What students are talking about today (Aug. 14 edition)

1. Researchers at the University of Florida have dissected a 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python, the largest ever found in Florida. It had 87 eggs inside. The invasive species, first found in 1979 in Florida, are known to prey on birds, deer, bobcats, alligators and other large animals. “A 17.5-foot snake could eat anything it wants,” herpetologis Kenneth Krysko told the UF News.

2. Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis, 42, married his 29-year-old partner Quinn Lundberg at the University of British Columbia farm on Saturday, according to UsMagazine.com.

3. A researcher at Western University says the cholesterol egg yolks is almost as dangerous as smoking. In his recent study of 1,200 people, egg consumption greatly accelerated plaque build up on arteries, which is known to lead to heart disease. Egg Farmers of Canada, an industry group, says there is no link between eggs and heart disease.

4. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, will take some time off as task-master of the European Union to visit Canada this week. First, she stops in Ottawa. Then she meets with oceans scientists at Dalhousie University where she will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the Halifax Marine Research Institute and the Helmholtz Association of Berlin.

5. Facebook will allow advertisements from organizations that support marijuana legalization after a long-standing rule banning ads with marijuana leafs. It was petitioned by Just Say Now.

6. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has also loosened up a bit, adding the words F-bomb, sexting, flextarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach, among others. Generation Y may think they invented it, but it turns out that F-bomb first surfaced in print in the 1980s.

7. Thomas Cafall, the man who killed two people and wounded two others in College Station, Texas on Monday was “crazy as hell,” according to his stepfather, Richard Weaver. “We are devastated for the families that this SOB killed,” Weaver told KPRC Houston. “He was a ticking time bomb.”

8. Ontario will soon impose “fair hiring practices” on school boards that will make it easier for young teachers to get full-time jobs, according to Minister Laurel Broten. “When it comes to opportunities for young teachers, the status quo is no longer acceptable,” she said. Union leader Ken Coran was skeptical: “The reality is that those jobs are driven by the number of students,” he wrote.

9. When Acadian Lines shuts down bus service in Nova Scotia later this year, one young entrepreneur plans to fill the gap with her Maritime Rideshare site. It matches drivers with passengers and will soon include features like verified drivers’ licenses and driver ratings.

10. Many of us take abuse from our transit systems, but it’s rarely the physical kind. A Winnipeg Transit driver is charged after allegedly assaulting a 23-year-old woman on his bus around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. The woman was intoxicated and falling asleep on the bus with her feet up on the seat. The driver threw her stuff off the bus. She got back on. He pushed her. Now he’s charged.