which generates more rain. Precipitable water — a measure of how much moisture is in the air over a certain location — was off the charts in Louisiana that week. Day after day, data from weather balloons showed precipitable-water that came close to or exceeded any other weather event on record in the region. Given the magnitude of the disaster, scientists at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab in Princeton, N.J., immediately teamed up with World Weather Attribution to determine what, if any, role climate change played in the event. They used historical weather observations along with a new, high-resolution climate model to reach a conclusion. A rainfall event like the one that displaced 30,000 people in Louisiana in August “is now expected to occur at least 40 percent more often than it was in our preindustrial past,” the team wrote. It’s more likely a doubling, said Karin Van der Wiel in a conversation with The Washington Post. “That’s a very significant change in probability,” she noted. Put another way, scientists expect this kind of event to happen, on average, every 1-in-30 years somewhere along the northern Gulf Coast from Houston to the panhandle of Florida. But in 1900, it used to be just 1-in-50 years. In less than a century, climate change has cut our recovery time in half. They also found that 1-in-30 year events have become 10 percent more intense since preindustrial times. NOAA’s team of researchers appreciates that no data set or climate model is perfect, but the tools they took advantage of for this study were the best of what science can currently offer. In particular, the models this team used were triple the resolution of other models often used for studies like this. These models are at the forefront of climate change modeling,” said Van der Wiel, “and they really do a great job.” Areas around Baton Rouge, continue to clean up and rebuild — an expensive process for the majority of residents who did not have flood insurance. The Red Cross alone suspects it will spend $35 million to $40 million on flood relief in the coming months. After the flood, the federal government declared 12 parishes major disaster areas, and the event will in all likelihood be named one of the country’s billion-dollar weather disasters. In light of this research, Louisiana may not have as much time to prepare for the next one.


Why medical marijuana patients can’t buy guns

(iStockphoto) An appeals court ruled last week The ruling Federal law prohibits gun purchases by an "unlawful user and/or an addict of any controlled substance." In 2011, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms clarified in a letter that the law applies to marijuana users "regardless of whether [their] State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes." Though a growing number of states are legalizing it for medical or recreational use, marijuana remains illegal for any purpose under federal law, which considers the drug to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the federal law passes muster with the Constitution, as "it is beyond dispute that illegal drug users, including marijuana users, are likely as a consequence of that use to experience altered or impaired mental states that affect their judgment and that can lead to irrational or unpredictable behavior." The court then concluded that it is reasonable to assume that a medical marijuana cardholder is a marijuana user, and hence reasonable to deny their gun purchase on those grounds. From a legal standpoint, the nexus between marijuana use and violence was established by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Virginia, in the 2014 case of United States v. Carter. That case cited a number of studies suggesting "a significant link between drug use, including marijuana use, and violence," according to the 9th Circuit's summary. In the words of the 4th Circuit, those studies found that: - "Probationers who had perpetrated violence in the past were significantly more likely to have used a host of drugs — marijuana, hallucinogens, sedatives, and heroin — than probationers who had never been involved in a violent episode." - "Almost 50% of all state and federal prisoners who had committed violent felonies were drug abusers or addicts in the year before their arrest, as compared to only 2% of the general population." - "Individuals who used marijuana or marijuana and cocaine, in addition to alcohol, were significantly more likely to engage in violent crime than individuals who only used alcohol." - Among adolescent males, "marijuana use in one year frequently predicted violence in the subsequent year." The 4th Circuit argued that, on the link between drug use and violence, the question of correlation vs. causation doesn't matter: "Government need not prove a


Hazel’s house-made hot sauce blows Sriracha out of the water

The seafood pancake at Hazel is served with Fire Panda, a popular house-made hot sauce. (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Update: Original post, July 22: Just do it. No cute and cuddly bears were harmed in the making of what turns out to be chef Rob Rubba's house-made hot sauce. He first created it to serve along with bao at a drinks festival last year. And the name? Well, the team heard from an artist who was displeased that his copyrighted panda art was used as a mascot (something about Rocky Bao Bao...) for the sauce at the event. Fire Panda was born. Hazel's Fire Panda hot sauce -- cute and cuddly but also spicy. (Becky Krystal/The Washington Post) Now served in honey bear bottles at Hazel (some are colored in with Sharpies to look more like pandas with their trademark spots), the sauce sports a totally original drawing of a panda wearing a suit by NRG creative director Kris Mullins. "It's a sophisticated hot sauce," Rubba joked. That's exactly what Fire Panda tastes like. Rubba went for a Korean flavor profile with a nuanced mix of ingredients, including garlic, chili peppers, fermented bean paste and sesame oil, that blows the cultish Sriracha out of the water, hands down. It's sweet, spicy, pungent and nutty all at once. Fire Panda can be requested regardless of what you order, as the menu indicates, but it's intended to be served with the seafood pancake. Rubba also uses it as an ingredient in several dishes, including his Korean-Italian hybrid gnocchi bokki and the wings in the multi-course Duck Duck feast. The sauce has gone over well with diners -- so well, in fact, that a not insignificant amount seems to disappear into their bags. As of now, the kitchen is going through about 22 quarts of Fire Panda a week, which, Rubba said, "is a pretty good amount of hot sauce." The next step? Hazel is working up to bottling and selling Fire Panda. And, yes, they've already trademarked the name. Related items: - Hazel review: Not too big, not too small, and a lot that’s just right - Hazel, Neighborhood Restaurant Group's newest spot, makes its debut in Shaw - 11 new restaurants you should try right now


PM Update: Storm risk into evening, and way too hot Thursday

Summer in September rolls on. Two days in a row of 90s, and we should get to at least five in total. In the process, we’re also climbing the ranks of all time numbers for the annual count of 90-degree days. It seems quite likely that D.C. will end up in the top 10 this year before this streak comes to an end. But first, a few storms to cool a few of us down. Through Tonight: View the current weather conditions at The Washington Post. Tomorrow (Thursday): See Dan Stillman’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. The monument core from Virginia. (Kevin Wolf via Flickr) Pollen update: Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email in-box? Subscribe here. So hot: With 53 days 90+ in D.C., we’ve now surpassed last year’s (questionable, due to sensor issues) 52 such days. If we add another two days, reaching 55, we’ll crack the top 10 with a tie for 9th most on record. And finally, if the city does manage to hit 100 tomorrow, it’ll tie for the latest on record that such as happened. It last occurred on the same day in 1939.


The American Legion wants the federal government to change course on marijuana

military veterans, has called on Congress to remove marijuana from Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act and "reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value." In a resolution passed at the Legion's annual convention last week, the organization said it hopes that better research into marijuana and an official acknowledgment of its potential medical benefits will hasten the development of new treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, ailments that have plagued veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Legion's resolution, published online by Marijuana.com, noted that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration recently approved the country's first randomized, controlled trial using whole-plant, smoked marijuana to treat PTSD symptoms. That study will be conducted by Sue Sisley, an Arizona researcher who tried for nearly a decade to get a green light for the research but struggled to find an academic institution to sponsor it. The University of Colorado ultimately agreed to fund the research. During an address at the Legion's convention in Cincinnati, Sisley told members that "veterans are exhausted and feel like guinea pigs; they’re getting desperate” and that traditional medications didn't seem to be providing adequate relief to many vets suffering from PTSD. The DEA recently reaffirmed its decades-old policy of classifying marijuana among the most dangerous drugs, citing its "high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use." That position has faced increasing criticism from federal and state lawmakers, physicians, researchers and even some law enforcement groups. Medical marijuana is extremely popular with voters: A June Quinnipiac University poll found that 89 percent supported the use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. A separate survey by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that 68 percent of responding members supported legalizing medical marijuana in their state, and 75 percent said that the Department of Veterans Affairs should allow medical marijuana as a treatment option. A DEA position paper from 2013 states that "smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science — it is not medicine, and it is not safe." More from Wonkblog: Legal marijuana is doing what the drug war couldn't An unprecedented number of states will vote on marijuana this fall The ‘mostly false’ argument that could derail legal weed in California Middle-aged parents are now more likely to smoke weed than their teenage kids


Once dismissed as fake, Maya calendar is Americas’ oldest manuscript say Brown University scientists

not rule out that a fraudulent artist had painted on an ancient canvas. The codex showed possible signs of tampering, too, with suspicious cut marks that may have been an attempt to add years to the book. Plus, there was the issue of the looters — the Grolier Codex, after all, did not have the most reliable of origin stories. “It is possible that it is a late colonial period codex, but more likely it was painted as recently as the 1960s when looters realized the blank paper they found in a cave would be much more valuable with painted designs,” wrote Florida Museum of Natural History’s Susan Milbrath in a 2002 paper, echoing Thompson’s concerns. Subsequent scientific investigations were hampered by the illicit nature of how the codex ended up at the Grolier Club. It is illegal for such artifacts to leave Mexico without permission — and so the codex swiftly vanished after the bibliophiles’ show. More than a half-decade later, in the wake of a joint Mexico-U.S. customs investigation, the Grolier Club’s president admitted to smuggling it in his suitcase, sandwiched between pieces of cardboard and rubber bands. In the wake of the 1977 inquiry, Sáenz coughed up the codex in Mexico, giving it to the National Museum of Anthropology. Years passed. Beyond an inconclusive analysis of the Grolier Codex’s ink in 2008, there was little new research to shed light on the manuscript. That is, until now, according to a team of anthropologists who worked with Coe. “There can’t be the slightest doubt that the Grolier is genuine,” Brown University’s Stephen Houston, an expert on Mesoamerican culture, said in a news release on Wednesday. The researchers say they proved the text was real by systematically ruling out fraud. Among the most damning evidence against a forgery, the scientists said, are the “perfectly render[ed]” Maya deities unknown to archaeologists in 1964. Plus, a forger would have to recreate the formula for blue Maya ink, which Mexican scientists would only discover in the 1980s. Whoever drew the Maya weaponry, the researchers wrote in their paper, did so in a way that “not a single detail fails to ring true.” Convinced of its authenticity, the scientists make a final claim: Radiocarbon dating puts the Grolier Codex before the Dresden Codex, which was previously considered to be the most ancient of Maya texts. If so, America has a new oldest book.


