Donald Trump calls global warming a hoax, until it threatens his golf course

Businessman Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at the party’s convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump has mixed feelings about climate change. In January 2014, he publicly wondered how the United States could be spending money to combat what, in his words, was a “GLOBAL WARMING HOAX.” In October, when Trump was bitten by the autumnal chill, the Republican presidential candidate snarked on Twitter that he could use “a big fat dose of global warming.” He told The Washington Post editorial board in March that he is “not a great believer in man-made climate change.” But when it came to protecting his own investments from global warming’s effects, Trump canned the screaming capital letters and jokes. Instead, Trump wants to curtail climate change with a wall. The Trump International Golf Links Ireland, a golf course by the sea in Ireland’s County Clare, faces the Atlantic’s pounding waves and coastal erosion. As Politico reported Monday, the Trump Organization has submitted a permit to build a sea wall, which cites rising sea levels from climate change as a threat. Not just any wall will do — one plan called for a limestone barricade 20 meters wide, what Friends of the Irish Environment’s Tony Lowes described to CNBC as a “monster sea wall” in March. As part of the approval process to build the sea wall, Trump International Golf Links filed an environmental-impact statement. It includes specific concern for erosion, beyond one governmental study that did not take into account sea-level rise from climate change, according to Politico. “If the predictions of an increase in sea level rise as a result of global warming prove correct, however, it is likely that there will be a corresponding increase in coastal erosion rates not just in Doughmore Bay but around much of the coastline of Ireland,” the application notes. “In our view, it could reasonably be expected that the rate of sea level rise might become twice of that presently occurring.” Environmentalists pounced on the apparent self-contradiction. Former congressman Bob Inglis, a Republican from South Carolina who supports conservative efforts to mitigate global warming, told Politico that the dissonance between Trump’s public stance and his business practice is “diabolical.” “Donald Trump clearly cares more about the fate of his golf courses than the health of the millions of families already affected by the climate crisis,” said Adam Beitman of the Sierra Club to the Associated


There’s much less gender bias in politics than you think. Here’s why.

wrong. There’s another factor that keeps women out of politics — and it’s far more overwhelming than gender bias. We’ll explain below. Voters and the news media treat female and male candidates very similarly In our new book “Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era,” we show that the vast majority of women who run for office are treated — by the media and voters — no differently than men. Women are under-represented not because of what happens on the campaign trail, but because they are much less likely to run in the first place. And misperceptions about bias against female candidates are one reason why. Our book focuses on U.S. House elections, campaigns that look similar in many ways to the kind of down-ballot elections where the vast majority of women (and men) run. During the 2010 and 2014 midterms, we collected data on candidate communications, media coverage, and voter attitudes in every congressional district in the country. Along with interviews with more than 70 journalists and campaign managers, we were able to paint a comprehensive picture of the landscape faced by female candidates when they run. Our findings are strikingly consistent. Male and female candidates run virtually identical campaigns. Candidate sex has almost no influence on the volume or content of campaign communications. Women and men run the same number of television ads, send out the same number of tweets, and emphasize the same issues and traits in their advertising and social media messages. Men and women receive the same kind of media coverage. We collected, read and coded more than 10,000 local newspaper stories over two election cycles, and could find only the smallest differences in the way male and female candidates were covered. Oh, we tried. We examined whether reporters were more likely to mention women’s appearance or gender roles than men’s. Nope. Were the media more likely to associate female candidates with “women’s” issues, such as child care or pay equity? Nope. We checked whether news stories were more likely to report on women’s “feminine” traits, such as empathy and integrity. No gender differences there. And the media were just as likely to describe women and men as strong, competent leaders, and to cover women’s positions on “masculine” issues, such as national security and crime. We found no evidence whatsoever that voters are biased against female candidates. In our


What HBO needs to do when ‘Game of Thrones’ is over

options than at any previous point in history. But shows like “Deadwood,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City” worked because they didn’t stop every five minutes to tell you that you’re watching something really important. HBO, in its desperation for prestige, risks turning its products into vegetables. By contrast, one of the more pleasurable big dramas to premiere this year, at least for me, has been Showtime’s “Billions.” The series, which stars Damian Lewis as a hedge-fund billionaire with working-class roots, Paul Giamatti as the old-money prosecutor desperate to bring him down and Maggie Siff as the in-house shrink at the hedge fund who is married to the prosecutor, obviously is about big issues. But it was also just a fun show to watch, full of gorgeous pools in the Hamptons, organic farms attached to Michelin-star restaurants and crazy plots involving hedge fund guys with secret families. HBO could stand to wear its big ideas more lightly. 2. Be less afraid of straightforward sitcoms Now, HBO does have some very strong and more straightforwardly funny comedies: I adore “Silicon Valley,” and I’ve enjoyed “Veep” a ton over the years. But both of these shows are vicious satires. And while I wouldn’t want them to be anything else, there’s a difference between flaying an industry or a town and more conventional sitcoms, where we identify with the characters rather than cringing in sympathy with them or horror at them. Cable may find the latter sort of show insufficiently edgy. But while the premium networks have walked away from the format, series such as “The Carmichael Show,” “black-ish” and “Fresh Off the Boat” have proved that there’s plenty to say within the constraints of a family comedy. Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Divorce” may prove to be a step in this direction. But I’d feel more attached to HBO if it took a few more of them. 3. Break with the white-dude brand 4. Develop a mini- or limited-series program HBO would be smart to develop a similar magnet for actors and audiences. And it already has a potential template in its movies about political history, from more recent political stories like “Recount” and “Game Change” about the 2000 and 2008 elections, to “Confirmation,” Rick Famuyiwa’s account of Anita Hill’s testimony about Clarence Thomas, and most recently, “All the Way,” a film about Lyndon Baines Johnson in the


Surprising ancient beer recipe revealed by Chinese pottery shards

down to chemistry. Reactions, a series from the American Chemical Society, takes a look at craft beer chemistry. At the dig site, they report, they found the sort of grain husks one would expect to see scattered around an ancient brewery. Microscopic analysis of the residual gunk inside the vessels revealed starch grains that had been mangled as they would be during malting and mashing. They also found what they believe to be ancient stoves used to heat mashed grains — important in the process of transforming the carbs into boozy sugar. The would-be brewery's underground location would also have been ideal, as it would have allowed beer makers to keep their product cool. With that evidence, Wang and her team think they've found the oldest known beer brewery in China. Archaeologists have found evidence of rice fermentation dating to about 9,000 years ago (which may actually be the first evidence of humankind's tendency to tipple), but barley beer, which showed up in the Middle East about 5,400 years ago, was thought to be a more recent addition to Chinese culture. A funneled vessel used for beer making in China. (Jiajing Wang) In fact, the researchers say, the presence of barley at their archaeological site pushes the grain's Chinese history back by about 1,000 years. Their discovery suggests that barley, which contains high levels of a protein that converts carbohydrates into sugar during the fermentation process, was actually brought into China for the purposes of beer brewing, then slowly made a transition into use as a food crop about 3,000 years ago. "It is possible that when barley was introduced from western Eurasia into the Central Plain of China, it came with the knowledge that the grain was a good ingredient for beer brewing," Wang told Live Science. "So it was not only the introduction of a new crop, but also the knowledge associated with the crop." The exotic foreign drink may have helped to foster social interactions and reinforce hierarchies, the researchers wrote in the study. And their dig site indicates that Chinese brewers had already mastered many of the beer making techniques used today. Read More: Here’s the chemistry that makes your beer taste good (or bad) The horrible science of hangovers (and how to stop them) 170-year-old, shipwrecked champagne gets a taste test Wild chimpanzees drink alcoholic palm wine — and get tipsy — just like humans


Main Street Morning: A Massachusetts start-up is building a marijuana Keurig

- This infographic shows what Millennials are like as business owners. - Why the Oracle-Google case will decide the future of software. Entrepreneurs - These garbage entrepreneurs are turning food waste into a business. - The front-man of the B-52s and a small coffee company take on a real monster. - How some hucksters are capitalizing on the Zika scare by flooding the market with “lifesaving” swag. Restaurants - An Italian restaurant is accused of favoring Italian employees. - Cold coffee is booming in the U.S. Sales Marketing - People are McLovin’ this hilarious billboard war between a liquor store and McDonald’s. - Lego products are becoming increasingly violent as toymakers engage in an “arms race” to catch children’s attention in the digital age, a new study says. Finance - A firm that helps governments go digital raises $7 million in funding. - Mastercard “simplifies” fraud prevention for small businesses. Start-ups - This start-up is changing farming with drones and AI. - A new start-up is bringing collaboration to virtual reality. - These countries will pay you to move your start-up there. Technology - This helmet fits all the funny-shaped heads out there. - Apple’s suppliers are gearing up to bring new screens to the 2017 iPhone. - This company can let your customers pay their bills just by taking a photo. - How this connected toy is appealing to both consumers and investors. - The Motorola Razr might be about to make a comeback. Online - 62 percent of consumers think local businesses need a better online presence, according to a survey. Social Media - A laughing mom in a Chewbacca mask shatters a Facebook video record. - Snapchat video views are up – again. - How these five start-ups used Snapchat to boost their brand. Ideas and Opportunities - A report predicts that the industrial RFID market will grow at 19 percent through 2020. - A weed Keurig is on the horizon. - America has over a billion pounds of extra cheese. On This Day in 2000 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved permanent normal trade relations with China. Around the Country - Lyft slashes its weekday rides in New York city by half. - Two leading Alabama business owners are being recognized as American’s Retail Champions. - Businesses in the Old Town area of Albuquerque, New Mexico are being continually targeted by petty vandals. Around the


