Basking Shark Washes Ashore on Long Island [Video]

A giant basking shark, 20 feet in length, washed ashore Long Island today. The shark appears to be dying due to some kind of illness, according to Tracy Marcus of Cornell Cooperative Extension, because there are no wounds on the shark's body. And please remember people: basking sharks are not great white sharks and they are not considered dangerous, so no shark jokes, please. They have feelings too.

New York City Subway Map Circa 1904

"Simpler times" seems like a bit of an understatement, no? Check out the full size version here, via Digg. And, for comparison, here's a Java enabled edition from February of 2005.

US Airways Flight Leaving New York for Charlotte Finds Hudson River

In really horrific sounding news, plane headed for Charlotte from New York crashed into the Hudson River this afternoon. Fortunately, it appears that no one was injured and/or dead.

Flight 1549 left from La Guardia at 3:03 p.m. and was headed to Charlotte when it crashed into the Hudson River.

New York City firefighters are responding to the crash. It was not immediately clear if there were injuries.

Witness Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press, said, "I just thought, 'Why is it so low?' And, splash, it hit the water."

More details as they come, but for now, our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone on Flight 1549 and the families of the passengers.