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Sun Apr 24 04:40:37 EDT 2011
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SpaceX aims to put man on Mars in 10-20 years - Private US company SpaceX hopes to put an astronaut on Mars within 10 to 20 years, the head of the firm said.

Sony investigating PlayStation Network outage - Sony Corp. is investigating the outage of its PlayStation Network, a system that links gamers in live play worldwide.

Gulf disaster renews debate over Arctic oil spill - (AP) -- A year after the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, some experts are pondering the next doomsday scenario - a massive oil well blowout in the icy waters off Alaska's northern coast.

Tweeting, deleting help build Rutgers webcam case - (AP) -- Accused of a hate crime for allegedly using a webcam to spy on his college roommate's same-sex encounter, the roommate of Tyler Clementi is now also finding that it's not just what you tweet, but also what you delete, that can get you in trouble.

Sony chairman credited with developing CDs dies - (AP) -- Opera singer Norio Ohga complained about the quality of Sony tape recorders before he was hired by the company, developed the compact disc and championed its superior sound. Love of music steered the former Sony chairman's career and in turn, he transformed the Japanese electronics maker into a global software and entertainment empire.

Amazon wrangling with online hosting woes - Amazon on Friday was still wrangling with troubles at its Web hosting service used by Foursquare, Quora, Reddit and other popular websites.

Microsoft bumps pay to keep 'top talent' - Microsoft said Friday it was raising pay for employees to retain "top talent" in the fiercely competitive market for skilled technology workers.

Ariane rocket launches two telecoms satellites - An Ariane-5 rocket placed two telecommunications satellites into geostationary orbit, the 43rd successive success for the European rocket, Arianespace announced.

German baby survives record-equalling premature birth - A German baby born after only 21 weeks and five days in the womb has equalled a world record for surviving premature infants, the hospital said Saturday.

Twitter makes new nest in San Francisco - Twitter on Friday said it has inked a deal to move into a new nest in a chronically downtrodden part of downtown San Francisco that local officials are eager to rehabilitate.

US Coast Guard slams Transocean - The US Coast Guard slammed drilling rig operator Transocean's "poor safety culture" in a report Friday on the massive explosion and fire that unleashed the biggest maritime oil spill in history.

New findings contribute to understanding of diabetic kidney disease - A gene called PVT1 may help reduce the kidneys ability to filter blood, leading to kidney disease, kidney failure and death, according to a study published today by researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Bighead carp snagged in St. Croix River - It's an ugly brute with a gaping mouth and eyes that hang low on the bottom of its face. Someday soon, with two of its equally odious cousins, it could take over Minnesota's rivers and lakes, squeezing out native species. Unless somebody stops them.

Review: G-Slate a powerful, but pricey iPad competitor - Another day, another possible iPad killer. This week we have the G-Slate, from LG and wireless carrier T-Mobile, the first 4G-enabled tablet to run on Google's superb Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system.

GPS satellites get a serious upgrade - (PhysOrg.com) -- GPS has become such an integral part of the new technology in our lives that we really do not give it much of a thought. It gets us to our destination without getting lost. It helps the ambulance to find us when we dial 911 on our cell phones. It lets you become the mayor of your gym for all those check in's.

Becoming a vampire without being bitten: A new study shows that reading expands our self-concepts - "We read to know we are not alone," wrote C.S. Lewis. But how do books make us feel we are not alone?

Journal of Dental Research releases studies on oral health inequalities in older people - The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have published two studies about oral health inequalities in older people and low income individuals. These articles, titled "Income-related Inequalities in Dental Service Utilization by Europeans Aged 50+" by Stefan Listl, and "Income Inequality and Tooth Loss in the United States" by Eduardo Bernabe and Wagner Marcenes, are published in the Journal of Dental Research, the official publication of the IADR/AADR.

US gas well contained, but concerns rise on 'fracking' - Crews in Pennsylvania gained control Friday of a natural gas well that blew out and spilled thousands of gallons of chemical-laden drilling fluid into the environment over two days.

Sony scrambles to revive PlayStation Network - Sony on Friday was working to revive its online network that connects PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles to games, films, and other digital offerings.

Effect of cloud-scattered sunlight on Earth's energy balance depends on wavelength of light - Atmospheric scientists trying to pin down how clouds curb the amount of sunlight available to warm the earth have found that it depends on the wavelength of sunlight being measured. This unexpected result will help researchers improve how they portray clouds in climate models.

New Fujitsu Lifebooks: no optical drive but a projector instead - (PhysOrg.com) -- With the way that the world of mobile devices has opened up in the past few years, as dozens of netbooks and tablet PCs make their way into the market, the optical drive is no longer really a requirement to make a marketable piece of hardware.

NY MoMath museum aims to add to math appreciation - (AP) -- Mathematics. It's a subject that can elicit groans and exclamations of "boring." But Glen Whitney, a former hedge-fund quantitative analyst, is betting he can change that with a formula that looks like this: math (equals) discovery (equals) beauty (equals) fun.

Facebook looks to cash in on user data - Julee Morrison has been obsessed with Bon Jovi since she was a teenager. So when paid ads for fan sites started popping up on the 41-year-old Salt Lake City blogger's Facebook page, she was thrilled. She described herself as a "clicking fool," perusing videos and photos of the New Jersey rockers.

Amazon forest and the price of gold - Ellen Silbergeld keeps the price of gold posted on the door to her office at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The price is now at a record high (better than $1,500 an ounce) and Silbergeld, professor at Hopkins and editor-in-chief of the journal Environmental Research knows that is really bad news for the Amazon.

Vaccine effort targets 41 million in Americas - The Pan-American Health Organization said Friday it is aiming to vaccinate 41 million people in 45 Western Hemisphere nations against a variety of diseases in its ninth annual vaccination week.

Europe prays for Easter rain in worst drought for a century - The Dutch have banned barbecues, camp fires and outdoor smoking this Easter, while the Swiss are forecasting potentially the worst drought in Europe for more than a century.

Pfizer says patient died in oral RA drug study - (AP) -- Pfizer Inc. confirmed that one patient who was taking its drug candidate tofacitinib, a pill designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, died during a recent clinical trial and said the death was connected to the drug.

The rise of the Internet electorate - Four years ago, Barack Obama kicked off his presidential campaign on the steps of Illinois' Old State Capitol, speaking in front of thousands of supporters and a throng of media. Earlier this month, when he formally announced his re-election campaign, he did so without public appearance, in an online video.

Earth Day? In Texas, it's for the birds - Team Sapsucker sped away in a minivan moments after midnight on Earth Day, ears perked and binoculars in hand, in a race to identify a US record number of bird species in a 24-hour period.

Taiwan slams brake on $20 bn petrochemical project - A controversial giant petrochemical project in Taiwan is expected to be abandoned after the island's leader voiced his opposition on environmental grounds, officials said Friday.