Brittany Smearer

'I Never Told Anyone Not to Vaccinate'

Vaccination is among the few definitive tenets of disease prevention, but because of rampant misinformation, fear, and scientific illiteracy, rare infections have come back to life.<p>In the way the word <i>cancer</i> quiets a room, <i>polio</i> once did. Now it sounds archaic. So does <i>measles</i>, which can make it …

Fisherman finds large red dildo in cod he has just caught

A fisherman was baffled after he found a massive dildo inside a cod he had just caught.<p>Bjoern Frilund, 64, was pleased to have reeled in the six …

Apple Upgrade Tracks Customers Even When Marketing Apps Are Off

The people who design marketing apps are celebrating a change in the way iBeacon works on iPhones. That's the Bluetooth-based system that lets a store track a customer's movements, and capitalize on them. For instance, if iBeacon detects you lingering in the shoe department, it might send you a …

Storms Head East After Battering Midwest, South

A powerful weather system has spawned tornadoes, flash floods and hailstorms from Texas to Michigan. NBC’s Joe Fryer reports.<p>Read more here.

Doctors Are Talking About Creating A New Attention Disorder For 'Daydreamy' Kids

Alex Dodd/flickrAccording to the New York Times, some researchers say that almost two million American kids could have a controversial attention disorder called "sluggish cognitive tempo."<p>Half of these kids are a subset of the six million currently diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity …

Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing

An X-Box, a Nintendo Wii and a Sony Playstation, along with dozens of games and gaming paraphernalia, an iPod, an iPad and three computers were taken from the home of the Pennsylvania high school stabbing suspect, according to an affidavit released Monday.<p>But the most ominous thing on the list is a …

'World's most haunted island' up for auction

Dubbed one of the most haunted places in the world, Poveglia, which was sealed off after it was hit by the plague, is to be sold off to raise money for Italy<p>A lease of a Venetian island described as one of the most haunted places in Italy is due to be auctioned off next month as the Italian state …

Tennessee is Making Pregnancy a Criminal Liability

The state legislature has passed a bill that would allow police to investigate drug-taking mothers if their unborn children are harmed by their …

12 Ways To Make Your Chocolate Chip Cookies Even Better

There's something magical about putting a batch of cookies in the oven and watching them bake into perfect, chewy chocolate chip cookies. No matter how many times we make cookies, this transformation never loses its charm. The sad thing though is that sometimes our hard work in the kitchen is …

Southern Ontario, Quebec on flood watch with heavy rains on the way http://natpo.st/1iIDxh2

Meet the man who created the bug that almost broke the Internet

The Heartbleed cybersecurity problem began on New Year's Eve 2011, about an hour before the stroke of midnight on a Saturday, when a British computer consultant in Staffordshire posted a new version of a popular free cryptographic system, OpenSSL.<p>The British consultant, Stephen Henson, had reviewed …

CRA online services running again following Heartbleed scare

The federal tax agency says its online services are up and running again after it blocked public access five days ago due to the so-called Heartbleed bug.<p>The Canada Revenue Agency says the security risk has been addressed, but added it will not apply interest or penalties to individual taxpayers …

Market View: The fascinating e-mail Steve Jobs left behind

Documents revealed in the ongoing Apple-Samsung patent dispute shed light on the late CEO's plans before his untimely death, Michael Babad explains

An Ohio man who spent hours on a street corner Sunday with a sign declaring he's a bully says that the punishment in a disorderly conduct case was unfair and that the judge who sentenced him has ruined his life. Do you think this was a just punishment? http://www.cbc.ca/1.2608931

East Coast seal hunt starts amid ongoing court case, trade challenge

The annual East Coast seal hunt starts Monday against a backdrop of ongoing trade and court challenges in Europe and renewed claims from animal welfare groups that the 400-year-old industry is dead in the water.<p>Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of the Canadian wing of Humane Society …

Subway 'Yoga Mat' Chemical Is History

Subway says the ingredient dubbed the "yoga mat chemical" will be entirely phased out of its bread by next week, reflecting the greater scrutiny food …