- Cold coffee is booming in the U.S. Sales Marketing - People are McLovin’ this hilarious billboard war between a liquor store and McDonald’s. - Lego products are becoming increasingly violent as toymakers engage in an “arms race” to catch children’s attention in the digital age, a new study says. Finance - A firm that helps governments go digital raises $7 million in funding. - Mastercard “simplifies” fraud prevention for small businesses. Start-ups - This start-up is changing farming with drones and AI. - A new start-up is bringing collaboration to virtual reality. - These countries will pay you to move your start-up there. Technology - This helmet fits all the funny-shaped heads out there. - Apple’s suppliers are gearing up to bring new screens to the 2017 iPhone. - This company can let your customers pay their bills just by taking a photo. - How this connected toy is appealing to both consumers and investors. - The Motorola Razr might be about to make a comeback. Online - 62 percent of consumers think local businesses need a better online presence, according to a survey. Social Media - A laughing mom in a Chewbacca mask shatters a Facebook video record. - Snapchat video views are up – again. - How these five start-ups used Snapchat to boost their brand. Ideas and Opportunities - A report predicts that the industrial RFID market will grow at 19 percent through 2020. - A weed Keurig is on the horizon. - America has over a billion pounds of extra cheese. On This Day in 2000 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved permanent normal trade relations with China. Around the Country - Lyft slashes its weekday rides in New York city by half. - Two leading Alabama business owners are being recognized as American’s Retail Champions. - Businesses in the Old Town area of Albuquerque, New Mexico are being continually targeted by petty vandals. Around the World - London is finally getting the Night Tube. - Angelina Jolie is hired as a professor at the London School of Economics. - Insect poop threatens to damage the marble at India’s Taj Mahal. - Kuwait establishes its own business council. Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd PA consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. Follow Gene Marks and On Small Business on Twitter. News we should know about? Email us here.


What’s driving Silicon Valley to become ‘radicalized’

Worker — a start-up funded six months ago by the prominent incubator Y-Combinator — provides contract cybersecurity experts to early-stage start-ups, which often operate on a shoestring budget. Stealth Worker chief executive Ken Baylor said that in the past month he had been approached by a half-dozen companies looking for ways to build tougher encryption and other secure technical architectures. But many don’t want to talk about it, he said. “They are afraid of a phone call from someone high up saying that they are unpatriotic,” Baylor said. Bracket Computing, a 70-person Silicon Valley start-up, embarked on an encryption project about a month ago intended to make it easier for customers to hold the keys to their own data. That way, “I can’t get subpoenaed the way Apple did,” Bracket chief executive Tom Gillis said. “This clears up the whole issue: If you have an issue with my customer, go talk to my customer, don’t talk to me. I’m just a tech guy, and I don’t want to be in the middle of these things.” Gillis said that initially, customers seeking the ability to hold the keys to their data were large, sophisticated financial services companies, such as Goldman Sachs and Blackstone. Today, a broader array of companies, including media and automotive firms and small banks, are making these requests. Advances in Intel’s chips, he said, have made it possible to build these complex systems 13 times as fast as in 2010. Building systems that cut off a company’s access to customer data is time- and resource-intensive, and these systems don’t come without risks. Envoy CEO Gadea, an engineering prodigy who was hired by Google when he was just 18, estimates that his company’s data-wiping project will take a few months and about three engineers working full time. Currently, when a visitor enters a building with an Envoy registration system, a message is sent alerting the appropriate employee that they have a guest. Envoy can send such messages — by text, email or other messaging services — because the customer data is stored on its servers, which are hosted remotely by Amazon Web Services, the cloud division of Amazon. The information is encrypted, but Envoy holds the keys to unscramble it. (Amazon CEO Bezos owns The Washington Post). Employees of Envoy in their San Francisco office. (Nick Otto for The Washington Post) Under the new protocol, the engineering team will


How U.S. officials plan to protect Olympic athletes from Zika

expressed unease about being exposed to the Zika virus in Brazil, few – at least publicly — have gone as far as withdrawing from the Games for that reason. Australia’s Marc Leishman and Fiji’s Vijay Singh – both of whom were likely to make it to Rio in golf, which is being contested as a medal sport this year for the first time since 1904 – announced this spring they would skip Rio because of Zika. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the world’s third-ranked golfer, said recently that he is “monitoring” the spread of the virus. He acknowledged there is a chance he could skip the Olympics – but is still planning to participate, as of now. Earlier this month, U.S. women’s soccer goalie Hope Solo told CNBC she would “begrudgingly” participate in the Games, but added she probably would not leave her hotel room except for practices and matches. Last week, USA Swimming decided to move its pre-Olympic training camp from Puerto Rico to Atlanta because of Zika concerns. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, has been the hardest-hit place in the United States, with more than 1,100 cases, including 139 pregnant women. Michael Phelps, left, and Ryan Lochte swim in the men's 400-meter individual medley final at the 2012 U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha. Lochte won the race. (Mark Humphrey/AP) A public-health expert writing in the Harvard Public Health Review argued this month that the Games should be canceled or moved, because visitors infected with the Zika virus in Brazil will return home and accelerate the spread of the virus. “Rio is not on the fringes of the outbreak, but inside its heart,” wrote Amir Attaran, a public-health and law professor at the University of Ottawa. He cited Brazilian government data showing 26,000 suspected infections in Rio, the highest of any state in Brazil. And while it is true that the Games will take place during Brazil’s winter, he cited Rio city government data that cases of dengue, a related virus spread by the same mosquitoes, spiked 600 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the previous year. “Dengue is an outstanding proxy for Zika,” he said in an interview. Yes, there will be fewer mosquitoes in winter. “But it’s got to come down from six times the level of last year.” U.S. health officials said the risk posed by the Olympics needs to be placed in


Main Street Morning: Cuba legalizes small- and medium-sized businesses

are affecting pizza chains. - Thanks to a commerce partnership between Softbank and MasterCard, a robot will working as a cashier in select Pizza Hut locations in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the year. Sales Marketing - Why you can’t afford not to market to women. Travel - How to take a vacation as a small business owner. - These are the U.S. airlines most (and least) likely to mishandle your luggage. - The TSA boots its head of security amid a furor over long lines. Finance - Wells Fargo launches its own “wallet” for customers. Start-ups - Indian start-ups are adopting a slower strategy to sustain their business models. - A start-up says it can out secrets by analyzing faces. - How start-ups are taking over the New York real estate market. - More and more financial tech start-ups are competing for the overlooked U.S. immigrant market. Technology - A self-healing wearable technology can extend a device’s lifespan. - These are the top six indispensable small business tools for productivity in 2016. - A legally blind man now sees with a bionic eye. - A craft brewery invents a brilliant edible 6-pack holder that helps sea life. - How collaboration technology makes business supply chains more efficient. Online - Google wants to kill off passwords for logging into the Android smartphone. Social Media - Facebook buys a hot virtual reality start-up. - Twitter will ease its character limit. Ideas and Opportunities - Prince’s death is prompting an uptick in wills. On This Day in 2006 - Enron’s chief executives are found guilty. Around the Country - The gender gap for New York City’s female small business owners is narrowing. - Detroit’s start-up week kicks off for up-and-coming entrepreneurs. - A California town hopes that the pot business can help victims of the drug war. - The University of Chicago plans to create a $50 million entrepreneurship and innovation center. - An ancient Indian remedy for sore throats has become the new hipster drink in the West. Around the World - French investigators raid Google’s Paris HQ over a tax case. - Cuba says it will legalize small and medium-sized private businesses. Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd PA consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. Follow Gene Marks and On Small Business on Twitter. News we should know about? Email us here.


Could black holes be the dark matter everyone has been looking for?

The collision of two black holes -- a tremendously powerful event detected for the first time ever by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO -- is seen in this still image from a computer simulation released Feb. 11. (Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes via Reuters) We're waiting again for LIGO. And waiting. You remember LIGO, right? Cast your mind back to February and the big hoo-hah at the National Press Club at which many of the world's top physicists celebrated the discovery of gravitational waves. Einstein affirmed again. Decades of hard work rewarded. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory — two sprawling detectors, one in Louisiana and one in Washington state — had picked up the faint tremble of a cataclysmic event in deep space. The signal precisely matched what would be expected from the merger of two black holes. The event was so violent that it rippled the fabric of the universe. Cool! But that presser reported only one detection, amid rumors that the LIGO scientists were chewing on other possible detections and would soon tell the world about them. But now it's almost June. Rumors still abound, but where's the next paper? The public demands: Show us the data! (Pretending, here, that we live in a science-obsessed society.) We asked the LIGO folks when we might see more results. "We are still finishing up the analyses of the second set of LIGO data from our first observing run, and [will] be reporting results from those analyses sometime in the near future, hopefully in June," LIGO's David Reitze, of Caltech, told us by email. In the meantime, one maverick theory has entered the conversation. Two different papers have been published recently suggesting that LIGO may have stumbled upon the solution to the enduring mystery of dark matter. Maybe black holes are the dark matter, these papers say. A quick refresher: Dark matter is “dark” because it doesn’t interact at all with electromagnetic radiation. Thus you can't build a telescope to detect it. We infer its existence through its gravitational effects on galaxies and clusters of galaxies. We know it’s there. Indeed it accounts for a lot of the overall composition of the universe. But for many decades, scientists have wondered what might comprise this ghostly matter. The best guess: exotic particles. A black hole, meanwhile, is a collapsed star. The matter gets so compressed that its gravitational field warps space-time itself,


