Explained: Why Penguins Can't Fly

Wouldn't the March of the Penguins have been a whole lot easier as Flight of the Penguins ? Perhaps—but if penguins were able to fly, they might have to give up their incredible swimming ability, scientists say: It's a tradeoff. A team looked at the guillemot, a relative of...

Tales of Tragedy, Heroism Out of Oklahoma

As frantic search and rescue efforts continued through the night in Oklahoma, officials warned that the death toll from yesterday's horrific tornado strike —officially at 51, with the coroner's office expecting another 40 bodies—is expected to rise steeply, CNN reports. The destruction is "the worst thing I have ever...

Elite FBI Agents Fell to Their Deaths

The two FBI agents who were killed in a training accident Friday fell to their deaths while rappelling from a helicopter onto a ship 12 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, an agency spokesperson revealed last night, per the AP . Special Agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw, members of...

Why the Oklahoma Tornado Was Among the Worst Ever

The monster tornado that tore through an Oklahoma City suburb is one of the worst on record by most standards, the Smithsonian finds. At an estimated two miles wide, the storm was one of the biggest recorded and it was also extremely powerful, with winds above 199mph. But what made...

Tumblr Founder a High School Drop-Out

At 14, David Karp—who would one day found Tumblr—was already obsessed with computers and bored with school. So his mom, a science teacher, suggested he drop out. "It became very clear that David needed the space to live his passion. Which was computers," Barbara Ackerman tells the New...

Culprit in Irish Potato Famine Finally Discovered

Nearly two centuries later, researchers believe they have identified the pathogen that led to Ireland's deadly potato famine. To make their discovery, British, German, and American scientists sequenced DNA from samples of dried potato leaves collected between 120 and 170 years ago, reports PhysOrg. They identified the particular strain of...

Rapist May Be Sentenced— Even Though He's Dead

A former police detective was convicted of kidnapping and rape last year—but before he could be sentenced, he committed suicide. But he's not off the hook: A California judge could still sentence Anthony Orban despite his death. "The only reason he is not here is because he volunteered to...

Guy Fined $2.4K for Renting Out Condo on Airbnb

This may give you pause if you were considering renting out your apartment on Airbnb : A New York City man did just that, and now he'll have to pay a $2,400 fine. New York officials initially fined Nigel Warren $7,000 after he rented part of his condo to...

Gandhi Blood on Auction Block

A few drops of Mahatma Gandhi's blood are among the oddest items on sale at an auction of historical goods in London today, Reuters reports. The blood samples, taken when the Indian nationalist leader was recovering from an appendectomy in 1924, are expected to fetch around $20,000. Gandhi fans...

Oklahoma Devastation, Rescue in Pictures

The massive tornado that hit Moore, Okla., yesterday left scenes of utter devastation but there were also moments of hope as survivors were found in the rubble. AP photographer Sue Ogrocki arrived at the destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School expecting to find a scene of chaos, but instead found it...

Ex-Dictator's Genocide Conviction Overturned

Guatemala's highest court has chucked out the historic genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt. The court overturned the conviction—which brought an 80-year sentence for the 86-year-old former military strongman—and ordered for his trial to be rewound to April 19, when there was a dispute between two...

Prison Ordered to Give Files to Tsarnaev Lawyers

Prison files on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—including suicide watch logs—are to be turned over to the Boston bombing suspect's lawyers by order of a federal judge, Reuters reports. His defense team says it wants to track his condition while he is in prison for evidence of "voluntariness of his statements"...

At Least 20 Kids Among Okla. Dead

At least 20 of the 51 confirmed deaths in the Moore tornado are children, including seven found in the rubble of the destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School, where rescuers were working through the night. Another elementary school and a hospital are among the buildings flattened in the Oklahoma City suburb,...

Monster Oklahoma Tornado Kills 51

A two-mile-wide tornado touched down near Oklahoma City today, leveling the suburb of Moore and leaving at least 51 confirmed dead so far, reports ABC News . "It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific," Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said. "We're going to have fatalities. ... We're going to have significant injuries....

Church Offers Free Chick-fil-A for Straight Couples

A church in Dayton, Ohio gave out free $25 Chik-fil-A gift cards to straight married couples attending its "Day to Honor Biblical Marriage" event. An ad for the event was picked up by Reddit and, as these things do, spread quickly around the Internet, reports the Huffington Post . Despite Chik-fil-A's...

