New York Times

• Wildlife Activists Follow Lone Wolf’s Trek Into California 28 January 2012, 12:30 am
  The young male, tracked with a GPS unit, is believed to be the first gray wolf in California in decades, raising hopes that the endangered species may once again thrive there. ...
• Obama’s Theme of U.S. Resilience Finds Support in New Book 28 January 2012, 12:30 am
  Written by an adviser to the Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the book, “The World America Made,” makes the case that the nation’s decline is a myth. ...
• News Analysis: Seized Pirates in Legal Limbo, With No Formula for Trials 28 January 2012, 12:20 am
  Hijackings have declined sharply in the past year, but where interdiction ends, a problem begins: what to do with the detained pirates? ...
• France, Breaking With NATO, Will Speed Afghan Exit 28 January 2012, 12:00 am
  President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday said French troops would leave a year early, by the end of 2013. ...
• Political Science: For a Moon Colony, Technology Is the Easy Part 27 January 2012, 11:51 pm
  Could America build a lunar base during an eight-year Newt Gingrich presidency, as Mr. Gingrich promised this week? The obstacles would lie in money and politics. ...
• Details Emerge of Israeli Offer on 2-State Solution 27 January 2012, 11:50 pm
  Israel wants existing settlement blocks to become of a part of Israel, an approach that the Palestinians rejected as unacceptable. ...
• Syria Armed Force Helps Rebels Gain Ground 27 January 2012, 11:47 pm
  The growing assertiveness of a loosely organized force in Syria hinted at the expanding role of the armed opposition in a movement that began peacefully more than 10 months ago. ...
• Many Pardon Applicants Stressed Connection to Mississippi Governor 27 January 2012, 11:37 pm
  A look at the clemency applications of felons who were pardoned reveal that many contained personal appeals from friends of Gov. Haley Barbour and major Republican donors. ...
• Growth Accelerates, but U.S. Has Lots of Ground to Make Up 27 January 2012, 11:34 pm
  Whether the American economy, which grew last quarter at its fastest pace in a year and a half, can sustain that momentum is critical to millions of people out of work. ...
• When Twitter Blocks Tweets, It’s #Outrage 27 January 2012, 11:34 pm
  Twitter’s announcement that it would agree to block certain messages in countries where they were deemed illegal prompted outcry, argument and even calls for a boycott. ...

CNN Top Stories

• Etta James funeral set for Saturday 28 January 2012, 12:03 am
  The funeral for Etta James, the legendary singer whose earthy vocals bridged genres from blues to rock, was set for Saturday at a Southern California cemetery, the family said. ...
• U.S. to send MIA team to North Korea 27 January 2012, 9:27 pm
  The United States will send a team to North Korea this year to search for the remains of missing U.S. veterans of the Korean War, the Defense Department announced Friday. ...
• Pardoned murderer drops out of sight 27 January 2012, 9:09 pm
  Joseph Ozment was picked up by his mom from the governor's mansion after his pardon this month. Now a reward is being offered for anyone who can help locate him. ...
• Experts split on planned Pentagon cuts 27 January 2012, 8:58 pm
  Some military experts Friday called Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's proposed budget cuts "much to do about nothing," but others expressed concern about the potential of a shrinking U.S. military in the strategic Mideast and Asia. ...
• How a child killer's story unraveled 27 January 2012, 8:51 pm
  The day after little Jorelys Rivera's mangled body was found in a suburban Atlanta trash compactor, Ryan Brunn sat in a stark room for a police interview. He began with confidence, but ended with trouble. ...
• Romney faces Medicare attacks in Fla. 27 January 2012, 8:49 pm
  GOP presidential front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich barnstormed across Florida on Friday, trying to rally supporters and break away in the polls four days before what is shaking up to be a pivotal primary in that state. ...
• Aveeno baby lotion tubes recalled 27 January 2012, 7:57 pm
  Johnson & Johnson announced Friday it is voluntarily recalling a single lot of Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Lotion after a test by the Food and Drug Administration found it contained more of a form of bacteria than specifications allow. ...
• Friend to 911: Demi smoked something 27 January 2012, 6:16 pm
  A woman called 911 soliciting help for actress Demi Moore, whom she said was "convulsing" and "burning up" after "smoking something," according to a recording of the call obtained Friday from the Los Angeles Fire Department. ...
• Bennett: Romney's new tack is working 27 January 2012, 11:57 am
  South Carolina was a wake-up call for Mitt Romney. In Thursday night's CNN debate, Romney delivered an aggressive, forceful performance that many thought he was incapable of. The upcoming Florida primary could turn out very differently now, and the results could go a long way toward helping him win the Republican nomination. ...
• Resident near Fukushima defiant 27 January 2012, 2:44 am
  In the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear plant, one man's quiet defiance echoes through the contaminated, empty streets of Tomioka, Japan. ...