The shocking number of Americans who can’t cover a $400 expense

(iStock) Technically speaking, America’s economic recovery from the Great Recession is in its seventh year, making it one of the longest expansions on record. The unemployment rate is falling, businesses are hiring and there are finally some signs that wages are rising. But for so many households, that progress still feels painfully remote. The Federal Reserve surveyed more than 5,000 people to determine whether their personal situations were improving along with the economy. The results, released Wednesday afternoon, found that though households showed “mild improvement” overall, their perspective depended on their income, race and education. Take this one telling statistic: About 46 percent of Americans said they did not have enough money to cover a $400 emergency expense. Instead, they would have to put it on a credit card and pay it off over time, borrow from friends or family, or simply not cover it at all. Not surprisingly, those with higher incomes were better equipped to handle an emergency. About 81 percent of people making more than $100,000 a year reported they would be able to cover the bill, compared with 34 percent of those earning less than $40,000. At every income level, white consumers were better prepared for a $400 emergency than other racial groups. Eighty-three percent of the wealthiest whites surveyed said they could easily absorb the cost, compared with 63 percent of blacks and 67 percent of Hispanics in the same income group. Among the poorest consumers, 40 percent of whites would be able to cover the expense compared with 20 percent of blacks and 27 percent of Hispanics. Source: Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households 2015 Still, the total percentage of people who would struggle in an emergency expense has improved over the past few years. This is the third time the Fed has conducted this survey, and the number has dropped from 50 percent in 2013 to 46 percent last year. There were also other reasons to be hopeful: The survey found people are 9 percentage points more likely to say that their financial well-being has improved over the past year than to say that it has declined. And the number of people who say they have the skills to get the jobs they want has jumped from 67 percent to 77 percent over two years. But the report also makes clear that many of the country’s most vulnerable households have yet to


Extreme athletes take major risks. Should we pay for them?

wrong, should we pull all the stops to rescue extreme athletes and thrill seekers? Should you and I pay for their shenanigans? Taking an occasional risk is good fun. Few things make one feel more alive than running a marathon for the first time, or trying a double black diamond on the ski slope. With signage, qualification standards and training encouraged, these kinds of risks are normally exciting but safe. Less than one person per 100,000 die while running marathons, and only about 41 people out of 50 million die on the slopes. Then there are those who choose to row an unpowered boat unaided across the Atlantic ocean or skydive into a Siberian lake ice hole. For these people, ordinary risks are not enough, and in seeking their thrills they go outside normal parameters, undertaking extraordinary tasks in exotic, often remote locations. The freedom afforded by taking on this kind of risk is, however, two-sided: While the uncharted terrain of hyper-risk means no one is there to stop you from trying, it also means no one is there to bail you out if things go wrong. For better or worse, the United States tries to let people take risks as long as they do not interfere with others. Want to smoke? Do it outside away from buildings. Want to ride a motorcycle? Get a license — adults can even skip the helmet in 28 states. We don’t like imposing our understanding of the good life on one another, so if fewer total years (or fewer with functional body parts) on a bike is your ideal, ride on! But calculating the cost of risk-taking to others is not that simple. The problem with this tolerance is threefold. First, your lung cancer from smoking and brain injury from a bike wreck tax the health-care system: Close to $170 billion is spent on smoking-related medical services each year, and more than 156 billion is lost in productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke. Injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes cost approximately $12 billion in one recent year, and one study of 105 hospitalized motorcyclists showed that 63 percent of their care was paid for with public funds. Second, few people are capable of accurately weighing the benefits against such unfamiliar risks as inability to breathe unassisted or suffering locked-in syndrome because of a brain injury, so it’s difficult to


A GOP congressman says he used medical marijuana while in office

marijuana to help deal with arthritis pain, and it worked. Two weeks ago, Rohrabacher said, he tried a topical wax-based marijuana treatment. That night, it was "the first time in a year and a half that I had a decent night’s sleep because the arthritis pain was gone," Rohrabacher said. Rohrabacher is one of the leading conservative voices on overhauling marijuana laws in the U.S. Congress. He's the architect of a provision in federal law that prevents the Department of Justice from interfering with state-level medical marijuana operations. But his statement is nonetheless noteworthy because, according to one close observer, it marks the first time in at least several decades that a sitting U.S. congressman has admitted to marijuana use while in office. "This is definitely the first legislator in Congress in at least 30-some-odd years who has acknowledged to using marijuana illegally," the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' executive director, Alan St. Pierre, told Russ Belville of Cannabis Radio yesterday. Medical marijuana is legal in Rohrabacher's home state of California. But it remains illegal for all uses under federal law. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers marijuana to have "no currently accepted medical use" and "a high potential for abuse." Marijuana is placed in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, a designation reserved for the most dangerous drugs, including heroin. But this federal designation is increasingly at odds with medical evidence and scientific consensus. A growing body of research is finding that marijuana can be effective in treating chronic pain and muscle stiffness — the types of things that an arthritis sufferer like Rohrabacher might have to deal with. Patients with these conditions are often prescribed powerful (and deadly) opioid medications. To the extent that marijuana could substitute for those drugs, more access to medical marijuana could literally save lives. The Drug Enforcement Administration is currently considering a motion to move marijuana out of Schedule 1 and into a less restrictive classification, which could remove many barriers that currently stifle marijuana research. Some observers are skeptical, though, given the DEA's previous attempts to block research and the organization's general resistance to changing norms on drug use. Meanwhile, patients are left to navigate the often messy world of medical marijuana research and regulations on their own. It remains to be seen whether Rohrabacher's experience may cause his congressional colleagues to give medical marijuana reform a second look.


That study critiquing NASA’s ‘bad science’ on asteroids is pretty bad science

statement from NASA claims that Myhrvold has made such profound calculation errors that he's produced notably incorrect size estimates for asteroids that have already been verified using other methods. "For every mistake I found in his paper, if I got a bounty, I would be rich," Ned Wright, the principal investigator for WISE at the University of California, told Science Magazine. "If they really digest it all and say it’s not strong, I’m all ears for how I can make it stronger, but my guess is that’s just dismissive," Myhrvold told The Post. Myhrvold sees the field of astrophysics as dangerously closed off to the outside world. He claims that some of "the most senior people who work on asteroids" have privately told him that they can't replicate the results he's criticizing, but that no one wants to upset the status quo. "The fact that I'm independent and outside the establishment makes it easier for me to challenge these things," he said. Amy Mainzer "There's a very nice paper that does a very nice job of comparing these size estimates," Mainzer told The Post. "Everyone is doing their own computing and the diameters match." Not to mention the fact that her work has been peer reviewed, unlike Myhrvold's. Experts checked her work for obvious errors, and he can't say the same. "Science is a human process, and it’s true that human beings are reviewing these results, but peer review is a scientist’s best friend," she said. "It has its lumps and bumps, but science is interactive and peer review is what makes it strong. It’s the foundation of science." Myhrvold has submitted his paper for consideration in the journal Icarus, but it has not yet been accepted. He stands by his decision to put it online — and sit down with the New York Times — before getting this stamp of approval from the scientific community. "Some of the things I’ve heard from third parties are, 'wow, we’ll see if it makes it through peer review,' which makes me think they’ll ambush it in peer review," Myhrvold said. He added that he tried to get WISE scientists to comment on his work for months, but that they'd refused to respond until he made his work public. Mainzer disputes this, saying she has offered corrections to the paper that Myhrvold has ignored, including an issue that he sees as a possible


Here’s Uber’s plan for getting you around during Metro’s SafeTrack program

Uber is expanding UberPool coverage to include the entire D.C. region and suburbs, making its lower cost ride-sharing service available to more passengers ahead of Metro's maintenance overhaul. But surge pricing will still affect riders during the 18-month SafeTrack program. Ride-hailing giant Uber will expand the coverage area of its ride-splitting service, UberPOOL, and create incentives to put more drivers on the roads ahead of SafeTrack, Metro’s massive maintenance overhaul that is expected to disrupt commutes across the region. But surge pricing, the scourge of many late-night and rush-hour users, will remain in place. Uber expanded its pool service coverage area this week to include the entire region — D.C., Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and additional Virginia suburbs — in hopes of encouraging carpooling during the overhaul. Previously, the pool service only covered the District and Arlington, Alexandria, and Reagan National and Dulles International airports. The move to expand pool coverage is similar to Uber’s response to the March 16 Metro shutdown, when the company saw a record number of drivers on the road and record usage of its ride-splitting option. But unlike the shutdown, when surge-pricing was capped at 3.9 times the normal fare, Uber says it currently has no plans to impose a limit on the price multiplier during the year-long overhaul. “We find that surge pricing is a really helpful tool in ensuring reliability,” Uber East Coast general manager Meghan Joyce told reporters outside the company’s D.C. headquarters Wednesday. “It means that those times when many of us would rather be at home in bed like a rainy Saturday night at 2 a.m., the drivers have incentive to get out on a road when they need it and the riders can get a ride when they need it as well.” That lack of a surge cap is significant because many expect Uber to fill the void for bar patrons and nightlife crowds with the end of late-night Metro service. When demand spikes and the supply of drivers is limited, the company cranks up fares in hopes of encouraging more to hit the roads. Some have wondered if Uber has enough drivers to meet the increased demand. The company says it will invest $10 million to incentivize driving and ease congestion — including location-based bonuses for drivers targeting surge areas and discounts for riders in areas affected by shutdowns and single-tracking. Uber will also launch a website


