Saskatchewan Smoke Expected to Stay for Days, says Environment Canada

Most of Saskatchewan can expect smoky skies, the result of forest fires in the province and other parts of the country, to continue for the next few days.
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Rates of thyroid cancer tripled since 1975 - public water utilities continue to poison us with water fluoridation

As scientists struggle to explain why thyroid cancer rates have more than tripled in the U.S. since the mid-1970s, nobody's addressing the elephant in the room that is artificial water fluoridation and the confirmed toxicity of fluoride chemicals when they enter the thyroid gland. A study published last year attempted to explain away the thyroid cancer epidemic in the U.S. today, blaming it not on more actual cases of the disease, but rather on more diagnoses.
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Woz Thinks AI Will Become Smarter Than Humans, Keep Us As Pets, Feeds His Dog Steak Filet

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has reportedly spent many sleepless nights fretting about the day when technology would have dominion over humans. Like the turning point when the student surpasses the master, his fear was of a future where artificial intelligence would become smarter than people and take over the world, but then he had an epiphany.
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Mankind Leaves Its Mark on Earth

Let's say you're an alien life form who is seeing planet Earth for the first time from a vantage point of about 440 miles from its surface. You'd see great bodies of water, mountains, forests and deserts. But dotted throughout this foreign landscape, almost like tiny pock marks, you'd see something else: Telltale signs that some other force is at work.
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Key Element of Human Language Discovered in Australian Bird

Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but a fascinating new study has revealed that Australian babbler birds are also able to communicate in this way...
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Citrus consumption and skin cancer: How real is the link?

A large study published Monday that looked at the dietary patterns of more than 100,000 Americans discovered an unexpected link between high consumption of citrus - specifically whole grapefruit and orange juice -- and risk of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Researchers found that 1,840 of the study participants developed melanoma and that those who had a serving of citrus fruit or juice 1.6 times daily had a 36 percent higher risk of the cancer...
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How a Conservative Billionaire Is Moving Heaven and Earth to Become the Biggest Alternative Energy Giant in the Country

Philip Anschutz wants to turn his 500-square-mile cattle ranch into the world’s largest wind farm. The project would generate four times more electricity than the Hoover Dam, enough to power all of the households in Los Angeles and San Francisco. It would also make Anschutz the nation’s most unlikely environmental hero—if he can ever get the thing built.
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Unprecedented June Heat in Northwest U.S. Caused by Extreme Jet Stream Pattern

A searing heat wave unprecedented for June scorched the Northwest U.S. and Western Canada on Saturday and Sunday.
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When Will all Five Visible Planets Appear Simultaneously?

All five visible planets will appear together in the morning sky early next year - from about January 20 to February 20, 2016. That hasn't happened since 2005.
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Awesome Animation Shows You What Colorblind People See

Colour blindness, or colour vision deficiency, affects approximately 1 in 12 males, and 1 in 100 females. There are various causes for the condition. For the majority of sufferers, the condition is genetic.
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Don't Believe In Evolution? Try Thinking Harder

The theory of evolution by natural selection is among the best established in science, yet also among the most controversial for subsets of the American public. For decades we've known that beliefs about evolution are well-predicted by demographic factors, such as religious upbringing and political affiliation. There's also enormous variation in the acceptance of evolution across different countries, all of which suggests...
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Death toll in Indonesian military plane crash rises to 74

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian air force transport plane carrying military personnel and their families plowed into a residential neighborhood in the country's third-largest city of Medan shortly after takeoff on Tuesday, killing more than 70.
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A Scientific Ethical Divide Between China and West

Some experts worry that medical researchers are stepping over established ethical boundaries in Beijing’s effort to lift its scientific standing.
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Test Pilot Admits the F-35 Can’t Dogfight

New stealth fighter is dead meat in an air battle.
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Engineers Just Broke the Capacity Limit For Fiber Optic Transmission

