Queen delivers 1st Christmas message in 3D

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has hailed the holidays in a new dimension, delivering her Christmas message for the first time in 3D.In the annual, prerecorded broadcast, the monarch paid tribute to the armed forces, “whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends” over the holidays, and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of enthusiasm for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.The queen...

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Chicken Farms Try Oregano as Antibiotic Substitute

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesBell & Evans' chickens at a farm in Pennsylvania. Products at Bell & Evans have long been free of antibiotics, contributing to the company’s financial success as consumers have demanded purer foods. FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. — The smell of oregano wafting from Scott Sechler’s office is so strong that anyone visiting Bell & Evans these days could be forgiven...

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Two firefighters die in ambush at blazing New York house

A gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to...

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Army Goes Goth With 'Super-Black' Materials

Get ready to break out the eyeliner and the candelabras, because the Army is going goth.In its latest round of solicitations for small businesses, the Army is asking for proposals for super-black material. That is, material so black that it absorbs 99 percent of all light. But it isn’t really black paint, exactly. The plan is to use either an “antireflective coating or surface treatment process...

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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth goes 3D for Olympics tribute

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain‘s Queen Elizabeth will use her traditional Christmas Day message, filmed in 3D for the first time, to pay tribute to the world’s athletes for delivering a “splendid summer of sport” at the London Olympics.In her personal address to the nation, the monarch will pay tribute to the competitors’ “skill, dedication, training and teamwork”, her office said on Monday.The 86-year-old...

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Books: From Bang to Whimper: A Heart Drug’s Story

On June 23, 2005, American medicine managed to take a small step forward and a giant step backward at precisely the same time, with government approval of the first medication to be earmarked for a specific racial group. It was BiDil, a drug designed to treat heart failure in blacks. Enthusiasts hailed BiDil’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration as a landmark event in the nascent...

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Raging fire guts Kabul market

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Firefighters battled through the night to contain a raging fire that swept through a market in the Afghan...

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Wired Science Space Photo of the Day: Hourglass Nebula

This Hubble telescope snapshot of MyCn18, a young planetary nebula, reveals that the object has an hourglass shape with an intricate pattern of "etchings" in its walls. A planetary nebula is the glowing relic of a dying, Sun-like star.The results are of great interest because they shed new light on the poorly understood ejection of stellar matter that accompanies the...

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South Africa’s Mandela responding to treatment in hospital

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is 94, continues to respond to treatment two weeks after being taken to hospital, the government said on Saturday.The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones after being hospitalized on December 8, was visited by South African President Jacob Zuma, presidency spokesman...

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News Analysis: The Perils of Yoga for Men

MEN are famous for ignoring aches and pains. It’s macho. Men get physical exams less often than women. They tend to remain silent if worried about their health. When hurt, their impulse is to shun doctors and rely on home remedies, like avoiding heavy lifting to ease backaches. Male athletes play through injuries. It’s all about virility and manliness. The stereotype has exceptions, of course....

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