News Room

Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism
- Environmental Well-Being
- February 16, 2014
This story is only now receiving national attention, but it happened last April. An electrical substation that powers Silicon Valley was knocked out after a sniper attack in which AK-47 assault weapons were reportedly used. It took almost a month to fully repair the station, and Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time, is calling it “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred.”
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Texting while walking poses safety risk and makes you ‘like a robot’, study finds
- Lifestyle & Relationships
- February 9, 2014
Have you ever been so focused on texting while walking that you bumped right into someone? It’s more than just annoying; it can actually be very dangerous for you and others. Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia have found that texting while walking inhibits your ability to walk in a straight line and slows you down, which puts you at risk of getting injured.
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Kindergartner’s weight strong predictor of later childhood obesity
- Home & Family
- February 8, 2014
Is your 5-year-old overweight? Kids who are obese in kindergarten are four times more likely to be obese later on in childhood. “The biggest risk of developing new obesity from ages 5 to 14 is really driven by kids entering kindergarten overweight. Those children who were born large or are overweight at age 5, something is happening very early in life which sets the pathway to obesity,” explains Dr. Venkat Narayan, lead author of a new study by Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
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Car-to-car talk: Hey, look out for that collision!
- Environmental Well-Being
- February 6, 2014
Talking cars that can save your life? Automakers may be required to use new technology that lets your car know when potential danger is ahead, the government has announced.
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Jimmy Fallon writes thank-you notes to Jay Leno
- Entertainment, Books & Humor
- February 6, 2014
Jimmy Fallon is replacing Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, but not before expressing his thanks and gratitude to the longtime host. While Fallon plans to bring his thank-you notes from Late Night to the show, he shared a few with Leno in person on-air.
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Katie Couric is ‘Fed Up’ with childhood obesity
- Celebrity HealthStyles
- February 6, 2014
Katie Couric is working to change the way people think about childhood obesity. She’s taking on the food industry in her new documentary, Fed Up, which was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. She dives right into the controversy over why children are packing on the pounds and the impact that processed foods and increased amounts of sugar have had on them.
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Experts: Heroin Is A Public Health Crisis
- Health & Healing
- February 6, 2014
The untimely death of award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has led experts to sound the alarm on the rising heroin epidemic in America. As Scott Hesseltine, operations director at Hazelden Treatment Center in Minnesota, says, “We can’t overshadow the fact that there is a public health crisis that is raging across this country. Scenarios like this are playing out in families and communities with alarming regularity and increased frequency.”
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Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Sheds Light on Heroin Addiction
- Celebrity HealthStyles
- February 6, 2014
The untimely death of award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has led experts to sound the alarm on the rising heroin epidemic in America. The number of people using heroin has doubled in the last five years alone, and an estimated 27,000 people have died from heroin use over the last decade. Users say they turn to the drug to help fight off depression, anger, and sadness, but the high only lasts a few hours. Dr. Greg Skipper says it’s possible to be a functioning heroin addict, so many families are left to cope with the harmful effects addiction has on their loved ones and their daily lives
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Thirteen-year-old author writes own success story
- Entertainment, Books & Humor
- February 6, 2014
Jake Marcionette loves writing so much that he was able to publish his own book, and he’s only 13 years old! In Just Jake, Marcionette takes on a humorous tone to explain what it’s like to be a student in middle school in Ponte Vedra, Florida, sharing some of the challenges he’s faced and how he avoided becoming a victim of bullying.
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A Mother’s Last Gift to Her Children May Be a Legacy Video
- Home & Family
- February 6, 2014
Mom Michelle Wallace found out she had an extreme case of endometrial cancer after giving birth to her fourth child, Toby, so she created a special video to help him remember her after she’s gone. Wallace is not alone, as many terminally ill patients are turning to nonprofits like Just So You Know and Thru My Eyes to create “legacy videos” free of charge for their families.
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Right Before Dying From A Rare Lifelong Disease, Sam Revealed His Three Secrets To Happiness
- Making a Positive Difference
- February 4, 2014
Sam Berns was diagnosed with the rare aging disease progeria at just two years old, but what he accomplished and shared with the world until his untimely passing at age 17 will stick with us forever. Sam’s life was profiled in an HBO documentary, Life According to Sam, and when you watch Sam, you can’t help but learn from his positive spirit. When asked what the most important thing was that people should know about him, Sam said, “That I have a very happy life.”
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‘He’s going to be better than he was before’
- Health & Healing
- February 4, 2014
On his CNN show, Sanjay Gupta, MD, Dr. Gupta presented the story of 16-year-old Grant Virgin and his remarkable recovery after a hit-and-run accident. Grant was left with life-threatening damage, including a traumatic brain injury and bleeding, a torn aorta, and fractures in his spine. The doctors grimly told his parents that he had little chance of survival, but the parents refused to give up on their child.
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It All Started With a 12-Year-Old Cousin
- Making a Positive Difference
- February 3, 2014
Back in 2008, Salman Kahn learned that his 12-year-old cousin, Nadia, was struggling with math and that she had switched to a slower class. All that Kahn, an MIT graduate and hedge-fund analyst, wanted to do was was to help Nadia develop her math skills. As Kahn tells The New York Times, before he knew it, many other family members were requesting his tutoring.
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MIT retools to aid students with startups
- Financial & Workplace Well-Being
- February 2, 2014
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been home to many inventions and well-known graduates, but the school is now making a push to foster entrepreneurship and become the leader when it comes to innovation.
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Dad Is Prepping Over 800 Napkin Notes for Daughter’s Lunchbox Before He Dies
- Home & Family
- January 31, 2014
Dad W. Garth Callaghan has been including notes in his daughter’s lunchbox since she was little, but after getting diagnosed with three types of cancer, he is now writing more than 800 notes so that his daughter, Emma, will keep receiving them when he’s gone. Known as “Napkin Note Dad,” Callaghan has his own Facebook page and Kindle eBook to inspire others to write notes to their children, too.
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