If you have a chance to win a basketball game but need to make a shot from 10 feet away on the right side of the court, do you try a direct shot or use the backboard to bank home the winning basket?

New research by engineers at North Carolina State University, done by simulating one million shots with a computer, has them declaring you have a better chance of scoring that particular game-winning bucket with a bank shot than with a direct shot.

A new composite image  from NASA shows the central region of the spiral galaxy NGC 4151...and, well...if you have seen the film versions of "The Lord of the Rings" you know what it looks like.

So do astronomers and, so, "Eye of Sauron" it is.

Despite the culture war on smokers, the idea that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer or lung disease is largely a myth.   Anti-smoking groups are a multi-billion dollar industry on their own and continued marketing is a key part of maintaining the revenue stream but only 10% of smokers get lung cancer and 50% of lung cancer victims never smoked.

However, cigarette smoking is obviously not good for you so you shouldn't do it, and work continues to determine how smoking impacts risk factors for diseases.