Why Sweetgreen removed two of the country’s most popular foods from its menu

You're not going to find Sriracha or bacon at the Sweetgreen in Bethesda, or any of the chain's more than 40 other locations. (Jeffrey MacMillan) Ah, Sweetgreen. This little situation you're in? This is what happens when good intentions meet the Internet. Oh, yeah, and Sriracha. And bacon. On Tuesday, the salad chain, founded in Washington and on its way to nationwide domination, dared to announce that it had eliminated these two foods with a cult (or not so cult) following from its menu. "We view our menu through this lens of constant evolution and improvement," said Nicolas Jammet, who opened Sweetgreen in 2007 with Nathaniel Ru and Jonathan Neman when all three were freshly minted Georgetown University graduates. Dubbing the changes "Healthy 2.0," which accompany a new summer menu, the chain zeroed in on Sriracha as part of an effort to root out hidden sugars in its offerings, including beverages. For the record, the ubiquitous Huy Fong Sriracha has 1 gram of sugar per 5-gram teaspoon, a bit less than ketchup. (Sweetgreen is also in the midst of promoting its Make America Healthy Again campaign, the name of which has prompted more Internet grumbling.) "Sriracha is delicious, and we love it," Jammet said. The sauce was used in Sweetgreen's signature Spicy Sabzi bowl and available for customers to add to their dishes, too. A new source of heat: spicy chili flakes. The Sriracha was also not something Sweetgreen was making in-house, another strike against it. Bacon -- "something we've served since day one," Jammet said -- is similarly a not-from-scratch item (with a much-debated health track record), not to mention an offering that required additional time and resources to cook. Not everyone loves the smell of bacon, Jammet pointed out. With bacon gone, other proteins, or, rather, "proteins" in the fast-casual-centerpiece sense of the word, are in: roasted steelhead (trout) and a warm portobello mix. "We know that change in general can be uncomfortable for some guests that come a lot," Jammet said. The chain floated a trial balloon of the menu changes at its Dupont Circle location, which houses the chain's test kitchen. "Customers didn't seem to mind or notice" the alterations, Jammet said, or if they did, they were mostly understanding once the rationale was explained. The Internet, at least some of it, had other feelings. @sweetgreen in your bid to make America healthy again by cutting


Elon Musk’s quest to make rocket landings routine continues today

SpaceX landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a droneship April 8, 2016 in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. (Photo courtesy of SpaceX) UPDATE: SpaceX has postponed the launch until Friday. In a tweet, Elon Musk said there was a glitch within the rocket's upper stage. The company said the rocket and space craft "remain healthy." @SpaceX There was a tiny glitch in the motion of an upper stage engine actuator. Probably not a flight risk, but still worth investigating. Looks like a beautiful day for a launch. Sunny, 80 degrees, a slight breeze moving the stratocumulous clouds around just a bit off Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The Air Force says there’s a 90 percent chance for “go” for SpaceX’s launch of a commercial satellite at 5:40 p.m. Thursday. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is attempting to deliver a commercial communications satellite to orbit. As part of the mission, it will attempt, once again, to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a platform a couple hundred miles off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean. But because the destination for the satellite is a very high orbit, “the first-stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing challenging,” the company said in a statement. Still, SpaceX stuck the landing the last time under similar conditions. And now in its quest to launch and recover rockets so that they may be used again, SpaceX is acquiring quite a collection of previously used booster stages: Two that landed on platforms at sea, and one that landed on a pad the company has built on the Cape. Three leaders in commercial space flight, Elon Musk of SpaceX, Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin, and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, discuss the path to making commercial spaceflight a reality. Reusing rockets, instead of ditching them in the ocean as had been the norm since the Apollo era, is a key to lower the cost of space travel and making it more accessible to the masses, Musk has said. Meantime, the company continues to practice. And you get to watch the livestream. “We’ll be successful, ironically, when it becomes boring. When it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, another landing. No news there,’” Musk said after the first sea landing in April. In the meantime, the company's hangar is filling up with used boosters. Three's company https://t.co/nRfFmTpzZw


The real reason America controls its nukes with ancient floppy disks

A 1970s-era 8-inch floppy disk lies underneath a ZX Microdrive from the 1980s and an SDHC card from the 21st century. (David Smith / Flickr) America’s nuclear arsenal depends on a surprising relic of the 1970s that few of us may recall: the humble floppy disk. It’s hard to believe these magnetic, 8-inch data storage devices are what’s propping up the most fearsome weapons humanity has ever created. But the Department of Defense is still relying on this technology to coordinate key strategic forces such as nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to a new government report. The floppy disks help run what’s known as the Strategic Automated Command and Control System, an important communications network that the Pentagon uses to issue launch orders to commanders and to share intelligence. And in order to use the floppy disks, the military must also maintain a collection of IBM Series/1 computers that to most people would look more at home in a museum than in a missile silo. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the military’s reliance on seemingly archaic tech: back in 2014, U.S. nuclear warriors showed CBS’s “60 Minutes” one of the top-secret floppy disks that helps it store and transmit sensitive information across dozens of communications sites. So to hear from the Government Accountability Office that the Pentagon has still not phased out the technology — and doesn’t plan to until the end of fiscal year 2017 — is remarkable. Still, there is a major reason — other than simply being behind the times — for the military's continued use of floppies: Sometimes, it says, low-tech is safer tech. That may come as a surprise at a time when digital technologies have almost completely superseded analog ones — heck, some companies literally give away USB flash drives these days because they’re so cheap. It highlights the yawning gulf between consumers and government. In an opening interview to kick off SXSW in Austin, Texas, President Obama lists 3 points to explain why he's at the event. President Obama has highlighted that as a problem he wants to solve. The White House has pushed strongly to use technology more widely in government. From opening up stores of public data to creating a whole website for Internet petitions, President Obama has tried to make government more tech-savvy. And yet it’s still not enough. Speaking at the South By


Southwest Interactive festival in Austin earlier this year — marking another first for the White House — Obama’s pitch to geeks and coders was simple: Join us. “The reason I'm here is really to recruit all of you,” he said. Data from Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology show how difficult it is for government to attract top tech talent. In 2015, only 1.1 percent of MIT graduates took jobs in government. Of that year’s graduates at Carnegie Mellon, only a handful took jobs at government agencies — and all of those were abroad, in places such as Singapore and South Korea. Colleges and universities are also coming up short in terms of training America’s next generation of digital warfighters. Information security training is not required at any of the nation’s top-10 computer science programs. The sluggish talent pipeline doesn’t make the Pentagon’s task of tripling the U.S. Cyber Command’s workforce any easier, either. The military’s investments in cybersecurity illustrate how some parts of the Department of Defense have made deep commitments to technology, even as other parts, such as America’s nuclear forces, have lagged behind. The U.S. Navy and Air Force are both highly interested in autonomous drones. Unmanned vehicles have the potential to lurk quietly underwater and survey the enemy, or to supplement human pilots in the air. But high-profile examples have also arisen showing how the military can regard technology too optimistically, revealing some of the risks of embracing it. For example, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was envisioned as a flexible, all-purpose craft that could suitably serve every branch of the U.S. military. Instead, it’s become a costly, time-consuming experiment that — according to multiple reports over the years — doesn’t even work. Its parts wear out before they’re supposed to. It can’t defeat older planes in dogfights. It’s vulnerable to hacking. And that’s before the fighter has ever encountered any real enemies. There are parallels here to fiction, which can be just as instructive. In the 2004 hit TV series “Battlestar Galactica,” humanity comes under assault from robots that it created. Much of the human space fleet is taken by surprise, crippled by a robot-built computer virus that spreads from ship to ship thanks to the sophisticated networks linking the crafts together. The Galactica, an obsolete warship due to be mothballed, is one of the few to survive the initial surprise attack.


The best beer events to check out during Savor week

It's Taco Tuesday, and there are two beer-and-taco pairings taking place in Adams Morgan. At Jack Rose, Minnesota's acclaimed Surly is bringing 10 rare and barrel-aged beers, while Pennsylvania's Victory will also have 10 on draft. The rooftop grill menu includes tacos inspired by both states. 2007 18th St. NW. jackrosediningsaloon.com. At Smoke and Barrel, you'll get three tacos and a side for $8, paired with beers from Michigan's Founders, including Kentucky Breakfast Stout, aged versions of Backwoods Bastard and PC Pils, which is only served at Founders' Michigan brewery. 2471 18th St. NW. smokeandbarreldc.com. Wednesday, June 1 Thursday, June 2 Tomme Arthur is an elder statesman in the brewing world, winner of numerous gold medals in national and international competitions for his Belgian-style beers at Lost Abbey and Pizza Port in San Diego County. Arthur is in town for Savor and will host a tasting of 20 beers from those breweries and others, including a new project called the Hop Concept, at the Sovereign. Doors open at 6 p.m. 1206 Wisconsin Ave. NW. thesovereigndc.com. Aging beer in wood is trendy, but it also can be complicated. At Pizzeria Paradiso's Fun With Foeders event, guests will try a dozen beers aged in the traditional wooden barrels, including selections from Perennial, New Belgium, Allagash, Right Proper and Bavik. Brewers Nathan Zeender of Right Proper and Phil Wymore of Perennial will talk about the process of using foeders with Paradiso beer director Josh Fernands. Tickets are $42 in advance and the event runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the pizzeria's Georgetown location. 3282 M St. NW. eatyourpizza.com. Friday, June 3 Saturday, June 4 Savor Afterparties On Friday, Allagash, 21st Amendment and Uinta are taking over Lost and Found in Blagden Alley, while City Tap House hosts a late-night brunch, paired with Terrapin Wake-n-Bake, Evil Twin Imperial Donut Break and other "breakfast" beers. Lost and Found: 1240 Ninth St. NW. lostandfounddc.com. City Tap House: 901 Ninth St. NW. citytaphousedc.com. Saturday is more of a locals' night, with two events in Chinatown. Flying Dog's appropriately named "The Unnecessary Drinks" brings a selection of brewhouse rarities to Jackpot, while DC Brau, Port City and special guests Melvin Brewing of Wyoming tap a selection of their beers - including the debut of a new barrel-aged Port City wit - at Bar Deco. Jackpot: 726 Seventh St. NW. jackpotdc.com. Bar Deco: 717 Sixth St. NW. bardecodc.com.


