Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Obama: Don't Hold Middle-Class Tax Cuts Hostage

Dec 1, 2012 6:00am AP Photo/Charles DharapakPresident Obama is urging Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it’s “unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.”With the clock ticking toward the so-called “fiscal cliff,” Obama asked...

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Dinosaurs might have once gazed into the Grand Canyon

Joanna Carver, reporter(Image: John Burcham/NGS)Picture the scene. It's late in the Cretaceous period, 70 million years ago. A group of dinosaurs have gathered at the rim of what will become known as the Grand Canyon. They're gawping over the edge, just as humans will in millennia to come.That might not be complete fantasy. It had been thought that the canyon formed 6 million years ago. But now...

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US Senate approves new sanctions on Iran

WASHINGTON: The US Senate unanimously approved new economic sanctions Friday aimed at further crippling Iran's energy, shipping and port sectors, a year after Congress passed tough restrictions against Tehran.The amendment, tacked on to a sweeping defense spending bill being debated by the chamber, passed 94-0 and should sail through the House of Representatives.It was introduced by Senator...

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Windows 8 slower out of gate than Windows 7, says report

Windows 8 is playing second fiddle toWindows 7, at least in Internet traffic, according to data out today from StatCounter.Over the four-week period ending November 26,Windows 8 had grabbed a worldwide Internet usage share of just 1.31 percent, the Web traffic firm said.In comparison, Windows 7 had achieved a global Internet usage share of 4.93 percent during the one month after its debut in October...

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNLLooking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand...

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Fiscal Cliff Creeps Closer With Few Signs of Optimism

"Absurd" -- that's the word one top Republican Hill aide used to describe the plan that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner presented to GOP leaders yesterday to avoid the fiscal cliff.And an aide to House Speaker Boehner described the White House's offer as "completely unrealistic" and "a break with reality."Meanwhile, a top Democratic insider complained to ABC's Jonathan Karl...

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Junk radio signals track all space debris in one go

Call it Junk FM. Rogue signals from your radio may help warn about space debris on a dangerous collision course with Earth. Stray FM signals from radios, bouncing back off space junk, could allow astronomers to track the whole population of space debris, suggest preliminary...

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IAEA chief calls for "urgent" Iran diplomacy

VIENNA: The head of the UN atomic agency called Thursday for diplomatic "urgency" in the Iranian nuclear standoff, even as Tehran signalled its continued defiance of UN Security Council demands to suspend key activities."All countries, and the IAEA, are willing to find a diplomatic solution. If there is political will we can reach agreement," said International Atomic Energy Agency chief...

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AT&T's rugged Samsung Rugby III lands Dec 14 with PTT

AT&T's Samsung Rugby III will feature enhanced push-to-talk.(Credit:Samsung)AT&T's rough 'n' tumble "Rugby" team gets another player in the Samsung Rugby III, a durable flip phone that will feature AT&T's enhanced push-to-talk (PTT) capabilities.Starting December 14, the Rugby III costs $99.99 with a two-year contract, but free for organizations with an AT&T business account. Pre-orders...

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