Colin Mochrie sucks at singing. He’ll be performing at the Kennedy Center anyway

Colin Mochrie (center), hosts “The Second City Guide to the Symphony,” with a cast of musically talented comedians. (Matthew Cook) A nimble performer, Colin Mochrie anchored the cast of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” across the improv comedy show’s many iterations. But while Mochrie loved creating scenes on the fly, he dreaded performing the show’s off-the-cuff songs. “I have no musical talent at all,” he says. “When I was supposed to sing, I would just shout my lines. My hope was that people would be so taken aback by my volume and commitment, they wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t singing.” That trick must have worked, because Mochrie has been hired to sing again. As the host of the touring show “The Second City Guide to the Symphony,” which teams up with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops at the Kennedy Center this weekend, Mochrie and a cast of six other comedians perform songs and skits in front of a live symphony orchestra. “You wouldn’t think that this is a natural marriage,” Mochrie says. “On the surface, it’s two totally different groups of people. One is very disciplined, the other are comedians.” What makes this marriage work? It helps that the show is mostly scripted and scored. Plus, all the skits hew to the theme of poking fun at classical musicians, composers and audiences. In one scene, the orchestra plays excerpts from famous classical tunes while a couple bluff their way through a blind date by pretending to know all about classical music. In another, comedian Allison Price sings an original song with orchestral accompaniment — from the point of view of a woman who’s dated everyone in the symphony — about her search to “find a player with the finest piece of brass.” But perhaps the most impressive part of the show is when the comedians and musicians create — and score — a scene on the fly. “In Toronto, we had a tuba, clarinet, trumpet and violin, and we did this thing where you start telling a story and the next person picks it up, and they would play music underneath and whatever mood the music suggested, that would change the story,” Mochrie says. “If you haven’t heard improvised tuba, you haven’t lived,” Mochrie says. Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Sept. 15, 7 p.m.; Sept. 16 17, 8 p.m., $24-$99. More stores from Express Wanna learn something new this


College requires ‘cultural competency’ training to avoid offending an often-overlooked culture: The military

it’s been left out.” It’s a sign of both how marginalized military service has become — less than 1 percent of U.S. citizens have served since 2001 — and of the growing demand for higher education for service members, as this generation’s GI Bill has made college much more attainable and affordable for them. At Texas A&M University-San Antonio — in “Military City U.S.A.” — nearly 1 in 5 students is connected to the military. Nationwide, there are about 1.5 million military-connected students pursuing higher education, Kalmbach said. She said she expects that to continue growing. “By 2020, about 5 million service members will have exited the military. A good number of them will be choosing college. … The post-9/11 GI Bill enacted in 2009 made it much more appealing for military members to attend college,” with help paying for tuition, textbooks and housing. Many are quite different from the typical 18-year-old who goes to college straight out of high school. They’re usually quite a bit older, and they may have full-time jobs, families, injuries, mental-health issues and other things distracting them from academics. At Texas A&M University-San Antonio, they have branded themselves a “military embracing” college, making sure it’s easy to transfer credits, for example, making sure classrooms are easily accessible for students with disabilities and building a veterans’ center that even has an area where service dogs can get outside, off the leash, and play. Kalmbach said she kept hearing from clients who had “tried” college but left. The cultural divide between military and civilian life widened dramatically in recent decades as the percentage of the population that served grew smaller. And the gap between military and academic culture is even wider. “It’s a culture clash, absolutely,” she said. Students at the University of Maryland at College Park play with a flying disc on an unusually warm February day. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) “The military is very structured,” said Richard Delgado Jr., the school’s director of military affairs. “We’re used to being issued orders and knowing exactly what we need to do. We’re told, ‘Hey, go storm the hill.’ There’s a clear mission and sense of purpose and tight connections to others.” In college, independence, individuality, reflection, exploration, creativity and collaboration are all valued. “That can be terrifying” for some veterans, Kalmbach said, leaving them feeling lost, adrift. “It’s a free-fall for them.” They talked about ways


These birds, found only in Hawaii, are about to go extinct because of climate change

species tend to be most pronounced around the peripheries of the native birds’ ranges. But the honeycreepers exhibited marked declines throughout their ranges, not just at the edges. Furthermore, the fact the honeycreepers had experienced the worst declines, while the monarch flycatcher was in comparatively better shape, was also telling, according to Paxton. Previous research has suggested that the flycatcher is less susceptible to malaria than the honeycreepers. The researchers believe climate change has played a key role in the growing influence of mosquito-borne diseases. Research has suggested that the prevalence of avian malaria in the upper elevations of Kaua’i has more than doubled since the 1990s, and that this increase has corresponded with climatic changes in the area. “Naturalists working up in the Kaua’i mountains very rarely ever saw mosquitoes, even despite extensive searches for [them],” Paxton noted. “And just in the last five to six years, researchers that are working up in those mountains are now seeing mosquitoes commonly.” The researchers worry that if action isn’t taken soon, continued declines could lead to the extinction of these native birds. Two species in particular — the ‘akikiki and the ‘akeke‘e — currently pose a special concern, with fewer than a thousand individuals left of each. “We feel like in the next five to 10 years, those species will go extinct without major intervention,” Paxton said. And the other honeycreepers may not be far behind. As a result, mosquito control efforts are among the biggest priorities for conservationists. These can include traditional control methods, such as eliminating standing water, as well as more cutting-edge techniques, such as releasing genetically modified mosquitoes that cause populations to die back over time. It’s a technique that’s currently being applied in places like Brazil to combat Zika. Additionally, tackling some of the other factors affecting the bird — cracking down on invasive species, like rats, for instance, which prey on the birds’ nests — could also help slow the declines, Paxton added. The most important point is that action is needed quickly. The study demonstrates the unusually powerful impact of climate change on island ecosystems, showing how quickly these isolated species can be affected if strong measures aren’t taken to prevent them. “If we do nothing, then we will lose most of these species,” Paxton said. “So it’s really important that we as a country, as a society, come up with a strategy that


Beer yeast is tame. Wine yeast is wild. Draw your own conclusions.

1500s. "Brewers were smart enough to realize that if they used the sediment found at the end of the fermentation process, if you used it to inoculate a new batch, the fermentation will go much quicker," explained study author Kevin Verstrepen, a yeast geneticist at the University of Leuven and VIB in Belgium. "And when you take the sediment from a really nice beer, the new batch will for the most part turn out pretty nice." They didn't know it, but these early brewers were selecting the fittest beer yeasts, which settle down into sediment after they stop producing gas. By putting them into a new batch of beer (a process known as back-slopping), the brewers were keeping their favorite strains of yeast warm and well-fed, encouraging them to reproduce. "It was something between an art and a science, because they didn't know what microbes were but knew the sediment, whatever it was, was important," Verstrepen said. "So then you had this Darwinian selection, with the gut feeling of the brewers working hand in hand with nature." According to the study's analysis of 157 different strains of yeast used to make beer, wine, spirits, sake, bread and bioethanol, this process has caused the yeast used in beer brewing to grow more distinct from feral cousins than microbes used for other commercial fermentation. The flavors and aromas of beer all come down to chemistry. Reactions, a series from the American Chemical Society, takes a look at craft beer chemistry. The researchers identified two major lineages of beer yeast, one of which was domesticated from wild species slightly later than the first. The beer yeasts showed clear signs of long-term human influence. They've become quite dependent on the beer-making process to survive. In fact, the researchers noted that many strains of beer yeast have lost the ability to reproduce sexually, which is key to survival in the wild — during times of trouble, yeast send sturdy spores out into the world in the hopes of finding somewhere to continue their genetic legacy. Beer yeasts have lost the genes required for sex — and they've put their energy into beer instead. The researchers found many strains that had deleted the genes needed for sexual reproduction, but had multiple copies of the genes that allow them to grow on the sugars commonly found in vats of beer. From an evolutionary standpoint, these yeast have


