Science, Medicine, & Education

Nancy Pelosi: GOP’s rush to repeal Obamacare is ‘act of cowardice’

House Democrats lobbed a preemptive salvo Monday against Republicans itching to kick-start their Obamacare repeal effort once the new Congress gavels in, calling the effort an “act of cowardice” and reckless “assault” on health care for millions and conservative orthodoxy alike, since repeal is projected to raise the deficit. They also said Republicans would pay […]

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Leap second 2016: Why this New Year’s Eve will have an extra second

The year 2017 isn’t coming as soon as you think. In fact, it will be exactly one second late. On Dec. 31, 2016, the international time keeping community will tack an additional second, known as a leap second, on to the last minute of the year. As midnight approaches, the official atomic clocks that keep

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International, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share

Remembering the Russian woman who traveled to war zones to save children’s lives

You may not have heard of Elizaveta Glinka, the Russian woman who died in a plane crash on her way to deliver badly needed humanitarian aid to Syria. Glinka, widely known to Russians as Dr. Liza, was a 54-year-old physician, charity worker and human rights activist. The much-loved humanitarian was among the 92 victims killed

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International, Science, Medicine, & Education

Pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin dies at 88; she helped find evidence of dark matter

As a woman, astrophysicist Vera Rubin had to fight just to get access to a telescope. What she saw when she did further rattled conventions: galaxies that were rotating more quickly than predicted by the laws of physics. This movement, she concluded, could be explained if the universe was filled with a type of mass

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Obituaries & memorials, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

What we can learn from bat calls

TEL AVIV, Israel (Press Release) — Bats, like humans, are extremely social mammals. They enjoy an average lifespan of 20-30 years, settle in large colonies, and rely heavily on social interactions for their survival, using vocalizations — or calls — for communication. There is very little known about the purpose and content of these noises.

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share

George Ciccariello-Maher, Drexel professor, calls for ‘white genocide’ on Christmas

Drexel University officials were forced to respond to a controversy on Christmas after one of their professors called for “white genocide” on Twitter. George Ciccariello-Maher, associate professor of political science, tweeted on Sunday, “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide.” Backlash at the comment, which he framed as a joke, soon prompted Drexel officials

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

‘British universities becoming no-go zones for Jewish students’

Anti-semitism has become so prevalent on British campuses that several universities have become ‘no-go zones’ for Jewish students, according to a prominent British parliamentarian. Baroness Ruth Deech, a cross-bench peer who previously held the highest office dealing with student complaints and who currently serves as the first-ever higher education adjudicator, told the Telegraph that some

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International, Science, Medicine, & Education

Some insights into Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei

Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photo by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO – There are four factoids about Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that discreet Iranians never talk about, certainly not in public, according to Oded Brosh, a former analyst in Israel’s prime minister’s office who now is serving as a visiting professor at San Diego

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori

I have never gone to school, says Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain

President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday said he has never attended school and has missed out on the joys of school. The president was speaking at a parents’ day function at the Cadet College Hassanabdal where he urged students to follow in the footsteps of the Quaid-e-Azam in order to better meet the challenges that the

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International, Science, Medicine, & Education

High school students challenged by the Technion to build Rube Goldberg machine

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release)– Calling all high school students! The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology challenges the most innovative and inspired students to build their own Earth Day-themed Rube Goldberg Machines. The Challenge is a great opportunity for High School students interested in STEM to tap into their creative side and have some fun. Also, the

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Trump’s pick for the Office of Management and Budget questions why the government funds science

Holding the purse strings Gage Skidmore Mick Mulvaney Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) The Office of Managment and Budget might seem like a less prominent position than, for example, the head of the EPA or the Department of Energy, but it’s a vitally important job. From

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

One-on-one with Trump’s doctor: Hecklers, house calls, and why Obamacare must be shut down

NEW YORK – On a frigid December afternoon, Dr. Harold Bornstein was talking about his most famous patient, President-elect Donald Trump. He hadn’t spoken with Trump since the election, and had no idea whether he would be asked to move his medical practice to Washington. But he also didn’t seem particularly worried about what the

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Supplement may be key to treatment of rare disease

Familial Dysautonomia may be slowed by phosphatidylserine, Tel Aviv University researchers say Tel Aviv (Press Release) — A new Tel Aviv University study finds that a popular food supplement called phosphatidylserine may be instrumental in reversing the detrimental effects of Familial Dysautonomia (FD), a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 1 in 31 Jewish people

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education