So, that Internet apocalypse that’s going to befall us when our fiber optic cables max out? Maybe not so much. On Thursday, engineers reported in Science that they’d broken the “capacity limit” for fiber optic transmission, opening the door to future networks that carry more data further at lower costs.
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Spiky Armored Worm had 30 Legs

The 518-million-year-old creepy crawler is one of the first known animals on Earth to develop protective armor
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The World's Most Spoken Languages And Where They Are Spoken

This beautifully illustrated infographic (above), designed by South China Morning Post’s graphics director Alberto Lucas Lopéz, shows the most spoken known languages in the world and where they’re spoken by the 6.3 billion people included in the study.
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US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain – only Mexico has more

The United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, according to a new study published by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes. The report says there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the US plus a further 11.6 million who are bilingual, mainly the children of Spanish-speaking immigrants. This puts the US ahead of Colombia (48 million) and Spain (46 million) and second only to Mexico (121 million).
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Could this AI driven computer save your life?

Cancer is good at hiding. It's so good that sometimes sick patients are sent home with a clean bill of health. And screenings don't always help: A 2013 study by Oxford University found "no evidence" that screening programs are responsible for the decline in breast cancer, and a study by the Huntsman Cancer Institute last year found that colon cancer is missed in about 6% of colonoscopies.
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What is the Speed of Thought

It feels instantaneous, but how long does it really take to think a thought?
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Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime

Research on naps, meditation, nature walks and the habits of exceptional artists and athletes reveals how mental breaks increase productivity, replenish attention, solidify memories and encourage creativity.
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Scientists discover that male and female mice process pain differently

Do women and men experience chronic pain differently? A new study suggests there may be sex differences when it comes to pain — one that may open doors for better treatment.
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Rosetta Sees Signs of Water Ice on Comet Surface

Patches of water ice likely speckle the surface of Rosetta's comet, according to observations newly released from the European spacecraft. The orbiter spotted 120 bright spots that were at least a few meters in size.
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A World Apart: 2 Women with Birthdates in 1800s Still Alive

When Susannah Mushatt Jones and Emma Morano were born in 1899, there was not yet world war or penicillin, and electricity was still considered a marvel. The women are believed to be the last two in the world with birthdates in the 1800s.
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The Frenzy About High-Tech Talent

The fervor over STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) goes beyond promoting a quartet of academic subjects. Rather, it’s about the kind of nation and people we are to be. By Andrew Hacker.
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Liberty, Libertarianism, and Solar Power

Self-described libertarians David and Charles Koch, Wichita’s well-known corporate magnates, consistently present themselves as defenders of freedom and choice. Thus Americans For Prosperity, the Kochs’ political arm, states on its website that “free markets make free and prosperous people” and that its objective is “getting government to clear the way for every American, not just special interests.” The linkage between liberty and libertarianism is conveyed as a kind of unwritten law.
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Autonomous cars and man's future: The road ahead

It’s no dramatic hyperbole to suggest that the automotive industry is destined to change more in the next 20 years than it has in the last 100. For a century, cars have consisted of a reasonably simple combination of four wheels, engine, steering system and pilot. Human and mechanics. But the introduction of GPS technology alongside infrared and radar scanning, high definition cameras and, most importantly, the processing tech to stitch it all together has resulted in a truly disruptive...
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29th June 1995 - U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station

On this day in 1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
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Supreme Court strikes down EPA clean-air rule, says cost must be accounted for

A divided Supreme Court on Monday ruled the Environmental Protection Agency must take cost into account when deciding whether to regulate mercurcy and other toxics emitted from coal-burning power plants. In a case that pit states against each other, and split the energy industry as well, the court’s 5-4 conservative majority said the EPA acted unreasonably in not taking cost into account.
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These Are the Dinosaurs Paleontologists Want to See in Movies

Therizinosaurus, the Edward Scissorhands of dinosaurs, is a popular contender.
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Can Technology Ease the Burden of Caring for People with Dementia?

