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The myth that Cass Elliot died by choking on a ham sandwich in 1974 was invented by her manager in an attempt to protect her legacy, the singer’s daughter said. Owen Elliot-Kugell was 7 years old when Elliot passed away at 32 from a heart attack after 36 hours of performing and partying. The former The Mamas & the Papas vocalist had been developing her solo career in London, U.K,. and seemed to have a bright future ahead of her. “By the time she got back to her flat, it was evening the following day,” Elliot-Kugell told the BBC in...

When Mexican police found a pile of about 150 skulls in a cave near the Guatemalan border, they thought they were looking at a crime scene, and took the bones to the state capital. It turns out it was a very cold case. It took a decade of tests and analysis to determine the skulls were from sacrificial victims killed between A.D. 900 and 1200, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said Wednesday. Frontera Comalapa in southern Chiapas state has long been plagued by violence and immigrant trafficking. And pre-Hispanic skull piles in Mexico usually show a hole bashed...

Powerful, radio-wavelength laser light has been detected emanating from the greatest distance across deep space yet. It's a type of massless cosmic object called a megamaser, and its light has traveled for a jaw-dropping 5 billion light-years to reach us here on Earth. The astronomers who discovered it using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa have named it Nkalakatha – an isiZulu word meaning "big boss". The discovery has been accepted into The Astrophysical Journal Letters and is available on preprint server arXiv. "It's impressive that, with just a single night of observations, we've already found a record-breaking megamaser,"...

New footage shows Star Trek's William Shatner marvel at his view of Earth from his mission orbiting the planet aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. Shatner, who is famed for his role as Captain Kirk in the 1960s sci-fi series, and newly minted astronauts Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, ventured 351,186 feet above Earth's surface where they spent three minutes in weightlessness. They were captured floating weightlessly in wonder and excitement as they looked down on Earth. A new clip of the epic journey shows Shatner and crew adjust to their new conditions, with Shatner seemingly taken...

What was Obama’s top aide Valerie Jarrett thinking when she got dressed this morning? Was she feeling randy? Apparent so – that’s the only reason we can figure as to why Valerie Jarrett would dress exactly like Austin Powers for her appearance on CBS This Morning.

Austin Powers Actor Verne Troyer AKA Mini Is Gone At 49! How Many People Struggle To Cope As He Did!

When it comes to detecting laser pulses aliens might shoot at Earth to attract our attention, scientists now find they can detect signals as faint as a single photon of light every few tiny fractions of a second. Astronomers have gazed at the skies for decades searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Lasers can in principle help transmit messages over extraordinary distances, but while scientists have monitored a large number of stars looking for alien laser signals — for instance, facilities at Harvard and Princeton scanned more than 10,000 sun-like stars for several years — no evidence for any have...

An Oregon woman discovered the hairiest secret yet to self-confidence: growing her beard out. Rose Geil, 39, spent her teen years trying to bust her beard, shaving her stubbly mug every day .

On April 7, Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson said that the space company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos would be conducting its first unmanned test flights “later this year.” As it turns out, “later this year” meant “three weeks.” The company has announced that it had conducted the first flight of its New Shepard space vehicle yesterday. The propulsion module, powered by Blue Origin’s BE-3 rocket engine, took the New Shepard space capsule up to a speed of over Mach 3. The capsule then separated from the propulsion module and flew to an altitude of 307,000 feet before beginning...

Not so many years ago, cars that produced 300 horsepower or more were considered rather rare and desirable things. Generally only the top tier of sports car or the very most posh boulevardiers had engines that could muster such prodigious output, and the price tags of the vehicles reflected it. These days though, thanks to depreciation, a decade-long power race, and newly changing customer tastes, 300 horsepower cars can be had for much more reasonable rates—often less than $10,000. Those power and dollar figures are exciting starting places for those second-hand shoppers who may be looking for a deal on...

Oakland is often criticized for its gun violence, then not recognized when it tries to do something about it. On Saturday, the Oakland Police Department set up the city’s first ever gun buyback in a Caltrans lot in Fruitvale. The net recovery? 12 guns. OPD Lt. Blair Alexander, in charge of the buyback operation, told the Trib he was disappointed in the lack of support it received: “The more people who come out, the more they send a message of a united front against violence.” Community leaders including 100 Mothers, which focuses on gun violence, had organized the effort. Oakland...

A team of scientists headed by Theodor Hänsch from the Laser Spectroscopy Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics has collaborated with researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and Menlo Systems GmbH (Martinsried) in modifying the optical frequency-comb technique in a way that it can be applied for the calibration of astronomical spectrographs. Hänsch is one of the inventors of the optical frequency comb. The new instrument has been tested successfully with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), a spectrograph at the 3.6 m telescope at the La Silla...

OAKLAND ( CBS / AP) — Oakland officials were trying to reduce the number of guns in the city by offering a gift card to any Oakland resident who turns in a gun. As part of a gun buyback program, the city was handing out $100 gift cards to residents who handed over a working gun at the Oakland Police Department Saturday.

Pics: Here's a real shark with a real laser attached to its fin Through the collective power of Facebook "Liking," Wicked Lasers promised a shark with a laser attached to it. Internet, here's your shark with a laser mounted on its fin. The laser isn't on the shark's head, but this will do (for now). Did you really think that Wicked Lasers would arm a shark with a powerful weapon that would give it the ability to sear other marine life? Get real. True, Wicked Lasers and marine biologist Luke Tipple did mount an S3 Krypton laser to a lemon...

A bit actor who appeared in the first "Austin Powers" movie is suspected in the death of his cellmate at the California prison where he is serving a life sentence, corrections officials said Tuesday. Joseph Son , 40, wore a bowler hat and played one of Dr. Evil's henchmen, named Random Task, in 1997's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." He also was a mixed martial arts fighter who appeared in several other movies or videos in the 1990s, according to his Hollywood biography. He arrived at Wasco State Prison in the state's Central Valley on Sept. 16 after he...

An "Austin Powers" actor convicted of torturing a woman in Orange County is suspected of killing his cellmate in a Central Valley prison, authorities said Tuesday. Joseph Hyungmin Son, 40, allegedly killed his 50-year-old cellmate, who was found dead Monday afternoon at Wasco State Prison Reception Center in Kern County.

The public execution of eight Bangladeshi migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has been condemned by a leading human rights group in Bangladesh, Ain O Salish Kendra. The workers were beheaded in public in Riyadh on Friday after they were found guilty of killing an Egyptian in 2007. Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging in the same case. More than two million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia. The human rights group says the execution of Bangladeshi workers should be condemned by anyone who cares for humanity. It says that although the executions were carried out in accordance...

An actor who appeared in the first Austin Powers film is facing a life sentence after being convicted of taking part in a brutal rape. Joseph Son, 40, was found guilty of raping and torturing a 20-year-old woman after she was abducted near her home in Huntington Beach, California. Son, a mixed martial arts fighter, played the role of Dr Evil's handyman 'Random Task' in the 1997 film 'Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.'

It's already brought joy to three million Youtube viewers and it's sure to tickle many many more. Posted on June 3 and titled eHarmony Video Bio, it stars a woman calling herself Debbie, who seems shy and a bit ditzy but nevertheless is looking for a soulmate. She says it's her first attempt at an online dating video and that she's nervous and excited at the same time. After announcing she's an MBA graduate from Villanova university, she says she love cats...