On December 8th, 2004, a single question from a young soldier touched off a media firestorm. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had come to deliver a pep talk to the troops at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. But the usually unflappable Secretary found himself blindsided by a bold query. As news cameras rolled, Army Specialist Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team asked Rumsfeld, "Why do ...

The nuclear submarine Thresher had heavy steel bulkheads and heavy steel armor, so it could dive deep and withstand the pressure of the ocean. Unfortunately, on a test run in 1963, the Thresher's nuclear engine quit, and it could not get back to the surface. It sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. The pressure became immense. The heavy steel bulkheads buckled; the Thresher was crushed with 129 people ...

The top single superpower adults would most like to have:

To read minds: 28 percent
To fly: 15 percent
To be invisible: 11 percent
To possess super strength: 9 percent
To walk through walls: 1 percent

The New York Times reports, "Since the war started, more than 2,300 American soldiers in Iraq have been hurt in combat, many by artillery shells and homemade bombs that spray shrapnel. Bulletproof vests and helmets protect vital organs. But as the insurgency continues, doctors say that severe facial injuries, along with wounds to the arms and legs, are becoming a hallmark of this war."

Dr. Jeffrey ...

British admiral Lord David Beatty commanded a flotilla at the Battle of Jutland during World War I. As the battle began, British and German ships engaged each other long-range. A heavy cruiser, the Lion, was hit by an artillery barrage and quickly sunk. Next the Indefatigable was hit in its powder magazine and blown to pieces. Then the Queen Mary was sunk, taking a crew of 1,200 sailors straight to ...

During the time of the twelve Caesars, the Roman army would conduct morning inspections. As the inspecting Centurion would come in front of each legionnaire, the soldier would strike with his right fist the armor breastplate that covered his heart. The armor had to be strongest there in order to protect the heart from the sword thrusts and from arrow strikes. As the soldier struck his armor, he would ...

While many cities and villages along the Indian Ocean suffered catastrophic losses from the December 2004 tsunami, the port city of Pondicherry, India, and its 300,000 inhabitants were spared. Just beyond city limits, 600 people were killed by the devastating tidal wave, but Pondicherry withstood the tsunami. Why were they protected ?

The answer began 250 years ago when France colonized the city. The ...

In today's NFL, the players grabbing the most headlines are quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers. But according to Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side, the ones who grab the second highest paychecks are left tackles.

In the book, Lewis tries to explain the importance of these anonymous, but essential, offensive linemen. He traces their emerging importance back to the career-ending injury ...

While studying my way through a Ph.D program, I worked part time as the book review editor for a large website devoted to religion, spirituality, and morality. Beliefnet.com is multifaith. It has articles that would be of interest to evangelicals, Mormons, Reconstructionist Jews, Wiccans, Baha'is, Hindus, and just about everyone else on the planet.

I started this job with the naïve assumption that ...

Tyndale House Publishers found evidence that reading the Bible promotes a positive outlook. According to a study they commissioned with the Barna Research Group:

Eighty-two percent of regular Bible readers described themselves as "at peace" compared to 58 percent of those who said they never read the Bible.

Seventy-eight percent of regular Bible readers said they felt "happy" all or most of the time ...