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Tag: US & World

Bizarre Creature Found in 200-Million-Year-Old Cocoon

About 200 million years ago, a leech released a slimy mucous cocoon that unwittingly encased and trapped a bizarre animal with a springy tail, preserving it until researchers discovered the teardrop-shaped creature in Antarctica recently. The cocoon looks like those produced by living leeches, such as the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis. Encased inside was a…

Watch Felix Baumgartner Jump From Space Live

UPDATE: Watch NOW: Supersonic Freefall From Space [LIVE VIDEO] Today, Felix Baumgartner will try to do something no other human has done before: He will jump from a height of 22 miles, breaking the world record for highest altitude free fall. Baumgartner’s suit and support crew are equipped with more than 30 cameras, so every…

Rare ‘Sea Serpent’ Caught on Video

The giant oarfish is the longest bony fish in the world, measuring — according to some reports — about 56 feet from tip to tail, although recorded lengths are somewhat more modest. Its size and its snake-like shape suggest that it may have been the source of at least some legends of sea serpents. In…

Bachelor Party Unearths 3-Million-Year-Old Elephant Fossil

An archaeological team sets the stegomastodon head right side up in Elephant Butte State Park outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.Image: New Mexico Museum of Natural History Randall Gann Most bachelor parties are hazy memories of booze-addled debauchery. But one group of guys stumbled onto something lasting longer than a hangover. The men were hiking through Elephant…

NYC Is Turning Payphones Into Wi-Fi Hotspots

Payphones in New York City have largely been made obsolete by the fact that almost everybody’s got a cellphone for staying in touch on-the-go. Luckily for the long-forgotten phones that still dot the city’s streets, they’re about to get a twenty-first-century upgrade. New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications introduced on Wednesday the…

Supreme Court’s Angry Email Solution: Justices Only Send Each Other Paper Memos

Here’s another one to add to the charming Elena Kagan anecdote file providing a wonderful glimpse into how the least transparent of the three branches of government operates. Speaking during an interview at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night, Supreme Court Associate Justice Kagan elaborated…

Tumblr to Live-GIF Presidential Debates

Tumblr — home of the blogger and land of the .GIF — is planning a unique, true-to-style approach to covering the upcoming presidential debates: it’s live-GIFing them. That’s right: As potentially viral moments happen on stage, Tumblr’s team — along with a reporter from The Guardian — will be turning debate video into GIFs at…

Romney Reveals Space Exploration Plans

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has unveiled his plans for the future of NASA and American space exploration, unleashing a blistering attack on President Barack Obama in the process. In a policy paper released on Sept. 22, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan pledge to secure the nation’s global leadership position in space, which, they…

Facebook to FTC: Let Us Advertise to Children

The Federal Trade Commission is considering an update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a 1998 bill designed to protect children’s online privacy. Most of COPPA’s regulations are geared toward websites specifically designed for children under 13, such as Club Penguin. COPPA’s also the reason that children under 13 can’t sign up for…

Huge Asteroid Cruises Past Earth

An asteroid wider than nine ocean liners sailed safely past Earth today (May 31), making its closest flyby of our planet for at least the next 200 years. Asteroid 1998 QE2, which is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) wide, cruised within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km) of Earth at 4:59 p.m. EDT (2059 GMT)…