The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t override tribal laws because the tribes are not parties to the U.S. Constitution. Tribal members Alray Nelson and Brennen Yonnie may challenge the legality of the Dine Marriage Act in the Navajo Supreme Court. “We can, yes, remove ourselves from our community and go get married like say in a city in San Francisco or in Albuquerque," said Nelson. "But that's not our community. Our songs and those prayers we were both raised with...[are] located here."   read more

If the women make it all the way through Ranger School, they will receive the coveted Ranger tab. However, they will not be permitted to serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment, which performs special operations missions. The women are part of a one-time experiment as the Army attempts to find out which combat jobs may be opened to women. The services may close off certain jobs to women, provided they show why they wouldn’t be suitable for the assignments.   read more

Georgia farms out the publishing of its laws to Lexis-Nexis, which writes annotations and then assigns the copyright for them back to the state. Lexis-Nexis then charges for access to the laws, something that Malamud says should be available for free to the taxpayers who paid for the laws in the first place.   read more

Under the settlement, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will acknowledge humanism as a worldview that deserves the same recognition as theistic religious beliefs. Inmates will be able to have humanist study groups and to observe Darwin Day just as Christians celebrate Christmas. Naturalist Charles Darwin’s birthday on February 12 is widely celebrated among humanists.   read more

During the first third of this year, 42.2 million individuals 18-34 years old lived on their own, according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers analyzed by Pew researchers. That’s fewer than in 2007, before the downturn, when 42.7 million headed their own households. Looking at just the post-recessionary period, the trend is for millennials is to stay with their parents. In 2010, 69% of this group lived independently. Five years later, the number has fallen to 67%.   read more

The Nonhuman Rights Project contended that “Hercules and Leo are autonomous and self-determining beings who possess the New York common law right to bodily liberty protected by the New York common law of habeas corpus.” Judge Jaffe denied this claim. “Animals, including chimpanzees and other highly intelligent mammals, are considered property under the law,” she ruled. “They are accorded no legal rights beyond being guaranteed the right to be free from physical abuse and other mistreatment.”   read more

Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer has come in for severe criticism since it became known that he killed Cecil, a 13-year-old lion who was lured out of a national park in Zimbabwe by local guides. Palmer reportedly paid about $54,000 for the chance to kill Cecil.   read more

One of these innocent bystanders was Dillan Harris, a 13-month-old child who was fatally struck earlier this month near a Chicago bus stop by a man fleeing police. The suspect led police on a 3.5-mile chase that included running four red lights and driving at speeds up to 70 mph in an area with a speed limit of 30 mph. Watkins lost control of his car, jumped a curb and struck the stroller Dillan was sitting in, dragging it and the infant into a vacant lot.   read more

“Loneliness is a form of suffering in older people that is prevalent but undetected and untreated in medical practice,” said researcher Donovan. "Our work shows that loneliness, like depression, is associated with accelerated cognitive decline in older Americans." Other researchers found watching too much TV might also lower cognitive function. People who watch four or more hours of TV had a 1.5% higher risk of performing worse on cognitive tests compared with those who watched less TV.   read more

The site provides many statistics on skin cancers, including that indoor tanning is linked to more skin cancers than cigarettes to lung cancers. Medical studies appear to support this surprising fact. According to the American Cancer Society, there were 224,210 new cases of lung cancer in the United States in 2014. A study published in JAMA Dermatology journal estimated that more than 419,000 cases of skin cancer a year can be attributed to indoor tanning.   read more

On January 14, Conan read this joke that Kaseberg claims he had posted earlier that day: “A Delta flight this week took off from Cleveland to New York with just two passengers. And they fought over control of the armrest the entire flight.” Then, on February 4, Conan used this joke, which Kaseberg claims he wrote and posted the day before: “Tom Brady said he wants to give his MVP truck to the man who won the game for the Patriots. So enjoy that truck, Pete Carroll."   read more

Kepler 452b is larger than Earth, about 1.5 times the radius with five times the mass. More importantly, the exoplanet circles a sun-like star in an orbit that takes 385 days, just slightly longer than our own year. These qualities put Kepler 452b in the so-called “Goldilocks” habitable zone that scientists say could result in lukewarm temperatures and liquid water on the surface.   read more

The youngest convicted murderers in U.S. history will soon be released from prison in Florida. The 12-year-old boy now a 29-year-old man became an ordained minister while in prison. But he has “very little knowledge of the real world. He also leaves with the burden of a lifetime of probation, which one lawyer described to me as having one foot on a banana peel and one foot in the Department of Corrections,” Torres wrote. Catherine found love and married a pen pal while serving her time.   read more

Huff was talking to his colleague in a hotel when the phone in his pocket unintentionally dialed his office. The call was received by his assistant, Carol Spaw. Spaw listened to Huff’s conversation for 90 minutes, recording portions of it and making notes, believing it involved illegal discrimination. She then passed her material to members of the board. Huff claimed Spaw’s actions—which also included recording a private conversation between Huff and his wife—violated his right to privacy.   read more

The White House announced earlier this month that Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in California and Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas would be protected as public lands. They join 16 other national monuments Obama has already created under the Antiquities Act. The president has set aside “more public lands and waters than any administration in history,” according to his administration.   read more

Called the geoduck, the clam features a long probing siphon that bulges out of its shell, according to BBC News. The geoduck is the largest burrowing clam in the world, weighing up to 16 pounds. Its siphon can grow as long as three feet, and the clam can live up to 160 years, but most commercial geoducks are harvested when they reach maturity after about six years.   read more