1500's. "Brewers were smart enough to realize that if they used the sediment found at the end of the fermentation process, if you used it to inoculate a new batch, the fermentation will go much quicker," explained study author Kevin Verstrepen, a yeast geneticist at the University of Leuven and VIB in Belgium. "And when you take the sediment from a really nice beer, the new batch will for the most part turn out pretty nice." They didn't know it, but these early brewers were selecting the fittest beer yeasts, which settle down into sediment after they stop producing gas. By putting them into a new batch of beer (a process known as backslopping), the brewers were keeping their favorite strains of yeast warm and well-fed, encouraging them to reproduce. "It was something between an art and a science, because they didn't know what microbes were but knew the sediment, whatever it was, was important," Verstrepen said. "So then you had this Darwinian selection, with the gut feeling of the brewers working hand in hand with nature." According to the study's analysis of 157 different strains of yeast used to make beer, wine, spirits, sake, bread and bioethanol, this process has caused the yeast used in beer brewing to grow more distinct from feral cousins than microbes used for other commercial fermentation. The flavors and aromas of beer all come down to chemistry. Reactions, a series from the American Chemical Society, takes a look at craft beer chemistry. The researchers identified two major lineages of beer yeast, one of which was domesticated from wild species slightly later than the first. The beer yeasts showed clear signs of longterm human influence. They've become quite dependent on the beer making process to survive. In fact, the researchers noted that many strains of beer yeast have lost the ability to reproduce sexually, which is key to survival in the wild – during times of trouble, yeast send sturdy spores out into the world in the hopes of finding somewhere to continue their genetic legacy. Beer yeasts have lost the genes required for sex – and they've put their energy into beer instead. The researchers found many strains that had deleted the genes needed for sexual reproduction, but had multiple copies of the genes that allow them to grow on the sugars commonly found in vats of beer. From an evolutionary standpoint, these yeast


‘Star Trek’ just turned 50. Here’s how it helped inspire today’s tech.

digital assistants like Siri Computers could be pretty chatty in the "Star Trek" universe, even starting back in the original show. But now, verbal interfaces are on the rise in the real world with digital assistants that talk back, such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. (Amazon.com founder Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) We’re not at the point where you can order Siri to make you a cup of hot Earl Grey tea, yet — although Siri will joke about the replicators being broken if you try. But with the push toward smart devices and connected homes, that might become a reality. Fun fact: Someday you might be able to get your virtual assistant to sound like "Star Trek’s" original computer, which was voiced by "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry’s wife, Majel Barrett. The official Roddenberry account recently tweeted that it had Barrett’s voice recorded phonetically, and it's working on making her a voice option for Siri and similar services. The Holodeck and virtual reality The Next Generation helped dream up the future of entertainment when it introduced the Holodeck, a room capable of immersing crew members who needed to relax into almost any digital simulation they could imagine. Today, virtual reality appears on the cusp of mainstream — although VR systems such as Oculus rely on a bulky headset instead of a dedicated space to transport users to different digital realities. But at least so far there’s no signs that the VR systems rolling out now will encounter the types of errors that sometimes turned Holodeck visits into virtual prisons. Transporters and, well, transporters Okay, so we’re not actually close to having Scotty beam us up. But there’s plenty of research and projects that are working to do similar things. For instance, last year German researchers unveiled a “teleporter” of sorts that uses 3-D printing to recreate objects scanned elsewhere. They even dubbed it “Scotty” in a nod to the "Star Trek" character. Researchers experimenting with quantum teleportation have also reported limited success in getting subatomic matter to exist in two places at once. There’s obviously a huge leap between that and figuring out how to use similar tech to teleport a person, transporter-style. But that might be a good thing: Some "Star Trek" enthusiasts argue the show’s transporters work by essentially killing the original person while reassembling a copy of their atoms together at their destination.


Star Trek just turned 50. Here’s how it helped inspire today’s tech.

“the true Star Trek dream." Voice activated computers and digital assistants like Siri Computers could be pretty chatty in the Star Trek universe, even starting back in the original show. But now, verbal interfaces are on the rise in the real world with digital assistants that talk back, such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. We’re not at the point where you can order Siri to make you a cup of hot Earl Grey tea, yet -- although Siri will joke about the replicators being broken if you try. But with the push toward smart devices and connected homes, that might become a reality. Fun fact: Someday you might be able to get your virtual assistant to sound like Star Trek’s original computer, which was voiced by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s wife Majel Barrett. The official Roddenberry account recently tweeted that it had Barrett’s voice recorded phonetically, and it's working on making her a voice option for Siri and similar services. The Holodeck and virtual reality The Next Generation helped dream up the future of entertainment when it introduced the Holodeck, a room capable of immersing crew members who needed to relax into almost any digital simulation they can imagine. Today, virtual reality appears on the cusp of mainstream -- although VR systems like Oculus rely on a bulky headset instead of a dedicated space to transport users to different digital realities. But at least so far there’s no signs that the VR systems rolling out now will encounter the types of errors that sometimes turned Holodeck visits into virtual prisons. Transporters and, well, transporters Okay, so we’re not actually close to having Scotty beam us up. But there’s plenty of research and projects that are working to do similar things. For instance, last year German researchers unveiled a “teleporter” of sorts that uses 3-D printing to recreate objects scanned elsewhere. They even dubbed it “Scotty” in a nod to the Star Trek crew member. Researchers experimenting with quantum teleportation have also reported limited success in getting subatomic matter to exist in two places at once. There’s obviously a huge leap between that and figuring out how to use similar tech to teleport a person, transporter-style. But that might be a good thing: some Star Trek enthusiasts argue the show’s transporters work by essentially killing the original person while reassembling a copy of their atoms together at their destination.


Teens don’t get high like they used to, new federal data show

use continues to fall across the board, according to the latest federal data released Thursday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Teen cigarette use has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2002. Alcohol use has fallen by nearly half. And even teen marijuana use -- a topic of much debate as states consider legalizing recreational use of the drug -- has dropped significantly since 2002. The latest data come from SAMHSA's 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a comprehensive survey of substance use among a nationally representative sample of 67,500 Americans age 12 and older. The trends in teen substance use are of particular interest to researchers, since initiation of drug and alcohol use at a young age is more closely linked to later health and behavioral problems than adult drug use. "These findings offer hope that marijuana and heroin use may be slowing down," said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Administrator Kana Enomoto in a statement. "And more American youth are rejecting alcohol and tobacco." Nationally, marijuana use appears to be rising modestly among adults. In 2015, nearly 20 percent of 18 to 25 year olds used marijuana monthly, compared to about 17 percent in 2002. And monthly marijuana use among adults ages 26 years and higher rose from 4 percent to 6.5 percent over the same period. Rising marijuana use among the middle-aged and senior citizens are a big driver of that trend. But at the same time, the prevalence of marijuana use disorders -- dependency on the drug, or abuse of it -- is falling. The incidence of marijuana use disorders among teens fell from 4.3 percent in 2002 to 2.6 percent in 2015. Among young adults, it fell from 6 percent to 5.1 percent. And among adults age 26 and older, marijuana use disorder has remained rare, hovering at around 0.8 percent. Opponents of looser marijuana regulations have long warned that legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana would "send the wrong message" to adolescents and cause teen marijuana use to increase. "What about the children" remains a potent rallying cry for opponents hoping to stop legalization measures this year in California and elsewhere. But the new federal survey is the latest data showing that so far, that isn't happening at the national level. Other recent substance use surveys have shown that teen use isn't rising within the states that have already legalized marijuana, either.


Athletes face tough work-life choices, too: NBA all-star to miss games for wife’s health

For a professional athlete, very little is supposed to intrude on the protective bubble that allows them to compete at the highest level. But life isn’t always so easily controlled. Sometimes athletes, with careers that are short in duration by nature, are faced with weighing the effect of making a selfless personal choice against possibly skipping parts of peak wage-earning years in which every game is precious. Many athletes, such as men whose wives are giving birth or who have had relatives die, choose to walk away for a bit, and the reactions — from expectant and oft-impatient fans, a scrutinizing media and occasionally other athletes — aren’t always predictable. Baseball player Daniel Murphy found the blowback harsh when he chose to miss a few outings in a 162-game season due to a family matter; NFL legend Brett Favre received a warm reception when he decided to play in a football game immediately after the death of his father. Last weekend, Jrue Holiday, an NBA all-star in 2013 who currently plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, announced how he plans to handle the news that his pregnant wife is dealing with a benign brain tumor: He is taking a leave of absence that will force him to miss the start of the NBA season. Lauren Holiday, who was part of the U.S. women’s two-time Olympic gold medal-winning soccer team, retired from the sport last year in part because, at 28, she was ready to start a family. She and her husband were thrilled to learn that they would become parents of a daughter in the fall, but then were given what Jrue calls the “devastating” news of Lauren’s tumor. The tumor, which is operable, will not threaten their daughter’s health and Lauren is expected to make a complete recovery. The matter is further complicated for the Holidays because the surgery is being postponed until about six weeks after the baby is born in October. The Pelicans’ season, however, opens on Oct. 26. Until surgery, Lauren Holiday requires care as the tumor grows and restricts her movements. “Obviously, we were and are still very excited about the birth of our first child, but our focus shifted from having this magnificent blessing to making sure everything is going to be okay with Lauren and the child,” Jrue Holiday, 26, told Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan. “Our priorities right now are being able to manage


