Overstock.com, the online seller of excess inventory, sued New York state over a new law requiring more Web retailers to collect sales tax on shipments to residents in the state.
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To save money in these tough times, universities, conference planners and global companies have started holding gatherings for far-flung employees and students in the online world known as Second Life.
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Entrepreneurs have stepped forward with technology that allows billboards to measure their advertising effectiveness.
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Considering that nighttime driving is often the most dangerous, the new Toyota Crown Hybrid could help make the roads safer by giving drivers a kind of nocturnal vision.
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New research in Nature Nanotechnology shows that while engineered nanomaterials can be transferred up the lowest levels of the food chain from single celled organisms to higher multicelled ones, the amount transferred was relatively low …

Montreal’s stock exchange on officially launched the Montreal Climate Exchange, the country’s first carbon trading forum aimed at helping to cut greenhouse gases.
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Natural spoken dialogue technology has long been a dream for many. Advances by European researchers are making this a reality. The results of their work could soon be used to allow us to verbally interact …

A mat of nanowires with the touch and feel of paper could be an important new tool in the cleanup of oil and other organic pollutants, MIT researchers and colleagues report in the May 30 …

European governments agreed Friday to spend $731 million developing fuel cells and hydrogen technology for cars that could slash oil consumption and carbon dioxide emissions within decades.
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While his friends scramble for jobs flipping burgers or bagging groceries this summer, 18-year-old Mike Everest will be working as a trader in the fantasy Web world of "Entropia Universe," buying and selling virtual animal …

This week, waves of protest broke out across the continent, as irate port workers clashed with riot police in Marseilles and banner-wielding truckers shut down traffic in London.
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Population, pollution, and climate put the squeeze on potable supplies and private companies smell a profit. Others ask: Should water be a human right?
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Robotic rovers have patrolled deep space and the deepest seas, but scientists are still struggling to create drones that can overcome the multiple challenges of exploring Antarctica.
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Loss of forests and other natural systems could halve living standards for the world’s poor, a major report will conclude.
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A longstanding assumption of U.S. energy policy has been that natural gas would be plentiful abroad, but experts say the gas could be hit by the same boom in overseas demand that has made oil …

Nearly everyone told Matt and Jessica Flannery that their idea — a website where people could make micro loans to individual borrowers in the developing world — wouldn’t work. Venture capitalists couldn’t see how anyone …

Insects are a source of inspiration for technological development work. For example, researchers around the world are working on ultra-thin imaging systems based on the insect eye. The principle of hyperacuity has now been successfully …

General Electric to cut own use by 20% amid warnings that growing scarcity will lead to a price surge
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RealAudio / Windows Media… Facebook and Linked-in are two of the most popular on-line social networks, but there are now millions of others catering to all ages and a myriad of interests. …

The superhero tools of modern medicine can spy tumors, rehabilitate stroke victims and stop heart attacks in their tracks. And these powers can soon be as close as your pocket.
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The quest for green, clean technologies is about to get a boost from a research and development team 140,000 strong, scattered across 175 countries.
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Goteborg is among dozens of Swedish municipalities with facilities that transform sewage waste into enough biogas to run thousands of cars and buses.
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The ranks of consumers with passive and predictable habits are being replaced by platoons of noisy, Internet-savvy activists that lob feedback, challenge established business approaches and clamor for a voice in the goods and services …

Credit for auto loans is getting harder to come by, and used car prices are dropping due to a flood of repossessions and cast-off gas guzzlers.
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With aviation growing in terms of the number of planes operating and passengers taking to the skies, the industry is engaged in an important and candid dialogue

It’s a new frontier for psychiatric illness: Brain pacemakers that promise to act as antidepressants by changing how patients’ nerve circuitry fires. Scientists already know the power of these devices to block the tremors of …

When you think of wind power, you probably picture gigantic wind turbines spinning gracefully in the middle of large open areas.
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Researchers in China are reporting a discovery that could turn rice straw into an inexpensive new renewable source of biofuel. Their new study, scheduled for the July 16 issue of ACS’ bimonthly journal Energy & …

Researchers at TU Delft (Netherlands) and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals. This physical effect …

Public buses could be transformed into mobile sensing platforms, sending out information for traffic management, road safety and even hazard alerts thanks to the work of European researchers.
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Former British prime minister Tony Blair told Yale University graduates Sunday that countries such as China and India are becoming more powerful and partnerships will be needed to avoid conflict.
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Barcelona is a dry city. It is dry in a way that two days of showers can do nothing to alleviate. The Catalan capital’s weather can change from one day to the next, but its …