FDA approves new way to treat opioid addiction – under the skin

drugs, such as heroin — reached a record 28,647 in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdoses from all forms of drugs now kill more Americans than car accidents or firearms. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, focused on the evidence that suggests maintenance therapies with medication — such as the new implant — plus behavioral treatment and other support are more effective than short-term detox programs aimed at abstinence. “This product will expand the treatment alternatives available to people suffering from an opioid use disorder,” she said in the FDA news release. Richard Rosenthal, the investigator who helped lead the implant’s clinical trial, said Probuphine’s value is in providing a steady level of medication in the bloodstream, allowing an individual to avoid the peaks and troughs that can increase cravings and the risk of relapse. Rosenthal, a professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, pointed to trial results that showed that a substantially higher percentage of people on the implant managed to stay off illicit opioids for the entire six months of the trial, compared with those on oral versions of the drug. Sarah Wilson, who became addicted to painkillers after a car accident, took part in a clinical trial for Probuphine. (Braeburn Pharmaceuticals) Some comments by the implant’s manufacturer have stirred concern that it will be pricey. Behshad Sheldon, chief executive of Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, declined by email to say how much Probuphine will cost, but said it will be priced “lower than other long-acting medications currently on the market.” That could be a reference to Vivitrol, an injectable form of the anti-addiction drug naltrexone that costs more than $1,000 a month. Sheldon said the company is exploring “value-based reimbursement programs” to provide insurers with rebates if the overall cost of care for a group of patients on Probuphine exceeded the cost of treatment either for the same patients in a prior six-month period or for a comparable group of patients taking other forms of buprenorphine or other anti-addiction medication. Doctors will be required to undergo special training on how to insert and remove the implant. About 2,250 health-care providers already have signed up for training, according to Sheldon. In Jacksonville, Fla., Sarah Wilson was hoping for Probuphine’s approval. The mother of four became addicted to painkillers in 2008 after she suffered serious spinal injuries when


‘Covered with bees, and a swarm pursuing’: Man dies after being stung more than 1,000 times in Arizona park

front door. The bees swarmed around him, stinging him repeatedly. He survived, according to CBS5. Two years ago, Africanized bees were suspected in the death of a landscaper in Douglas, Ariz., on the border with Mexico. He and his co-workers had been mowing grass when the insects emerged from a 3-by-8-foot hive in an attic and attacked them. “A witness said his face and neck were covered with bees,” Capt. Ray Luzania told Tucson.com. Africanized bees were similarly blamed for a spate of attacks last summer that killed a number of dogs in Arizona. At least three dogs were fatally stung by the swarms, according to the AP. “I normally get five to 10 calls a day for bee removal, and now you’re getting 30 to 60 every day,” Reed Booth, an Arizona bee removal expert, said at the time. Booth said the Africanized bees don’t need much provocation to attack. “They hate any movement, noise, or vibration,” he said. “They hate everything.” Around 50 to 60 people Bee attacks can quickly escalate, however. Entomologists say the insects usually protect a radius of about a quarter mile around their colonies. The insects often give intruders a warning by bouncing off them, according to Carl Olson, associate curator of entomology at the University of Arizona. “If you stick around, then they start to sting,” he told the AP. “Once one stinger is in place, it sends a signal to the other bees. It’s like a target.” According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Bestler and his friend didn’t do anything to anger the swarm they encountered Thursday morning. Bestler’s Facebook page says he grew up in the small Cajun country city of Elton, La., but was living in Fargo, N.D., at the time of the attack. He posted photos of himself traveling to Paris and posing in front of Stonehenge. Last October he posted a throwback Thursday photo of himself at age 7, wearing a T-shirt with insects printed on it. Merkle Memorial Trail now serves as his memorial, as well. Read also: White high school football players in Idaho charged with sexually assaulting black, disabled teammate with a coat hanger ‘It’s like a wound that’s still left open’: The terrifying mystery of who stabbed a Houston sixth-grader as he walked home from school ‘When you find my body, please call my husband,’ wrote dying hiker lost along the Appalachian Trail


Realty agent sold homes to rich and famous but not to herself

The Washington Post’s picks of local distinguished homes on the market. Cathie Gill built a successful real estate career, specializing in the luxury market. But among her many sales, the one person she didn’t sell a house to was herself. Gill and her husband, John R. Gill, bought a 1951 center-hall Colonial in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest Washington nearly a decade before Gill entered real estate, and they never left. Gill started in real estate in 1981. Four years later, she set a record for what was then the highest price sale of a private residence in the District, selling then-Sen. John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) a 15-acre estate in Crestwood, the Rocks, for $6.6 million. With the money she made on that sale, Gill opened her own brokerage, Cathie Gill Realtors, and continued to broker high-end deals. In 2005, Gill represented the buyer and seller of the 16-acre estate of assassinated billionaire Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, for $21 million. The property, once the site of the grand mansion of Phillips Collection founder Duncan Phillips, is now the Phillips Park development. (Photo by Jenn Verrier Photography) The house has a traditional floor plan with a formal living room. Gill sold more homes in Spring Valley than any other active agent until her death in November. Gill died from an aneurysm at 79, just five weeks after her husband succumbed to cancer at 86. John had a 30-year career as an endocrinologist at the National Institutes of Health before retiring in 1988. The Gills were the third owners of the home, raising their three children there. John enjoyed the house’s location on a quiet street, surrounded by trees, which reminded him of his childhood in the Virginia countryside. But it was Gill, with the help of Michael Bartlett, the landscape architect who designed gardens at the Moroccan, French and Finnish embassies, who transformed the property into a lush oasis. “She was passionate about her garden,” said John Russell Gill, the couple’s son who is also the listing agent. (Photo by Jenn Verrier Photography) The family room has French doors that open to the back yard. The inside of the home features a traditional floor plan with formal living and dining rooms, a library and a spacious family room with cathedral ceilings on the main level. The master bedroom and two additional bedrooms are on the


IOC finds 23 positives in retests of London Olympics samples

A visitor poses beneath a set of Olympic rings at the the Olympic Park in London in 2012. (Charlie Riedel/AP) The International Olympic Committee on Friday announced that retests of 265 samples from the 2012 London Olympics revealed 23 athletes from five sports tested positive for banned drugs. The IOC will not name the athletes, who hail from six countries, until second samples have been analyzed — a process that can take several weeks. “These re-analyses show, once again, our determination in the fight against doping,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “We want to keep the dopers away from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.” Last week, the IOC announced that retesting of urine samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics revealed suspicious samples from 31 athletes who could be banned from participating in Rio. The IOC stores samples for a decade to retest using more advanced methods or to search for newer drugs. The retesting of samples this month, prompted by allegations of state-supported cheating by Russia, has focused primarily on athletes who could compete in Rio in August.


Main Street Morning: Medical marijuana moves forward in Ohio

the company’s China business could surpass the U.S. Entrepreneurs - How these entrepreneurs went from making meatballs to a $21 million dining sensation empire. - These friends found a successful partnership in a cleaning business. Finance - How young millionaires invest their money. - A regional bank takes its small-business lending national. Start-ups - A start-up grabs $10 million to bring e-mail to the next level. - GoDaddy makes an app for entrepreneurs to get feedback on their start-up ideas. - Here are three big fintech start-up trends an accelerator chief is seeing. - Why start-up incubator-hopping is beneficial to launching your business. - This is a look inside the boot camp that teaches start-up founders how to raise millions of dollars. Online - Android Pay is coming to Bank of America ATMs. - The “.game” domain extension officially opens for business. - PayPal says it will discontinue apps for the Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Kindle. Social Media - Snapchat raises $1.81 billion in a new funding round. - Twitter has stopped caring about “Buy” buttons. - 62 percent of U.S. adults get their news from social media, according to a report. - Uber and Foursquare collaborate to take the guesswork out of finding a customer’s ride. Ideas - A “smart tampon” is good reason why the Internet of Every Single Thing must be stopped. On This Day in 1927 - Ford Motor Company ceased the production of the Model T. Around the Country - Google tootles into Detroit with its self-driving car project. - An electric car company seeks approval to build in California. - Ohio’s legislature votes to allow limited medical marijuana use. - Manufacturing activity in the Kansas City region declined modestly in May. - A Minnesota town’s officials are looking to change zoning laws to accommodate more craft beer and artisanal businesses. - A Virginia business owner is biking across America to raise awareness for adoption. - Fewer Dallas-Fort Worth small business owners plan to hire this year, a new survey shows. Around the World - Small business lending in Canada is down for the fourth month in a row. - These are the perils of doing business in Venezuela. Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd PA consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. Follow Gene Marks and On Small Business on Twitter. News we should know about? Email us here.


