By: Aisha North, 12/12/2013

We think you will all feel a sort of quickening in the air now, like a slight shift in the pressure or the temperature, and we gather many of your animal friends will exhibit symptoms of noticing the same. For there is something approaching indeed, and you are just about to pick up on the first signals coming in from this rainstorm of light that we have referred to so many times in earlier missives. For it is indeed approaching you, and now you will all feel these faint stirrings coming in, just like those magnificent beasts, the elephants, can pick up signals through the soles of their feet.

Natural Society, By: Elizabeth Renter, 12/11/2013

They are definitely delicious, but for many people, the taste alone isn’t justification for all the work that goes into selecting, peeling, and eating pomegranates. If the taste doesn’t draw you in, however, there are numerous health benefits that should. Good things are worth working for and the pomegranate is one example of this.

Pomegranates are loaded with antioxidants known as polyphenols and, in my opinion, have certainly earned the label “superfood”. They are an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin K, and potassium. But of course it doesn’t end there.

For more information visit www.naturalsociety.com

By: Redorbit.com, 12/10/2013

Tropical Cyclone Madi is headed for a landfall in southeastern India, and NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s TRMM satellite found that rainfall was heaviest north of the storm’s center. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM captured data on Tropical Cyclone Madi’s rainfall on Dec. 8 at 1144 UTC/6:44 a.m. EST. TRMM saw the bulk of the storm’s rainfall was occurring north of the center of circulation and falling at a rate of 1 inch/30 mm per hour with isolated areas of 2 inches/50 mm.

For more on this story visit www.redorbit.com

GFP Commentary: We do not recommend the use of vaccines

By: Michael Hiltzik, 12/10/2013

Having taken a fair amount of heat from the science-based community for her recent show promoting scare stories about an important immunological vaccine, Katie Couric has backed off.  In a piece appearing Tuesday in the Huffington Post, the TV host conceded that some of the criticism that the segment was "too anti-vaccine and anti-science" was "valid...in retrospect." She acknowledged that "more emphasis should have been given to the safety and efficacy of the HPV vaccines."

For more on this story visit www.latimes.com

By: Adam Withnall, 12/09/2013

A powerful icy storm system is sweeping across the US, resulting in temperatures dropping to -29C and lower as well as deaths, power cuts and massive travel disruption. Yesterday the winter storm began pushing up the country's densely-populated Eastern Seaboard, and forecasters say it will continue to drop freezing rain, sleet and snow on cities from West Virginia to Maine. A severe warning was issued by the Government’s National Weather Service (NWS) at the weekend, and officials say temperatures will remain low until late on Monday (local time) when the system exits to the northeast.

For more on this story visit http://www.independent.co.uk