Just 7 percent of households lack bank accounts now

JPMorgan Chase signage is displayed at a bank branch, left, across from its Park Avenue headquarters, right, in New York in January. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg News) As the economy improves, more people are landing jobs and using traditional bank accounts, a new survey shows. The share of consumers who were unbanked fell faster than expected last year to 7 percent, down from 7.7 percent in 2013, according to a new report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That percentage has been dropping since it peaked at 8.2 percent in 2011 and is now the lowest it has been since the survey was started in 2009. Consumers were defined as being unbanked if no one in their household had a bank account. The FDIC also looked at the underbanked, meaning that someone in the household had a bank account but that the person still turned to nontraditional — and sometimes costly — financial services, such as payday loans, pawn shops or auto title loans. About 1 in 5 consumers said they were underbanked last year, about the same as in 2013. Consumers across income brackets and racial groups became more likely to have bank accounts over the past couple of years. African American households that are unbanked drop to 18.2 percent last year from 20.6 percent in 2013. Among Hispanic households, the rate dropped to 16.2 percent from 17.9 percent. One exception was Asian households, which saw the share of unbanked nearly double to 4 percent in 2015 from 2.2. percent in 2013. Even households with incomes below $15,000 a year, who are typically less likely to have bank accounts, saw their unbanked rate drop “significantly” to 25.6 percent in 2015 from 27.7 percent in 2013. The share of households that are unbanked dropped almost across the board in 2015 from 2013. One exception was Asian households, which saw a slight increase in the unbanked. (Courtesy of the FDIC) It’s unclear exactly why there was such a strong increase in the share of people with bank accounts. The FDIC is still studying the reasons why different groups are more or less likely to be unbanked, Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in prepared remarks. More details will be released with the full report in October. But generally speaking, the decline among the unbanked is partly the result of a more robust economy. One-third of the people who opened bank accounts over the past year


Investigation begins into SpaceX rocket explosion

An explosion last week on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (U.S. Launch Report/Handout via Reuters) SpaceX is leading the investigation into the cause of its massive rocket explosion last week, a probe that involves some 20 people from industry, NASA, the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. More than half of the members are from outside the company, according to an industry official with knowledge of matter who is not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. They will have access to raw data and the ability to analyze it independently. The setup of the investigation is similar to the probe that looked into SpaceX’s rocket explosion last year, when a rocket hired under a NASA contract headed for the International Space Station exploded a couple minutes into flight. At the time, members of Congress said they had “serious reservations” about SpaceX leading the probe and they expressed concern over whether the "investigation and engineering rigor" being applied would be sufficient to prevent further mishaps. Under FAA regulations, launch providers handle investigations when there is no loss of life, injury or outside property damage. The aerospace company now known as Orbital ATK, which lost a rocket in 2014, also led its own investigation. [Watch SpaceX's rocket explode in a massive fireball] On Thursday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 blew up while it stood on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station moments before a test firing of its engines. No humans were on board and no one was hurt. It was scheduled to launch a commercial satellite. On Twitter, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the blast occurred while crews were fueling the rocket and that it originated around the upper stage’s oxygen tank. It’s unclear how long the investigation will take or how long it would be to repair the launch pad. After its rocket exploded last year, SpaceX was grounded for six months before it flew again. In the wake of last week's explosion, NASA said it was sticking by SpaceX, which it has hired to eventually fly astronauts to the space station. The agency said it remains "confident in our commercial partners."


An explosion last week on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (U.S. Launch Report/Handout via Reuters) SpaceX is leading the investigation into the cause of its massive rocket explosion last week, a probe that involves some 20 people from industry, NASA, the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. More than half of the members, who ultimately have to come to a consensus on any findings, are from outside the company, according to an industry official with knowledge of matter who is not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. They will have access to raw data and the ability to analyze it independently. The setup of the investigation is similar to the probe that looked into SpaceX’s rocket explosion last year, when a rocket hired under a NASA contract headed for the International Space Station exploded a couple minutes into flight. At the time, members of Congress said they had “serious reservations” about SpaceX leading the probe and they expressed concern over whether the "investigation and engineering rigor" being applied would be sufficient to prevent further mishaps. Under FAA regulations, launch providers handle investigations when there is no loss of life, injury or outside property damage. The aerospace company now known as Orbital ATK, which lost a rocket in 2014, also led its own investigation. [Watch SpaceX's rocket explode in a massive fireball] On Thursday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 blew up while it stood on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station moments before a test firing of its engines. No humans were on board and no one was hurt. It was scheduled to launch a commercial satellite. On Twitter, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the blast occurred while crews were fueling the rocket and that it originated around the upper stage’s oxygen tank. It’s unclear how long the investigation will take or how long it would be to repair the launch pad. After its rocket exploded last year, SpaceX was grounded for six months before it flew again. In the wake of last week's explosion, NASA said it was sticking by SpaceX, which it has hired to eventually fly astronauts to the space station. The agency said it remains "confident in our commercial partners."


It’s time for the United States to act on Azerbaijan

be left with no option but to establish closer relations with its immediate neighbors, Iran and Russia. Aliyev’s supporters have pointed to the failed Turkey coup and have accused the United States of supporting opposition forces not only to spoil the upcoming referendum — but to plot a coup in Azerbaijan. Aside from legislation introduced by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) last December and the cries of activists and human rights groups, Azerbaijan has received a free pass from the Obama administration. Rarely do either the U.S. Embassy in Baku or the State Department in Washington speak out against human rights abuses. Even the 2014 raid on U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the arrest of one of its journalists, Khadija Ismayilova, triggered a mild response from Washington. Ismayilova was released from prison earlier this year but has been refused permission to travel outside the country. RFE/RL is still barred from operating in Azerbaijan, as are most American nongovernmental organizations. In the past, we have called for sanctions — asset freezes and visa bans — against Azerbaijani officials involved in and responsible for gross human rights abuses, similar to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act for Russia. President Obama doesn’t need new legislation to take such measures; he can do so under existing presidential authorities. Beyond that, we should withhold U.S. support for International Monetary Fund and World Bank assistance should Azerbaijan request it amid its deteriorating economic situation and end Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Export-Import Bank lending to Azerbaijan. The United States should consider recalling our ambassador for extended consultations over human rights concerns as well as the rising anti-American rhetoric of Azerbaijan officials and government-sanctioned media. We also need to get the Europeans on board with similar measures. These steps should be taken unless and until all the political prisoners are released and the referendum enhancing Aliyev’s powers is voided. Letting Azerbaijan follow through on its threat to form closer ties with Moscow and Tehran without balance from the United States may be a necessary, albeit unpleasant, learning experience for the regime in Baku. The problem in Azerbaijan is not that Aliyev has too little power; it is that he exercises the power he has in the wrong ways against innocent people. America’s silence as the situation on the ground worsens risks making us accomplices to a looming human rights disaster in Azerbaijan.


Arizona’s governor asked voters to fact-check whether pot is safer than alcohol. So we did.

Jars of marijuana buds sit on the counter at the Denver Kush Club in November. (David Zalubowski/AP) Arizona is one of five states with marijuana legalization on the ballot this fall, and the state's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, is not happy about it. Ducey urged voters last week to reject legalization, saying it would exacerbate the state's existing opioid problem. "If we want to expand this universe of people that are addicted and abusing drugs, well, you’ll have that chance in November," he said at a news conference. He added, "I don’t think that any state became stronger by being stoned." Ducey cited the "unintended consequences" of legalization in Washington and Colorado, particularly the way marijuana "has infiltrated high schools with brownies and cookies and Pez dispensers and all-day suckers." A spokesman for Ducey also pointed to reports of newborns testing positive for THC and increases in emergency department visits involving marijuana. Ducey also challenged the idea that marijuana is a safer substance than alcohol. "I would check your facts when you say something is not addictive, that something’s safer than alcohol," he said. Ducey didn't give specifics about the relative dangers of marijuana and alcohol, but we here at Wonkblog always enjoy a drug policy fact check, so we're happy to indulge the governor's request. Here's what the research has to say. 1. Is marijuana addictive? Short answer: yes. The best available research indicates that roughly 9 percent of people who use marijuana — 1 in 11 — will eventually become dependent on it. Starting marijuana use in your teens roughly doubles the risk of dependency, at 17 percent. It's worth pointing out that the study those numbers come from found a similar risk of dependency for drinkers who started in their teens, and higher rates of dependency for drinkers who began in adulthood. And dependency rates for tobacco were higher across the board. 2. Is marijuana safer than alcohol? This is a much more complicated question. The short answer, again, is "yes," but there's more nuance here. For starters, as noted above, marijuana users are less likely to become dependent on the drug than drinkers. Overall, research suggests that 15 percent of drinkers become dependent on alcohol. Marijuana is also considerably less toxic to the human body than alcohol. Compared to marijuana, there's a much smaller difference between a "recreational dose" of alcohol and a "fatal dose." If,


Elon Musk says rocket explosion is the most “difficult and complex” failure SpaceX has ever had

An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (U.S. Launch Report/Handout via Reuters) The spectacular explosion of a SpaceX rocket turned into a full-blown mystery Friday after Elon Musk took to Twitter to say the company is so baffled about what happened it needs help from the public. There was a mysterious bang of unknown origin seconds before ignition, he noted. There was no apparent source of heat that could have ignited the blast, he said. And then he refused to rule out the rampant Internet speculation that something--a drone? UFO?--may have crashed into the rocket, fueling rumors of sabotage. He did, however, seem to rule out alien involvement. Since it was founded in 2002, SpaceX has had its share of failures. Its first three test rockets blew up, nearly bankrupting the company. Then last year, another, more powerful rocket exploded a couple minutes into its flight to deliver more than $100 million worth of cargo to the International Space Station. But the loss of its Falcon 9 rocket last week is "turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years," Musk said on Twitter early Friday. The cause of the fireball last week was especially puzzling because it occurred during a "routine filling operation," Musk tweeted. He noted that the rocket's "engines were not on and there was no apparent heat source." One clue he said investigators were exploring was a "bang sound" that may have come from the "rocket or something else" seconds before the rocket blew up while standing on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The confusion over the cause stands in contrast to its last failure, when Musk pinpointed the problem shortly after the explosion, suggesting there was an "overpressure event" in a liquid oxygen tank in the upper stage of the rocket. After determining that a small strut broke, the company returned to flight after six months. SpaceX is leading the investigation with help from the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and the Air Force. Analysts have said that since the explosion occurred on the ground there would be more evidence to recover than explosions that occur in flight, when wreckage is lost at sea. Still, SpaceX pleaded with the public to turnover any "audio, photos or videos" of the incident that could help the investigation.