Engadget

• IBM builds 9 nanometer carbon nanotube transistor, puts silicon on notice 27 January 2012, 10:34 pm
  It's not the smallest transistor out there, but the boffins at IBM have constructed the tiniest carbon nanotube transistor to date. It's nine nanometers in size, making it one nanometer smaller than the presumed physical limit of silicon transistors. Plus, it consumes less power and is able to carry more current than present-day technology. The researchers accomplished the trick by laying a nanotube on a thin layer of insulation, and using a two-step process -- involving some sort of black magi...
• Shocker! New RIM CEO targets existing BlackBerry users for upgrades 27 January 2012, 8:47 pm
  All of new RIM CEO Thorsten Heins' fresh ideas will apparently still be revealed to the company's board in a couple of weeks, but he's already dropped some gems in interviews with the Wall Street Journal and Reuters (update: and Bloomberg). First item on the agenda? Getting current users upgraded to the latest and greatest BlackBerry hardware. Citing internal statistics that indicate 80- to 90- percent of the company's customer base aren't running BlackBerry 7 hardware yet, it will work closely ...
• MasterCard's QkR mobile payment system enters trial in Australia 27 January 2012, 7:15 pm
  MasterCard is all over the map when it comes to mobile payments. The credit company will partner with anyone, anywhere, anytime if it means getting new customers and making a buck on the deal. Its latest offering is called QkR, an Australian effort with support from the Hoyts chain of movie theaters and Commonwealth Bank. The initial trial run will be at La Premiere cinemas, where customers will be able to order and pay for food and beverages right from their seat with the QkR app. To initiate ...
• Israel announces plans to build national broadband network, increases fiber intake 27 January 2012, 5:35 pm
  Israel is home to a burgeoning tech industry, but the country's broadband infrastructure hasn't really been able to keep pace. In terms of broadband penetration, in fact, Israel ranks just 21st out of 34 developed nations, according to statistics gathered by the OECD. All this may be changing, however, now that the country's state-run electric company has announced plans to create a new national broadband network. According to the AP, the forthcoming network will use so-called fiber to the hom...
• FCC Fridays: January 27, 2012 27 January 2012, 4:15 pm
  We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy!Continue reading FCC Fridays: January 27, 2012FCC Fridays: January 27, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fr...
• Did the Galaxy S III just pop up on Samsung's support site? 27 January 2012, 3:26 pm
  Seriously, we can't caveat this one enough -- there is no way of knowing if this is in fact the Galaxy S III or, if it is, when it might come to market -- but, it looks like Samsung's "next big smartphone" just made a cameo on the company's support pages. Listed as the GT-i9300, the mystery device reared its head over at the Global Download Center of the United Arab Emerites site. If Sammy is to keep with its naming scheme i93XX would be a flagship device -- the i90XX line was the Galaxy S, i91...
• Sony reveals new 3G/WiFi PS Vita bundles: free data, PSN games and memory cards for everyone 27 January 2012, 2:41 pm
  Sony's PlayStation Vita hasn't exactly sold like hotcakes over in Japan, so the company has sweetened the pot for the portable's potential Stateside buyers. Those who placed pre-orders will get a couple of extra goodies for their $350. To go with the previously promised limited edition case, 4GB memory card and copy of Little Deviants, you'll also receive 250MB of data from AT&T and a PlayStation Network game gratis as soon as you activate 3G on the device. Furthermore, folks buying a Vita ...
• Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast with guest CrackBerry Kevin, live at 5PM ET! 27 January 2012, 2:05 pm
  Just wake up from a very restful week-long slumber? First of all, we're envious of your good fortune. Second, Research in Motion made a few changes to its leadership chart. Third, you must be really hungry right about now. So grab a sandwich, come back in an hour and join Myriam, Brad, Sean Cooper and our very special guest Kevin Michaluk (yes, Mr. CrackBerry Kevin himself) as we discuss the northern news, as well as anything else that happened this week.Be sure to send questions or comments yo...
• First White House Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, steps down 27 January 2012, 1:42 pm
  He was appointed with a fair bit of fanfare as the United States' first Chief Technology Officer back in May of 2009, but it looks like Aneesh Chopra has decided that it's now time to make room for the nation's second CTO. The White House confirmed today that Chopra is stepping down from his position, noting that he has amassed a "dizzying array of accomplishments." Among those are his contributions to the Obama administration's national wireless strategy, a set of internet policy making princip...
• HTC Titan II works its charm on the FCC with AT&T LTE included 27 January 2012, 1:24 pm
  What's that? An HTC PI86100 Windows Phone with AT&T-specific LTE (bands 4 and 17) showing up in the hallowed halls of the FCC? Why, this must be the Titan II, announced a tad over a fortnight ago. Docs show that a production unit of the device, sporting the aforementioned LTE bands as well as 850 / 1900 3G (also AT&T compatible), is ready to take on its new Windows Phone competition sometime soon. Is it a guarantee that the phone is nigh at hand? Not quite, but at least it signifies th...

Gizmodo

• US Government Nixes Three of Rambus' Most Prized Patents [Lawsuits] 27 January 2012, 11:40 pm
  Three patents pertaining to memory chip design that were used to successfully sue HP and Nvidia—dubbed the Barth Patents—are among Rambus' most valuable IP. Excuse me, they were among Rambus' most valuable until the US patent office invalidated them. More » ...
• Trade Whatever You've Got for Whatever You Want with the Swap-O-Matic [Video] 27 January 2012, 10:40 pm
  Vending machines would be a lot more user friendly if they didn't always demand money. Maybe I don't have $1.25 for that can of soda. Maybe I've got a seventy-five cents and four cigarettes. That seems like like a fair trade, right? Well, with the Swap-O-Matic, I can now find out. More » ...
• Who Knew Sesame Street Was the Place to See Such Smut? [Image Cache] 27 January 2012, 10:20 pm
  Mild and graphic violence? Nudity? RAPE? Looks like Sesame Street is suffering from a bit of urban blight. [Reddit via Buzzfeed] More » ...
• Tomorrow's Spies Will Drop F-BOMBS Everywhere [Spying] 27 January 2012, 9:40 pm
  Fuck. It's a word that commands attention. These F-BOMB computers, however, are designed to do just the opposite—quietly and inconspicuously gather sensitive information from within secure areas. And if the F-Bomb is discovered or destroyed, fuck it! It only cost $50 to build in the first place. More » ...
• This Week's Top Web Comedy Video: Mitt Romney, Pickup Artist [Video] 27 January 2012, 9:00 pm
  It's been a trying campaign for those still left duking it out on the GOP nomination trail. Endless debates, vicious negative adds flying left and right. If you're Mitt Romney, you've only got one option left to keep your campaign alive: play the Game. More » ...
• How to Get to the Seafloor Without Holding Your Breath [Design] 27 January 2012, 8:20 pm
  Before we had ALVIN—or proper submarines for that matter—the best way to get to the seafloor was by using a diving bell. Originally made from recycled church bells, these diving apparatuses protected their passengers from the murky depths in a bubble of air. Our friends at Oobject have assembled nine of the best. More » ...
• The Beatles: Here Comes The Sun! With a Guitar Solo You've Never Heard Before [Video] 27 January 2012, 8:00 pm
  "Here Comes the Sun" is my favorite George Harrison Beatles song, probably because it reminds me vividly of the day he died. This new guitar solo is finally bringing the song back to life for me. More » ...
• Everything You Need to Keep Your Teeth from Rotting Out [Toolkit] 27 January 2012, 7:20 pm
  Poor oral hygiene is the surest way to make sure you have a bunch of personal space all to yourself. At all times. With no exceptions. Which probably isn't something that you really want! So here's a list of stuff that'll keep your loved ones close and your dentist the hell away from you. More » ...
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson Shoots Down Gingrich's Moon Base [Video] 27 January 2012, 6:40 pm
  Neil DeGrasse Tyson—one of my favorite space people—was interviewed by MSNBC's Martin Bashir about Newt Gingrich's moon base plan by 2020. The short version: Newt got it wrong. The long version: watch the video. More » ...
• Why Is There a Hyperlink In a Newspaper? [WTFriday] 27 January 2012, 6:20 pm
  A lot has been said about how newspapers need to embrace the Internet and tablets in order to survive. Apparently, this newspaper has already figured out how to embed interactive features in paper. Bravo! [Reddit] More » ...

