Category Archives: Science and Environment

‘SELFITIS,’ ‘CYBERESPIONAGE,’ ‘PROTOPLANET’ NEWEST WORDS IN OXFORD DICTIONARIES

imageLondon, Great Britain – Oxford University has just announced the newest additions to the world’s largest dictionary in English.

Technology and the Interet are as popular as ever in providing new words, from lock screen and headcam to cyberespionage. Cyberespionage came about as a result of recently-revealed practices by the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) to spy on phone conversations and Internet communications among governments and private citizens.

Astrology’s newest word contribution is protoplanet, defined as a small celestial object that is the size of a moon or a bit bigger.  Astronomers believe that these objects form during the creation of a solar system.

Food coma, another addition to the Oxford Dictionaries, is the feeling of listlessness, bordering on sleep, that one feels after eating a large meal, often caused by a rush of blood to the stomach and intestines during food digestion.

But the most popular yet controversial word addition is ‘selfitis,’ the obsessive-compulsive urge to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media.  Earlier this month, The Adobo Chronicles broke the story regarding the American Psychiatric Association officially classifying selfie-taking as a mental disorder.

Last year, Oxford Dictionaries named ‘selfie’ as their 2013 word of the year.  Will ‘selfitis’ be the word for 2014?

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION DISCOVERED ON MARS

NASA photo captured by Mars Rover
NASA photo captured by Mars Rover

Washington, D.C. – It was the search for weapons of mass destruction that prompted the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  It was to become the legacy of the administration of George W. Bush. But neither the ‘shock and awe’ that began the Iraq war nor Bush’s speech on board USS Abraham Lincoln with the sign ‘Mission Accomplished’ emblazoned behind him produced any evidence of  WMDs.

Now, it can be revealed that the regime of Saddam Hussein indeed harbored weapons of mass destruction, not hidden anywhere within Iraqi territory, but stashed away on the planet Mars.

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) has released photos taken by one of two rovers on the red planet. The photos showed what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet’s surface, and beamed millions of miles from Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Scientists were quick to speculate that intelligent beings exist in Mars.  However, a confidential memo from the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the light beam was part of the cache of WMDs which it said Iraq sent to the red planet just weeks prior to the U.S. invasion.

Both NASA and DOD are currently determining whether the WMDs were rocketed to Mars in unmanned spaceships or whether there actually are Iraqis now on Mars who are managing and maintaining the weapons.

 

 

BILL CLINTON ENDORSES MANNY PACQUIAO FOR PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT

Clinton with Pacquiao
Clinton with Pacquiao

Las Vegas, Nevada – Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao had an unexpected visitor this week during his training session for his upcoming rematch with Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas. The visitor? Former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton has never made secret his admiration for the Filipino boxer who also happens to be a member of the Philippine House of Representatives. Pacquiao is the incumbent elected representative of his hometown of Sarangani.

During the 30-minute visit, Clinton and Pacquiao discussed a wide range of issues, from the future of the boxing sport to the Clinton Global Initiative to Philippine politics.

At the end of the private meeting, Clinton announced that he was betting his dollar on Pacquiao and predicted that the Filipino boxer will regain the title he lost by a controversial judges’ decision to Bradley. The Pacquiao-Bradley2 match will take place April 12 at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas.

Clinton also made another surprising announcement: that he was endorsing Pacquiao’s candidacy for the 2016 Philippine presidential elections.

Several months ago, The Adobo Chronicles broke the story about Pacquiao’s quest to succeed President NoyNoy Aquino whose term expires in 2016.

Political analysts are in agreement that because of Pacquiao’s enormous popularity among the Filipino people, he could win the elections hands down on his own, but they also agree that the endorsement by the equally popular Clinton would put Pacquiao way over the top in the 2016 political contest.

Presumptive 2016 presidential candidate, incumbent Vice President Jejomar Binay, has yet to comment on the Clinton endorsement of Pacquiao.