An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (U.S. Launch Report/Handout via Reuters) Since it was founded in 2002, SpaceX has had its share of failures. Its first three rockets blew up, nearly bankrupting the company. Then last year, another exploded a couple minutes into its flight to deliver more than $100 million worth of cargo to the International Space Station. But the loss of a rocket last week is "turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years," Musk said on Twitter early Friday. SpaceX is leading the investigation into what caused its Falcon 9 rocket to explode as it stood on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station last week as it was being fueled in preparation of a test firing of its engines. Musk tweeted Friday that it was a "routine filling operation. Engines were not on and there was no apparent heat source." He said a focus of the probe was "trying to understand the quieter bang sound a few seconds before the fireball goes off. May come from rocket or something else." He asked the public to email any recordings of the event to the company. And he also said that he could not rule out that the rocket ignited after something hit it. The Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and the Air Force are aiding in the investigation. Here are his tweets: Still working on the Falcon fireball investigation. Turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years. Important to note that this happened during a routine filling operation. Engines were not on and there was no apparent heat source. Support & advice from @NASA, @FAA, @AFPAA & others much appreciated. Please email any recordings of the event to report@spacex.com. Particularly trying to understand the quieter bang sound a few seconds before the fireball goes off. May come from rocket or something else.


How social media helps young people — especially minorities and the poor — get politically engaged

people from socioeconomically disadvantaged households are more likely to get their political information from new online media sources than young people from households with more abundant resources. 4. By contrast, young people with more socioeconomic resources are more likely to turn to traditional news sources. In other words, it’s not true that the rich are getting richer online, as some have suggested. We find, rather, that those with more limited resources use digital media to learn, to speak out, and to amplify their voices. All this has consequences for political engagement, as you can see in the figures below (all estimated while controlling for other predictors of political participation). On the left side, you can see that when a respondent says she consumes traditional news sources, her likelihood of saying that she votes increases notably. That’s not as strong for people who say they use social media or visit websites devoted to people of color. By contrast, you can see in the chart on the right that social media users are more likely to protest a business practice than are traditional news consumers. (Here, we’re using protest as one example of participatory politics.) In a separate analysis, we found that frequently visiting websites catering to people of color is also strongly associated with this kind of political activity, especially among young African Americans, Latino/as and Asian Americans. Using social media predicts more political engagement as time goes on In 2015, we followed up with approximately one-third of our 2013 respondents. The young people who increased their engagement the most between 2013 and 2015 were the ones who talked the most about politics on social media: people of color and individuals with few socioeconomic resources. In short, new media are mobilizing young people — especially young people who are of color and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. Using new media, young people are bypassing traditional gatekeepers and mobilizing informal connected networks to make social change. Matthew D. Luttig is a postdoctoral scholar in political science at the University of Chicago. Cathy J. Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and author of “Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Democracy” from Oxford University Press. This post is part of a series on youth political engagement organized by the Monkey Cage and CIRCLE, a national research center on youth civic education and


Newest superbug found in a Connecticut toddler

Officials, however, expect more cases to surface in the United States, and on Friday recommended increased surveillance for bacteria that show resistance to colistin. Food has been the most common way humans have acquired this superbug in other places, and the Connecticut case suggests that food is also a possible cause, said Maroya Walters, a CDC epidemiologist. The girl had traveled to the Caribbean for about two weeks to visit friends and relatives. While she was there, she ate chicken and goat meat from a live animal market. She developed fever and bloody diarrhea on June 12, two days before returning to the United States. When she came back home, she went to the doctor's office, and stool samples were collected, including one from a soiled diaper. An investigation by state and federal health officials found that the strain of E. coli is not what made her sick. But when the Connecticut health department analyzed the genes in that strain, they discovered it was carrying the resistance gene. "It was completely an incidental finding," said Alexander Kallen, a CDC medical officer who investigates antibiotic resistance. The mcr-1 gene was first identified in China almost a year ago, showing up in pork, live pigs and infected humans. Since then, health officials and infectious-disease experts around the world have been looking for it; it has since been found in nearly 30 countries. "We know this is food-borne, and we know from outbreaks in other countries that's how most people get it," Kallen said. The CDC is recommending increased testing for the superbug gene among certain types of bacteria that show resistance to colistin. The gene spreads readily among bacteria, and it could make these multi-drug resistant strains almost impossible to treat. The Post's Lena Sun visited Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., where scientists there identified a strain of bacteria resistant to the last-resort antibiotic, colistin. The bacteria was found in a Pennsylvania woman. Microbiologist Patrick McGann explains how his team identified the gene that gives the bacteria this resistance So far, there is no evidence linking any of the four U.S. human cases, Kallen said. Nor have any links been identified between human cases and instances in which the gene has been found in pigs in a slaughterhouse in Illinois and another in South Carolina, he said. The second human case was found in a sample of


in an E. coli strain in a 76-year-old New Jersey man dating back to August 2014. The man had multiple medical issues, including prostate cancer and recurring urinary tract infections. Most troubling, researchers said, is that the same strain also had a second gene that made the organism resistant to carbapenems, another critical category of antibiotics. The man was treated successfully with other drugs, and researchers said the bacteria did not cause a major outbreak of drug-resistant infection. The cases highlight the critical need for more research, heightened surveillance, and increased awareness and preventive measures from hospitals, doctors' offices and other health-care institutions about the growing dangers of antibiotic resistance. The biggest fear is that the gene will spread to bacteria that are now susceptible only to colistin. In almost all cases involving mcr-1 worldwide, the gene is carried on a plasmid, a mobile piece of DNA that easily can transfer the gene to other bacteria. That would result in a kind of super-superbug, invincible to every lifesaving antibiotic available. The CDC on Friday also released new details about the Pennsylvania woman's case, the first reported time the superbug gene had been found in the United States. Investigators said they don't know how she got the superbug. She had no international travel for one year, no exposure to livestock and a "limited role in meal preparation with store-bought groceries," the CDC found. CDC and the Pennsylvania health department investigated her household contacts and the two medical facilities where she had frequent, extensive and prolonged interactions with health-care personnel. No bacteria with the superbug gene were found among 105 people who were screened. In addition, no colistin-resistant organisms were found among more than 50 samples of a serious drug-resistant bacteria collected from the four medical facilities to which she was admitted during 2016. Although the investigation did not turn up the source of her infection, it also revealed that she may not have spread the bacteria widely to other people. "These findings suggest that the risk for transmission from a colonized patient to otherwise healthy persons, including persons with substantial exposure to the patient, might be relatively low," the CDC report said. Read more: Scientists find new antibiotic in human nose Major global partnership to speed antibiotic development launched Behind the scenes of a superbug discovery that made headlines around the world 1 in 3 antibiotics prescribed in U.S. are unnecessary


Where to dine around Del Ray, morning, noon and night

to share. The gooey Mac ‘n Cheesetique is nothing to sneeze at, either. 2411 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Del Ray Pizzeria 2218 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Night A glass of wine and Sriracha tater tots at Emma's Espresso and Wine Bar. (Becky Krystal/The Washington Post) Especially charming because of its location in a converted house, Emma’s Espresso and Wine Bar is the kind of place where you could plop down with a coffee and laptop during the day, but that also makes for a great first stop on an evening out. Swing by around happy hour for a glass of wine and the sweet potato Sriracha tater tots. 106 Hume Ave., Alexandria. Fried green tomatoes at Live Oak. (Becky Krystal/The Washington Post) At Live Oak, chef Justus Frank serves up a variety of upgraded Southern staples: boiled peanuts with smoked olive oil and preserved lemon; fried green tomatoes in an artful stack of crispy fruit, creamy grits and edible flowers; and Buffalo pork cheeks as an innovative twist on the standard wings. There’s plenty of overlap on the menus in the bar and dining room, but the fare on the former is a little lighter and better suited for sharing. 1603 Commonwealth Ave., Alexandria. Bombay Curry Company reopened on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray after an absence of nearly three years. (John Taylor/The Washington Post) The Del Ray community eagerly welcomed back Bombay Curry Company in 2014 after a nearly three-year absence. Balraj Bhasin’s cozy, quiet Indian restaurant serves warm and comforting curries, biryani and tandoori dishes and kebabs; vegetarians also will find plenty that appeals. Don’t miss the saag gosht, a savory dish with tender chunks of lamb in a spinach curry. 2607 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. The Front Porch, an outdoor seating area at the Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray, will remain open into October, serving drinks, snacks and sandwiches. (John Taylor/The Washington Post) The Neighborhood Restaurant Group has a big footprint in Del Ray with the restaurant Evening Star Cafe; its two bars (the Majestic Lounge downstairs and the No. 9 Lounge upstairs); and Planet Wine, a beer and wine shop. Its imprint grows even larger during the warmer months when Front Porch is open. The outdoor space features a small food menu of snacks and sandwiches, paired with a big list of craft beers, wines and a bourbon slush cocktail. Front Porch will be