Employees at Apple have filed a patent for integrating solar cells into portable devices by placing them underneath the layers of a touch-sensitive display, according to the filing.
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Summit in Rome follows record spikes in cost of rice, wheat and dairy products.
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Along with all the flyers and junk mail that I get on a daily basis, I occasionally receive a handful of coupons for the golden arches.
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The government should go ahead with a scheme for personal "carbon credits", a committee of MPs says.
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Cloud computing is the buzzword of the moment in the technology industry, with Google, IBM, Microsoft and Yahoo all touting the concept.
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Britain’s largest union is merging with United Steelworkers, creating the first trans-Atlantic labor organization, the two labor groups said Sunday.
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There’s a new kink to city budget planning this year as local governments try to predict gas prices and find the money to keep police cars and garbage trucks on the road.
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An entrepreneur is trying to cover the Earth with Web access, one hotspot at a time. But his big idea is encountering equally big obstacles.
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European power companies called Friday for urgent EU-wide moves to clear the way for new nuclear plants, stressing the security and climate change dangers of a failure to act.
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Google Inc.’s online communities have little traction in the United States, but the search leader continues to seek a spot in the social-networking hierarchy.
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A Canadian research expedition finds dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap.
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If global warming continues unchecked, by 2100, New York City will feel like Las Vegas does today and San Francisco will have a climate comparable to that of today’s New Orleans.
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Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that adding tiny bits of gold to a failed HIV drug rekindle the drug’s ability to stop the virus from invading the body’s immune system.
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Lawmakers lash out at regulators for failing to move quickly enough to implement defenses against hackers.
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Corporations really need folks in their 30s to early 40s, but there is a tentative relationship at best between that cohort and Corporate America.
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Environmental experts predict catastrophic drought conditions for Texas and warmer temperatures in New Mexico unless something drastic is done to slow climate change.
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The Web 2.0 concept has impacted the creative sector yet again with Crowdspring, a marketplace for graphic design, illustration, and art professionals.
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More than a third of Americans are rethinking vacation plans because of record-high gas prices, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.
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Rising levels of the greenhouse gas methane could be caused by changes in wetlands, largely around the Arctic.
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Italy says it is to restart its nuclear energy programme, 20 years after it was scrapped following Chernobyl.
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In investigating the intricacies of the body`s biological rhythms, scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have discovered the existence of a ?food-related clock? which can supersede the ?light-based? master clock that serves as …

The University of Queensland has created its own virtual world to help teach students about different religions.
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From the greatest minds in business today comes a groundbreaking blueprint for executing the next stage of customer-created value. C.K. Prahalad, the world’s premier business thinker, and technology expert M.S. Krishnan unveil the missing link …

President Bush on Wednesday signed legislation to protect people from losing their jobs or health insurance when genetic testing reveals they are susceptible to costly diseases.
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A Northern California biotech company announced Wednesday that it will clone dogs for the five highest bidders in a series of online auctions.
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The US city of San Francisco passes new rules requiring businesses to pay for the amount of CO2 they emit.
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Canadian Geographic is making publishing history by printing its annual environment issue on paper made from wheat straw.
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Taking their cue from leaping insects like the grasshopper and flea, French roboticists have built a tiny robot with spring-powered legs, capable of jumping 27 times its own size.
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The need for energy is growing, and rather than prospecting under the ground for more coal and oil to meet the demand, more and more Canadian companies are taking a serious look at the skies …

Carbon nanotubes could trigger diseases similar to those caused by asbestos, a study suggests.
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The Cambridge foundation that helped inspire the current boom in cheap laptop computers is now working on something even more radical – an ultracheap computer with no keyboard.
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Japan passed a new law Wednesday allowing the use of space programmes for defence, an official said, reversing a decades-old policy amid increasing concern about military threats in the region.
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Yamaha says it is seeing brisk interest in a new digital musical instrument that enables users to create and play music as if they are drawing pictures.
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A Japanese centre which says it has trained a dog to sniff out human cancer cells is cloning the animal in South Korea, a Seoul bio-technology company and the dog’s owner said Wednesday.
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A Pittsburgh startup has launched what could be one of the first RFID systems to debut in an operating room setting.
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A fragment of DNA from the extinct Tasmanian tiger is put into a mouse to study how the genetic material works.
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Climate change is "amplifying" the threats facing the world’s bird species, a key study concludes.
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Edd Hifeng barely merits a second glance in "Second Life." A steel-gray robot with lanky limbs and linebacker shoulders, he looks like a typical avatar in the popular virtual world.
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The head of the Bank of England mourns the end of a decade of low inflation and steady growth.
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Starting with the 2009 model year, several automakers have developed diesel vehicles clean enough to pass muster in all states, including the big California and New York markets.
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Nissan is the first major automaker to commit to bringing a zero-emission vehicle to the U.S. market.
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Forget expanding Dubai, forget sprawling Las Vegas, forget the mushrooming skyscrapers of Shanghai. There’s a city state which, at just five years old, has enjoyed such turbocharged growth that its square mileage already dwarfs New …

