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An anonymous reader writes: Researchers studying the commonly used pain reliever acetaminophen found it has a previously unknown side effect: It blunts positive emotions (abstract). Acetaminophen, the main ingredient in the over-the-counter pain reliever Tylenol, has been in use for more than 70 years in the United States, but this is the first time that this side effect has been documented.

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The iconic “long-fanged” skull logo of Marvel’s Punisher has been appropriated by Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite militia fighting against ISIS.

WASHINGTON—As part of the White House’s effort to mend 50 years of acrimonious U.S.-Cuba relations, members of the Obama administration called on the island nation this week to adopt a more democratic form of corruption.

On Thursday night, Glasgow hit Portland with all the impact of a warm hug and a hot pot of tea. Belle and Sebastian didn't rouse the Roseland rabble with earsplitting sonics and eye-scorching pyrotechnics. They did something far better: performed a terrific, exuberant show with expert musicianship, dance-ready pop numbers, and witty between-song banter. There are fewer happier crowds in the world than the ones at a Belle and Sebastian show, and with this joy comes a fair amount of excitable worry, too—will they play "The State I Am In"? What about "Lazy Line Painter Jane"? (We got the former, not the latter.) There's scarcely a song in the Belle and Sebastian catalog that isn't someone's favorite, which made their Portland show a revue of generosity, as the band seemed equally happy to trundle out old favorites like "Dog on Wheels" as showcase newer ones like "Allie" and "The Book of You."

I counted 13 musicians onstage—the six core members of the group, plus three auxiliary members, and then four local musicians who were recruited to play the string and horn parts. At one point, the quartet played a short bit from Stravinsky's The Rites of Spring, because, well, it's springtime. Frontman Stuart Murdoch's onstage persona is more of a chummy camp counselor than an icy, mercurial pop star, despite the esteem with which his songs reside in the hearts of Belle and Sebastian's devoted fans. There was no fourth wall to bust down; he and the rest of the band were welcoming and cordial, and in between songs, Murdoch admired Portland's MAX Light Rail (which he called the "tram"), asked about the Zoobomber bike "sculpture," and self-deprecatingly joked about his own dance moves. Stevie Jackson and Sarah Martin were apt foils, the former fully succumbing to the berserk ending for "Perfect Couples."

The show hit its stripey-shirted peak when the group invited two dozen or so members of the crowd up on the stage to dance along to "The Boy with the Arab Strap" and "Legal Man." Their faces ranged from incredulous to ecstatic, as some of them couldn't process the fact that they were bopping just a few feet away from their gentle Scottish heroes. It was of course, an evening affirmation for all the diehard fans, but more than that, it was a great show and a very fun night.

All photos by Autumn Andel. Lots more to look at, including pics of opener Perfume Genius, after the jump!

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coondoggie writes NASA this week will be sending its first espresso making machine into space, letting astronauts onboard the International Space Station brew coffee, tea or other hot beverages for those long space days. Making espresso in space is no small feat, as heating the water to the right temperature – 208F – and generating enough pressure to make the brew are critical in the brewing process. And then getting it into a “cup,” well that’s nearly impossible in gravity-free space. NASA, the Italian space agency ASI, aerospace firm Argotec, and coffee company Lavazza have come up with en experimental machine that will deliver the espresso into what basically amounts to a sippy pouch.

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fox4kc.com

'Today is not a good day:' Driver, teen shot to death after vehicle hits and kills 2 ... fox4kc.com MILWAUKEE — Three people are dead following an incident that began as a fatal accident and turned into a double shooting. Investigators said a 2-year-old child ran into the street on Sunday near N. 48th Street and was struck and killed by a vehicle. and more »

WSB Radio

Ramp agent trapped in Alaska Air flight cargo hold forces emergency landing WSB Radio An Alaska Airlines flight was forced into an emergency landing after a worker was heard screaming from the cargo hold. View Larger · Christina photo. Christina Tuscany, pictured, was on the Alaska Airlines flight that had to return for an emergency landing on ... Alaska Airlines Flight Forced To Make Emergency Landing After Employee Fell ...The Consumerist all 579 news articles »

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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Noted television director Michelle MacLaren, who was to develop and direct "Wonder Woman," has left the film due to creative differences.

While sexism has roamed the beer realm like a slobbering velociraptor since year dot, thanks to misogynistic marketing campaigns and patronising attitudes, today’s beer world seems to show little signs of progress.

Back in the early 1990s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control provided funding for studies on gun violence. The NRA was not pleased.

With Google Fiber preparing an expansion into Charlotte, North Carolina, incumbent cable operator Time Warner Cable is trying to hold onto customers by dramatically increasing Internet speeds at no extra charge.

The police officer who killed Walter Scott in South Carolina laughed about the adrenaline rush he was feeling in a conversation that offers a new insight into his mindset in the minutes after the shooting. Michael Slager has been charged with murder in the death of Walter Scott in a case that has shocked the nation.

“Facebook has more power in determining who can speak and who can be heard around the globe than any Supreme Court justice, any king or any president.” Those prescient words came from law professor Jeffrey Rosen way back in 2010. Five years later, the Times is willingly handing its censorship keys over to that king of kings.

