Obama urges Congress to reach a 'fiscal cliff' deal

President Obama says it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is 'in sight,' but says it's not yet complete and work continues. ...

Read More..

The Best of Exploration: Top 8 Stories of Space Exploration in 2012

Our recap of the year’s best exploratory exploits continues today with a look at the biggest developments in space exploration. 2012 saw the stunning debut of new spacecraft (Curiosity), the continued contributions of geriatric ones (Voyager), and the first full year since the end of the Space Shuttle program. Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society nominated 8 particularly meaningful developments from...

Read More..

Armstrong better, Green Day to resume tour in 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Green Day is going back out on the road.The Grammy-winning punk band announced new tour dates Monday.The band canceled the rest of its 2012 club schedule and postponed the start of a 2013 arena tour after singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong‘s substance abuse problems emerged publicly in September when he had a profane meltdown on the stage of the iHeartRadio Music Festival in...

Read More..

Personal Health: Food Myths

Let’s start the new year on scientifically sound footing by addressing some nutritional falsehoods that circulate widely in cyberspace, locker rooms, supermarkets and health food stores. As a result, millions of people are squandering hard-earned dollars on questionable, even hazardous foods and supplements.For starters, when did “chemical” become a dirty word? That’s a question raised by one of Canada’s...

Read More..

Boehner: Obama won't stand up to his own party on 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John A. Boehner called it “ironic” that President Obama blamed Republicans for stalled negotiations...

Read More..

Wired Science's Top Image Galleries of the Year

Many of our most popular posts are image galleries, and this year our readers favorite collections included microscope photos, doomsday scenarios, auroras and lots of images of Earth from space.The satellite image above of Brasilia is part of the most popular post of the year.Above: I think it's safe to say that our readers like looking at images of Earth from space almost as much as we do. Satellite...

Read More..

‘The Hobbit’ stays atop box office for third week

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” continues to rule them all at the box office, staying on top for a third-straight week with nearly $ 33 million.The Warner Bros. fantasy epic from director Peter Jackson, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, has made $ 222.7 million domestically alone.Two big holiday movies — and potential awards contenders — also had strong openings. Quentin Tarantino‘s...

Read More..

Well: Exercise and the Ever-Smarter Human Brain

Anyone whose resolve to exercise in 2013 is a bit shaky might want to consider an emerging scientific view of human evolution. It suggests that we are clever today in part because a million years ago, we could outrun and outwalk most other mammals over long distances. Our brains were shaped and sharpened by movement, the idea goes, and we continue to require regular physical activity in order for...

Read More..

New NHL proposal sets Jan. 19 deadline to open season

Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the NHL, and Steve Fehr of the NHL Players Assn., address the media following negotiations...

Read More..

Autodesk's Partnership With Organovo Will Lead to Printable Organs — But Not Soon

Autodesk is developing CAD tools that can design new blood vessels, liver tissue and other replacement parts for the human body in collaboration with 3-D bioprinter company Organovo. After their recent announcement about the project, the principals from each side have gone into detail about their excitement for the partnership.The pairing will be a dramatic development for Organovo. Their bioprinters...

Read More..

Katie Holmes’ Broadway play ‘Dead Accounts’ closes

NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Holmes‘ return to Broadway will be much shorter than she would have liked.The former Mrs. Cruise‘s play “Dead Accounts” will close within a week of the new year. Producers said Thursday that Theresa Rebeck‘s drama will close on Jan. 6 after 27 previews and 44 performances.The show, which opened to poor reviews on Nov. 29, stars Norbert Leo Butz as Holmes’ onstage brother who...

Read More..

Surgery Returns to NYU Langone Medical Center

Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesSenator Charles E. Schumer spoke at a news conference Thursday about the reopening of NYU Langone Medical Center. NYU Langone Medical Center opened its doors to surgical patients on Thursday, almost two months after Hurricane Sandy overflowed the banks of the East River and forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients. While the medical center had been treating...

Read More..

China Toughens Restrictions on Internet Use

HONG KONG — The Chinese government issued new rules on Friday requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings and reporting them to the authorities. The decision came as government censors have sharply stepped up restrictions on China’s international Internet traffic in recent...

Read More..

USC football: Matt Barkley will not play in Sun Bowl

...

Read More..

Why You Shouldn't Buy a TV This Year. Again.

At January’s Consumer Electronics Show, the annual industry orgy in Las Vegas, manufacturers are going to introduce about a zillion new television sets. They’ll come armed with a bevy of specs: Full HD 3-D. 4K. OLED. Wi-Fi. Moth Eye. (Yes, Moth Eye.) The sets will be Internet-ready. They’ll harbor more ports than the eastern seaboard and come bristling with apps to let you watch Hulu and YouTube...

Read More..

Soprano Bartoli: My voice has more colors, shadow

LONDON (Reuters) – Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has released a year-end blockbuster that is part mystery story, part research project and shows off a voice which only seems to improve with age.Bartoli’s latest deluxe-packaged album “Mission” (Decca) is devoted to the music of the late 17th-century Italian composer, diplomat and perhaps spy, Agostino Steffani.Steffani may have been a bit overlooked...

Read More..

Books: From Bang to Whimper: A Heart Drug’s Story

On June 23, 2005, American medicine managed to take a small step forward and a giant step backward at precisely the same time, with government approval of the first medication to be earmarked for a specific racial group. It was BiDil, a drug designed to treat heart failure in blacks. Enthusiasts hailed BiDil’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration as a landmark event in the nascent...

Read More..

Reid Says a Deal Is Unlikely Before the Fiscal Deadline

WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, warned Thursday morning that there was scant time to put together a Congressional deal to avert the impending fiscal crisis and that no resolution was in sight. “I have to be very honest,” Mr. Reid said as the Senate convened Thursday in an unusual session between Christmas and New Year’s Day. “I don’t know time-wise how it can...

Read More..

Obama, Democrats, winning over public on 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON -- Americans are increasingly doubtful that Congress and the White House will reach a budget deal as the deadline to the "fiscal cliff" approaches, according...

Read More..

Virginia Town Releases Crime-Fighting App

Crime-fighting is tough. Look at Batman. That guy’s a mess. Still, for most people, if you witness a crime you want to do something about it. And while screaming “citizen’s arrest” seems about as effective as a substitute teacher in a junior high class, using that smartphone with all its media-capturing features actually makes sense. The town of Marion, Virginia has...

Read More..

Ticket rush: Film fans hand Hollywood record cash

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The big deal for Hollywood is not the record $ 10.8 billion that studios took in domestically in 2012. It’s the fact that the number of tickets sold went up for the first time in three years.Thanks to inflation, revenue generally rises in Hollywood as admission prices climb each year. The real story is told in tickets, whose sales have been on a general decline for a decade, bottoming...

Read More..