Don Deane

Have you ever really wanted a carnival prize but couldn’t win it no matter how hard you tried? Peter Drakos doesn’t have that problem. In fact, the 64 year old Detroit resident may just be the best carnival game player in the world.

Ever been told to “grin and bear it” during a rough time? According to a new study by researchers at the University of Kansas, that advice might be more than just an old cliché. In fact, the study says, smiling might just be good for your heart.

In a move destined to make you wish that J.K. Rowling was your mom, the author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series recently won permission to build two massive 40-foot high tree houses in her backyard at a cost of almost $395,000.

During a videotaped message delivered during last night’s Republican National Convention, both former Bush presidents expressed support for Mitt Romney. But the most surreal moment came when the elder Bush recalled comedian Dana Carvey’s well-known impersonation of him.

Main Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles was a scene of confusion and mayhem Wednesday when a 100-year-old driver backed his car onto a sidewalk and injured nine children and two adults at the end of the school day.

It’s been 35 years since Elvis Presley died, but the King is still very much a hot commodity. As proof, a pair of Presley’s used underwear will go up for auction in Manchester, England, next month and could fetch tens of thousands of dollars. Oh, and did we mention that the skivvies have visible stains? Eww!

Although details are sketchy at the moment, several news outlets are reporting that a gunman has shot multiple people near the Empire State Building in Manhattan this morning.

It’s no secret that a sedentary lifestyle promotes obesity, but a new study by the Milken Institute in California confirms the negative impact of TVs and computers while adding a frightening statistic — for every 10 percent increase a country spends on technology, that country’s obesity rate climbs.

President Barack Obama has always been “down” with the young voters. He knows how to dance, he sings, he knows what these kids are saying these days, and he knows how to text. Turns out the latter will be his most important talent in the upcoming election. In what surely qualifies as one of the first large-scale examples of political fundraising through texting, Obama’s reelection campaign will be

Exactly one year ago Thursday, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia, rocked the Eastern seaboard, causing tremors from Georgia all the way to New England. Where were you when it happened?

In the U.K., a 40-year-old man recently had a plastic fork surgically removed from his stomach after swallowing it. That’s bad enough, but when you consider that he ingested the item a decade ago, the story reaches all new levels of weird. We’ll never look at cutlery the same way again.

According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, wakeful resting — otherwise known as “spacing out” — can actually improve memory. So, the next time somebody accuses you of not listening, just say you’re boosting your memory and there’s science to prove it.