The aggressive expansion plans of Travelodge, one of the largest budget hotel chains in Britain, hinge on the use of prefabricated hotel rooms, manufactured in China.
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A Web-based service under development offers a new tool intended to help with the matchmaking of inventors and companies.
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Meat retailers can now trace their wares from the ranch to the refrigerator case using DNA analysis.
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One of the surprises in IBM’s new global CEO study was that a small but significant percentage of the CEOs surveyed are now tuning into the expectations of what IBM calls the "socially-minded customer." When …

The Italian fashion company Benetton has created two perfumes just for the Chinese market, to be introduced before the Olympic Games.
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U.S. airlines are passing their financial pain to their passengers in the form of sharply higher airfares and new fees.
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Philip Bobbitt’s powerful, dense and brilliant new book argues that the nature of terrorism has changed as nationhood has evolved.
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Gluten-free is just one of several new food trends that the Center for Culinary Development (CCD) says is going to show up in greater quantity on store shelves and restaurants — including the fast kind …

Strait-laced in the real world, workers do business as animals or blue-skinned hipsters in a parallel reality on the Web. To save money in these tough times, universities, conference planners and global firms have started …

China’s rising energy demands will require Beijing to either build or lease ships to carry the oil needed for its industry. As domestic tanker production has failed to keep pace with rising demand, some Chinese …

A drought update has found there is no immediate prospect of relief for the nation’s farmers.
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A global ‘petaflop’ supercomputing centre could provide detailed local forecasts of future climate change, say leading climate modellers.
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A team of researchers has discovered a photosynthetic "dimmer switch" in light harvesting proteins in green plants, which could hold important implications for the future design of artificial photosynthesis systems, providing the world with a …

The potential for U.S. solar energy may look brightest in California, but legal, technological and cost limitations are interfering with big installations.
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Chinese factory-gate inflation edged up to 8.1 percent in April, the fastest rate since late 2004, showing a sustained build-up in price pressures that could keep consumer inflation high.
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On our list: family businesses under stress, a dearth of managers, and corruption.
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A biofuels backlash has erupted in major ethanol producer the United States, as lawmakers and experts debate the merits of converting food to fuel to support America’s age-old love affair with the automobile.
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Biofuel and other derivatives from sugarcane have for the first time overtaken hydroelectric power as an energy source in Brazil, according to an annual official study released Thursday.
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When the British naturalist George Shaw received a weird specimen from Australia in 1799 – one with a mole’s fur, a duck’s bill and spurs on its rear legs – he did what any skeptical …

Declining fish stocks could be partially responsible for algal blooms in parts of the oceans, researchers find.
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Scientists examine how liver and bone disease could be treated using embryonic stem cells.
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India instituted a four-month ban on futures trading in soybean oil, rubber, chickpeas and potatoes as the government seeks to rein in the fastest inflation since 2005.
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The UN says it will investigate Canada for failing to meet a Kyoto Protocol deadline on greenhouse-gas reporting and could bar it from an international carbon-trading scheme if the probe finds Ottawa broke the rules.
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The battle for the African telecommunications company, the MTN Group, could come down to a clash between the world

Almost half of Scottish households will have only one adult living in them within 25 years, new research predicts.
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Research shows the airline industry spews 20 percent more CO2 into the atmosphere than previously believed — and its carbon output could hit 1.5 billion tons a year by 2050.
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There are always risks to consider when investing in a company, but here

An undergraduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has learned very quickly that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. In fact, with his invention, the sugar may actually be the medicine.Among …

Apparently not, even though more research and development is joining manufacturing in the shift toward low-cost nations.
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In classical computing, random access memory (RAM) is needed to make things

