science and technology

When I was in college, there was a guy on our floor who refused to wake up. He'd slap off his alarm clock and snore through nearly every 7:40 AM session of Econ 51. He'd spend the rest of his day complaining how his alarm clock had failed him.

The first-born children of older parents are three times more likely to have autism than their siblings or those born to younger parents, according to a new federally funded study.

Like a locksmith with a master key, Dr. Carlos Guestrin has created a computer algorithm that can do everything from figuring out the best way to detect water contamination to revealing which political blogs do the best job of staying on top of the news.

CARBONTRADING (Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) -- The global market for carbon trading is booming. But what is it? 700.While recent months have seen a global contraction in both debt and equity markets, at least one financial market has been booming this year, a market that scarcely existed five years ago.

Pardon this space while I go on a rant, but I hope you can relate.Batteries are getting worse.I mean, in the space of a week or two the batteries in my iPod, my wireless mouse, a smoke detector, my cell phone, my wife's cell phone, two laptops, a TomTom GPS and the TiVo remote have gone south.

Dan Deeble took a technology designed for military use in the Cold War and put it in the service of love.Deeble - an Antelope, Calif. resident with a tricky, techie streak - used a simple GPS-based iPhone application to propose to his girlfriend last week.

DURANT, Okla. -- A baby alligator swam toward the center of the black tub in the lab and nipped its sibling's tail playfully."They're always doing that," said biologist and Southeastern Oklahoma State University professor Tim Patton, gesturing to the tub.Inside, a baby alligator scurried onto a cinder block to bask beneath the glow of a grow lamp.

Efforts to curb greenhouse gases that cause global warming have sparked interest in new technologies, rejuvenated pleas for energy conservation, and resulted in development of co-generation projects in which steam from one industrial facility is captured and used to generate electricity at another.

BOULDER, Colo. -- Handling a hot cup of coffee can change a person's attitude toward a stranger, according to a University of Colorado professor's theory that feeling warm and fuzzy inside is linked to physical warmth.Lawrence E. Williams, an assistant professor of marketing at CU's Leeds School of Business, relays his findings Friday in the journal Science.

NBA 2K9Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS2Genre: SportsPublisher: 2K SportsESRB Rating: E for EveryoneGrade: 4 stars