How running went from Victorian pastime to the most popular activity on Earth

Athletes run on a road during a half marathon near the town of Eldoret in western Kenya. (Siegfried Modola/Reuters) With a reported 10 million people running in the United States, the activity is on the rise and fast becoming the most popular form of exercise. Running fits as snugly into modern life as an eager foot into a plush pair of new trainers. It can be done alone and in almost any environment. As a solitary activity, there is no need to work around other people’s schedules. There are no courts, pitches, nets, bats, rackets or hoops necessary. You can just put on your shoes and go. It feels like the most natural way to exercise, but it has not always been this way. And it is not only these practicalities that motivate us. Although running has a complicated history, we know that jogging as a “palliative to sedentariness” first took off in the 1960s. Since then it has become a huge business, with the athletic shoe industry alone worth tens of billions of dollars. Before the jogging revolution, though, it was a distinctly niche activity. The few people who did it had probably been to one of the more affluent schools. A quick leaf through the periodicals of the 19th century, such as Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, confirms it was a sport for gentlemen (and sometimes for the hustlers who conned them). Loosely defined, “sport” has been recorded since the beginning of documented history (The Epic of Gilgamesh from 3,500 years ago recounts scenes of wrestling and hunting) and has been a regular mainstay of literature since. But, exercise, as we might recognize it, being movement for the purposes of maintaining physical health, only became common as recently as the early nineteenth century. We can see it in Jane Austen novels. Fanny in Mansfield Park is forever “knocked up” on the sofa as the result of a good walk, but exercise is mostly a pastime for the daughters of gentry, for whom the competition inherent in sport would not be appropriately gendered behavior. Austen also uses the idea of exercise and movement to pass judgement on her characters: Generally, those who overindulge in it are villainous or not to be trusted and those who possess more moderate appetites for it are usually our hero or heroine. The finest walker in Austen is Elizabeth Bennet of “Pride


Schrödinger’s cat just got even weirder (and even more confusing)

his colleagues paired the famous cat paradox with another tenet of quantum mechanics: quantum entanglement, the phenomenon Einstein referred to as “spooky action at a distance." When two interacting subatomic particles become entangled, any change induced in one will be inflicted upon the other, no matter how distantly they're separated. The Yale team built a tiny chamber with two aluminum cavities for subatomic particles to bounce around inside, then connected them with a superconducting chip made of sapphire. They were able to use electricity to induce a particular state on the particles in each chamber — two states at once, in fact, because quantum mechanics is weird. And because the chambers were linked by spooky action, both states could be inflicted at once in two places at once. To get back to the cat, you can think of it this way: The fact that a cat in one box is simultaneously dead and alive causes another cat in another box to also be simultaneously dead and alive. Your brain probably hurts too much to wonder why Wang and his fellow researchers care about these wacky particles, but here it is: They hope their findings can help advance the field of quantum computing. How Does a Quantum Computer Work? A typical computer is made up of "bits" that can be coded as either zeroes or ones. But in theory, a quantum computer — one built using the crazy dead-and-alive particles we've been talking about — could have bits that were zeroes and ones at the same time. These computers would likely be much faster and more powerful than the computers we have today, at least for certain processes, because the machines would be able to simultaneously run many different calculations. But since these particles lock into a single state when they're observed, you need a way to correct errors without, you know, checking for errors. "It's well understood that 99 percent of computation or more will be done to correct for errors, rather than computation itself," Wang told Live Science. But his team hopes that inducing these simultaneous "cat" states in redundant particles could help keep things in check. (giphy) “It turns out ‘cat’ states are a very effective approach to storing quantum information redundantly, for implementation of quantum error correction. Generating a cat in two boxes is the first step towards logical operation between two quantum bits in an error-correctible


The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S.

Tom Frieden said in an interview Thursday. “I’ve been there for TB patients. I’ve cared for patients for whom there are no drugs left. It is a feeling of such horror and helplessness,” Frieden added. “This is not where we need to be.” Separately, researchers at the Agriculture Department and the Department of Health and Human Services reported that testing of hundreds of livestock and retail meats turned up the same colistin-resistant bacteria in a sample from a pig intestine in the United States. USDA said it is working to identify the farm the pig came from. CDC officials are working with Pennsylvania health authorities to interview the patient and family to identify how she may have contracted the bacteria, including reviewing recent hospitalizations and other health-care exposures. The CDC hopes to screen the patient and her contacts to see if others might be carrying the organism. Local and state health departments also will be collecting cultures as part of the investigation. The woman was treated in an outpatient military facility in Pennsylvania, according to a Defense Department blog post about the findings. Samples were sent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for initial testing. Additional testing was done by a special Defense Department system that tracks multi-drug-resistant organisms. Thursday’s study did not disclose further details about the Pennsylvania woman or the outcome of her case. The authors could not be reached for comment. A spokesman at the Pennsylvania Department of Health was not immediately available to comment on the case. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe (D) issued a statement saying his administration immediately began working with the CDC and the Defense Department to coordinate "an appropriate and collaborative" response. "We are taking the emergence of this resistance gene very seriously," he said, adding that authorities will take all necessary actions to prevent it from becoming a widespread problem with "potentially serious consequences." Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) said he is concerned about the reports. In a statement, Casey said he supported legislation for and participated in hearings about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which he said “present an urgent public health problem that we must focus on intensively.” He said he planned to get a full briefing on the case in the coming days. Colistin is widely used in Chinese livestock, and this probably led bacteria to evolve and gain a resistance to the drug. The gene probably leaped from


The share of Americans struggling to afford food just hit a new post-recession low

The share of Americans who described themselves as people struggling to afford food has declined to a record low in a long-running Gallup poll. In the first three months of 2016, 15 percent of Americans told Gallup researchers that sometime in the past year, they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed. That's the lowest level of food insecurity detected among Americans since Gallup and its partner Healthways began polling on this question in 2008, and it continues a downward trend that began in the middle of 2013. Gallup researchers think drops in both unemployment and underemployment — i.e. those who wanted full-time work but could not find it — generated the change. People have jobs or more hours on their jobs, and therefore more money for food. During the recession, food insecurity soared, according to the Agriculture Department. The federal agency plays a role in tracking food availability and administering the program now known as SNAP (once known as food stamps). There is, however, evidence that like the change in the nation's unemployment and underemployment figures, food-related gains have not happened in equal measure across the population. And April job gains were widely described as "weak." From the Gallup analysis: Across key demographic groups, the percentage struggling to afford food declined somewhat over the past two years. Young adults aged 18-29 saw the most improvement across age groups, while blacks saw the most improvement across racial and ethnic groups. Still, blacks remain the most likely racial group to not have enough money to buy food. Blacks and Hispanics are roughly twice as likely as whites and more than three times as likely as Asians to say they have struggled to afford food at least once in the past year. Look at the chart below. Food insecurity is improving, but some groups continue to struggle more than others.


U-Md. president responds to concerns about racism in police use of pepper spray at graduation party

spokeswoman Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas. Officers were told that one person might have a bat. Most of the people at the party were black, and many students complained afterward that police would not have responded so forcefully to a large group of white people. Officers used pepper spray twice and arrested two people. One, a female student, was charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a lawful order and obstructing and hindering, Hoaas said. A man who is not a student was charged with two counts of obstruction and hindering, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of failure to obey a lawful order, she said. According to Hoaas, the first three officers who arrived are white, and they were followed by their supervisor, who is black. She said she did not know the races of the other seven officers who responded. The president of the student body, Katherine Swanson, said earlier this week that she had heard a unified reaction from students: shock and concern. Here is Loh’s letter in full: Dear University of Maryland community, As you may know, last Saturday at 1:46 AM the University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) received a 911 call about a loud party and a possible fight in progress inside an apartment at The Courtyards complex. UMPD dispatched two officers. At the parking lot, some individuals flagged the arriving officers of a fight in the apartment. The person who opened the door denied there was any fight. The officers asked the large crowd in the apartment to end the party and leave. Eventually, more officers arrived. The police used pepper spray twice, in an outdoor corridor and in the parking lot. Two individuals (one a UMD student) were arrested for disorderly conduct. Subsequently, both were released on their own recognizance. The party attendees were primarily African-American students. This incident has sparked an outcry, with claims of bias by the responding officers. UMPD policy requires an administrative review after any use of force. I have asked UMPD Chief David Mitchell for an investigation that is as comprehensive, transparent, and expedited as possible. This review is already underway. Investigators are examining more than five hours of video from the body cameras worn by all the officers at the scene. They are interviewing all the officers involved. Detectives are reviewing the initial complaints and interviewing witnesses. The investigation focuses on whether the actions of the


Elon Musk’s SpaceX does it again. Nails fourth landing.

