The meteorite crashed on March 17, slamming into the lunar surface at a mind-boggling 56,000 mph (90,000 kph) and creating a new crater 65 feet wide (20 meters). The crash sparked a bright flash of light that would have been visible to anyone looking at the moon at the time with the naked eye, NASA scientists say.

“On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium,” Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. “It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we’ve ever seen before.”

“When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back,” said Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, in a statement from the school. “Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound.”

Crazy ants, on the other hand, “go everywhere,” invading homes and nesting in walls and crawlspaces, even damaging electrical equipment by swarming inside appliances.

In the first two parts of this series on caffeine and kids, I explained how a host of new drinks, foods and snacks marketed mostly to kids are being injected with mega-amounts of caffeine. And many adolescents are falling prey to the “energy” misnomer and trap and unintentionally becoming caffeine addicts.

Consider that a single energy drink injects up to 14 times the caffeine that is found in a normal can of soda – an amount that is considered by some to be clinically toxic for children. Some drinks purport that they are sugar- and caffeine-free, but the primary stimulants in most are sugars and caffeine (sometimes in the form of guarana or yerba mate).

A 2011 study in the journal Pediatrics explained how “energy drinks are consumed by 30 percent to 50 percent of adolescents and young adults.” Of the 5,448 U.S. caffeine overdoses reported in 2007, 46 percent occurred in those younger than 19.

Last week, I discussed how caffeine has the Food and Drug Administration regulatory classification of “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, which means manufacturers can settle on their own what levels are safe in their products. The problem is that GRAS levels clearly are being superseded when mega-amounts of caffeine are being ingested all day from a host of products, especially by adolescents, whose bodies still are developing.

And remember that caffeine is just one of myriad added GRAS ingredients. The Associated Press recently pointed out: “As food companies have created more new ingredients to add health benefits, improve taste or help food stay fresh, there are at least 4,650 of these ‘generally recognized as safe’ ingredients, according to the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts. The bulk of them, at least 3,000, were determined GRAS by companies and trade associations.”

4,650?!

And should we also assume that the cocktail blends of those thousands of GRAS ingredients have no intermixing hazards and are equally GRAS together? And do we and our kids really need mega-amounts of caffeine added to the mix?

Regarding the more “natural” among the energy drinks, a recent Berkeley Wellness Alert reported that: “The claim that vitamins or herbal cocktails are ‘energizing’ is false. Vitamins and herbs do not give you energy.”

In the end, one won’t get much more energy from so-called energy drinks than one could get from a strong cup or two of coffee, because the body can only assimilate so much before it secretes it or overdoses on it. And that goes for many vitamins, too, which many people (and most youths) don’t realize can become toxic if taken in high doses.

The difficulty with classic sports drinks, such as Gatorade and Powerade, is that though they replace lost electrolytes and carbohydrates during sustained strenuous exercise and prevent dehydration, they also contain superfluous calories, other additives and sugars that promote obesity and cause tooth decay. Moreover, their replenishment can be characteristic of a short-lived glucose rush, despite the fact that they’re billed as electrolyte rejuvenators.

Seeing as food and beverage industries are playing with additive concoctions and we consumers are the guinea pig laboratories for their synthetic testing, isn’t an organic piece of fruit sounding better all the time?

In this age of rampant reckless recipes lining our groceries’ shelves, parents are going to have to be twice as diligent to help their kids make wise choices with their diets.

I’ll be straight with you: If I have a chance to go natural over synthetic, I’ll go natural every time. So if you’re looking for quick and sustained energy for an afternoon low or a pre-workout buzz, let me recommend a few of my favorite healthy energy-enhancing alternatives.

The fact is that eating an orange or banana (or any other potassium-rich fruit or vegetable), munching on a handful of peanuts and drinking a glass of water or a cup of orange juice an hour before a workout will give you a surge of sustained energy to carry you through most vigorous exercise programs. I call bananas “nature’s energy drinks” because they are loaded with nutrients and energy-boosting ingredients. (Go to creators.com and read a previous “C-Force” article titled “Nature’s Energy Drink: A Banana.”)

A study by the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension concludes that “sport drinks are poor sources of potassium.”

The article explains: “Athletes also may need more potassium to replace that lost from muscle during exercise and the smaller amount lost in sweat. Low potassium can cause muscle cramping and cardiovascular irregularities. Eating foods high in potassium can prevent these symptoms. One cup of orange juice, a banana or a potato is sufficient to replace the potassium lost during one to two hours of hard exercise.”

Dr. David L. Katz, internationally renowned authority on nutrition from the Yale University School of Medicine, similarly recommends pre-workout energy derived from “whole grains and lean protein such as eggs and nuts. The grains will provide carbohydrates that your body can readily convert to energy. And the protein can be put to use repairing and building new muscle following your workout, while the high-calorie but healthy fats in the nuts will fill you up quickly with less bulk.”

When in doubt, give nature a chance. Drink water to hydrate and rehydrate (including during exercise). And look to natural foods to offer energy, whether you’re going to school, going to work, going to a workout or replenishing electrolytes post-workout.

Go natural, and teach your kids to do the same.

Write to Chuck Norris with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at ChuckNorrisNews.Blogspot.com.

One month and one day after the April 15 explosions that killed three people and wounded hundreds more, the Boston Athletic Association said that 5,633 people who were stopped on the second half of the course when the race was shut down at 2:50 p.m. will be allowed to register early for next year’s race.

“The opportunity to run down Boylston Street and to cross the finish line amid thousands of spectators is a significant part of the entire Boston Marathon experience,” B.A.A. executive director Tom Grilk said. “With the opportunity to return and participate in 2014, we look forward to inviting back these athletes.”

However, though he expresses frustration with the global fascination with “one French-Canadian BRCA carrier living in LA,” Narod does not minimize the trauma of the mastectomy and the decision to undergo it.

“The mastectomy is easy, the reconstruction is hard. If you want the breasts to have the same appearance, it’ll be difficult; nipple sparing is hard. Any time you’re dealing with blood supply, it’s difficult,” says Jewish-Canadian Narod, the foremost researcher of BRCA gene mutations in the world.

The painting is by artist John Currin and is titled “Bea Arthur Naked.” It sold at Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Wednesday. It had been expected to bring in between $1.8 million and $2.5 million.

Christie’s hasn’t said who bought it.

The Central American nation’s Ministry of Tourism & Culture said in a news release that it and other agencies commissioned a probe into what happened at the Nohmul Mayan archaeological site in northern Belize. The pyramid dates back more than 2,000 years.

“This total disregard for Belize’s cultural heritage and national patrimony as well as the expressed disdain for our laws and policies is callous, ignorant, incomprehensible and unforgivable,” the ministry said in its statement.

Before Alayna threw her pitch, a message from Dad played on the video board, saying he’d see her soon. Indeed he would.

Because it turned out the whole thing was a ruse orchestrated by the U.S.O and the Rays. Lt. Col. Will Adams was, in fact, dressed in catcher’s gear, crouching behind home plate, awaiting the throw from his daughter.

How can you tell if your pool is dirty?

Kids still pee in it, but they refuse to get in first.

Got a great joke you want to share with the world? Write it up in the WND Laughlines forum. Who knows? It might be selected as the WND Joke of the Day – and your wildest dreams will come true.

It’s not only disgusting, but it’s evidence that people are not following basic hygiene rules, says Michele Hlavsa, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Swimming Program.

“It is time to stop treating the swimming pool as a toilet,” Hlavsa told NBC News. “Nowhere else except for the pool is it acceptable to poop in public or pee in public. In other places if we did this in public, we’d be arrested.”