Ars Technica

• Web video framework company publishes State of HTML5 Video document 27 January 2012, 7:25 pm
  As Flash's ubiquity begins to erode, standards-based Web technologies are going to become the path forward for developers who want to offer a user experience that works across all screens. The HTML5 video element is already widely supported in modern Web browsers, but the capabilities and codecs that are available differ between implementations. A new State of HTML5 Video document offers some clarity by painting a clear picture of the current status of standards-based vi...
• Kingdoms of Amalur's "Online Pass" continues a slippery slope for used games 27 January 2012, 5:15 pm
  Review copies of Electronic Arts's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning are starting to reach critics, who have made a surprising collective discovery: an insert containing a code to download a "House of Valor" content pack featuring "seven additional single player quests." EA has confirmed to Ars Technica that this downloadable content will be included free with all new copies of the game, including digital copies purchased on the PC through Origin, Steam, or other s...
• The world's first computer password? It was useless, too 27 January 2012, 4:52 pm
  If you’re like most people, you’re annoyed by passwords. You’ve got dozens to remember — some of them tortuously complex — and on any given day, as you read e-mails, send tweets, and order groceries online, you’re bound to forget one, or at least mistype it. You may even be one of those unfortunate people who’ve had a password stolen, thanks to the dodgy security on the machines that store them. But who’s to blame...
• How the craziest f#@!ing "theory of everything" got published and promoted 27 January 2012, 3:50 pm
  Physicists have been working for decades on a "theory of everything," one that unites quantum mechanics and relativity. Apparently, they were being too modest. Yesterday saw publication of a press release claiming a biologist had just published a theory accounting for all of that—and handling the origin of life and the creation of the Moon in the bargain. Better yet, no math! Where did such a crazy theory originate? In the mind of a biologist at a respecte...
• Kinect tech built into laptop prototypes 27 January 2012, 2:15 pm
  Kinect's vision and depth perception technology could soon be integrated into laptops. The Daily has seen two prototypes, believed to be from Asus, that incorporate an array of sensors above the top of the screen, replacing the traditional webcam. Below the display are a set of LEDs. Sources at Microsoft confirmed to The Daily that the laptops contain versions of the Kinect sensor. Asus has dabbled with Kinect-like systems before. Its Xtion PRO PC peripheral uses sensor a...
• Twitter uncloaks a year's worth of DMCA takedown notices, 4,410 in all 27 January 2012, 1:50 pm
  On almost any given day, Twitter receives a handful of requests to delete tweets that link to pirated versions of copyrighted content—and quickly complies by erasing the offending tweets from its site. That fact itself is probably unsurprising to people familiar with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown process, which gives sites like Twitter a "safe harbor" against lawsuits related to user behavior and uploads—so long as the sites don't...
• HP makes printing from an iPad easier with Wireless Direct printing 27 January 2012, 1:05 pm
  Hewlett Packard is showing off a range of new printers at Macworld|iWorld 2012, largely aimed at the home office and small-to-medium business segments. However, a new feature of its latest printer models is what really caught our eye on the show floor. HP's Wireless Direct makes it possible to print documents and images from an iOS device via AirPrint without even knowing the name or password of the local wireless network. All of HP's printers now include the c...
• WiiU to use near-field communications for easy online purchases 27 January 2012, 12:47 pm
  The rise of purely digital online game sales has changed the industry in a number of ways, but the most important change might be the introduction of games as impulse buys. Anyone with a credit card tied to their Steam account knows how scarily easy it is to, with just a few clicks, dump more money than you intended on a whole passel of games that seem vaguely intriguing. You might not have read any reviews, or even heard anything about the game outside of the Steam ...
• Pirate Party of Catalonia wants to sue FBI, in Spain, over Megaupload seizure 27 January 2012, 12:20 pm
  The Pirate Party of Catalonia is organizing the equivalent of a class-action lawsuit against the FBI in a Spanish court, claiming damages to legitimate users of the file-sharing site Megaupload. And the group is trying to enlist the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to do the same, sending it the contact information of US residents who join the campaign. "This initiative is a starting point for legitimate Internet users to help defend themselves from the legal abuses ...
• Following fine, Apple alerts Italian customers to their free 2-year warranty 27 January 2012, 12:10 pm
  Apple has begun alerting its Italian customers that they have a right to a two-year warranty on Apple's products as provided by Italian law. The move comes after Apple was issued a $1.2 million fine for allegedly misleading customers—the court decision documenting Apple's violation is now linked directly from the store.apple.it page. Italy's Consumer Code provides all Italian customers with a two-year warranty that covers products that were defectiv...

Mayo Clinic Blog

• Birth control options: Things to consider 27 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Birth control options — Consider these questions before choosing a method of birth control....
• Schizophrenia: Sticking to treatment plan is vital 27 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Schizophrenia — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, treatment and coping with this brain disorder....
• Bone scan: Using nuclear medicine to find bone abnormalities 26 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Bone scan — Overview covers definition, risks, results of this diagnostic test....
• Nocturnal panic attacks: What causes them? 26 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Nighttime (nocturnal) panic attacks can be very frightening. Learn about causes and treatments....
• Prediabetes: Take prevention seriously 26 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Prediabetes — Comprehensive overview covers risk factors, prevention of this type 2 diabetes precursor....
• Grass-fed beef: What are the heart-health benefits? 25 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Grass-fed beef may have heart-health benefits that conventional beef doesn't. Find out more....
• Type 1 diabetes: Prevent complications with careful management 25 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Type 1 diabetes — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, treatment of this lifelong endocrine condition....
• Video: Photodynamic therapy of the esophagus 25 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Photodynamic therapy video shows light treatment for Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer....
• Get the FAQs about nutrition 25 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Who doesn't have questions about nutrition? Our dietitians answer five of the most common diet questions....
• Hurthle cell cancer 25 January 2012, 12:00 am
  Hurthle cell cancer — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, treatment of this rare thyroid cancer....

