Y! Big Story: Summer solstice’s past and forecast
Everything you need to know to get up to speed on the story of the day Stonehenge summer solstice (Matt Cardy/Getty) Summer solstice arrives a day “early” this leap year, which gives us more time to appreciate what lies ahead: hotter-than-normal temperatures in some parts (and maybe an occasional dousing),…
Y! Big Story: Nik Wallenda, old-fashioned daredevil
Nik Wallenda on wire Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk across the Niagara Falls is astounding for two reasons—and not just for traipsing in leather-soled slippers across a two-inch-thick wire 170 feet above tumbling waters. The gorge, after all, has been rope-walked 16 times (11 have survived), although not for the last…
Y! Big Story: Behind Syria’s “civil war”
Syria protesters (Reuters/Shaam News Network/Handout) It took 15 months, more than 14,000 lives, and shots fired at United Nations monitors investigating a massacre before the U.N. called Syria’s conflict a civil war. The acknowledgment came June 12 from the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous. Of course, unless the…
Y! Big Story: The politics of the slap
Ilias Kasidiaris assaults Liana Kanelli on Greek TV. (AP Photo/ANTENA TV) A slap may not damage, but it can wound. Ilias Kasidiaris is the latest offender to buzz the Web, after the deputy of the Greek Golden Dawn party—described as neo-Nazi extremists—slapped a female political rival three times on a…
Mortgage Loans, Supermoon, Jessica Simpson Baby: What’s Spiking (Tuesday)
The weekday report for the topics and people that are trending on Yahoo! and across the Web for Tuesday May 1, 2012. Research by Search editor Liz Streng On May Day, as some of the 99 percent took to the streets, others took to the Web to dig into…
Y! Big Story: Occupy actions on May Day
May Day May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is a holiday in 75 countries, but not in United States, the country where people may work the hardest of all. Occupy, though, has a notion to take the day for its Spring Reawakening. Its General Strike Facebook page sums…
Candidate Mitt Romney, government scandals, missing children: What’s spiking (April report)
April proved a political test for election-year candidates. In the GOP contest, one dropped out, and another trembles on the precipice. On the Democratic front, embarrassing agency scandals unearthed a party culture that resulted in a mass of congressional hearings and a game of musical chairs. In other news, the…
Pygmies, Poe, Monkeypox: What’s Spiking (Friday)
The weekday report for the topics and people that are trending on Yahoo! and across the Web for Friday April 27, 2012. Research by Search editor Liz Streng What makes a pygmy short? Why is Poe so pop-culture addictive? Why do mothers worry about monkeypox? These are just some of…
Y! Big Story: What the brain tells us
This week yielded some amazing reports on brain research, from diagnosing injury before the symptoms manifest to tracking emotional behavior to specific little gray cells. Here are just a few: The serious consequences of a blow to the head, and a possible test. Most people know the insidious consequences of…
Chernobyl, Cage-Free Fast Foods, Rare Leopard: What’s Spiking (Thursday)
The weekday report for the topics and people that are trending on Yahoo! and across the Web for Thursday April 26, 2012. Research by Search editor Liz Streng An anniversary of a nuclear plant meltdown brought countries together to help rebuild its shelter, but a coincident act of nature panicked…