A warm start to the year, and more

A warm start to the year

The U.S. just experienced the warmest start to a year since records began, in 1895. Temperatures in the lower 48 states were a record-shattering 8.6 degrees above normal for March, and 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months.

Associated Press

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Prescriptions for opioids soar

The number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers such as OxyContin has soared 400 percent in the past decade, leading to growing abuse and addiction. “If doctors understood how hard it is to get patients off of these drugs,” said pain specialist Dr. Jane Ballantyne, “they would not prescribe them to begin with.”

The New York Times

A battle brews among the brewers

Craft brewers such as Sierra Nevada and Samuel Adams sold 13 percent more beer last year, while the top 10 major brewers continued to see their sales decline. There are now more than 2,000 craft brewers in the U.S.

The Daily

Student spies?

Foreign security agencies from such countries as Iran and China are using students from their nations who are studying in the U.S. to obtain cutting-edge research on information technology, lasers, and aeronautics, the FBI says. About 41 percent of the students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are foreigners on visas.

Bloomberg.com

Antidepressant use in the Army

Over 110,000 active-duty Army troops were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics, and anti-anxiety drugs last year. More than 6 percent of the Army’s active troops are currently on antidepressants.

Los Angeles Times