SpaceX had a successful launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket is set to deploy a Thaicom 8 communications satellite for Thailand. Maybe one day it’ll be routine, so boring, as Elon Musk has said, that it’ll no longer be newsworthy. But for now his attempts to launch and then land rockets are still dramatic, as exciting as sporting events. On Friday evening, SpaceX pulled off another stunning landing on a ship 422 miles off the Florida coast that was broadcast in real time on its website. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted up from Cape Canaveral at 5:39 p.m., carrying a Thaicom commercial communications satellite to orbit. Given the distance the rocket had to travel to deliver its payload Friday, and the massive amount of energy it would take to get there, SpaceX hedged on the success of the return, saying that “the first stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing challenging.” But then the video showed the rocket screaming back from space, its engines firing to slow it down. And then cameras from the ship showed it standing triumphantly once again. Over the past couple of years Musk's space company has been perfecting the difficult art of landing rockets so they could be reused instead of being ditched into the ocean as had been the practice since the 1960s-Apollo era. Coming into Friday's launch, which was postponed from Thursday after Musk said there was a "tiny glitch" with the rocket's upper stage, SpaceX had pulled off landings three times. First, it landed a stage at Cape Canaveral in December. Then it followed with two landings at sea this spring. The rocket in last landing "took max damage, due to v high entry velocity," Musk tweeted this month. During the webcast before the launch Friday, Lauren Lyons of SpaceX, said the conditions of Friday's landing was similar to the last landing, earlier this month, when it touched down with just three seconds of propellant left in the tank. During that landing, the rocket went from traveling at some 6,300 km per hour when it hit the atmosphere to just 4 km per hour when it landed just off the bulls eye. That showed such a high velocity landing is "not impossible," she said. When SpaceX became the first company to ever vertically land an


150 experts say Olympics must be moved or postponed because of Zika

and travelers planning to attend the competitions to take measures to protect against infection, but it did not call for the Olympics, which start Aug. 5, or the Paralympics, which begin Sept. 7, to be canceled or postponed. Late Friday, the WHO said that based on its current assessment, "cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus." It noted that Brazil is one of almost 60 countries and territories which have reported continuing spread of Zika by mosquitoes. "People continue to travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons," the statement said. The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice, the WHO said. "There is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the games," the WHO said. U.S. Olympic Committee officials have said the decision to attend the Games is up to individual athletes. The authors say the estimated 500,000 foreign tourists from all over the world who are expected to attend the Games represent an unnecessary risk because they could potentially get infected and return home to places where the virus can become endemic. "Should that happen to poor, as-yet unaffected places (e.g., most of South Asia and Africa) the suffering can be great," the authors wrote. "It is unethical to run the risk, just for Games that could proceed anyway, if postponed and/or moved." U.S. health officials also disagree with the authors' assessment. In an interview this week, Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “We don’t see from a public health standpoint any reason to cancel the Olympics." "There’s been some claims that if the Olympics happen, it’s going to disseminate the virus everywhere, it’s going to amplify it," Frieden said. "Well, we looked at the numbers. The Olympics account for less than one quarter of 1 percent of all travel to Zika-affected areas." Frieden has said the risk to Olympians is "very, very low." About 100 athletes, coaches and staff of the U.S. Olympic delegation are already being monitored for the virus as they begin to go to Brazil; up to 1,000 are expected to be monitored as the Olympics and Paralympics begin. He said it was "unfortunate" that Major League Baseball recently decided to scrap a two-game series in Puerto Rico and move it to Miami amid


Zika precautions: What you need to know as you plan your summer travel

the country, you probably don't have to worry very much. But if you're going south, you probably want to be slathering on the mosquito repellent. Notice that the range of the Aedes albopictus, the second type of mosquito carrier, goes significantly farther north than the Aedes aegypti species that everyone was talking about earlier in the outbreak. That means that even if you are in the Mid-Atlantic, parts of New England or even the southernmost parts of Maine and Minnesota, you may need to be cautious. Which mosquito repellents really repel mosquitoes? While the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services can’t recommend or endorse any specific brands, they suggest consumers look for products that are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency. "The effectiveness of insect repellents that are not registered with the EPA, including some natural repellents, is not known," they warn. Below are ingredients in products proven to be effective against mosquitos: - DEET — Look for repellents that contain at least 20 percent DEET, examples include Cutter Backwoods and Off! Deep Woods - Picaridin (also known as KBR 3023, Bayrepel and icaridin) — Examples include Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus and Autan - Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) or para-menthane-diol (PMD) — Examples include Repel Lemon Eucalyptus - IR3535 — Products include Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Expedition and SkinSmart The CDC also offered the following tips: - When using insect repellent, follow the instructions on the package and reapply as directed. In general, higher percentages of the active ingredient provide longer-lasting protection. However, this increase in protection time maximizes at about 50 percent DEET. - If you are also using sunscreen, apply it first, let it dry, and then apply repellent. Do not use products that contain both sunscreen and repellent. - Do not spray repellent on the skin under clothing. - Consider using clothing and gear (such as boots, pants, socks, and tents) that are treated with permethrin (an insecticide). You can buy pre-treated clothes or treat your own clothes. If treating items yourself, follow instructions carefully. Do not use permethrin directly on skin. Consumer Reports recently put out a review of repellents. It can be found here. The publication's writers noted that “choosing the right repellent matters: Our top products warded off all three of those insects for at least seven hours, while some of our lowest-scoring ones failed


dozen or so “adverse outcomes” among the women but did not provide any details. If you are a woman and not pregnant and your symptoms are mild, there is probably no need to do anything, except if you had been previously trying to conceive a baby, your doctor may tell you to hold off. If you are a man and your symptoms are mild, there is probably no need to do anything either, but you should make sure to use condoms or not have sex for the next six months. More information about Zika and sexual transmission can be found here. If you are a woman or man and experiencing muscle weakness or other types of neurological issues, that warrants a call or visit to the doctor as you may be among the rare cases with serious complications with Zika. I'm going to risk it and take my vacation in an area where there are active Zika mosquitos. Anything special I need to know about what to do when I get back? The CDC says that even if you do not feel sick, you should take precautions to prevent mosquito bites for at least three weeks to minimize the chances that you'll pass on the virus to uninfected mosquitos. That's right — health officials are not only concerned about mosquitoes infecting you but you infecting mosquitoes. The logic behind that: If you have the virus in your blood, there's a chance a mosquito could pick it up — and carry it to another human. The mosquito-borne disease suspected of causing serious birth defects is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile and remains a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization. This post has been updated. Read more: Sparking fears of a zombie apocalypse: Controversial study aims to ‘reanimate’ the brain dead There’s a new sheriff in town in Silicon Valley — the FDA Researchers: Medical errors now third leading cause of death in United States IN DEPTH: Sean Parker, Silicon Valley’s bad boy genius, wants to kick the *!$% out of cancer Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more Like our Health Wellness page on Facebook for more science news about the ins and outs of the human body and mind, essays and advice. You can sign up here for our newsletter.


Russia says eight of its athletes failed doping retests from London Olympics

Russia is caught in the middle of a doping scandal, with the latest two revelations by the International Olympic Committee increasing the total to 22 cases of alleged doping cover-ups. (Reuters, Sergei Karpukhin) The Russian Olympic Committee announced on Saturday that samples from eight of its athletes tested positive in doping retests from the 2012 London Olympics. The statement acknowledging the results was posted on the ROC website one day after the International Olympic Committee revealed that retests of 23 athletes who participated in the London Games, representing five sports and six countries, had returned positive results in doping retests. Russia did not release the names of the athletes who tested positive, but said in the statement that they competed in three sports. Saturday’s announcement is the latest black eye for the Russian Olympic program ahead of this summer’s Olympics in Rio. The country’s track and field team has been under suspension by the sport’s international governing body since November 2015, when the World Anti-Doping Agency released a report accusing Russia of running a systemic, “state-sponsored” doping program. The International Association of Athletics Federations is expected to decide in June whether or not to end the suspension before the Summer Games. Four days ago Tass reported 14 Russian athletes, 10 of them medalists, were retroactively caught doping when their retests from the 2008 Beijing Olympics came back positive. While the correctional process will take some time due to further retesting of samples, other athletes who feel cheated by doping have already begun to take matters into their own hands. Australian competitive walker Jordan Tallent held his own make-shift medal ceremony this past week and is set to be given an official presentation by the Australian Olympic Committee in June after it was revealed Tallent was defeated in two international competitions, one being the London Olympics, by multiple doping Russian athletes. The ROC did not release the names of the athletes found doping, as protocol requires the IOC to conclude retests of the athletes’s second sample before naming them publicly.


Venus Williams says she’s ‘not an expert’ on Zika virus, so she’s staying mum

had a unique take on the Zika virus Saturday at the French Open. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters) With the Rio Olympics fast approaching, athletes across all sports are being asked about the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil. Tennis star Serena Williams said she’s concerned and that she’s “really just gonna have to go super protected.” Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s player, said he’s worried about the people of Brazil. U.S. women’s soccer players Alex Morgan, speaking with Health magazine earlier this month, said “it’s kind of scary,” while her teammate Hope Solo called the IOC “irresponsible” for not moving the games to Manaus. But for professional ball hitters or kickers, sometimes the best comment on a complicated public health issue is a no-comment. That’s exactly how Venus Williams approached a question about Zika on Saturday at a French Open news conference. “It could be a concern,” Williams told reporters (via USA Today). “I’m not an expert on pathogens. I’ve watched a lot of movies like Outbreak and stuff, but it didn’t leave me in a position where I could comment on this.” Venus Williams’s admission of ignorance is refreshing. As a professional athlete and entrepreneur, she has more important things to do than read up on health journals and scientific studies. Her knowledge of virus outbreaks stems from a 1995 film starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman. She’s as qualified to comment on Zika as a public health expert would be in a professional tennis tournament. The Williams sisters’ comments came a day after 150 experts sent a letter calling for the Olympics to be moved or postponed. “It is therefore imperative that [World Health Organization] conducts a fresh, evidence-based assessment of Zika and the Games, and its recommendations for travelers,” the letter said. “Given the public health and ethical consequences, not doing so is irresponsible.” Brazil is at the epicenter of the virus, but the risk posed by hosting the Olympics is unclear. Earlier this week, Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “We don’t see from a public health standpoint any reason to cancel the Olympics.” “There’s been some claims that if the Olympics happen, it’s going to disseminate the virus everywhere, it’s going to amplify it,” Frieden said. “Well, we looked at the numbers. The Olympics account for less than one quarter of 1 percent of all travel to Zika-affected areas.”


