Headlines from January 10, 2013

In a rebuke of the steroid era, no one is elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame—the second time in 43 years.
Kevin Guilfoile exposes the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs among famous playwrights. #tmn
A new report finds as much as half of all the world’s food is thrown away.
Declining migration and birthrates in California foretell fewer children, future economic struggles.
Carl Berner, believed to be New York City’s oldest man, dies one day short of his 111th birthday.
Scientists discover tumors in mice with drug-resistant melanoma shrank only when treatment was stopped.
Because the city would have been submerged when dinosaurs lived, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., will remove a Apatosaurus statue.
Remote Japanese town bills itself as Christ’s burial place.
The rise and fall of the Tea Party and the conservatives from Mars. #politics
A profoundly elegiac ballad that seems to look back at Bowie’s Berlin period. Bowie releases his first song in a decade. #music
A BBC documentary tells the story of Ziggy Stardust. #video
Song of the day: John Talabot and Pional’s remix of “Chained” by the xx. #video
Related: Talabot and the xx were featured in Andrew Womack’s “Top 10 Albums of 2012” at TMN. #tmn
Profiles of five senators who will play key roles in determining the fate of any gun legislation
As the guns debate heats up, it’s useful to remember Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies.
Studies show the rise and fall in crime follows a rise and fall in the exposure of infants to trace quantities of lead.
Worst winter storm in two decades ravages eastern Mediterranean, killing dozens in Syria.
Australia fights hundreds of fires, attempting to control blazes before the anticipated temperature rise.
Nearly all scientific work on fracking is directed toward extraction, and almost none is focused on critical environmental and public health effects.
The astonishing survival story of Douglas Mawson’s Polar journey, when the soles of his feet fell off.
China’s newest fashion star is a 72-year-old retired farmer with nice legs.
John Travolta’s former Scientology handler was named Spanky Taylor, and their relationship was strained.
See also: The Hairpin’s “Scandals of Classic Hollywood” series.
Night skies made from ashes. #photography #tmn
Mystery shoppers visit every branch of Pret A Manger every week to reward or punish employees.
New program hopes to rehabilitate errant scientists who have committed ethical violations.
Advice for parents who may not realize they’re bullying their own overweight children.
Thanks to the internet, cartooning creativity has recovered from terminal decline and is in rare bloom.
YouTube exposes us to so many extraordinary things, the improbable has become the new normal. via #opinions