A maker of deadly painkillers is bankrolling the opposition to legal marijuana in Arizona

safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children," the company said. "Insys firmly believes in the potential clinical benefits of cannabinoids. Like many in the healthcare community, we hope that patients will have the opportunity to benefit from these potential products once clinical trials demonstrate their safe and effective use." Supporters of marijuana legalization questioned the company's motivation for getting involved in the campaign, noting its financial interest in minimizing competition for Subsys and synthetic marijuana products. "It appears they are trying to kill a non-pharmaceutical market for marijuana in order to line their own pockets," J.P Holyoak of the pro-legalization campaign said in a statement. Tom Angell of the pro-marijuana group Marijuana Majority said the donation blunts opponents' argument that marijuana legalization would put public safety at risk. Studies have shown that marijuana can be effective in treating chronic pain, without the overdose risk or side effects that powerful opioid painkillers, like fentanyl, can bring. Other studies have found that opioid overdose deaths fall in areas with access to medical marijuana. "Accepting this money undermines everything that marijuana prohibitionists say about their desire to protect public health," Angell said in an email. "It's difficult to understand how people who profit from selling a drug like fentanyl can keep a straight face while arguing that marijuana is just too dangerous to legalize." The opposition group Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy made no apologies for accepting the contribution. "We are grateful that Insys Therapeutics – an Arizona-based company – has chosen to join Governor Ducey, the Arizona Association of County School Superintendents, the Arizona Small Business Association, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Arizona Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and several other community organizations in defeating Prop. 205 in November," ARDP campaign manager Adam Deguire said in an emailed statement. Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national group opposed to marijuana legalization, said in an email that there was nothing particularly objectionable about Insys's efforts to oppose recreational marijuana while also working to develop synthetic drugs based on chemicals in the plant. "I don't think Insys should be admonished for working on marijuana-based medications via the FDA process — they're following the rules, and that's a good thing," he said. "Obviously I don't agree with aggressive fentanyl marketing," he added. This isn't the first time the company has been active in marijuana politics. In


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Want to apply for a job with the government? USAJobs overhaul seeks to make it easier.

vacancies, not OPM, decide who gets hired — and emphasizes occupations such as cybersecurity where the government has the greatest hiring needs. Other points of emphasis of the new version — launched on the 20th anniversary of the government’s move from a paper-based hiring process to a digital one — include: - Explanations of policies that may put applicants at an advantage or disadvantage for a particular job depending on their status, such as veterans, current or former federal employees, those with disabilities, those under internship-type programs, spouses of active-duty military personnel, Peace Corps alumni and others. - An updated help center including frequently asked questions and instructions on how to navigate the application process and the site itself. - A section describing myths and misconceptions about federal hiring and employment, such as the view that most federal jobs are in the Washington area (only about 15 percent are) or that if a vacancy stays open for only a short time someone already has a lock on the job (hiring agencies use such limits to keep applications to a manageable number, officials said). - Features designed to assure that applications are complete before they are submitted, reducing the potential for back-and-forth that creates delays. The USAJobs revamp follows the launch in the spring of OPM’s Hiring Excellence Campaign, which among other things seeks to help agencies better describe the skills and background they are seeking in their job vacancy announcements, and to better use the many hiring routes available. A recent Government Accountability Office report said, for example, that the traditional “competitive examination” route into federal jobs is now used to fill less than a quarter of vacancies, and that over 2014, agencies used more than 100 others. It also pointed out that the Hiring Excellence Campaign is only one of “numerous hiring reform initiatives” launched within the last eight years. The latest USAJobs revisions also follow several other site changes over the past year, including making it available on all devices and operating systems, rewriting content to put it in plain language and adding a “my account” feature where visitors can track what they’ve done and check the status of any pending applications. Lack of feedback once an application is filed remains a major frustration for applicants, OPM officials said, adding that they are working to have agencies post updates more frequently but that remains a work in progress.


What Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis means, medically speaking

the pneumonia spectrum. Not all pneumonias, though, are created equally. “The problem is we have one word for a disease that comes in lots of different iterations,” Edelman said. You have probably heard of pneumonia, but may not understand what it actually is. This video explains the science behind the condition. At its most basic, pneumonia simply means that a germ has inflamed the lung’s air sacs. Cold viruses infect the nose and throat; bronchitis concerns the airways; and pneumonias afflict the dark, wet and warm parts of the lung itself. Making matters more complicated, the pathogens chewing into the lung tissue could be any one of a motley crew of bacteria, viruses or fungi. The severity of pneumonia is as broad as its possible culprits. At the far end lies a mild disease. The illness is known colloquially as walking pneumonia, so named because the disease rarely knocks anyone out of commission and into bed. Here is likely where we find Clinton, at least based on what her campaign has revealed so far. The CDC estimates that 2 million people a year fall sick with such milder forms of pneumonia. “Developing walking pneumonia does not mean you have poor health,” Stanford University pulmonologist Mark Nicolls said in an interview with The Post. “Young and healthy people develop walking pneumonia.” It is possible there are even more cases than that CDC estimates, too, as walking pneumonia is difficult to diagnose. Symptoms rarely stray from coughing, fever, fatigue and other average maladies. If Clinton indeed has walking pneumonia, there is a decent chance — odds range between 1 to 50 and 1 to 5 — that the culprit is a bug named Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Among bacteria, M. pneumoniae is an oddity. It is both exceptionally small — one of the smallest organisms on Earth — and unusually vulnerable, as it lacks the cell walls that sheath most other bacteria. As far as is known, it is an exclusive human parasite, unable to reproduce outside warm and wet human organs. M. pneumoniae is spread person to person, through droplets expelled through the respiratory tract. But that is just one possibility. “The bugs that cause pneumonia are common,” Edelman said. “Lots of people carry those bugs in their nose and throat.” (This was about as close as an expert would speculate about the risk factor of shaking sweaty hands by the millions on


Jeff Bezos just unveiled his new rocket. And it’s a monster.

movement, suffered a catastrophic failure, when its Falcon 9 rocket ignited while on a Cape Canaveral launch pad and blew up in a spectacular fireball. The company is grounded while investigators try to determine the cause of the explosion, and that could lead to a delay of a launch of its new massive rocket, the Falcon Heavy. [SpaceX seeks public's help on identifying cause of explosion.] Like the reusable New Shepard, the New Glenn's first stage would also be capable of boosting its payload into space, then flying back to the Earth for a soft landing. Bezos has said that being able to reuse rockets, instead of discarding them after each use as has traditionally been the case, is a key step toward lowering the cost of space travel. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has already landed several orbital-class first stages on land or on ships at sea. In the statement, Bezos wrote that the company's mascot is a tortoise, a symbol from the fable the Tortoise and the Hare. Its motto is "Gradatim Ferociter" – Latin for "step by step, ferociously," he wrote. "We believe 'slow is smooth and smooth is fast.' In the long run, deliberate and methodical wins the day, and you do things quickest by never skipping steps," he wrote. Bezos said the company plans to launch the New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36, which it is refurbishing. The naming for Blue Origin's rockets is a nod for the 60s-era Space Age, a time that Bezos has said has had a profound influence on him. New Shepard was named for Alan Shepard, who became the first American in space in 1961. A year later, NASA astronaut John Glenn pushed the boundary even further when he became the first American in orbit, circling the globe three times. Then in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, which Bezos said would inspire his next venture. While getting to orbit is a key step, he said it won't be the company's last: "Up next on our drawing board: New Armstrong. But that’s a story for the future." Read more: Watch SpaceX's rocket explode in a massive fireball These are the vehicles that will take you to space Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are getting closer to flying tourists to space Jeff Bezos pulls back the curtain on his plans for space


space. And Blue Origin, which also promises to move into the space tourism market, plans to fly a critical test flight of New Shepard, its suborbital rocket, next month. Last week, the industry was jolted when SpaceX, the leader in the so-called New Space movement, suffered a catastrophic failure, when its Falcon 9 rocket ignited while on a Cape Canaveral launch pad and blew up in a spectacular fireball. The company is grounded while investigators try to determine the cause of the explosion, and that could lead to a delay of a launch of its new massive rocket, the Falcon Heavy. [SpaceX seeks public's help on identifying cause of explosion.] Like the reusable New Shepard, the New Glenn's first stage would also be capable of boosting its payload into space, then flying back to the Earth for a soft landing. Bezos has said that being able to reuse rockets, instead of discarding them after each use as has traditionally been the case, is a key step toward lowering the cost of space travel. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has already landed several orbital-class first stages on land or on ships at sea. In the statement, Bezos wrote that the company's mascot is a tortoise, a symbol from the fable the Tortoise and the Hare. Its motto is "Gradatim Ferociter" – Latin for "step by step, ferociously," he wrote. "We believe 'slow is smooth and smooth is fast.' In the long run, deliberate and methodical wins the day, and you do things quickest by never skipping steps," he wrote. Bezos said the company plans to launch the New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36, which it is refurbishing. The naming for Blue Origin's rockets is a nod for the 60s-era Space Age, a time that Bezos has said has had a profound influence on him. New Shepard was named for Alan Shepard, who became the first American in space in 1961. A year later, NASA astronaut John Glenn pushed the boundary even further when he became the first American in orbit, circling the globe three times. Then in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, which Bezos said would inspire his next venture. While getting to orbit is a key step, he said it won't be the company's last: "Up next on our drawing board: New Armstrong. But that’s a story for the future."