WebMD Health

• Weekly Shot Gets FDA Nod for Type 2 Diabetes 27 January 2012, 5:37 pm
  The FDA has given its nod to Bydureon, making it the first weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes, according to drug's manufacturer....
• Better Relationship, Better Health: Couples and Singles 27 January 2012, 3:50 pm
  WebMD talks to experts about the possible health benefits of marriage and other long-term relationships...
• The Tall Toll of High Heels 27 January 2012, 2:18 pm
  A new study offers a scientific explanation for why walking in high heels can be so painful: It changes the basic mechanics of how women walk....
• Weight Loss for Kids 27 January 2012, 10:50 am
  Tips on helping overweight children get to a healthy weight, no matter how old they are...
• Safe Weight Loss for Overweight Kids 27 January 2012, 10:18 am
  Dieting isn’t the answer when it comes to weight loss for kids. Learn to avoid crash diets and unhealthy habits when your doctor suggests safe weight loss....
• Talking to Your Pediatrician 27 January 2012, 8:32 am
  Get tips on how to work with your kid’s doctor to help your overweight child and deal with childhood obesity....
• Keeping a Kid’s Weight in Perspective 27 January 2012, 8:13 am
  Concerned about your kid’s weight? Here’s how to keep your perspective while encouraging better health and self-esteem for your child....
• Study Links Cadmium Exposure to Learning Disabilities in Kids 26 January 2012, 11:02 pm
  Children with high levels of a heavy metal called cadmium in their urine may be more likely to have learning disabilities and/or need special education, a new study shows....
• Coping With Psoriatic Arthritis 26 January 2012, 6:42 pm
  Cope with the emotional and physical demands of psoriatic arthritis with these management tips....
• Skin and Joint Care for Psoriatic Arthritis 26 January 2012, 6:10 pm
  When you have psoriatic arthritis, you have to cope with painful joints and frustrating skin flares. Here are treatment and self-care tips for both....

New York Times Health

• Bydureon, a Diabetes Drug from Amylin, Wins F.D.A. Approval 28 January 2012, 12:10 am
  The Food and Drug Administration twice declined to approve Bydureon in 2010, with its most serious concern being that the drug might contribute to heart rhythm abnormalities. ...
• Internet Criticism Pushes China to Act on Pollution 27 January 2012, 11:50 pm
  Under popular pressure, Chinese officials have begun to track the most pernicious measure of urban air pollution and promise to set new health standards and publish data on air pollution. ...
• Studied: Blogging as Therapy for Teenagers - Studied 27 January 2012, 7:30 pm
  Researchers find blogging provides a therapeutic value for teenagers. ...
• 18 and Under: Seeing Social Media as Adolescent Portal More Than Pitfall 27 January 2012, 3:50 pm
  Researchers are looking for opportunities to identify adolescents who have problems and to provide support. ...
• Study Finds Virus to Be Fast Learner on Infecting 27 January 2012, 2:57 pm
  Researchers report that viruses deprived of their usual channel for infiltrating the E. coli bacterium evolved a different route into the cells in little more than two weeks. ...
• Brown Fat Burns Ordinary Fat, Study Finds 27 January 2012, 2:50 pm
  In separate studies, researchers have determined that in cold conditions, people’s calorie-gobbling brown fat uses ordinary fat as fuel — and that exercise may convert ordinary fat to brown fat. ...
• Older Prisoners Mean Rising Health Costs, Study Finds 27 January 2012, 2:50 pm
  More Americans older than 55 are being imprisoned, and many prisons are unprepared to provide them with health care, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. ...
• Jean-Claude Mas, Founder of Breast Implant Company, Is Detained 27 January 2012, 2:30 pm
  Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of a French company that made hundreds of thousands of breast implants from industrial-grade silicon, was detained early on Thursday. ...
• Marijuana Push in Colorado Likens It to Alcohol 27 January 2012, 2:20 pm
  In Colorado, a proposal to legalize possession of marijuana in small amounts is likely to be on the ballot this fall, backed by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. ...
• Bill Gates Donates $750 Million to Global Fund 27 January 2012, 2:10 pm
  The donation to the struggling Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was made as a promissory note intended to tide it over regular cash shortages. ...

New York Times Politics

• No More Nice Guys: Fans Love ‘Nuclear Newt’ 28 January 2012, 12:34 am
  The qualities of the bombastic, take-no-prisoners candidate are the same ones opponents cite in concluding that Newt Gingrich is too hot-headed and undisciplined to win the nomination. ...
• As Primary Nears, Florida Poll Favors Romney 28 January 2012, 12:34 am
  The former governor of Massachusetts moved past his rival, Newt Gingrich, heading into the final weekend before the vote. ...
• Political Science: For a Moon Colony, Technology Is the Easy Part 28 January 2012, 12:33 am
  Could America build a lunar base during an eight-year Newt Gingrich presidency, as Mr. Gingrich promised this week? The obstacles would lie in money and politics. ...
• Obama’s Theme of U.S. Resilience Finds Support in New Book 28 January 2012, 12:30 am
  Written by an adviser to the Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the book, “The World America Made,” makes the case that the nation’s decline is a myth. ...
• Obama’s Plan to Control College Costs Gets Mixed Reviews 28 January 2012, 12:27 am
  While making college more affordable is a notion nearly everyone supports, consensus is more elusive on how to actually accomplish it. ...
• Obama to Link Aid for Colleges to Affordability 28 January 2012, 12:10 am
  An overhaul would tie colleges’ eligibility for campus-based aid programs to the institutions’ success in improving value and affordability for students. ...
• Defense Budget Limits Reach of Romney’s Plan for Navy 28 January 2012, 12:10 am
  Mitt Romney has vowed to increase the Navy’s shipbuilding program, but the cuts faced by the Defense Department suggest that even maintaining the fleet at its current size would be no easy feat. ...
• President, Buoyed by Rising Numbers, Seeks to Rally Democrats 28 January 2012, 12:09 am
  President Obama gave House Democrats an address that inched toward a “morning in America” tone Friday. ...
• Issa Voices Concerns That D.E.A. Operation Needs Oversight 28 January 2012, 12:09 am
  Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is raising questions on whether operations cross the line between fighting and facilitating crime. ...
• Medicare Looms Over Congressional Races 28 January 2012, 12:09 am
  Democrats and Republicans both expect the “Ryan budget,” Representative Paul D. Ryan’s plan to remake Medicare, to be key in the coming elections. ...

