Baby can wait as expectant dad finishes spacewalk 
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A spacewalking astronaut put aside the impending birth of his daughter and blazed through his first-ever venture outside the International Space Station on Saturday.
Expectant father Randolph Bresnik and Michael Foreman were so far ahead despite their late start and interrupted sleep the night before — false fire and decompression alarms jolted them awake — that their commander handed them extra work.
"Way to kick butt," said commander Charles Hobaugh, a Marine colonel.
Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate
LONDON — Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.
The University of East Anglia, in eastern England, said in a statement Saturday that the hackers had entered the server and stolen data at its Climatic Research Unit, a leading global research center on climate change. The university said police are investigating the theft of the information, but could not confirm if all the materials posted online are genuine.
More than a decade of correspondence between leading British and U.S. scientists is included in about 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents posted on Web sites following the security breach last week.
Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center
Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics.
The skeptics have seized upon e-mails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain as evidence that scientific data have been rigged to make it appear as if humans are causing global warming. The researchers, however, say the e-mails have been taken out of context and merely reflect an honest exchange of ideas.
University officials confirmed the data breach, which involves more than 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents, but said they could not say how many of the stolen items were authentic.
Race to recreate Big Bang conditions reignited
GENEVA (Reuters) - After a year's delay, scientists at the world's biggest accelerator have restarted an experiment to recreate "Big Bang" conditions that had sparked suggestions the earth would be sucked in by millions of black holes.
Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have established circulating particle beams in both directions in the underground Large Hadron Collider, a step that is already beyond where the experiment stalled during a first attempt in September 2008, CERN spokesman James Gillies said.
The high-profile experiment, through which tiny particles are smashed in a bid to learn more about the birth of the universe, failed just nine days after it was launched due to a technical problem that took longer than expected to fix.
Google Offers Peek at Operating System, a Potential Challenge to Windows
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google began lifting the veil on its planned Chrome operating system on Thursday, but it said that computers powered by the software would not be available for a year.
The new operating system, which is closely tied to Google’s Web browser, also named Chrome, is seen as a potential challenge to Microsoft, whose Windows software powers the vast majority of personal computers.
But with the Chrome operating system, Google is not trying to build a better version of Windows. Instead, it is aiming to shift users toward its vision of “cloud computing,” a model in which programs are not installed on a PC but rather are used over the Internet and accessed through a Web browser. In Google’s approach, a user’s data will also reside on servers across the Internet, rather than on their PC.
Live From Google's Chrome OS Event
We're here today in Mountain View, CA at the Googleplex for an event during which Google is promising to give a lot of details about Chrome OS. This includes a full product rundown and details about the formal launch, which is expected to occur early next year.
Sundar Pichai, Google?s VP of Product Management and Matthew Papakipos, Google's Engineering Director for Google Chrome OS are speaking at the event. And there will be a Q&A session afterwards.
Below find our live notes (paraphrased):
Astronauts get set for 1st spacewalk of mission
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts are about to step out on the first spacewalk of their mission.
Michael Foreman and Dr. Robert Satcher Jr. will float outside Thursday morning to hook up a spare antenna and cables on the International Space Station. They also will tackle some other chores.
It will be the first spacewalk for Satcher. He became the first orthopedic surgeon in space, with Atlantis' liftoff earlier this week.
California Imposes Rule for Efficiency on Some TVs
Recognizing that giant new flat-panel televisions have become major power guzzlers, California on Wednesday became the first state to impose energy efficiency standards on them.
The California Energy Commission voted unanimously to apply the standard, which would take effect in 2011. There is no federal energy-efficiency standard for televisions.
California, which often leads the nation in taking action on environmental issues, banned power-hungry refrigerators and air- conditioners in the 1970s and has enforced strong energy codes on residential and commercial buildings for decades. But the new regulation may prove the most challenging to consumers’ tastes.
UPDATE 1-"Call of Duty" game sells $550 mln in 5 days
* Sales outpace "Grand Theft Auto IV"
* Shares up 5 cents to $11.74.
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Activision Blizzard Inc(ATVI.O) said its video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"scored record sales of $550 million in its first five days, butthe company is still concerned about weak consumer spending.
Shuttle Atlantis arrives at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday to deliver spare parts needed to keep the outpost operational after the shuttles' retirement next year.
Atlantis, which blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, ended its two-day journey at 11:51 a.m. EST (1651 GMT). Commander Charlie Hobaugh gently eased the shuttle into a docking port on the station as the two ships sailed 220 miles above the coast of Australia.
The shuttle is scheduled to remain attached to the space station until next Wednesday.