Many tropical insects could face extinction by the end of this century due to rising temperatures, scientists say.
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The surge in costs places priority on anchoring inflation, the ECB’s chief, Jean-Claude Trichet, said.
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Yum Brands, which owns the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut brands, has begun an expansion in China that could make the country the company’s biggest source of profit within a decade.
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Russia plans to install about 280 turbines by 2011. Only Chinese engineers have proven capable of commissioning one per week, the pace that Russia will require if it is to stave off a power crunch.
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A fungus responsible for the rapid deterioration of military clothing and canvas tents during the Second World War could significantly improve the production of biofuels, say U.S. scientists.
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Google was very much the spoiler in the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. But its most effective weapon was not threats or coercion, but its very effective, and unconventional, use of its own checkbook.
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A generation ago, the debate in medicine was whether robotics would ever play a role. Today, robots are a fast-growing, diversifying $1 billion segment of the medical device industry.
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Rumors of the death of virtual world marketing are greatly exaggerated, says Second Life expert and author Au. Here, several ideas to resuscitate revenue.
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Moving beyond Second Life marketing, many companies are infiltrating virtual worlds for employee meetings, mixers, and recruiting.
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The future of computing was under the spotlight at the Institute of Physics’ Condensed Matter and Materials Physics conference at the Royal Holloway College of the University of London.
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Researchers in China have pinpointed an elusive gene that plays a linchpin role in determining the harvest potential of rice, according to a study released on Sunday by the journal Nature Genetics.
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The glowing amber dot on a light switch in the entryway of George Tsapoitis’ house offers a clue about the future of electricity.
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In a memo to employees Jerry Yang said that "now is the time to demonstrate what that exclamation point stands for" at the end of Yahoo’s name. I would guess that he is talking about …

Integrated Enterprise Excellence (IEE) introduces a new organizational governance system that integrates analytics with innovation. The IEE system shows business leaders what to measure and report; when and how to report it; how to interpret …

This volume presents an IEE onset story about four friends who share their experiences with improvement systems while playing golf. They learn how they can improve their games in both business and golf using IEE …

The extent of ice covering the Baltic sea this winter reached an all-time low, since measurements began more than a century ago, Swedish meteorologists said.
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The online world isn’t always user-friendly. But it could be.
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Fears are growing that personal information that is freely shared on social networks may be used by government agencies, anti-Kremlin activists or even banks seeking to collect debts.
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After a slow start, mobile operators across Europe and the United States are investing in new broadcasting towers, mobile devices, TV programming and promotions – even though it is not yet clear that viewers and …

Welcome to Blubberland — a world of quadruple-garaged mansions, vast malls, gated communities, stretch limos, and posh resorts. Blubberland is a place, but it is also a state of mind: we expect to be happy …

Mark Gottfredson and Steve Schaubert interviewed more than forty CEOs from both industry and the nonprofit sector, conducted an intensive study of what successful managers do right — and what some do wrong — and …

Over the past seven years, Procter & Gamble has tripled profits; significantly improved organic revenue growth, cash flow, and operating margins; and averaged earnings per share growth of 12 percent. How? A. G. Lafley and …

Emergence, largely ignored just thirty years ago, has become one of the liveliest areas of research in both philosophy and science. Fueled by advances in complexity theory, artificial life, physics, psychology, sociology, and biology and …

After a three-month standoff, Microsoft was in active merger talks with Yahoo yesterday, said several people involved in the discussions.
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A mounting body of evidence suggests that brains contain more plasticity than previously thought, and many people are taking matters into their own hands.
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Daphne Koller’s work has led to advances in artificial intelligence that can be used to predict traffic jams, improve machine vision and understand the way cancer spreads.
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In the tradition of classics such as Lewis Thomas’s Lives of a Cell, Zimmer has written a fascinating and utterly accessible investigation of what it means to be alive. Zimmer traces E. Coli‘s remarkable history, …

The idea of intelligent machines has become part of popular culture, and tracing the history of the actual science of machine intelligence reveals a rich network of cross-disciplinary contributions — the unrecognized origins of ideas …

One gray squirrel, its bushy tail twitching, barked a warning as another scrounged for food nearby. It was an ordinary spring day at Hampshire College, except that the rodent issuing the warning was powered by …

Progress being made by European researchers on automatic speech-to-speech translation technology could help the EU tackle one of the biggest remaining boundaries to internal trade, mobility and the free exchange of information – language.
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At an IBM-USC event to explore the intersection of creative arts, science, and technology, five top IBM scientists offer predictions for supercomputers, green tech, medicine, and more.
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