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June 19th, 2013 | 
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Why the Tomato Was Feared in Europe for More Than 200 Years
In the late 1700s, a large percentage of Europeans feared the tomato.
A nickname for the fruit was the “poison apple” because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on this particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time; the tomato was picked as the culprit.
Animals know more than you think
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the animals we think of as being the most stupid – pigs, chickens, sheep – are also the ones we don't always treat too well. However, humans might be the ones who have to rethink the definitions of "bird-brain" and "pig ignorance".
According to a new report, chickens appear to be much more intelligent than previously thought, with better numeracy and spacial awareness skills than young children. "The domesticated chicken is something of a phenomenon," Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Bristol University, told the Times. "Studies over the past 20 years have revealed their finely honed sensory capacities, their ability to think, draw inferences, apply logic and plan ahead."
Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere four billion years ago
The oxygen was either produced by life forms or by a chemical reaction in the atmosphere of Mars.
People of Earth, say cheese!
Earth, are you ready to have your picture taken? On 19 July, the NASA space probe Cassini will take a photograph of Earth from its vantage point "a billion miles away,” in the words of Carolyn Porco, who is in charge of the robot craft's cameras…
This picture will be another milestone in our changing perspective on ourselves. Images of Earth from space have changed the way we imagine our world, and our relationship with it. They are about to change human consciousness again.
Here come the Edward Snowden truthers
Some think he's a CIA plant, others say he's a useful idiot. But they all agree: Something stinks to high heaven!
Perhaps the most prominent Snowden truther is Naomi Wolf, whom Al Gore reportedly paid $15,000 a month to advise his presidential campaign. People were a little surprised Friday when the prominent feminist author and activist posted a lengthy essay on her Facebook page wondering if Snowden may actually be a plant from “the Police State.”
Wolf wrote that she has a “creeping concern” that Snowden “is not who he purports to be,” mostly because Wolf expects leakers to be disheveled, inarticulate and litigious (apparently based on her experience with Jullian Assange), and Snowden is none of these things. “To me this reads as someone who has learned his talking points,” she wrote. And his girlfriend “happens to pole-dance?” — very suspicious! “It is actually in the Police State’s interest to let everyone know that everything you write or say everywhere is being surveilled,” she wrote. Ergo: Snowden is likely a government stooge.
FDA Investigates Deaths of Patients on Antipsychotic Drug
Following the deaths of two patients three to four days after receiving a dose of Zyprexa Relprevv (olanzapine pamoate) via intramuscular injection, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is conducting an investigation into the possible cause.