Things like activity trackers and sensors might make it easier to keep people with dementia safe and help caregivers. Researchers are going to test that idea in the real world.
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What Happens When Neurons Die? Do We Make More?

Each of those tiny little cells in your brain has a destiny to fulfill from the very beginning. Before we are even born, our neurons are programmed to find their precise spot in the multi-structured, layered tissue that makes up our brain...
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Heating Zinc Oxide

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What is Watson exactly, and how does it work?

Video explaining the general concept of how Watson works in comparison to other data processing systems.
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Pass The Doritos, Scientists Develop Computer Game That Could Help Gamers Lose Weight

Psychologists at the University of Exeter and Cardiff University have published a study that demonstrates how a simple computer game can help people lose weight. Participants in the study who played the specialized game lost and average of 1.5 pounds in the first seven days, and 4.5 pounds after six months. They also reduced their daily caloric consumption by 220 calories.
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Were All Those Rainbow Profile Photos Another Facebook Experiment?

The social network is learning more about its users than they might realize.
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Phoenix Hit by First Dust Storm of Monsoon Season

The first big dust storm of the monsoon season slammed the Phoenix area on Saturday with winds snapping utility poles and leaving thousands without power.
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US Congress moves to block human-embryo editing

Spending bill would also require religious experts to review recommendations for reproductive technique.
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It Turns Out We Really Didn't Know What People Are Dying From

Christopher Murray, a medical doctor and economist, is changing that. A new book looks at his efforts — and why advocacy groups initially were upset by his findings.
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Gates to invest $2bn in breakthrough renewable energy projects

Bill Gates plans to double investment in green energy technology and research to combat climate change, but rejects calls to divest from fossil fuels.
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Hearing Colors

Part of The Connected Series by Samsung. To view more of The Connected Series visit: http://ift.tt/1ComDiy.
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The Underfunded, Disorganized Plan to Save Earth from the Next Giant Asteroid

Meet the interstellar warriors of Spaceguard.
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Picky Eaters Are Not All Alike

Research suggests there are four patterns of behavior, and the issue isn’t always food
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A Universe Made of Tiny, Random Chunks

One of science’s most crucial yet underappreciated achievements is the description of the physical universe using mathematics
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U.S. Manufacturing costs are almost as low as China’s

“Made in the U.S.A” is becoming more affordable. The reason? Fracking. You don’t need to a Nobel Prize in economics to know that the fracking revolution has been good for the U.S. What’s not so well known is just how competitive cheap oil and gas has made American manufacturing. BCG, the Boston consultancy, estimates the average cost to manufacture goods in the U.S. is now only 5% higher than in China and is actually 10% to 20% lower than in major European economies.
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How we learn to be helpless—and unlearn it

Learned helplessness keeps people in bad jobs, poor health, terrible relationships, and awful circumstances despite how easy it may be to escape. Learn how to defeat this psychological trap, thanks to the work of Martin Seligman. [Audio]
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Is our universe ringing like a crystal glass?

Two physicists say the universe's expansion has sped up, then slowed down, 7 times since time began. They describe this oscillation as the universe “ringing.”
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North Dakota’s Oil Boom Is Over. What Now?

Thousands flocked to the state, building their lives around drilling. Then the price of oil plummeted.
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Religion and Science: Where Are They Headed?

Doesn't religious belief prevent those of faith from engaging with the insights of science? Actually, not really.
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This Oil Spill Cleanup Chemical Quickly Biodegrades

Researchers at CUNY and Tulane University have developed a biodegradable, plant-based chemical to round up oil spills. When oil tankers crash and inevitably spill oil into the open seas, a go-to clean-up method is corralling the rapidly spreading oil and burning it. But in some places, like the ice-strewn Arctic ocean, physically corralling that oil with boats and boons is practically impossible. Now, there's a better way to collect that leaked gunk—and the methods users, greener...
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