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Since many of us may carry Neanderthal genes, it may be comforting to know what it was like to be one of these ice-age Europeans who flourished between 200,000 and 30,000 years ago, and then mysteriously disappeared.

The biggest difference between Cro-Magnons (that’s us) and Neanderthals is innovation. Although Neanderthals invented the craft of turning stone points onto spears, this was one of their very few innovations over several hundred thousand years.
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More and more US schools have their own police forces. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the cafeteria floor. The state has taken over discipline from the classroom teacher and is now criminalizing normal childhood behavior–or is it?

In Austin, Texas, 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes was arrested for spraying perfume on her neck in class after the other kids were taunting her and saying she smelled bad. In the Guardian Weekly, Chris McGreal quotes Sarah as saying, "They were saying a lot of rude things to me. Just picking on me. So I sprayed myself with perfume. Then the teacher called the police."
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Weed control has become a matter of national security. Along US southern coastal rivers, most particularly Texas’ Rio Grande, an invasive species of plant known as giant reed is encroaching on the water, overrunning international border access roads, and creating a dense cover for illegal activities.

So far, there’s no evidence that it’s being deliberately planted, but that could be the next step. Aerial photography by the US Department of Homeland Security reveals that this giant reed, known as Carrizo cane in Texas, is a nonnative bamboo-like plant that can grow more than 32 feet tall.
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An Earth-like planet recently spotted outside our solar system is the first that atromomers have found that could support liquid water and harbor life.

Liquid water is what astronomers look for, and the newly found planet is located at the perfect distance from its sun—just the right distance so that the water on its surface doesn’t freeze or vaporize.

The new planet is about 50% bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. It’s called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a small red dwarf star that is about one-third as massive as the Sun.
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