Super-Earth in 6-Planet System May Have Oceans, Life

A newly discovered exoplanet joins the small but growing list of worlds other than our own that may host life.The exoplanet is a super-Earth, having about seven times the mass of our home planet, but orbits its parent star at roughly the same distance as Earth does from the sun. The star, HD 40307, is located about 42 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor. It’s what’s known as...

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UK PM warns of witch-hunt against gays in pedophile scandal

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Thursday that speculation about the identity of an unidentified member of his ruling Conservative party accused of sexually abusing children could turn into a witch-hunt against gay people.Cameron, who leads a troubled two-party coalition, ordered an investigation this week after a victim...

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Well: The Presidential Health Quiz

Whether it’s George Washington’s teeth or Bill Clinton’s former hamburger habit, Americans have always been fascinated by the health of the president and presidential candidates.With help from the Web site DoctorZebra, which has compiled an exhaustive list of the medical history of American presidents, we’ve created an Election Day quiz to test your knowledge of presidential fitness and heal...

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DealBook: On Wall Street, Time to Mend Fences With Obama

Del Frisco’s, an expensive steakhouse with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Boston harbor, was a festive scene on Tuesday evening. The hedge fund billionaires Steven A. Cohen, Paul Singer and Daniel Loeb were among the titans of finance there dining among the gray velvet banquettes before heading several blocks away to what they hoped would be a victory party for their presidential candidate,...

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Former Penn State president Graham Spanier arraigned; out on bail

Graham Spanier, former president of Penn State University, was arraigned and released on bail Wednesday on charges that he had...

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HoloHands Lets Users Control Laser Tweezers With a Microsoft Kinect

Scientists and hackers continue to show that Microsoft’s Kinect platform is a boundless source of both creative and useful applications. The latest, a project called HoloHands, seems like something straight out of Minority Report.David McGloin and his team at Scotland’s University of Dundee perform research in optical manipulation, a field that involves using highly focused laser beams to...

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“Dad’s Army” star Clive Dunn dies aged 92

LONDON (Reuters) – British actor Clive Dunn, best known as a bumbling old butcher in the popular World War Two sitcom “Dad’s Army”, has died, his agent said on Wednesday.Dunn passed away on Tuesday, Peter Charlesworth said, adding that he believed the actor died in Portugal where he has lived for many years. He was 92. As...

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The Doctor’s World: Doctors Chased Clues to Identify Meningitis Outbreak

The e-mail Dr. Marion A. Kainer received on Sept. 18 suggested an investigation of a case of fungal meningitis and stroke in a man whose immune system was normal and whose only risk for the infection was a spinal injection of a steroid. “Alarm bells went off” because of its rarity, Dr. Kainer, an epidemiologist at the Tennessee health department, said in an interview. She immediately...

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Fiscal Impasse and Europe Woes Weigh on Markets

Henny Ray Abrams/Associated PressA trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. A day after the election, the outlook of continued divided government in Washington and little prospect for compromise unnerved traders. Business leaders and investors on Wall Street reacted nervously to President Obama’s re-election Wednesday, as the focus shifted quickly from electoral politics to...

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State agency says PG&E seismic surveys would hurt marine mammals

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was scrambling Monday to salvage plans to conduct seismic surveys using sonic blasts off the...

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