Hundreds of quakes near the California - Mexico Border

The California Institute of Technology is reporting approximately 100 earthquakes were detected near the California-Mexico border on New Year’s Eve. The quakes were centered about Brawley, CA, “which is about 125 miles east of San Diego and 20 miles north of the border.” According to ABC 7, the largest of the quakes was about 3.9 magnitude. They report that scientists say larger quakes in the region are possible and “the shaking may continue for several days.”

Pres. Obama could try to force his nominee onto the supreme court

President Obama could use his recess appointment power to put Judge Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court tomorrow. In the five-minute break tomorrow when the Senate gavels out of the 114th Congress and then into the 115th Congress the outgoing president could use his recess appointment powers to place Garland onto the bench.  The move would be highly controversial and Garland's tenure would have an expiration date, as recess appointments only last until the conclusion of the congressional session, in this case December 2017.

SpaceX plans to fly again next week

Elon Musk’s SpaceX said Monday that it has discovered the cause of a September rocket explosion and plans to return to flight as soon as Sunday. The conclusions of the company’s investigation have yet to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the agency has yet to provide it a license to launch. But SpaceX’s statement means that it has confidence that federal agencies will approve its remedies for the problem and that it will soon receive the green light.