Great Finds from Newser

Suit: Yoga in Schools Violates Church-State Rule

John Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:27:23 CDT

Yes, this lawsuit is taking place in Southern California. In Encinitas, to be exact, where parents have sued to stop the school district from having kids perform yoga as part of gym class, reports NBC San Diego . The parents are worried that yoga has too many religious connotations from the...

The Philippines Would Like a Word With Dan Brown

John Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:50:40 CDT

Manila officials were probably excited to learn that one of the characters in Dan Brown's latest sure-to-be blockbuster visits the city. That is, until they read the descriptions of the child-sex trade, pollution, and poverty, all of which prompted the character in Inferno to declare, "I've run through the gates...

Experts: Decriminalize Drugs—All of Them

Kevin Spak — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:37:45 CDT

A coalition of Canadian drug policy experts is calling on the country to decriminalize the use of drugs—not just, say, marijuana or other "soft drugs," but all drugs. Thanks to a "stunning display of unimaginative thinking," Canada has been cracking down on drug users, which has done nothing to...

Arizona House Doubles Up on Prayer to Counter Atheist

John Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:30:29 CDT

A little addendum to a story out of Arizona this week about an atheist state lawmaker who took a turn offering a prayer of sorts before the day's session. In doing so, Juan Mendez asked his peers not to bow their heads and extolled the values of his own "secular...

Venezuela's Shopping List: 39M Rolls of TP

Kevin Spak — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:00:05 CDT

It always sucks running out of toilet paper, especially when you're a country of almost 30 million people. Thanks to various international sanctions, Venezuela sometimes runs low on basic necessities, and right now, that very much includes toilet paper , which has a habit of disappearing from shelves the second it...

Now We Know How Long Neanderthals Breastfed

John Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:07:48 CDT

The American Academy of Pediatrics would have smiled on at least one aspect of Neanderthal child-rearing: Chemical analysis of a fossilized tooth suggests that Neanderthal moms breastfed exclusively for seven months, then breastfed while supplementing with food for another seven, reports Australia's ABC Science . After that, the little knuckledragger was...

Amazon Building Huge, Tree-Filled Biodome in Seattle

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:39:31 CDT

Amazon has big plans for its new campus. Big, sphere-shaped plans. The company revealed earlier this month that it will build a biosphere in Seattle, a 65,000-square-foot structure made up of three domes, where the temperature will always be a perfect 68 to 72 degrees, Fast Company reports. The...

Britain Bugged Its Own King in 1936

Kate Seamons — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:57:39 CDT

Today's best bit of historical trivia comes compliments of the BBC , which reports on newly released secret documents that show Britain bugged the phone of its own king in 1936. That king was Edward VIII, most famously known for abdicating so that he could marry divorcee Wallis Simpson. But before...

Tree Falls, 35% of Vietnam Loses Power

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:37:00 CDT

One mistake by a clumsy crane operator caused a 10-hour blackout over about a third of Vietnam, exposing the fragility of the nation's power grid. State electricity company EVN said in a statement today that the blackout occurred yesterday after the crane operator knocked a tree down onto the main...