The Huffington Post

• Former Boston Mayor Dies At 82 27 January 2012, 10:34 pm
  BOSTON — Former Mayor Kevin H. White, who led the city for 16 years including racially turbulent times in the 1970s and was credited with putting it on a path to prosperity, died Friday, a family spokesman said. He was 82. White, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2003, died peacefully at his Boston home surrounded by his family, spokesman and friend George Regan said. "He was a man who built Boston into the world-class city it is today," said Regan, who called his...
• Defense Secretary: Pakistani Doctor Provided Key Information To U.S. In Advance Of Bin Laden Raid 27 January 2012, 10:00 pm
  WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is acknowledging publicly for the first time that a Pakistani doctor provided key information to the U.S. in advance of the successful Navy SEAL assault on Osama bin Laden's compound last May. Panetta told CBS's "60 Minutes," in a profile to be broadcast on Sunday, that Shakil Afridi helped provide intelligence for the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify ...
• Twitter's New Censorship Policy Ignites Global Outrage 27 January 2012, 9:38 pm
  NEW YORK — Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. It was a stunning role reversal for a youthful company that prides itself in promoting unfettered expression, 140 characters at a time. Twitter insisted its commitment to free speech remains firm, and sought to explain the nuances of its policy, while critics &n...
• Harvard Kennedy School Democrats: The Republican Approach to Foreign Policy: Less Is More 27 January 2012, 9:36 pm
  In November 2008, President Obama's election was celebrated not just in the United States but around the world. Crowds in Berlin cheered in the streets while Kenya declared a national holiday after Barack Obama. The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, sent his congratulations, saying it was "time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the United States." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called the election an "historic opportunity" to strengthen the relati...
• Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- SOTU Review 27 January 2012, 8:34 pm
  Well, that was an eventful week in politics, wasn't it? On the Republican side, we've endured two more of a seemingly-unending series of televised debates between the candidates. Newt Gingrich did not physically attack either Mitt Romney or a member of the media, for which we can all be thankful. The deep and pressing issue-of-the-day seriously discussed was putting a manned base on the moon -- which will come as a relief to the legions of voters who have been clamoring for this crucially-impo...
• Romney Compares Gingrich To 'Goldilocks' For Debate Crowd Gripes 27 January 2012, 7:42 pm
  ORLANDO, Fla. -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was upbeat and energetic after his solid debate performance in Jacksonville the night before, telling the crowd at a rally on Friday evening, "I had fun last night, I gotta tell 'ya!" He used the opportunity to take a shot at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who failed to deliver the blow needed to knock Romney from his momentum in the run-up to Tuesday's Florida primary. "Speaker Gingrich said the debate before last night -- that the...
• North Dakota Law Restricting Medication Abortion Is Challenged On 'Undue Burden' Grounds 27 January 2012, 6:53 pm
  There is only one abortion clinic in North Dakota, and state lawmakers passed a bill last summer that would effectively ban medication abortions across the state. After the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a challenge, seeking to overturn the measure, a judge in July issued a temporary restraining order against implementation of the law. The center's lawyers are now seeking a temporary injunction, arguing the measure pushes the limits of what the Supreme Court would deem an "undue burden" o...
• Florida Primary May Save Federal Judges From Newt 27 January 2012, 6:43 pm
  WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich's lackluster performance in Thursday night's debate darkened the already dim chances of seeing Justice Anthony Kennedy hauled before a congressional committee to account for his occasional left-leaning fifth votes in politically charged Supreme Court cases. But in Gingrich's view, that may be just the kind of tough oversight the judiciary demands -- and the kind of big, albeit constitutionally dicey, thinking the country needs. Unfortunately for Gingrich, no one exc...
• Jan Brewer Sets Date For Special Election To Fill Gabrielle Giffords' Seat 27 January 2012, 6:32 pm
  PHOENIX, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Friday ordered a special general election to be held on June 12 to fill the congressional seat vacated by Tucson Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned to focus on recovering from her gunshot wound of last year. The Republican governor also set an April 17 primary to choose the candidates who will vie to replace Giffords in what has proved to be a highly competitive district in southern Arizona. (Reporting ...
• Stewart J. Lawrence: Post-Florida, Expect a Nasty Dogfight for the GOP Nomination 27 January 2012, 6:25 pm
  Look at the latest GOP polls coming out of Florida. It appears that Mitt Romney is slowly pulling away from Newt Gingrich, opening up a 9-point lead in the most recent poll, with just four days left before next Tuesday's critical, winner-take-all primary. You might think that means that Romney is also leading Gingrich nationally. You'd be wrong. Gingrich, while slipping in Florida, is actually pulling ahead of Romney. The two latest national polls have Gingrich leading by 8-9 points, a sli...

