Mixing Opioids and Sedatives Can Be Lethal, FDA Warns
The Food and Drug Administration has strengthened its warning against mixing prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Percocet with sedatives used for anxiety, insomnia and seizure disorders. The combination of the commonly prescribed medications can result in breathing problems, coma and death. Federal figures estimate that almost 1 in 3 accidental deaths from opioid overdoses in the U.S. — which have increased more than fourfold since 1999 — also involve sedatives like Valium and Xanax. [New York Times]
High Security Protocols Are in Place in French Schools
French students are back at school and will go through training on how to hide, escape and help each other during a terrorist attack, according to the BBC. One such lesson includes a game about how to hide quietly and is called “le roi du silence.” Security will also be heightened at entrances to schools. [BBC]
Georgetown University to Offer Admissions Preference For Descendants of Slaves
The university, which profited deeply from the sale of 272 slaves, is seeking to make amends for its tainted past. Georgetown plans to not only award admissions preferences for descendants of those enslaved people, but also rename two campus buildings after an African-American man, who was a slave, and an African-American educator, the New York Times reports. But the university’s efforts will hinge greatly on the steps it takes to find and recruit these descendants. [New York Times]
Selena Gomez Taking Time Off to Deal With ‘Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Depression’
Selena Gomez, who revealed last year that she has been struggling with lupus, said that she will be taking time off from touring to focus on her health. The 24-year-old singer suffers from anxiety, panic attacks and depression, which she said can be side effects of the autoimmune disease. She also revealed that she went through chemotherapy to ease the illness. [Los Angeles Times]
Trump’s Campaign Chief Caught on Tape Calling Female Co-Worker a 'Bimbo'
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s campaign chief and the executive director of Brietbart News, was caught on tape calling a female co-worker a “bimbo,” “deluded,” and voicing plans to “kick her ass.” [New York Magazine]
The Pill, the Condom and the American Dream
The gap between rich and poor is growing in America, but the achievement gap between rich and poor kids has been shrinking — is a reduction in teen pregnancy a key to the seemingly incongruous stats? Maybe. [The Atlantic]
Spike Jonze Made a Crazy Perfume Ad
Boing Boing declared Spike Jonze’s perfume ad for Kenzo, choreographed by the man behind Sia’s “Chandelier” music video, the best perfume commercial ever. We find it slightly fear-inducing, like if the Exorcist was redone as a high-fashion modern dance performance. Don this Kenzo perfume at your own risk. [Boing Boing]
Elon Musk Just Blew Up Another Rocket
Black smoke rose over the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after an apparent explosion of an unmanned rocket set to be launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Details are scarce at the moment, but if the rocket did blow up it would be a setback for Musk’s extraterrestrial ambitions after a year of more successful test flights. [BuzzFeed]
Mexico President Says He Told Trump His Country Won’t Pay for Wall
Trump’s visit to Mexico Wednesday to meet with the country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, seemed uneventful with Trump telling reporters that, although the border wall was discussed, who will pay for it was not — until Pena Nieto contradicted him. “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall,” the Mexican leader tweeted, sparking questions and concerns about who should be believed. [The Guardian]
How Russia Often Benefits When Julian Assange Reveals the West’s Secrets
This profile reveals how WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has faltered in his philosophy of exposing the secrets of oppressive governments by recently releasing information that “by conviction, convenience or coincidence” have benefited those very regimes, mainly Russia. [New York Times]
What Students Wished Their Teachers Knew
A Colorado teacher asked her third-graders a simple prompt in an attempt to get to know them better, requesting that they finish the sentence: “I wish my teacher knew…” Many answers were heartbreaking and eye-opening, with responses including, “I wish my teacher knew I don’t have pencils at home to do my homework,” or “I wish my teacher knew how much I miss my dad because he got deported to Mexico when I was 3 years old and I haven’t seen him in six years.” [New York Times]
The Story of a PTA Mom Framed for Drugs Is Part Sherlock Holmes
This Los Angeles Times series tells the bizarre story of a PTA mom at a high-performing California elementary school busted for a car filled with pot and other drugs. The tale is part Sherlock Holmes, part “Desperate Housewives,” and is being rolled out in chapters this week, with the final installments due Friday and Sunday. [Los Angeles Times]
Scientists Discover the Oldest Known Fossils in Outcropping in Greenland
Scientists tracked down the oldest fossils they’ve ever encountered before, around 200 million years older than any fossil on record, the Washington Post reports. If their findings are confirmed that the fossils are in fact 3.7 billion years old, it would provide ammunition for the theory that life on earth began shortly after its formation. The ancient rocks are fossilized stromatolites, which are basically “pillows of slime,” or microbial mats that grow in shallow waters, according to the Post. [Washington Post]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Nicole Levy, Shaye Weaver, Danielle Tcholakian, Irene Plagianos, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Nikhita Venugopal, Gwynne Hogan, Noah Hurowitz, Camille Bautista, Jeanmarie Evelly, Carolina Pichardo, Dartunorro Clark, Allegra Hobbs.