Since we first took notice of her as Starbuck in Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reboot, Katee Sackhoff has had trouble finding another role worthy of her talents. She’s one of the best parts of the soon-to-be-on-Netflix show Longmire, despite being woefully underutilized. (A similar better-than-the-material arc occurred in her season on 24.) Her guest appearances as the cyborg nemesis in the Bionic Woman reboot made everyone wonder why she hadn’t just been given the title role. And sure, it was fun watching her in that Power/Rangers fan film, but it’s not exactly a recurring gig. So now it looks like Katee Sackhoff has realized there’s only one surefire way to get Katee Sackhoff a gig that will showcase her abilities: have Katee Sackhoff write Katee Sackhoff’s part. Deadline reports that Sackhoff is set to both write and star in Rain, a new futuristic ...

A rightfully incensed black-and-white cat pushed one of the two noisily barking dogs who so rudely interrupted his sunny nap right into the pool beside them all.

submitted by chrispdx [link] [81 comments]

Robert Bates, a 73-year-old white Tulsa, Okla. volunteer reserve deputy, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for shooting Eric Harris, ABC reported. Harris, a black man who was unarmed at the time, later died. 

Video of the April 2 shooting was released over the weekend. In it, Harris yells out after being shot: "He shot me. He shot me. Oh my God. I'm losing my breath," to which a police officer responds, "You shouldn't have fucking ran! Fuck your breath."

Bates allegedly mistook his firearm for a Taser, and shot Harris when he meant to stun him, the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office said. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office agreed. "You can tell it was inadvertant, Tulsa County Sheriff's Maj. Shannon Clark told ABC. "The gun popped out of his hand. He wasn't expecting a recoil."

The criminal charges against Bates and footage of Harris' death come just days after North Charleston, S.C. police officer Michael Slager was charged with murder for killing Walter Scott, a 50-year-old black man who, too, was unarmed. Video of Scott's killing was released last week.

submitted by fulcrumpdx [link] [28 comments]

A woman fighting with her husband ran into a doctor's office and begged the staff to call the police before the man shot her dead, ran to their home nearby and holed up there during a lengthy standoff with police, officials said Monday. Police didn't shoot any bullets but fired tear gas into the home, Fulmer said. The man came outside and had a gunshot wound to the head. Fulmer called it self-inflicted but said police didn't know exactly when it happened. The man was taken to a hospital and will be charged, Fulmer said.

Police are searching for a gunman after one person was shot and killed on the campus of Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, N.C., Monday.

Davis Square Station, Somerville, Massachusetts

AT LASP!  A royalty.

“They say that “Confronting triggers, not avoiding them, is the best way to overcome PTSD”. They point out that “exposure therapy” is the best treatment for trauma survivors, including rape victims. And that this involves reliving the trauma and exposing yourself to traumatic stimuli, exactly what trigger warnings are intended to prevent. All this is true. But I feel like they are missing a very important point.
YOU DO NOT GIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY TO PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
Psychotherapists treat arachnophobia with exposure therapy, too. They expose people first to cute, little spiders behind a glass cage. Then bigger spiders. Then they take them out of the cage. Finally, in a carefully controlled environment with their very supportive therapist standing by, they make people experience their worst fear, like having a big tarantula crawl all over them. It usually works pretty well.
Finding an arachnophobic person, and throwing a bucket full of tarantulas at them while shouting “I’M HELPING! I’M HELPING!” works less well.
And this seems to be the arachnophobe’s equivalent of the PTSD “advice” in the Pacific Standard. There are two problems with its approach. The first is that it avoids the carefully controlled, anxiety-minimizing setup of psychotherapy.
The second is that YOU DO NOT GIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY TO PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.”

- The Wonderful Thing About Triggers | Slate Star Codex (via brutereason)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Kevin Wolf

Photo by PoPville flickr user wolfpackWX

Photo by PoPville flickr user Kevin Wolf

Photo by PoPville flickr user Ted Eytan

Photo by PoPville flickr user Z.Lewkowicz

The sounds of space are free for all. via createddigitalmusic

Space is the place. Again.

And SoundCloud is now a place you can find sounds from the US government space agency, NASA. In addition to the requisite vocal clips (“Houston, we’ve had a problem” and “The Eagle has landed”), you get a lot more. There are rocket sounds, the chirps of satellites and equipment, lightning on Jupiter, interstellar plasma and radio emissions. And in one nod to humanity, and not just American humanity, there’s the Soviet satellite Sputnik (among many projects that are international in nature).
Many of these sounds were available before; I’ve actually used a number of them in my own music. But putting them on SoundCloud makes them much easier to browse and find, and there are download links. Have a listen below.

Another thing: you’re free to use all of these sounds as you wish, because NASA’s own audio isn’t copyrighted. It’s meant to be a public service to the American people of their taxpayer-funded government program, but that extends to everyone. There are some restrictions – not everything NASA publishes is covered by the same license, though it appears to be on SoundCloud. And you aren’t free to use NASA’s name or logo or imply commercial endorsement. (The Eagle didn’t land on a bag of Doritos.) But that means just about any imaginable musical application is fair game. They do ask you to list NASA as source, but that’s only reasonable. Read their content guidelines for full details.

Let the space remixing begin.

European Space Agency, your move.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in. If you want more, NASA centres all have archival libraries, and the agency has routinely worked with artists and composers to interpret the work they do. See also other research centers around the world. And yes, that’s my Saturn V photo at the top, because, and I’m sure this will come as a huge shock to everyone who reads this site, I’m a big nerd.

You can listen yo some space shuttle mission sounds here http://soundcloud.com/nasa/sets/space-shuttle-mission-sounds

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