China-North ties, sealed in blood, slowly unraveling

People power: Thousands of North Koreans participate in the 'Arirang' mass games — timed to mark this Saturday's 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War — in Pyongyang on Monday. | AP.

60 years after Korean War, relations re-examined

 

BEIJING – Six decades after treating Chinese soldiers traumatized from the battlefields of Korea, psychiatrist Xue Chongcheng remains convinced their sacrifices, which forged bonds between Beijing and Pyongyang in blood and fire, were essential.

But those ties, analysts and ordinary Chinese say, are becoming tarnished with the passage of time and generational change, with China rising to the forefront of global economics and geopolitics while frustration grows with a frequently troublesome nuclear neighbor.

 
For the rest of the story: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/07/24/asia-pacific/china-north-ties-sealed-in-blood-slowly-unraveling/#.Ue_fRWTN70g

RFK files show missile crisis disrupted anti-Castro plots

 

By the fall of 1962, President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, had spent the better part of a year orchestrating a massive and multifaceted campaign aimed at toppling Cuban dictator Fidel Castro from power.

The initiative, code named "Operation Mongoose," drew on the brainpower and energies of the U.S. government's most senior officials and ranged from balloon drops of anti-Castro pamphlets and cartoons to covert sabotage of Cuban industry and infrastructure. In time, it would even include active plotting to assassinate the Cuban dictator, with the Central Intelligence Agency clandestinely enlisting the aid of the era's reigning Mafia chieftains.

For the rest of the story: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/25/rfk-files-show-missile-crisis-disrupted-anti-castro-plots/

The Most Dangerous Volcano in North America

 

When you live in Mexico, you get used to people in other countries thinking you are in a war-zone sort of apocalypse state. If it’s not narcos, it’s earthquakes, kidnappers, or chupacabras. These days, the thing for Americans to fear in Mexico is the volcano Popocatepetl, lovingly called Popo, which is chucking ash all over the place. Notice that many reports find it necessary to give Mexico City’s population alongside reports that it’s active. As if that number might drop significantly very soon.

Now, for those who live here it all seems silly. I didn’t even notice the ash – though some of these reports make you think it is piling up on the sidewalks. I have noticed the air quality is a little off for the middle of rainy season (when afternoon showers clean the skies). But all in all, the rumblings of our hulking neighbor hasn’t affected me. Far more annoying is the whole since-you-live-in-Mexico-you’ll-probably-be-dead-tomorrow attitude from friends and family.

 
For the rest of the story: http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2013/07/23/the-most-dangerous-volcano-in-north-america/

UNKNOWN CREATURE FOUND IN BELARUS

 

Just several days ago workers of one Belorussian farm killed an unknown animal that had been attacking cows and calves biting their feet.

The local veterinarian examined the animal and told that it was the smallest of the three alike creatures seen in that district. Two others managed to escape. The vet cannot say what species of the animal it is. Hunters have disputes about it too. Some of them believe it is a mutant of some species. It resembles a hyena, has some features of a fox, a raccoon and a dog. The main local vet does think it’s a sensation and is going to simply burn the corpse of the killed animal.

 
For the rest of the story: http://englishrussia.com/2013/07/25/unknown-creature-found-in-belarus/

Cold War nuclear weapons storage facility video now available

Los Alamos National Laboratory sits on top of a once-remote mesa in northern New Mexico with the Jemez mountains as a backdrop to research and innovation covering multi-disciplines from bio-science, sustainable energy sources, to plasma physics and new materials.

 

Down a remote canyon near Los Alamos National Laboratory lies a facility known as the "Tunnel Vault," once one of the most secret and secure locations in the United States, it's the original post-WWII nuclear stockpile storage area. 

 Located in Los Alamos canyon at Technical Area 41, the Tunnel Vault was built between 1948 and 1949.  The facility has a formidable security perimeter, a hardened guard tower—complete with gun ports and bulletproof glass—and a series of gates and doors that lead to a 230-foot long concrete tunnel that goes straight into the canyon wall.
 
For the rest of the story: http://phys.org/news/2013-07-cold-war-nuclear-weapons-storage.html

Hidden Planet In Our Solar System Could Be Far Bigger Than Jupiter

 

We may have lost Pluto, but it looks like we might be getting Tyche.

Scientists may soon be able to prove the existence of the gas giant, which could be four times the size of Jupiter, according to astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The two first proposed Tyche's existence in order to explain a change in path of comets entering the solar system, according to The Independent.

From the The Independent:

Tyche will almost certainly be made up mostly of hydrogen and helium and will probably have an atmosphere much like Jupiter's, with colourful spots and bands and clouds, Professor Whitmire said. "You'd also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them," he added.

For a graphical representation of Tyche, click here.

So how could we have missed such a massive planet in our own solar system?

Well, it's 15,000 times further from the sun than Earth, according to Gizmodo. Tyche (if it does exist) lies in the Oort cloud, the outer shell of asteroids in our solar system.

Despite what the scientists believe they will find in the data (which will be released in April and was collected by NASA Wise space telescope), there is at least one flaw in their theory. Theoretically, a planet of Tyche's size should seriously disturb comets in the inner Oort Cloud, but that effect is yet to have been observed, according to The Independent.

For the rest of the story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/tyche-hidden-planet_n_823028.html

Fluoride eats through concrete, BUT it's safe to drink it?

For the rest of the story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjV2v6RtoUo