,” inspired by the musical traditions of the Hutsul people of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains. In the five years since, Ruslana has decided to use her name and public status to represent a number…

Friday, December 23, 2011 Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner announced yesterday that he would agree to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. In an effort to end the impasse between the House and Senate, Boehner told Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid that he would schedule a House vote on the Senate version of the bill that would extend the tax cut, which was due to expire at the end of the year. Speaker John Boehner (pictured) announced yesterday that he would agree to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. Image: U.S. Congress. Speaker Boehner announced the agreement in a brief statement: “Senator Reid and…

Sunday, February 20, 2011 Britney Spears performing at The Circus Starring …, in 2009. Image: Peter Cruise. US pop and country duo The Bellamy Brothers are accusing pop music singer Britney Spears — also from the United States — of plagiarism in her latest single “Hold It Against Me”. The group believes that Spears is “ripping off” one of their songs, a 1979 track entitled “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me”; they are thought to be attempting to have Spears prosecuted. Howard and David Bellamy claim that Britney Spears’ single, the first to be released from her upcoming album Femme Fatale, is…

Friday, September 9, 2005 New Orleans, Louisiana —After Category 4 storm Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, on the night before August 29, 2005, several flood control constructions failed. Much of the city flooded through the openings. One of these was the flood wall forming one side of the 17th Street Canal, near Lake Pontchartrain. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the primary agency for engineering support during such emergencies. A USACE team was assessing the situation in New Orleans on the 29th, water flow was stopped September 2nd, and the breach was closed on September 5th. Contents 1 Background 2 August 27: Before the storm 3 August…

Sunday, June 28, 2020 Portrait of Dr Naomi Martisius. (Image: acagastya) Last month, a study conducted by archæologist Dr. Naomi Martisius and other researchers concluded Neanderthals living in Europe tens of thousands of years ago were more sophisticated than previously thought. The now-extinct species used to carefully select bones from a particular animal species to manufacture their bone tools, the research showed. The research was published on May 8 in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal. Bone tools used by Neanderthals. (Image: Naomi L. Martisius, Frido Welker, Tamara Dogandži?, Mark N. Grote, William Rendu, Virginie Sinet-Mathiot, Arndt Wilcke, Shannon J. P. McPherron, Marie Soressi & Teresa E. Steele) Dr Martisius and her…