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Dear Science: If an animal is lost or injured, why shouldn’t I help it?

should help a single injured bird in your backyard is an animal welfare issue. But conservation is about saving species, not individuals. And although individual animals die from natural causes all the time, extinctions are almost always driven by humans. "The rates of extinction that are occurring are 1,000 times greater in the world than what you would consider to occur by natural processes," Monfort said. Conservationists will sometimes rescue and rehabilitate sick members of endangered species, particularly if their ailment is linked to human presence — Monfort called that "conservation with a little c." But most of the work of protecting threatened populations is about ensuring that they have the right resources and environment to thrive, despite the incursions of poachers, climate change, deforestation and the like. Indeed, aiding animals is sometimes antithetical to the notion of conservation. Things like illness, injury and predation can be brutal to witness — but they are also part of the natural system scientists want to preserve. That's why conservationists rarely intervene in individual cases, even when they involve creatures the scientists are trying to protect. Currently, Monfort is helping with a project to reintroduce the scimitar-horned oryx — a North African antelope that's been extinct in the wild for years — to a nature reserve in Chad. The animals are fitted with radio collars and will be protected from human influence, but "once we reintroduce we more or less let nature take its course," Monfort said. Don Despain, a retired ecologist at Yellowstone National Park, has said that "the resource is wildness" — a quote that the park now features on its website. "The importance of Yellowstone is not in preserving five thousand bison, ten thousand hot springs, or three hundred waterfalls," the park explains. "Rather, the park’s significance is in preserving natural ecological processes." In nature, an injured animal — say, the bird in your back yard with a broken wing — will become food for a predator — perhaps an owl. The remains that the owl doesn't eat will go on to feed microbes that fertilize the soil, which in turn gives rise to new plants, which will feed the insects that become a meal for future birds. This whole system is the "wildness" that Despain speaks of. It's worth thinking about the next time you come across an injured bird. Have a question for Dear Science? Ask it here.


Wheat, one of the world’s most important crops, is being threatened by climate change

A field of wheat in Godewaersvelde France. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images) One of the biggest concerns about climate change is the effect it will have on agriculture. Many studies have suggested that rising temperatures could be harmful to farms around the world, although there’s plenty of uncertainty about how bad things will get and which food supplies we should worry about most. Now, a new study published Monday in Nature Climate Change reiterates concerns that wheat — the most significant single crop in terms of human consumption — might be in big trouble. After comparing multiple studies used to predict the future of global crop production, researchers have found that they all agree on one point: rising temperatures are going to be really bad for wheat production. Scientists use a wide range of techniques to make predictions about the future of the environment, including a variety of models and statistical analyses. Often, though, there’s debate about which technique produces the most accurate results. The authors of the new study, who included dozens of scientists from institutions in China, the U.S., Europe and elsewhere around the world, decided to compare three different methods used to assess the impact of temperature changes on wheat production. These included a type of statistical analysis that relies on historical observations of climate and global wheat yields to make inferences about the future, as well as two different types of model simulations. For the purposes of this comparison, the researchers focused only on the effects of temperature, without incorporating other climate-related factors such as rising carbon dioxide levels or changes in precipitation. S And that could spell big trouble for the global food supply. A new report from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projected that world wheat production for the 2016/17 year would hit 741 million tons, nearly 500 million of which is destined to be used directly for human consumption. While global production of coarse grains, including corn, does outweigh the production of wheat, a significantly smaller proportion of it goes to human consumption worldwide, with the rest being used for animal feed and industrial purposes. According to the FAO, global human consumption of coarse grains comes to about 200 million tons annually. The various studies also produce similar findings on a country level for the world’s largest wheat producers, including the U.S., China, India and France. For instance, all of the study


Canadian official slams marijuana policy on U.S. border as ‘ludicrous’

Harvey isn't the only Canadian to be denied entry on account of past marijuana use. The CBC spoke with an immigration lawyer who said he's represented dozens of Canadians in similar situations. People entering the U.S. from Canada aren't asked about prior marijuana use as a matter of course. But certain circumstances, often at the discretion of individual border agents, can trigger such questioning. In the case of Matthew Harvey, his career in British Columbia's legal medical marijuana industry may have caused him to be flagged for increased scrutiny. In another case, an individual was detained for questioning after border patrol agents found a pouch inscribed with the words "weed money" in his car. The pouch contained neither weed nor money. People who are barred from the U.S. on account of past drug use can still enter the U.S. if they successfully apply for an "advanced permission" permit. The permit costs $585 and must be renewed periodically. Other types of criminal behavior present no barrier to entry. A DUI conviction, for instance, does not on its own prevent a person from entering the U.S., according to Customs and Border Protection. If Canada legalizes marijuana in 2017 it would likely present additional complications. The current law prevents entry for people who admit to having used drugs "illegally," but by the letter it does not ban people from crossing the border if they use drugs legally. This could create a situation where an agent denies entry to a person not because they currently use marijuana legally, but because they used it illegally at some point in the past. "There are certain ironies about the current American position that we will certainly be very vociferous in putting before them," said Public Safety Minister Goodale, "and trying to ensure that Canadians are treated properly and fairly with a lot of common sense, instead of the rather ridiculous situation that's emerged in the last number of days." Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated how many American adults have used marijuana. That number is less than half. Strong winds at the annual Port Huron Float Down sent hundreds of tubing Yanks into Canadian waters. More from Wonkblog: Ohio city shares shocking photos of adults who overdosed with a small child in the car Why medical marijuana patients can’t buy guns A maker of deadly painkillers is bankrolling the opposition to legal marijuana in Arizona


The hidden history of presidential disease, sickness and secrecy

book “The Conquerors.” When a friend told Truman to take a close look at the White House because he would soon be living there, Truman answered, “I’m afraid I am, and it scares the hell out of me.” But the public didn’t know any of this, Beschloss writes. Roosevelt’s opponent, Thomas Dewey, derided “tired old men” in the White House, but Roosevelt sailed to victory that November. He died just months later, in April 1945, leaving Truman to close out World War II. Truman had known nothing of the Manhattan Project and had to make the difficult decision about dropping atomic bombs on Japan. Eisenhower's health problems were initially concealed as well. After he suffered his first heart attack, reporters were told he suffered "a digestive upset during the night," notes John Dickerson in his book "Whistlestop." Kennedy had to take steroids and other drugs to ward off the symptoms of Addison’s disease, but he did so secretly. As the Los Angeles Times reported: “During the 1960 campaign, Kennedy’s opponents said he had Addison’s. His physicians released a cleverly worded statement saying that he did not have Addison’s disease caused by tuberculosis, and the matter was dropped. Kennedy collapsed twice because of the disease: once at the end of a parade during an election campaign and once on a congressional visit to Britain.” Historian Robert Dallek told The Washington Post that public disclosure of Kennedy’s health problems might have kept him from becoming president. But Dallek offers a different perspective about the health challenges facing political leaders. He said lethal cancer should prevent someone from running for president, but other health problems are not disqualifying. “Franklin Roosevelt was a paraplegic and he served there for 12 years. Now, Kennedy had all these health issues, and he did a fine job as president,” Dallek said. “You overcome challenges, disabilities. And that was true with Franklin Roosevelt, and it served FDR brilliantly in the presidency because people in the Depression thought he had recovered from his polio and now he’s the one to lead the country through a recovery, so psychologically it gave him a hold on the public that was really helpful.” Earlier presidents had capitalized on a similar reputation for overcoming physical challenges. Dickerson points to Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," who famously walked around with two bullets lodged in his body from youthful dueling and who regularly bled himself before


