Global Update: Hand-Held Device Locates Hot Spots of Lead Contamination

Using a hand-held scanner to map hot spots where the soil is full of lead could protect children in mining towns against brain damage, scientists at Columbia University concluded in a new study. Touched to the ground, the device, an X-ray fluorescence scanner, can measure the soil’s lead content in less than a minute, said Alexander van Geen, a geochemist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty...

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Seafood fraud widespread in N.Y., probe finds

There's a good chance that the white tuna sashimi served up at your favorite Manhattan sushi joint isn't white tuna at all.Instead,...

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Latin music star Jenni Rivera believed dead in plane crash

Fans of Mexican-American singing star Jenni Rivera held a vigil Sunday night in Lynwood MEXICO CITY — Mexican American singer...

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Fla. man sues ex-Elmo puppeteer, claims sex abuse

MIAMI (AP) — Another man on Monday sued the former Elmo puppeteer who resigned amid sex abuse allegations, claiming the voice actor befriended him in Miami and promised to be a father figure before flying the teen to New York to have sex with him.The alleged victim is now the fourth to accuse Kevin Clash, who resigned from "Sesame Street" last month after 28 years. The three legal actions filed so...

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Mind: A Compromise on Defining and Diagnosing Mental Disorders

They plotted a revolution, fell to debating among themselves, and in the end overturned very little except their own expectations. But the effort itself was a valuable guide for anyone who has received a psychiatric diagnosis, or anyone who might get one. This month, the American Psychiatric Association announced that its board of trustees had approved the fifth edition of the association’s...

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Facebook polls close: Facebook wins privacy vote by a landslide

The Facebook polls have closed and, even though Facebook had its biggest turnout ever, too few users cast ballots to have...

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3 killed, 4 wounded in Tulare County shooting

Three people were fatally shot and four others wounded, including two young children, Saturday night on the Tule River Reservation...

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'Skyfall,' 'Guardians' duel for box-office win

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond is in a box-office photo finish with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny over what looks to be the last slow weekend of the holidays.According to studio estimates Sunday, Sony's Bond tale "Skyfall" took in $11 million to move back to No. 1 in its fifth weekend.That put it narrowly ahead of Paramount's "Rise of the Guardians," the animated adventure of Santa, the Easter Bunny...

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New Taxes to Take Effect to Fund Health Care Law

WASHINGTON — For more than a year, politicians have been fighting over whether to raise taxes on high-income people. They rarely mention that affluent Americans will soon be hit with new taxes adopted as part of the 2010 health care law. The new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income, including interest, dividends...

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Leaders and their feeders

A favorite question at entrepreneurship conferences is which world city has the entrepreneurial dynamism to become a major start-up...

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