No, legal weed is not ‘dumbing down’ the nation’s teens

(Washington Post illustration; iStock) The marijuana policy landscape changed rapidly between 2002 and 2013. During that time, 13 states passed medical-marijuana laws, 10 states relaxed penalties for marijuana use, and Colorado and Washington became the first states to fully legalize recreational pot use. Opponents of marijuana liberalization warned that these changes would bring devastating consequences, particularly for kids: "But what about the children?" was the common refrain. The president of National Families in Action, an anti-drug group, warned that commercial marijuana would "literally dumb down the precious minds of generations of children." Psychiatrist Christian Thurstone, an outspoken opponent of Colorado's marijuana legalization, argued in 2010 that "the state's relaxed laws have made the drug widely available — and irresistible — to too many adolescents." Given the widespread liberalization of marijuana laws and huge changes in public acceptance of the drug, you might expect that by now we'd be seeing more marijuana use — and more problematic use, such addiction and dependency — among the nation's teens. But in fact the exact opposite has happened, according to a new study from Richard Grucza and colleagues at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The number of American teens with marijuana-related problems — such as dependency on the drug, or troubles with family and school due to marijuana use — fell by 24 percent between 2002 and 2013. The overall number of teens using marijuana fell, too. And the teens who do use marijuana are less likely to experience problems due to the drug. "We were surprised to see substantial declines in marijuana use and abuse," Grucza said in a statement. "Whatever is happening with these behavioral issues, it seems to be outweighing any effects of marijuana decriminalization." Grucza and his colleagues analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual federal survey. Their research, forthcoming in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "The reduction in the past-year prevalence of marijuana use disorders among adolescents took place during a period when 10 U.S. states relaxed criminal sanctions against adult marijuana use and 13 states enacted medical marijuana policies," the study found. "During this period, teenagers also became less likely to perceive marijuana use as risky, and marijuana use became more socially acceptable among young adults." If legalization opponents are to be believed,


NBA star Pau Gasol considering skipping Rio Olympics due to Zika concerns

Pau Gasol may not be suiting up for Spain this summer. (Harry How/Getty Images) Chicago Bulls and Spanish national team center Pau Gasol said Monday that he is considering not playing at the Rio Olympics because of the Zika virus. “I’m thinking about [whether or not to go],” Gasol told the Associated Press. “Just like every athlete, or any other person considering going to Rio, should be thinking about it.” Gasol, who expressed concerns about the “serious and harmful threat” of the virus in an exclusive column for the Spanish daily El País, added that other Spanish athletes are considering skipping the Olympics. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see some athletes deciding not to participate in the games to avoid putting their health and the health of their families at risk,” said Gasol, who helped lead Spain to silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Games. On Friday, 150 physicians, bioethicists and scientists from more than a dozen countries posted an open letter urging the World Health Organization to convene an independent group to advise the WHO and the International Olympic Committee about the mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects and neurological disorders in adults, and for authorities to reconsider the decision to hold the Games in Rio. “We are doing it to ask for an open, transparent discussion of the risks of holding the Olympics as planned in Brazil,” said Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University and one of the letter’s four authors, in an email explaining the reasoning behind the letter. The IOC has said the Games will go on as planned. In response to Friday’s open letter, the WHO said that “cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus.” “I hope the national Olympic committees and the health organizations can be as clear as possible about the risks in Brazil so athletes can decide whether or not to take risks,” Gasol said. “I don’t think we’ve been told enough about it.”


Scottish leader: If Britain leaves the E.U., we’ll leave Britain

Then-Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond spoke during a news conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Center just days before voters went to the polls to decide whether Scotland should become an independent country and leave the United Kingdom. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Alex Salmond was the leader of the Scottish National Party and first minister of Scotland when Scots voted on independence in 2014. He now represents Scotland in the British Parliament, and he remains a fierce advocate of a separate Scottish nation outside the United Kingdom. On May 25, 2016, Salmond spoke with Washington Post London Bureau Chief Griff Witte about next month’s referendum on British membership in the European Union, and its possible impact on the cause of Scottish independence. An edited transcript of their conversation follows: Washington Post: Alex Salmond: Scotland has always been a European-facing nation. Our greatest national hero was Sir William Wallace, memorably played by Mel Gibson in the movie "Braveheart." Well, one thing that Braveheart didn't show was a few days after the battle of Stirling Bridge, which was Wallace's great victory over the English forces of Edward I, his first act as guardian of Scotland was to write to the Hanseatic League, which was the medieval forerunner of the European Union, to say “There has been a change in Scotland. We are back in charge. We are open again for business.” That was in 1296. But it does provide an interesting illustration of how the cause for Scottish independence and its European approach has always been heavily interlinked. WP: AS: Scotland is not full up. It means that on balance, we are much more concerned with growing the country, growing the population, growing the vibrancy of the economy and allowing people with commitment and skills to settle in our country. We're much more like America of 100 years ago, than the England of today. WP: AS: WP: AS: My view has always been that constitutional referendums tend to be once in a generation, as I said often enough. But you can always get change of material circumstance. And pulling Scotland out of the European Union against our will would be a change of material circumstances. So the justification is amply there to say all bets are off if it's Brexit for the U.K. but a Remain vote for Scotland. WP: AS: WP: AS: But once the SNP machine swings into action, it's the


Gorilla death at Cincinnati Zoo puts debate over captive creatures in stark relief

the event, The Washington Post reported, critics of Harambe’s shooting called for “justice” on social media. (Spielman added that, had this happened in Australia, he believes zoo officials would have attempted to tranquilize the ape first, only turning to lethal weaponry if the darts were ineffective.) The Cincinnati Zoo defended its actions. “The Zoo security team’s quick response saved the child’s life,” said the director, Thane Maynard, in a statement on Saturday. “We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla.” Much of the wrath of social media focused on the mother of the child for letting the 4-year-old get away. But the handling of animals in captivity came under fire as well, along with the idea of them being in captivity at all. Harambe’s death comes at a time when zoos and circuses are overturning long-standing traditions, in part due to increased scrutiny following “Blackfish,” the 2013 documentary on the killer whale that fatally attacked trainers at SeaWorld. In what commentators have attributed to the so-called “Blackfish” effect, SeaWorld’s stock price plunged, its attendance decreased and the aquarium terminated its breeding program. In early May, elephants performed at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus for the last time, ending a legacy of live pachyderm entertainment that had lasted for 145 years. Some advocates see events like “Blackfish” as signs that zoos need to rethink captivity. In March 2014, the Scientific American editorial board called for an end to captive elephant and orca whale breeding, citing the animals’ immense sizes, need for large swathes of habitat and their intelligence. “We have to change direction, hit the brakes,” Ed Stewart, a founder of the Performing Animals Welfare Society, told the Christian Science Monitor. “We need to change the way we’re doing things.” In the aftermath of Harambe’s death, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals opined that gorillas have “complex needs,” which zoos “cannot even begin to meet.” “Yet again,” PETA primatologist Julia Gallucci said in a statement on Sunday, “captivity has taken an animal’s life.” How well gorillas fare in zoological captivity is not, perhaps, so clear-cut as the issue of elephants or orcas. There have been have been accidents involving captive gorillas prior to Harambe: In 2005, a Lincoln Park zoo intern was bitten by a gorilla; in 2015, a gorilla rushed the viewing window at an Omaha zoo,


The stunning truth that explains the rise of the far-right in Britain and elsewhere

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson campaigning for the Leave campaign (Reuters/Peter Nicholls) Never have so many risked so much for so little. I'm talking, of course, about Britain's upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union. So-called "Brexit" — get it, as in British exit? — would be the economic equivalent of quitting your job because you think you can get it back minus all the parts you don't like. In other words, a fantasy. But, with apologies to Harry Potter, it might be Britain's most popular one to the point that there's a real, albeit slight, chance it could prevail in the June 23 poll. In which case, to extend this metaphor, Britain would be left out of work and out of friends. Indeed, Britain's Treasury estimates it could send them into a recession costing as many as 500,000 to 800,000 jobs. What in the name of rational self-maximizers is going on? The same thing that's happening everywhere else. Right-wing populists are trying to make their country great again by, you guessed it, keeping immigrants out and negotiating great, and I mean great, deals. In Britain's case, the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) wants to leave the 28-nation free trade zone that is the EU in hopes of coming to terms on a new free trade pact with the now-27-nation EU that wouldn't require them to follow Brussels' diktats on, say, how strong vacuum cleaners are allowed to be, or, more saliently, how many immigrants they have to accept from the rest of Europe. It almost sounds reasonable. Until, that is, you actually think about it. UKIP is asking for all of the benefits of EU membership without any of what it thinks are the costs. Which, of course, everybody would want if it was possible. The problem there, though, is an EU that exists on an à la carte basis today is an EU that wouldn't exist at all tomorrow. So Brussels would never go along with this. It would tell Britain that it has to unreservedly play by Europe's rules—at least the most important ones—if it wants unreserved access to Europe's market. That, after all, is what Norway has had to do to get a free trade deal with the EU without being a part of it. Practically speaking, that would mean continuing to pay into the EU budget, adhering to big EU regulations and, yes, allowing