Talk about a heavy hand: State police say they clocked Nikkolaus McCarthy, 25, flying across the New York Thruway at 170 mph.

That's not a typo. Police said when they finally caught up with him 50 miles later and told McCarthy how fast he was going, he allegedly bragged saying his bike could break the 190 mph barrier.

The Albany Times Union reports:

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney just may be the same person. Think about it. Have you ever seen the two of them in the same limo?

All right. Of course, the pair of politicians who will in all likelihood be the major party nominees for the 2012 presidential election have their differences. Republican Romney, for instance, has been a governor and chairman of the Olympics; Democrat Obama has not. Obama, on the other hand, has been a senator and a president. Romney has not.

A day after the security forces of President Bashar Assad raided the campus of Aleppo University, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Syria's second city and its economic powerhouse.

The AP talked to Mohammed Saeed, an activist, who said protesters were "incensed" by the raid at the university, which killed four.

"Everyone wants to express solidarity with those students," the activist told the AP, adding that the forces fired live ammunition into the crowd.

The AP adds:

It was just a week ago that he dropped into our lives.

Now, we're sorry to report that "falling bear" is dead.

In case you're not familiar with the story, it was April 26 when University of Colorado Boulder student Andy Duann snapped a shot of a tranquilized bear as it was falling from a tree on campus.

The bear survived and was released back into the wild about 50 miles from Boulder.

Here at The Salt, we've taken note of the all-too-common habit of letting food rot in the fridge. Food waste can cost hundreds of dollars a year, and once it arrives at a landfill to decompose, it turns into a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. And that makes us feel guilty.

Now some home appliance companies are banking on the hope that some consumers will turn over their food waste worries to a computer inside their fridge.

The movie Rhapsody in Blue, a biography of George Gershwin, was released only eight years after his death from a brain tumor at the age of 38. It's a good subject: Gershwin wrote some of the best popular songs ever produced in this country, but he also had ambitions to be a serious classical composer and wrote symphonic music, concertos and an opera — all of which are still performed.

Saying that the rules would "make sure that fracturing operations conducted on public and Indian lands follow common-sense industry best practices," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar this morning issued proposed regulations that would:

-- Require "public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on federal lands."

-- Ensure that "wells used in fracturing operations [on public lands] meet appropriate construction standards."

-- Require operators to "put in place appropriate plans for managing flowback waters from fracturing operations."

This interview was originally broadcast on May 9, 2011. In The Garden Of Beasts is now available in paperback.

As soon as it was learned on Wednesday that former NFL star Junior Seau had killed himself, there was speculation about whether he may have suffered brain injuries during his career that in turn led to depression or dementia.