Oil Sand Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level

Todd Korol/ReutersAn oil sands mine Fort McMurray, Alberta. OTTAWA — The development of Alberta’s oil sands has increased levels of cancer-causing compounds in surrounding lakes well beyond natural levels, Canadian researchers reported in a study released on Monday. And they said the contamination covered a wider area than had previously been believed. For the study, financed by the Canadian...

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DealBook: JPMorgan's Staley to Join BlueMountain Capital

James E. Staley, a longtime JPMorgan Chase executive who served as the firm’s head of investment banking until this summer, is leaving the bank to join BlueMountain Capital Management as a managing partner, the hedge fund said on Tuesday.The firm he is joining, a nine-year-old hedge fund with $12 billion in assets, profited from betting against JPMorgan by taking the other side of a bet on corporate...

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At Hearing, Officer Tells of Suspect’s Calm After Colorado Massacre

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A police officer testified at a preliminary hearing here on Monday that when he responded to emergency calls about a mass shooting at a crowded movie theater this summer that he found the suspected gunman standing calmly outside his car in a parking lot just moments after he had opened fire inside, the authorities say, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. “He was...

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer

DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second to be jailed for the offence in as many days.The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.Kuwait has seen a...

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Oscar host Seth MacFarlane to announce nominations

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the first time in 40 years, the host of the Academy Awards will help announce the Oscar nominations.Academy officials say Oscar host Seth MacFarlane will join actress Emma Stone to reveal the nominees for the 85th annual Academy Awards. This is the first time since 1972 that an Oscar host has participated in the nominations announcement. Charlton Heston was the only other show...

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Alexander Leaf Dies at 92; Linked Diet and Health

Alexander Leaf, a versatile physician and research scientist who was an early advocate of diet and exercise to prevent heart disease, and who traveled the world to make important discoveries about increasing human longevity and to help scientifically establish the dangers global warming poses to the human species, died on Dec. 24 in Boston. He was 92. The cause was complications of Parkinson’s...

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Boeing 787 Catches Fire at Gate at Boston Airport

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner aircraft with no passengers on board caught fire at Boston's Logan International Airport when a battery in its auxiliary electric system exploded, officials said. A mechanic inspecting the Japan Airlines Co Ltd jet discovered smoke in the cockpit while performing a routine post-flight inspection and reported it to airport authorities at around...

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Obama Expected to Select Hagel for Defense Post

Pool photo by Dennis BrackPresident Obama and his family arriving back at the White House on Sunday. President Obama has selected a former Nebraska senator, Chuck Hagel, as his next defense secretary, a White House official said Sunday, turning to a prominent Republican to lead the Pentagon as it faces of the challenge of winding down the war in Afghanistan and possible reductions in military spending....

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10 Vintage Photographs of Snowflakes

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Smithsonian Institution.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: 5 YouTube Videos to Help Winterize Your Home]If for some reason you didn’t believe no two snowflakes were alike, here’s your proof.In 1885, Wilson A. Bentley successfully photographed over 5,000 snowflakes by attaching a camera to a microscope (and in turn honing the field of Photomicrography). His...

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'Chainsaw 3-D' carves out No. 1 debut with $23M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.Lionsgate's horror sequel "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" debuted at No. 1 with $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga...

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