Tower-Climbing, Frisbee-Tossing Robots Kick Off 2013 START Competition

Representatives from more than 50 high schools gathered at San Jose State University Saturday for the kickoff to the 2013 season of the FIRST Robotics Competition, inventor Dean Kamen’s attempt to turn robotics and engineering education into a high school sports-like event. This year’s competition: build a robot that can throw Frisbees and climb a 90-inch-tall metal pyramid tower.The...

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Mariah Carey increased security in feud with fellow “Idol” judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pop diva Mariah Carey said she hired increased security following what she described as threats reportedly made against her by fellow ‘American Idol‘ judge Nicki Minaj, according to an interview on ABC News.Carey, 42, one of three new judges to join the “American Idol” panel for the hit talent show’s new season on January 16, told Barbara Walters in an interview airing on Monday,...

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The New Old Age Blog: Who Should Receive Organ Transplants?

Joe Gammalo had been contending with pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs, for more than a decade when he came to the Cleveland Clinic in 2008 seeking a lung transplant.“It had gotten to the point where I was on oxygen all the time and in a wheelchair,” he told me in an interview. “I didn’t expect to live.”Lung transplants are a dicey proposition, involving a huge surgical procedure, arduous...

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Wall Street Trades Lower as Earnings Reports Begin

Stocks trading on Wall Street ticked lower at the opening on Tuesday as an earnings season that is expected to show sluggish corporate growth got under way. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 0.2 percent in morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average also lost 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite index was flat. Over the next couple of weeks, quarterly reports...

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From gang member to team player

SAN FRANCISCO — Luis Aroche learned about violence at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, across from the projects where his...

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IPO Lottery 2013: 10 Companies to Watch

The Chinese calendar might have it pegged as the year of the black snake, but investors are already calling 2013 the year of the enterprise IPO. Not nearly as catchy as something reptilian, but hopefully a lot more profitable than the newly public consumer companies, Facebook chief among them, that took a beating in the public markets in 2012. Consistent with the enterprise theme, we already know...

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”Texas Chainsaw” movie kills rivals at North America box office

(Reuters) – The return of the bloody “Texas Chainsaw” franchise sliced up movie box office rivals with a surprise win over the weekend, grabbing an estimated $ 23 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.The new “Texas Chainsaw 3D” pulled past Quentin Tarantino Western “Django Unchained,” the second place film from Friday through Sunday with $ 20 million. No. 3 movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”...

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Tehran Is Choked by Annual Buildup of Air Pollution

TEHRAN — Already battered by international threats against their nation’s nuclear program, sanctions and a broken economy, Iranians living here in the capital are now trying to cope with what has become an annual pollution peril: a yellowish haze that engulfs Tehran this time of year. For nearly a week, officials here and in other large cities have been calling on residents to remain indoors...

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Markets Tighten After 5-Year High

Stocks on Wall Street fell at the opening on Monday after the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed out last week at a five-year high. The S.&P. 500 lost 0.5 percent in early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.5 percent. European market indexes were down in afternoon trading. Last week was the best for...

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Reality shows may put crews too close to cutting edge

Monica Martino had filmed tornadoes in the Midwest, ship collisions in the Antarctic and crab fishermen in Alaska's Bering Sea....

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