Blog Posts by Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News

Are we our own greatest threat? A new scientific paper says technology could end humanity. (Getty)The crazy man walking down the city street holding a sign that reads “The end is near” might just have a point.

A team of mathematicians, philosophers and scientists at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute say there is ever-increasing evidence that the human race’s reliance on technology could, in fact, lead to its demise.

The group has a forthcoming paper entitled “Existential Risk Prevention as Global Priority,” arguing that we face a real risk to our own existence. And not a slow demise in some distant, theoretical future. The end could come as soon as the next century.

"There is a great race on between humanity’s technological powers and our wisdom to use those powers well," institute director Nick Bostrom told MSN. "I’m worried that the former will pull too far ahead."

There’s something about the end of the world that we just can’t shake. Even with the paranoia of 2012 Mayan prophecies behind us, people still remain fascinated by the potential for an extinction-level

People weighing more than 260 pounds are banned from NYC's bike-share program. (Wikicommons)New York City has made international headlines with its efforts to curb obesity through proposals such as an attempted ban on large soda drinks.

And the city has launched another effort that's also been enacted by several other U.S. cities, a bike-share program. But if you’re hoping to peddle away the pounds, there’s one catch: The city says you have to weigh less than 260 pounds to sign up.

As the New York Post reports, the city says it placed the weight limits based on a recommendation from the bicycle manufacturer. And Department of Transportation policy director Jon Orcutt tells the Post that the city won’t really enforce the rule, anyway.

“I think people will be self-selecting, practical and safe,” he said.

A number of cyclists and bike shop owners told the Post that the hefty frames on the bikes used in the program should be adequate to support someone who weighs 260 pounds. And the specific weight raises the question, what exactly is obese? The USDA links to a page from the

The 54-foot-tall rubber duck makes its way into Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour (Bobby Yip/Reuters)

It was like something out of a Ducks Unlimited member’s dreams: A 54-foot-tall rubber duck sailed into a Hong Kong harbor on Thursday.

Hundreds gathered at Victoria Harbour to cheer the arrival of the duck, which was designed by Dutch artist Flortentijn Hofman. The enormous duckling was built in 2007 and has since traveled to 13 cities and nine countries.

"My sculptures cause an uproar, astonishment and put a smile on your face," Hoffman told the Daily Mail. "They give people a break from their daily routines. Passers-by stop in front of them and enter into conversation with other spectators. People are making contact with each other again."

Would-be ice cream kingpin Joshua Malatino has a history of intimidating his rivals. (Gloversville Police Department)Here’s a scoop: Don’t try selling your push-up pops on Joshua Malatino’s corner.

The owner of the Sno Cone Joe franchise reportedly stalked a Mr. Ding-a-Ling ice cream vendor, telling the man, “You don’t have a chance! This is my town!”

The Gloversville, N.Y., police arrested Malatino after they spotted him tailgating the rival driver. They then charged him with harassment and misdemeanor stalking. He could face three months in prison if convicted.

So, was this a low-level mob ice cream operation attempting to enforce its turf, or just one man’s sugary meltdown? Police aren’t saying, but they do acknowledge Malatino has been in trouble with authorities in the past.

Malatino, 34, and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Amanda Scott, reportedly had shadowed the rival ice cream truck driver and attempted to block his sales.

Police said Malatino and Scott would yell out “Free ice cream!” to potential customers making their way to the rival Mr. Ding-a-ling truck.

Malatino allegedly even called Mr.

Items like the McBaguette have helped McDonald's and other fast-food chains gain popularity in France. (Wikicommons)

It appears that freedom fries have liberated the French from their historically good taste.

The French, who have long held high culinary standards, aren’t afraid to flaunt their commitment to quality. But even the world’s first foodies have their limits, if a new study is to be believed. That’s because new data says the French have surrendered to fast food, which has supplanted restaurants to become the nation’s top dining choice.

NPR reports that fast-food chains are now responsible for 54 percent of all restaurant sales in France. And the number of fast-food sales has increased by 14 percent just in the past year.

"In previous years, we could see fast food was gaining ground, but this is the first time it has overtaken restaurants where you are served at the table," Julien Janneau of food consultancy firm Gira Conseil, whose company provided the data, told the French newspaper Nouvel Observateur.

In addition, Gira Conseil found that the number of French cafes, where more

For most people, a Florida crab festival brings to mind a mellow time with ample beverages to wash down the abundance of crustacean culinary delights.

But one Florida crab fest was anything but after five people were shot, including one man who later died.

And as the Sun-Sentinel reports, shooting or not, the event isn’t even remotely connected to anything resembling a traditional crab festival.

Instead, the city of Williston’s Crab Fest is actually a series of unofficially organized street parties that brought in an estimated 10,000 revelers this year.

If it weren’t for the violence, that would be an impressive statistic, especially considering the event has no corporate or government advertising and is instead promoted primarily through social media circles and word of mouth.

But the Levy County sheriff's office says the event has been plagued by violence for years. So this time, authorities tried to be prepared.

“The Levy County Department of Public Safety had pre-staged ambulances

A urine specimen (Wikicommons)Police are trying to figure out exactly how to handle one man’s truly wasteful collection after 300 gallons of bottled urine were discovered inside a residential home.

According to the News-Times, Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) spokesman Dennis Schain said authorities found “200 to 300 one-gallon plastic jugs filled with human urine" during a search of the man’s home in Watertown, Connecticut.

Police have declined to publicly release the man’s name, as he has not yet been formally charged with a crime.

"An environmental contractor ... was brought into help deal with this under our supervision," Schain told the paper, saying DEEP authorities were called in to assess what he described as a home "in a state of disrepair."

Despite the disturbing and unusual nature of the urine collection, Schain said it’s unlikely authorities will actually charge the man with a crime. He’s not the first person to store his own urine, with these cases often tied to mental

A giant statue recovered from the ancient city Heracleion. (Reuters)

Until a decade ago, no one knew if Heracleion, believed to be an ancient harbor city, was fiction or real. Now, reports the Telegraph, the researchers who found it—150 feet beneath the surface of Egypt's Bay of Aboukir—are sharing some of the amazing historical artifacts preserved there.

The finds include 64 ships, 16-foot-tall statues, 700 anchors and countless gold coins and smaller artifacts.

According to underwater archeologist Franck Goddio, credited with having discovered the site, the city was probably built sometime around the 8^th century B.C., which makes it older than the famed city of Alexandria. Over the years, it fell victim to a number of natural disasters before being swallowed by the sea, probably around A.D. 700.

“We are just at the beginning of our research,” said Goddio. “We will probably have to continue working for the next 200 years for [it] to be fully revealed and understood.”

It's believed that gradual soil erosion eventually caused Heracleion to fall into the