LiveScience.com - Mass extinctions have served as huge reset buttons that dramatically changed the diversity of species found in oceans all over the world, according to a comprehensive study of fossil records. The findings suggest humans will live in a very different future if they drive animals to extinction, because the loss of each species can alter entire ecosystems.
[Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:25 GMT]
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Reuters - God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.

[Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:08:52 GMT]
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AP - A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake damaged buildings, cut power and knocked fleeing residents off their feet on New Zealand's South Island early Saturday, but there were so far no deaths and only two injuries reported.

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:11:47 GMT]
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Time.com - More communities are trying to crack down on fraudulent practices of seers, fortune tellers and other spiritualists
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:55:00 GMT]
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AP - The new top commander in Afghanistan is talking up a weapon that has been kept in the shadows for years — special operations missions to kill or capture key insurgents — to try to convince skeptics the war can be won.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:58:09 GMT]
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AP - Federal investigators said Friday that a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:37:52 GMT]
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AP - As major U.S. combat operations in Iraq end, some families of soldiers and Marines convicted of crimes during battle hope the nation doesn't forget their sons.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:35:33 GMT]
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AP - One of the investors in a proposed Islamic center near ground zero is a Long Island medical clinic owner whose expressions of sympathy for Palestinians included a donation to a charity later shut down for links to Hamas.

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:20:27 GMT]
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AP - A UPS cargo plane with two crew members on board crashed shortly after takeoff Friday outside Dubai, officials said.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:08:23 GMT]
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AP - Unemployment is stuck at high levels even though some companies are hiring. The problem, government data show, is that too few jobs are being created for the growing number of people looking for work.

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:18:16 GMT]
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Reuters - A well-known Australian Muslim cleric has called for the beheading of Dutch anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, a newspaper said on Friday.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:03:05 GMT]
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The Upshot - While the rest of the political world is preoccupied with the midterm elections, Chicago dentist William DeJean is hatching plans for 2012. He shelled out $5,000 to create an ad encouraging Americans to back a Hillary Clinton presidential run in 2012. He says the spot will run in New Orleans, Washington, New York and Los [...]
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:40:35 GMT]
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AP - With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:10:39 GMT]
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AP - Kara DioGuardi is following Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell out the door at "American Idol."

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:25:32 GMT]
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AP - From the mixture of hurt, anger and embarrassment on his face, Gordon seems like one of the last people who would want to open his life to cameras for a reality television show.

[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:48:15 GMT]
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SPACE.com - A Chinese satellite may have intentionally nudged another spacecraft during secretive space maneuvers in near-Earth orbit, according to analysts.
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:30:18 GMT]
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The Upshot - The British royal family can't seem to catch a break. If its members deviate from the script of monarchical etiquette -- by divorcing each other, donning tasteless costumes and the like -- public outrage predictably ensues. But if they play the part of leisured heirs to the crown -- being stoutly slow to engage in [...]
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:57:23 GMT]
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AP - The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday.

[Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:07:39 GMT]
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Reuters - To sweeten their first day at primary school German children are normally given a cardboard cone filled with sweets, but schoolchildren in Essen this year opened their cones to find pens which project erotic images.
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:12:19 GMT]
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AP - General rule of thumb: when looking to buy marijuana, don't text the sheriff. Authorities said a Helena teen hit a wrong number and inadvertently sent a message to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, saying "Hey Dawg, do you have a $20 I can buy right now?"
[Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:43:31 GMT]
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