Daily Kos

• Open Thread for Night Owls: Austerity plans right-wingers want for here make Brits' life miserable 27 January 2012, 10:30 pm
  While the U.S. economy continues to make modest improvements but tens of millions of Americans still suffer from extremely grim employment figures, the situation in Britain shows no signs of any improvement whatsoever. In fact, Brad DeLong writes, the British economy is now doing worse than it did in the Great Depression: Yep. This many months after the start of the Great Depression, the British economy was rapidly converging back to its pre-depression level of production under Chancellor of th...
• Daily Kos Elections Polling Wrap: New polls offer mixed messages in the Mitt-Newt GOP cage match 27 January 2012, 7:45 pm
  Mitt Romney is resurgent! (Unless he's not.) Even if he's not, though, the schedule favors Mitt Romney. After all, he is coming up on a series of contests in places like Arizona and Michigan, where he should have a real advantage. (Unless he doesn't.) There are two very contradictory themes developing as we head into the weekend before the Florida primaries. On one hand, it is becoming more and more likely that Newt Gingrich will lose Florida, by what looks like it will be a margin in the high ...
• Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY! 27 January 2012, 6:02 pm
  From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… Oh, Rachel. You had me at "PolitiFact, you are fired." From Wednesday night's show: "PolitiFact, you are fired. You are a mess. You are fired. You are undermining the definition of the word "fact" in the English language by pretending to it in your name. The English language wants its word back. You are an embarrassment. You sully the reputation of anyone who cites you as an authority on fact-ishness, let alone fact. You are fired." That was the warm-up. Last n...
• Open thread: Newt Gingrich, psychiatry and outrage 27 January 2012, 5:00 pm
  A Fox News "psychiatrist" suggests that Newt Gingrich's multiple affairs might make him a "strong president." Hunter isn't buying it. Mark Sumner will say: Meet George Jetson ... the future isn't what it used to be. Armando will consider whether Occupy has changed the political narrative by reviewing President Obama's State  of the Union speeches and the news coverage they generated. Prompted by the box office success of George Lucas' Red Tails portraying  the 332nd Fighter Group and ...
• Mitt Romney turning off independents 27 January 2012, 4:48 pm
  Mitt Romney measures his ... support from independents (Brian Snyder/Reuters)   Via Greg Sargent, check out these numbers for Mitt Romney among independents: November: Romney viewed somewhat or very negatively by 22% of independents Romney led Obama by 13 points—47% to 34%. Today: Romney viewed somewhat or very negatively by 42% of independents Romney trails Obama by 8 points—36% to 44% Perhaps the Republican establishment is right when they say that Newt Gingrich would be an elector...
• Mitt Romney's campaign selectively whitewashes inconvenient statements from official transcripts 27 January 2012, 4:30 pm
  Romney's staff deleted email records as governor ... and inconvenient portions of transcripts as a candidate   Here's one more way in which Mitt Romney's campaign is showing a willful disregard for the truth: When it sends reporters transcripts of official campaign events, it scrubs those transcripts of portions that the campaign finds to be inconvenient. According to BuzzFeed's McKay Coppins, Romneyworld recently excluded Tim Pawlenty's answer to a question about Mitt Romney's investment...
• Wall Street donors swamp all others in election spending 27 January 2012, 3:11 pm
  This is enough to turn your stomach. FIRE stands for the finance, insurance, and real estate sector, or in other words, Wall Street. The Sunlight Foundation study reveals that in the past two decades, the number of donors giving $10,000 or more from this sector has risen 405 percent. More astounding, the combined contributions to individual candidate, PACs, parties, or independent expenditure groups has grown by 700 percent. Sunlight calls these donors the "Political One Percent of the One Perc...
• Today in Newt 27 January 2012, 3:00 pm
  YOUR AD HERE (Eric Thayer/Reuters) Everyone seems to be of the opinion that Newt Gingrich did poorly in this latest debate. Apparently "everyone" includes Newt and his staffers: Their excuse for his lackluster performance this time around, was that the auditorium was packed with Romney supporters: "They definitely packed the room," Kevin Kellems, one of Gingrich's senior advisers, told The Huffington Post early Friday morning. Got that? So when CNN kept people from applauding, that was unfair ...
• Union membership edged up by 49,000 in 2011 27 January 2012, 2:15 pm
  (DonkeyHotey based on a WWII poster) The 49,000-worker increase in overall union membership in the U.S. in 2011 isn't much. It's not much in raw numbers, and despite it the union membership rate edged down from 11.9 percent in 2010 to 11.8 percent in 2011. But in a year that saw an all-out assault on unions, union members, and the right to organize and bargain collectively, we'll take it. Despite the very public assaults on public workers in particular, the union membership rate among public-s...
• Midday Open Thread 27 January 2012, 2:00 pm
  Today's comic is $#*! Mitt Romney doesn't say by Matt Bors: Netroots Nation needs your help in developing and organizing the sessions (panels, trainings and screening series sessions) you want to see at Netroots Nation this June 7-10 in Providence. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31. Guidelines and the submission form are here. Some parts of America are permanent dead zones: Recent headlines of a brighter economic picture have given many people hope that the economy is not in another fre...

WSJ Real-Time Economics

• Fed Inflation Hawks Have More Influence Outside Than In 27 January 2012, 2:11 pm
  The Federal Reserve’s hawks appear to have more influence outside the central bank’s policy meetings than they do inside. Public comments by three of the Fed’s so-called inflation hawks—the officials who tend to worry more that easy money policies may fuel price increases—triggered bigger market reactions last year than those of their more dovish chairman, Ben Bernanke, according to the latest annual analysis by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC. Indeed, hawks took seven of the top 10 slots ...
• Richmond Fed’s Lacker Explains His Dissent 27 January 2012, 11:59 am
  ...
• Outsized Impact of Inventories on GDP Growth 27 January 2012, 11:30 am
  For U.S. gross domestic product growth, the disappointment devil is in the details. Real GDP grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate in the fourth quarter, slightly missing 3.0% expectations, but still the best gain since second quarter of 2010. The report, however, was a big disappointment for investors and the outlook because of what hid underneath. The mix of growth suggests weakness this quarter and perhaps beyond. That’s because the bulk of GDP growth came from the inventory sector, whi...
• Fed’s Dudley: Policy Actions Essential for Recovery 27 January 2012, 9:40 am
  ...
• Consumers More Upbeat in January 27 January 2012, 9:12 am
  U.S. consumers think the economy is doing a bit better in January, according to data released Friday. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for the end of January rose to 75 from a preliminary reading of 74 for the month and 69.9 at the end of December, according to sources who have seen the report. The latest reading was better than the 74.5 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. The current conditions index increased to 84.2 at the end of this mon...
• Economists React: GDP ‘Less Impressive Than It Looks’ 27 January 2012, 8:59 am
  Economists and others weigh in on the increase in U.S. gross domestic product. – Muddling through is the best term that can be applied to the current economic environment, even though the risks of a downturn have been reduced. By the same token, the data shows that there is no real risk of an upside surprise either. Specifically, the 2.8% rise in real fourth quarter GDP was dominated by a $56 billion increase in business inventories leaving the rest of the economy to add only 0.85 to the ...
• Euro Zone Money Supply Offers Grim News 27 January 2012, 7:55 am
  ...
• Secondary Sources: Dovish Bernanke, Fed Market Movers, Household Formation 27 January 2012, 7:15 am
  A roundup of economic news from around the Web. –Dovish Bernanke: Scott Sumner combs through the Fed press conference and sees evidence of a dovish chairman. ” Overall, I thought Bernanke went out of his way to suggest that Fed watchers should focus on the more dovish views, the preference for low rates in late 2014. He also emphasized that the Fed wasn’t an inflation targeter, but rather put equal weight on the dual mandate… At various times Bernanke observed that even if the e...
• Vital Signs: Rising Business Investment 27 January 2012, 7:00 am
  U.S. businesses increased their investments as last year ended. The Commerce Department said new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft — a proxy for how much companies spend on equipment — climbed 2.9% from November. That ended two months of declines, suggesting businesses are becoming more confident amid rising demand. ...
• Business Sector Is More Open for Business 26 January 2012, 2:42 pm
  Businesses are opening their wallets wider. Heading into 2012, U.S. companies, which had been sitting on trillions in cash, are planning to spend more on big capital projects. They are laying off fewer workers, indicating more demand for labor. Those signs are good for the overall economic outlook. They should also send a warning shot to Washington politicians who are planning to create a new round of uncertainty by holding up the payroll-tax cut extension or arguing over the debt ceiling limit....

