The Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy are "essential workers," says New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Via: Freefaller  •  The Lighter Side/ Humor  •  15 Comments  •  5 Likes  •  4 years ago

Even a global pandemic can't stop the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reassured the children of her country that the mythical figures are considered "essential workers" during a Monday coronavirus press conference. Ardern, who has a 21-month-old daughter,...

Liberty University welcomes back students despite coronavirus

Via: Freefaller  •  Health, Science & Technology  •  90 Comments  •  6 Likes  •  4 years ago

Liberty University welcomed its students back to campus this week, despite explicit social distancing guidelines from both the White House and the state of Virginia amid the coronavirus outbreak. University President Jerry Falwell Jr., a longtime supporter of President Trump, said in a...

NASA is hiring new astronauts to go to the moon

Via: Freefaller  •  News & Politics  •  8 Comments  •  1 Like  •  4 years ago

“The astronauts will participate in the agency’s next big mission — to help establish “sustainable exploration” on the moon by 2028”

Need a job with perks that are out of this world?  NASA announced Monday that it’s hiring two astronauts — one man, one woman — to travel to the moon within the next three years to explore its south pole. That trip, NASA said, is part of the agency’s next big mission — to establish...

Bizarre Email Is Latest Clue in Saga of Doomsday Couple With Missing Kids

Via: Freefaller  •  News & Politics  •  6 Comments  •  2 Likes  •  4 years ago

The latest clue in the investigation of doomsday couple Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell is a weird email sent in her previous husband’s name shortly before he was shot dead.Investigators want to question Vallow and Daybell about the June 29 message as they try to put together pieces of a puzzle...

‘Cosmos: Possible Worlds’ to Premiere on National Geographic in 2020 — Exclusive

Via: Freefaller  •  Health, Science & Technology  •  9 Comments  •  3 Likes  •  4 years ago

The new 13-episode edition of “Cosmos” is part of the revival of astronomer Carl Sagan’s beloved 1980 show “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,” which covered all manner of scientific subjects. A second season, “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” introduced the series to a new generation in 2014 and brought...

Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes dies after homemade rocket crashes, reports say

Via: Freefaller  •  Health, Science & Technology  •  118 Comments  •  8 Likes  •  4 years ago

BARSTOW, Calif. (KSNV) — The famous daredevil known for trying to launch himself into space on a homemade rocket has died near Barstow, California after a crash landing during a rocket launch Saturday, multiple media outlets report. The launch, according to Space.com, was a part of the...

Man cleaning gun fatally shoots best friend in apparent accident

Via: Freefaller  •  News & Politics  •  16 Comments  •  2 Likes  •  4 years ago

A man playing a video game inside a mobile home in the Oklahoma City suburb of Midwest City on Sunday was fatally shot, apparently accidentally, by his best friend who was cleaning a gun, police said. Joshua Allen, 21, died from a single shot to the chest Sunday afternoon at Village Oaks...

Pangolins are possible coronavirus hosts, scientists say

Via: Freefaller  •  News & Politics  •  19 Comments  •  5 Likes  •  4 years ago

Pangolins are possible hosts of coronavirus, a study led by South China Agricultural University has found. Experts believe the outbreak originated at wild animal markets in Wuhan, China. After analyzing more than 1,000 samples, scientists found that the genome sequence of the virus in pangolins...

Md. officer charged with murder after shooting of handcuffed man

Via: Freefaller  •  News & Politics  •  12 Comments  •  3 Likes  •  4 years ago

A police officer in Maryland is facing multiple charges including murder after he allegedly shot a man multiple times while he was handcuffed and seated in his patrol car. The officer was charged with second-degree murder, assault, manslaughter and weapons charges after 43-year-old William...

Ancient viruses never observed by humans discovered in Tibetan glacier

Via: Freefaller  •  Health, Science & Technology  •  7 Comments  •  4 Likes  •  4 years ago

For the past 15,000 years, a glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau of China has hosted a party for some unusual guests: an ensemble of frozen viruses, many of them unknown to modern science.  Scientists recently broke up this party after taking a look at two ice cores from this Tibetan...