Bizarre News - And This Is Just For Today!

That's A Near Miss.
Asteroid 2014 DX110 flew safely by Earth Tuesday and was spotted by the Slooh online skywatching website using its half-meter telescope.  This asteroid is estimated to be about 100 feet (30 meters) across, officials at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California wrote in an alert. "Its closest approach to Earth will be at about 217,000 miles (about 350,000 kilometers) from Earth at about 1 p.m. PST (4 p.m. EST) [2100 GMT] on March 5. The average distance between Earth and its moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). Fiendish things are flying past Earth continuously, and some day one of them will hit us. Oh, well.  C'est la vie!

Free Electric Power

For years scientists have sought sustainable free energy, and cold fusion seems to be the best way to do that.  Now Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine is already the largest producer of X-rays on Earth and has been used to produce fusion neutrons. But rapid bursts are necessary for future generating plants to produce electrical power from sea water. This had not been thought achievable till now.  Nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy. In astrophysics, fusion reactions power the stars and produce all but the lightest elements.  On Earth, when the reaction is a sustained uncontrolled chain, it results in a thermonuclear explosion like in a hydrogen bomb. Harnessing that energy and converting it into cheap electricity s a dream come true.  I want one in my home; what's the worst that can happen?

You Gotta Be Kidding Me

A northern New Jersey honor student who says her parents kicked her out of the house when she turned 18 is now suing them, asking a court to make them support her and pay for her college tuition.  A cheerleader and lacrosse player who hopes to become a biomedical engineer, Rachael Canning is seeking immediate financial support and wants to force her parents to pay for her college education and more than $5,000 owed for her last semester at Morris Catholic High School. She also wants a judge to declare that she’s non-emancipated and dependent as a student on her parents for support. A judge in Morristown Tuesday ruled against immediately forcing Rachel Canning’s parents to pay her $650 weekly child support and pay for her remaining year of high school tuition, as she requested in a lawsuit filed last week.  But he's scheduled a hearing next month to determine payment of college her tuition.  Spare the rod . .

Where's Vince Lombardi When We Need Him?
The Canadian basketball team of 10-year-olds was powering through the Blessed Sacrament Tournament recently, going undefeated and looking forward to an appearance in the championship game.  Then they got the bad news. They were disqualified.  An opposing coach noticed the Warriors weren’t giving equal playing time to everyone on the squad, among new modified rules that promote fun and de-emphasize winning, tournament head John Rocchi told TheSpec in Hamilton, Ontario.  Rocchi decried the Warriors’ apparent breaking of the equal time for all players rule a “classic case of ‘win at all costs." Anthony Ivanovski, a Warriors player, told TheSpec he and his teammates worked their hard to win. More evidence that western culture is on the skids.  Don't excel.  Don't win.  It isn't fair to losers.

Don't Bogart That Joint, My Friend

Most of the doctors polled at a Minnesota Medical Association forum oppose the legislation that legalizes medical marijuana.  The bill passes a Minnesota House committee Wednesday, but still has a long road ahead in the Legislature.  The Medical Association says two-thirds of the 35 physicians attending a medical marijuana forum this week in Eagan oppose the bill. The forum's moderator and MMA board chairman, Dr. Dave Thorson, says many physicians felt more research is needed on the topic.  The association, as a whole, has not taken a position on the legislation. The MMA is also surveying its entire membership and that information will be forwarded to its board in mid-March.  They'll need it - a similar bill will undoubtedly come before the Florida legislature this session, thanks to leftist power-lawyer John Morgan.