Dealbreaker

• Write-Offs: 01.27.12 27 January 2012, 5:54 pm
  $$$ Citi to Cut Bonuses in Investment Bank About 30% [Bloomberg] $$$ Fitch Cuts Italian, Spanish Ratings [Bloomberg] $$$ Goldman’s Blankfein gets stock from prior award [MarketWatch] $$$ EU avoided ‘major, major credit crunch’ [FT] $$$ Proposed Mortgage Deal Said to Be Limited to Foreclosures [Bloomberg] $$$ Every self-important anonymous jerk who can’t handle rejection is supposedly a “hedge fund manager” [Gawker] $$$ Except this guy: Jilted City banker ‘bought cro...
• How Will Morgan Stanley Be Able To Pay Tech Bankers With A Measly $100mm Facebook IPO Fee? 27 January 2012, 5:45 pm
  I really hope that Facebook is just faking us all out with this whole “we’re IPO’ing on Wednesday” thing that they haven’t said, in part because I have yet to park $100k of the Dealbreaker slush fund/Bloomberg budget in Facebook shares on SharesPost. But just in case they actually do something next week let’s analyze the hell out of everything so we can be proven wrong by the filings. Okay? Okay. One thing to over-analyze is that presumptive lead-left bookrunn...
• More People Will Soon Have The Opportunity To Share David Einhorn’s Insider-Trading Confusion 27 January 2012, 3:02 pm
  Finally someone’s listening to us, I guess: While prominent hedge-fund manager David Einhorn was the focus of the latest alleged insider-trading case this week, a supporting actor in the drama belongs to a fraternity of London bankers that also is under increased scrutiny. Andrew Osborne, until last month a so-called corporate broker in the sprawling London outpost of Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch investment-banking unit, is alleged to have passed sensitive information to Mr....
• Brian Moynihan Has Already Spent A Year Apologizing To Shareholders, Please Don’t Make Him Handle Another Confrontation 27 January 2012, 2:28 pm
  Earlier this week, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman was asked how he would respond to employees expressing disappointment with this year’s bonuses. Perhaps at his wits end with compensation complaining, perhaps to indicate there is a new James Gorman in town and he is not to be fucked with, perhaps to get it through his staff’s thick skulls that they ought to WAKE UP, perhaps because he thinks the building is getting overcrowded, Gorman said he̵...
• And Now An Argument That More Capital Makes Banks Less Safe 27 January 2012, 12:43 pm
  One reason that you’re in for seven lean years in the investment banking business is that bank capital requirements are going up due to Basel III, and “capital is expensive” in some loose sense, so banks will have less money to use to make loans and/or pay you. Some people think that this is mostly bull, because capital is not actually any more “expensive” than any other form of funding, though those people often actually don’t care that much about paying you ...
• Layoffs Watch ’12: BarCap 27 January 2012, 12:41 pm
  Cuts are said to have gone down at the House of Diamond. “Axe was out in BarCap fixed income yesterday. General rif in NY FI sales+trading. 2 weeks ahead of Comp announcements.” ...
• Bonus Watch ’12: Credit Suisse 27 January 2012, 10:57 am
  “People are furious.” “Bonuses were communicated at CS yesterday. Total bloodbath. My class (first year associate, industry coverage, not stub) range was 20k to 100k (really). Mid bucket was 60k to 70k. Easy 30 to 40 percent below the Street. People are furious. Lots are expected to leave. Bonus was barely half of RBC. VPs and directors 10 to 20 percent below the street but associates took the biggest hits. We were told to expect the opposite.” ...
• Opening Bell: 01.27.12 27 January 2012, 8:30 am
  Larry Summers: ‘A Lot of Work’ Needed to Fix Economy (CNBC) “We have all got a lot of work to do,” Summers, who played a key role in the early years of President Barack Obama’s administration, said. He believes that European governments should be “redoubling” their efforts to solve the crisis. The euro zone debt crisis has been top of the agenda in Davos this week. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the conference with a downbeat speech emphasizing the need to solve the problem...
• Write-Offs: 01.26.12 26 January 2012, 5:15 pm
  $$$ Cameron rebukes euro leaders over crisis [FT] $$$ BofA to Limit Cash Bonuses for Bankers, Traders [Bloomberg] $$$ Bank of America: The turnaround challenge of the century [Term Sheet] $$$ How Allen Stanford kept the SEC at bay [Reuters] $$$ In case you were wondering: Poll Shows Dropping Support for Paterno Firing [AP] $$$ Packages containing 40lbs of cocaine were found at UN headquarters [NYP] $$$ Government Trying to ‘Cripple’ Banks: Dick Bove [CNBC] $$$ Senate Vote Clears Way for Deb...
• Bonus Watch ’12: RBS Makes Sure Stephen Hester Isn’t Thinking Of Going Anywhere 26 January 2012, 4:34 pm
  The Queen did want to acknowledge all the work he’s done, though, so she threw the government worker a bone he can collect a few years from now. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC is awarding its chief executive officer a bonus of a bonus of around £963,000 ($1.5 million), paid fully in shares that will be deferred until 2014, capping weeks of public wrangling over bonus payouts at the U.K. bank. The bank said Thursday that Stephen Hester, CEO of the 83% government-owned lender, is bein...