Founding Member of the Doors Dead at 74

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complimented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74. Manzarek died today in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said his publicist. His...

Teen Girl Invents Insanely Fast Battery Charger

Prepare to feel inadequate: 18-year-old California student Eesha Khare has created a supercapacitor that could recharge a cellphone battery in 30 seconds. The invention won her $50,000 in the Society for Science & the Public's huge international science fair, beating out more than 1,600 others from over 70...

iDodge: Apple Avoided $44B in Taxes, Says Probe

A senate inquiry into Apple has accused the company of avoiding $44 billion in taxes through tax havens and a complex network of overseas subsidiaries. The company runs its non-American operations through affiliates based in Ireland, which has a low tax rate. However, investigators say many have no employees are...

Takeout Tycoons GrubHub and Seamless Merge

Yahoo and Tumblr weren't the only online properties getting into bed together today: GrubHub and Seamless, two of the largest food-delivery websites in the US, have announced a merger, combining forces to fend off an increasing number of startup rivals, Bloomberg reports. "This has nothing to do with cost savings;...

World Growing Less Tolerant of Muslims, Jews: Report

Anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic sentiments are growing in many countries around the world, according to a new US State Department report. Venezuela, Egypt, and Iran in particular are singled out for anti-Semitism—the report says the Egyptian media engages in Holocaust denial and glorification, while the Iranian government regularly denounces Judaism,...

OJ Got Legal Help From 'White Supremacist' Cellmate

OJ Simpson is back in court—and you can thank his allegedly racist cellmate for that, sources tell the New York Post . Early in his sentence, the Juice complained that his cellmate was "a white supremacist," her daughter told a Post "spy" at the time. But within a few months...

Gov't Spied On Fox Journalist, Too

Of all the news organizations the government could spy on, it chose to tangle with ... Fox News. And this one goes further than the AP . The Justice Department examined Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails, phone records, and visits to the State Department, the Washington Post reports. The move...

Mob Chases Down Guy Thought to Be Sex Attacker

Residents of a Colorado neighborhood went full-on vigilante recently, chasing down a man they thought had been sexually assaulting children and throwing rocks at him until authorities intervened. The Pueblo residents were upset that police hadn't done enough, in their estimation, to catch the person responsible for two recent sex...

Left Squeals Over Virginia GOPer's KKK Comparison

Virginia held its state GOP convention this past weekend and emerged with its ticket for November's statewide elections: Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Obenshain, and EW Jackson. That spurred the left to promptly trot out some of the nominees' more out-of-the-ordinary bills , claims , and comments, and no candidate is getting more press...

It's a Good Thing Military Rape Stats Are Up

Lately, the media, public, and Congress have been abuzz over the military's "epidemic" of sexual assault, given a new annual report indicating that there were 26,000 instances of unwanted sexual contact last year. But that figure "is such bad math … that no conclusions can be drawn from it,...

Bachmann Slips Behind in House Race

Things just keep getting worse for Michele Bachmann: Not only is she facing a campaign finance investigation , she's also dropping behind in the race to hold onto her House of Representatives seat, according to a new poll. The Public Policy Poll shows Democrat challenger Jim Graves leading 47% to Bachmann's...

Toddler Puts Gun in Mouth, Shoots

A North Carolina toddler found a handgun in his parents' bedroom Saturday afternoon, put it in his mouth ... and the gun went off, authorities say. The Asheboro boy is "extremely lucky," a sheriff's captain tells the Winston-Salem Journal , because the bullet missed his vital organs (as well as his vital...

Celeb Worship a Sign American Dream Is Dying

Watching the Great Gatsby might give you a shock of recognition, because it hails from a time like our own: One that's lousy with inequality, observes George Packer in the New York Times . Celebrities, he argues, function as "new household gods" for a population losing faith, and they thrive especially...

Man Breaks Ferris Wheel World Record

Want to snatch the record for world's longest Ferris wheel ride? You'll need to clear your schedule for two days and leave your pillow at home in order beat the newly reigning champ, a manager of Chicago's Navy Pier who rode the tourist spot's Ferris wheel—awake—for 48 hours,...

Man Kills 4 After Bank, ATM Deny Him Cash

A pretty horrific story out of southern Israel today, where a man apparently became enraged after visiting the bank with the intention of taking care of a $1,640 debt—which failed to happen, reports Ynet : His request denied, he "came back with a pistol and shot dead four people...