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While health care is being debated by a black president and a mostly white congress, it’s interesting to note something that may not be “PC,” but is true nevertheless: blacks and whites get different diseases, even here in the US where the lineage of African-Americans is so racially mixed.

For years, scientists have tried to determine the basis for discrepancies between race and the development of diseases such as type II diabetes and heart disease. Could factors such as differences in lifestyle or access to health care play a role, or is there something else going on?
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How can we tell if something is real? Forgeries of paintings by famous artists, even ones that have hung in museums for years, are now being identified using a new scientific method. Even the authenticity of a Jackson Pollack “drip” painting can now be verified.

A “library” of the artist’s works is collected on a computer. The images are then turned into fractals using mathematics. These tiny areas of paint are a particular artist’s signature, that he or she uses again and again, and are completely unique.
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As a series of snowstorms choked the eastern US, winterstorm Xynthia has struck Europe, killing at least 50 people,mostly in France. Winds exceeding 90 MPH hit Portugal, thenturned up the Bay of Biscay, breaching sea walls andflooding towns in France so suddenly that many of thevictims were trapped on streets, in cars and in their homes.The storm moved on into central France, where it continuesto wreak havoc.

It comes during a winter of unprecedented snowfall in theUnited Kingdom and extreme cold extending well into southernEurope. This year, Rome received its heaviest snowfall since1986, and the UK has recorded its most extensive snowfall inrecent memory.
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