Freakonomics

New Scientist

• Gold-coated ant wields microcog 27 January 2012, 12:13 pm
  Don't fear, ants haven't started constructing micromachines: this cog-wielding insect has been sealed in golden armour after death...
• Today on New Scientist: 27 January 2012 27 January 2012, 12:00 pm
  All today's stories on newscientist.com, including: arsenic life does not exist after all and repeated drought in east Africa may prompt aid rethink...
• US voters are less partisan than they think 27 January 2012, 12:00 pm
  Democrat and Republican voters' views on touchstone issues are not as strongly polarised as they assume – but mistrustful activists may often swing elections...
• Cane toads lose their killer touch in east Australia 27 January 2012, 11:48 am
  Australia's native species die when they eat poisonous cane toads – but not the blue-tongue lizards of eastern Australia...
• Creativity takes teamwork 27 January 2012, 10:48 am
  What does creativity in science look like? The most creative scientists may be those that collaborate with others from different disciplines, concludes a panel...
• Astrophile: Picture yourself on a sandboard on Titan 27 January 2012, 10:47 am
  Taking in plastic sand, marmalade skies and methane rivers, a tour of Titan's sand dunes would be as trippy as a late Beatles song...
• Virtual trees sway in wind just like the real thing 27 January 2012, 9:53 am
  Animators will soon be able to construct startlingly realistic sylvan beauty in movies and video games with a new system for generating 3D virtual trees...
• Repeated drought in east Africa may prompt aid rethink 27 January 2012, 9:35 am
  Rainfall patterns over east Africa have changed in a way that makes severe droughts more likely – aid agencies need to rethink the way they operate...
• Nintendo Wii U to have touch-free payment system 27 January 2012, 8:15 am
  Nintendo's next console will have a near-field communications (NFC) chip, opening up the possibility of new kinds of games and new ways to pay for them....
• Let's give science a bad name in schools 27 January 2012, 7:05 am
  The best way to get teens interested in science is to wash its dirty laundry in public, says Michael Brooks...

LiveScience

• January Seeing Above-Average Tornado Action 27 January 2012, 4:31 pm
  Month could wind up as third busiest for January tornadoes. ...
• Gallery: Peek Inside a Coral Nursery 27 January 2012, 4:24 pm
  A gallery of man-made coral nurseries, which are used to nurture and grow various coral species. ...
• How To Take a Dinosaur's Temperature 27 January 2012, 3:24 pm
  For the first time, a team of researchers has determined how to take the body temperatures of dinosaurs by analyzing the concentration of certain isotopes preserved in their teeth. ...
• Contradictions Don't Deter Conspiracy Theorists 27 January 2012, 3:01 pm
  Researchers explain why conspiracy theorists endorse contradicting theories. ...
• Has the 'Era of Easy Oil' Ended? 27 January 2012, 2:12 pm
  A new analysis concludes that easily extracted oil peaked in 2005, and now dirtier fossil fuels will be burned. ...
• Deep-Sea Fish Sounds 27 January 2012, 2:10 pm
  Scientists used a special hydrophone to capture the possible grunts and quacks of deep-sea fish. Note: Due to background noise, it's best to wear headphones to make out the sounds. ...
• Avastin's Failure in Breast Cancer: New Study May Explain Why It Happened 27 January 2012, 2:03 pm
  Though Avastin may kill many cells within a breast cancer tumor, it leaves behind the cancer stem cells, a new study in mice suggests. ...
• Elusive Snow Leopards Photographed, Steal Camera 27 January 2012, 1:31 pm
  Some of the young leopard cubs have sticky paws. ...
• The Truth About Race & Religion in Politics 27 January 2012, 1:15 pm
  A new method tries to tell whether prejudice plays into voting choices. ...
• Use of Actors, Photoshop Not OK in Public Health Ads, Experts Say 27 January 2012, 12:46 pm
  A public health campaign that features a testimonial from someone who doesn't actually have the disease they say they have is ethically wrong, experts say. ...

Digg Science

• Has the 'Era of Easy Oil' Ended? 27 January 2012, 2:56 pm
  A new analysis concludes that easily extracted oil peaked in 2005, suggesting that dirtier fossil fuels will be burned and energy prices will rise....
• Kepler telescope team finds 11 new solar systems 27 January 2012, 9:56 am
  NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found 11 new planetary systems, including one with five planets all orbiting closer to their parent star than Mercury circles the Sun, scientists said on Thursday....
• Asteroid to make near-miss fly-by 27 January 2012, 8:46 am
  An 11m-wide asteroid will pass within 60,000km of Earth on Friday - one of the 20 closest recorded approaches to our planet, but one that poses no danger....
• Jumping Spider Uses Fuzzy Eyesight to Judge Distance 27 January 2012, 8:32 am
  One of the ways in which humans determine distance is by estimating the sharpness of an image—closer objects produce a sharp image, while those further away are out of focus. For us, this is a minor additional method of judging distance, but now scientists in Japan have for the first time found an animal that appears to use this method as its primary means of depth perception....
• The World's Largest Radio Telescope 27 January 2012, 2:55 am
  The largest and most sensitive telescope ever built, the Square Kilometer Array will peer deeper into the universe than ever before, shedding light on some of the universe's greatest mysteries....
• Wacky Physics: Why Do Particles Have Flavors? 27 January 2012, 12:25 am
  Physicists are puzzled why fundamental particles come in different flavors, and can transition between them. New intensity frontier experiments hope to answer these questions....
• 11 New Planetary Systems... 26 New Planets... Kepler Racks 'Em Up! 26 January 2012, 10:16 pm
  NASA just announced the latest tally and the new discoveries come close to doubling the amount of verified planets and tripling the number of stars which are confirmed to have more than one transiting planet....
• Search for Twin Earth Getting Hotter! --NASA Announces 11 New Planetary Systems Hosting 26 Confirmed Planets 26 January 2012, 10:13 pm
  In the past year astronomers have discovered smaller planets are more numerous and diverse than anyone has expected --"Searing hot planets with iron rain, atmospheres with 1,000 mile an hour winds, planetary systems with two suns, a planet that literally skims the surface of its star once every three months," reports Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University....
• Jumping spiders use blurry vision to judge distance 26 January 2012, 1:40 pm
  We don’t like blurry vision, and we go out of our way to correct it with glasses and contact lenses. But some animals aren’t so fussy. The jumping spider not only tolerates blurry images, it deliberately produces them....
• Study: Positive thinking appears to help heart health 26 January 2012, 10:33 am
  Depression, anxiety, anger and other negative emotions have been linked to heart disease and heart attacks. But what about the flip side — are positive emotions connected to better heart health?...