Red wolves will still be protected — but more by zoos than in the wild

“a two-year, two-step evaluation of the entire red wolf recovery program” that concluded that the genetic purity of the captive animals would be lost within a decade without implementation of its recommendations, according to a statement by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Under the current management system, “we would lose the captive population,” Dohner said, because with fewer than 30 mating animals “the population is unable to sustain itself.” But conservationist groups disagreed. Ron Sutherland of the Wildlands Network said Fish and Wildlife was in effect abandoning its plan to bring wild wolves back to their native habitat in the southeastern United States. Sutherland said North Carolina bullied Fish and Wildlife into folding its effort into one county. Landowners opposed to red wolf introduction turned state officials against the effort, he said, and in turn, those officials, who were once federal partners, allowed hunters to kill red wolves with impunity. Red wolves, a canid relative of western gray wolves, were in danger of going extinct before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service embarked on an experiment to revive them on federal land in the late 1980s. The population grew to about 150 animals before experiencing a rapid decline over the past decade from breeding mortality and car collisions, and accidents involving hunters who said they mistook the wolves for coyotes. Two captive red wolves, male and female, behind Pocosin Lakes National Wild Refuge Red Wolf Education and Health Care Facility on Hwy 94. (Hyunsoo Leo Kim/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) In the past five years, Fish and Wildlife officials frequently found dead red wolves, led to the carcasses by pinging tracking collars. The agency can account for fewer than 30 wild wolves with collars, and have estimated that there are about 15 more whose whereabouts they can’t account for. Landowners and farmers in North Carolina have complained that the wolves are a nuisance, but few have proven that animals have killed livestock. Red wolves, like their relatives, prefer deer, which farmers also consider a nuisance. Sutherland said Fish and Wildlife declined to work with North Carolina officials to strengthen penalties for shooting wolves, failed to engage landowners for a workable solution and turn to conservation groups to raise money to buy land that could be transformed into sanctuaries for wolves. “They’re shifting their entire emphasis from trying to create a self-sustaining population to growing the zoo population by up to 400


just gonna keep creating stubs until i see them

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like that movie or something This is a developing story. It will be updated.


create a stub, how long could it possibly take to get thru or what is happening

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let’s let this one sit a while

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creating a stub to view from datadog

we should have some stats This is a developing story. It will be updated.


Kyle Snyder wants to compete in the UFC — and wrestle at the 2020 Olympics

Kyle Snyder celebrates after winning gold in the the men’s freestyle 97kg gold medal match at the Rio Games. (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) It doesn’t make much sense to doubt Kyle Snyder. In August, the 20-year-old Maryland native and Good Counsel product became the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal, this after becoming the youngest to win a world championship last year. So if Snyder says he wants to defend his heavyweight crown at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo — while simultaneously pursuing a title belt in the UFC — who’s to question it? That’s exactly the dual goal Snyder expressed Monday, via a Fox Sports report. “I want to pursue my wrestling career, wrestle in World Championships and the Olympic games, but if the scheduling could work out and I can become an elite fighter, then I want to fight in the UFC as well,” he said. Snyder attended Saturday’s UFC 203 event in Cleveland, and he came away impressed. “They put on a great show, it’s really exciting,” he said. “I think it’s something that I could excel in. I haven’t done much boxing or jiu-jitsu or striking or stuff like that but I think that I could pick it up pretty quickly. The crowd and the way they made the whole thing a big show was just exciting for me.” I want to fight @ufc “I want to fight. Basically what that tweet means,” Snyder told Fox Sports. “I love wrestling, I really do. I would want to continue wrestling but I want to do both at the same time.” Snyder is currently an amateur, wrestling for Ohio State as well as for his country. He faces the same problem that many elite athletes in combat sports do — how to turn their championship-level skills into financial gains. Increasingly, those athletes are turning to mixed martial arts, the popularity of which is exploding. The UFC, MMA’s reigning giant, has made a superstar out of Ronda Rousey, who won a judo bronze medal in 2008, and it offers a tempting career path. Snyder isn’t about to rush into anything though, saying that he could see competing in the Octagon “within the next couple of years when I get my grounds in this sport.” A proud and diligent competitor, he wants to make sure his MMA skills are up to his standards before taking on an opponent.


The Daily 202: Clinton hindered by enthusiasm gap in Pennsylvania

at the Rio Olympics – all besting the times of U.S. gold-medal winner Matthew Centrowitz. The class in which they competed is among those for the visually impaired, Des Bieler reports, and none of the athletes had access to blades or any other devices to help them compete. - The U.S. Naval Academy announced it will update its instructor screening process after allowing the employment of a Marine Corps officer investigating for an improper sexual relationship with a female midshipman. (John Woodrow Cox) - Prince George’s County prosecutors dropped the bad-check charge against Walter E. Fauntroy, putting an end to a years-long legal mess that prompted the 83-year-old (D.C.'s former delegate to Congress) to flee the country. The onetime civil rights leader paid back his $20,000 debt last week. (Lynh Bui) - Former California Assemblyman Tom Calderon was sentenced to a year in federal custody for laundering bribes taken by his brother, a former state senator. He will be sentenced next week. (LA Times) - The Canadian federal judge who found himself in hot water for asking a rape victim during a trial why she couldn't keep her knees together said he now regrets those comments. (Kristine Guerra) -- PowerPost's second installment of its Women in Power series just posted this morning with an inside look at how women have operated inside the traditionally male-dominated West Wing. Our White House bureau chief, Juliet Eilperin, reveals a practice known as "AMPLIFICATION," which female staffers used during President Obama's first term to get heard: -- More stories from the series that just posted: - Matt Zapotosky interviews Attorney General Loretta Lynch about how race and gender have affected her career. - Elise Viebeck tells us how fundraising is critical to the success of female lawmakers. She also interviews Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) about how male politicians are more emotional than women. - Kelsey Snell reports on how hard it is -- still -- to recruit women to run for federal office. She also interviews longtime Ways and Means staff director Janice Mays about her four decades on the Hill. - Ben Terris talks to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) about what its like to be the youngest woman in the House. - Elise gets some words of wisdom from GOP operative Juleanna Glover about how conservative women can be #NeverTrump. Hillary waves after leaving Chelsea's apartment in New York on Sunday. (AP/Andrew Harnik)


Trees know when deer are eating them — and how to fight back

Two of the study co-authors, Carolin Seele and Stefan Meldau, collect buds for the subsequent analysis of plant hormones and tannins. (Bettina Ohse) Picture the woods in early spring — the misty, pale green appearance of trees just starting to sprout, the young deer munching their way across the sun-dappled forest floor. But behind that placid exterior, a battle of wits is raging. And despite not having a brain or any central nervous system to speak of, the trees are pretty wily. In a study published in the most recent edition of the journal Functional Ecology, scientists in Leipzig, Germany describe the brilliant way that wild maple and beech trees figure out when roe deer are eating them — and enact a strategy to make sure the critters don't return for another snack. The stakes are high for young trees. If they can head off the threat from deer early, the saplings have a chance of catching up with their unbitten peers and making it to adulthood. But too much nibbling will make the trees stunted, or condemn them to death. So the plants have evolved a complex set of responses specifically to deal with herbivore threats. Whenever a branch is snipped — by a deer, insect or human — trees released "wound hormones" called jasmonates. These chemicals help with the recovery process. They also play a role in interplant communication; when one plant releases jasmonates, their neighbors start to ramp up their defenses against disease and insect attacks as well. It's like a forest-wide alarm system. But the trees studied in Leipzig seemed able to recognize specific threats, and tailor their response accordingly. When a roe deer was eating their branches, the trees released a second set of chemicals: first the hormone salicylic acid, then bitter chemicals called tannins. The salicylic acid boosts protein production, allowing the trees to regrow what was lost, and the tannins make the trees distasteful to deer, which prevents further snacking. "On the other hand, if a leaf or a bud snaps off without a roe deer being involved, the tree stimulates neither its production of the salicylic acid signal hormone nor the tannic substances. Instead, it predominantly produces wound hormones," Bettina Ohse, lead author of the study, explained in a statement. To test whether this was truly a tailored response to a roe deer threat, the scientists in Leipzig attempted do some outsmarting


making another stub to consume

kdnadngjk This is a developing story. It will be updated.


Investigation into rocket explosion just underway; SpaceX vows to return to flight in November

Image from video shows explosion at the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sept. 1. (U.S. Launch Report via Reuters) The investigation has only just begun into the explosion of SpaceX's rocket, which aerospace firm founder Elon Musk called "the most difficult and complex failure" for the company, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Tuesday that the company would return to flight by November. Analysts said this would be an exceedingly fast time frame, however. "We're anticipating getting back to flight, being down for about three months ... in November, the November time frame," Shotwell said at a conference in Paris. The explosion occurred earlier this month as a Falcon 9 rocket was being fueled for an engine test fire. It damaged the launchpad that SpaceX uses at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. But SpaceX leases another one nearby at NASA's Kennedy Space Center that it has been rehabbing. SpaceX also has a launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SpaceX is leading the investigation into the cause of the blast with help from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Air Force and NASA. The company lost another rocket last year, and it took the company six months to fly again. Typically, it takes six to nine months for companies to recover after a failure, depending on the particular circumstances, said Phil Smith, a senior space analyst at the Tauri Group, a consulting firm. But returning to flight after just three months is "surprising because that's actually very quick," Smith said. Last week, the company was asking the public to turn over video or audio of the explosion that might help investigators determine what went wrong, he said. The short timeline "would imply that they must know something about the nature of the incident, that maybe it isn't the vehicle — that it was a procedural problem," Smith said. The explosion has also pushed back the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy, the more powerful rocket the company had planned to fly in November. That flight is now scheduled for early 2017, according to a person familiar with SpaceX's plans. Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance, one of SpaceX's competitors, announced Tuesday a service that would allow customers an expedited schedule to get their payloads into orbit. "The priorities of all of our customers include ensuring their spacecraft launches on schedule, securing the