China's smog taints economy, health

BEIJING — When a thick quilt of smog enveloped swaths of China earlier this month, it set in motion a costly chain reaction...

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Crazy Alien Weather: Lightning-Filled Rocket Dust Storms of Mars

Scientists have modeled the internal workings of lightning-filled “rocket dust storms” on Mars that rise at speeds 100 times faster than ordinary storms and inject dust high into the Martian atmosphere.The Red Planet is a very dry and dusty place, with global storms that sometimes obscure the entire surface. Satellites orbiting Mars have seen persistent dust layers reaching very high altitudes,...

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Fox orders futuristic cop drama pilot from J.J. Abrams, J.H. Wyman

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fox has given the green light to a police drama pilot from “Fringe” executive producers J.H. Wyman and J.J. Abrams, the network said Friday.Described as an “action-packed buddy cop show,” the untitled project takes place “in the near future, when all LAPD officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids.”Wyman is writing and executive-producing the one-hour...

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Diner’s Journal Blog: PepsiCo Will Halt Use of Additive in Gatorade

PepsiCo announced on Friday that it would no longer use an ingredient in Gatorade after consumers complained.The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, which was used in citrus versions of the sports drink to prevent the flavorings from separating, was the object of a petition started on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, a 15-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., who became concerned about the ingredient after...

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Diner’s Journal Blog: PepsiCo Will Halt Use of Additive in Gatorade

PepsiCo announced on Friday that it would no longer use an ingredient in Gatorade after consumers complained.The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, which was used in citrus versions of the sports drink to prevent the flavorings from separating, was the object of a petition started on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, a 15-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., who became concerned about the ingredient after...

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Obama to name new White House chief of staff

President Barack Obama has chosen trusted adviser and national...

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The Truth About Weight-Loss Pills and Energy Drinks, for Knowledge and Profit

Between medications and food, there’s a huge swath of edible products that don’t need approval from the Food and Drug Administration, including energy drinks, vitamins, weight-loss pills, and other supplements. And while the companies that make those goods test their products for safety, they don’t usually offer test results that vouch for efficacy or mention the less savory ingredients that...

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‘Dallas’ returns with J.R. Ewing’s final schemes

NEW YORK (AP) — J.R. Ewing wouldn’t hesitate to cheat his fellow man. He also famously cheated death.In the second-season finale of “Dallas” back in 1980, he was shot by an unknown assailant in his office and left for dead. But he recovered nicely, and the cliffhanger question that gripped the nation (Who shot J.R.?) was answered that November in an episode seen by 80 million viewers.This time, J.R....

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Well: Ask Well: Squats for Aging Knees

You are already doing many things right, in terms of taking care of your aging knees. In particular, it sounds as if you are keeping your weight under control. Carrying extra pounds undoubtedly strains knees and contributes to pain and eventually arthritis.You mention weight training, too, which is also valuable. Sturdy leg muscles, particularly those at the front and back of the thighs, stabilize...

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DealBook: Making Sense of Wall Street's Trading Revenue

Traders at the top Wall Street firms racked up nearly $80 billion of revenue last year. But understanding how they produced all that money is far from simple.The financial crisis revealed the dangers of banks having murky balance sheets. And some investors think banks’ disclosures are still inadequate. “The major financial institutions in the U.S. and around the globe are utterly opaque,” Paul Singer,...

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Kerry pledges as secretary of State to highlight the good America does

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Lookin' Hot in the Cold: Technical Outerwear for Winter

Winter outerwear has come a long way from the clammy straight-jackets your mom would wrap around you every time you wanted to go outside.Every year, we see jackets, shells, bibs and pants that are more breathable, lighter, stretchier, and just plain better-looking than last year's crop. We sifted through the countless options on the racks and selected a dozen or...

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Charlie Brown voice actor pleads not guilty to threats, stalking

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – The former child actor who was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1960s “Peanuts” animated television specials pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges he threatened his girlfriend and a surgeon who carried out her breast enhancement surgery.Peter Robbins, 56, from Oceanside, California, pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of...

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Well: Can You Read the Face of Victory?

Picture a tennis player in the moment he scores a critical point and wins a tournament. Now picture his opponent in the instant he loses the point that narrowly cost him the title. Can you tell one facial expression from the other, the look of defeat from the face of victory?Try your hand at the images below, of professional tennis players at competitive tournaments. All were included in a new study...

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DealBook: Choice for S.E.C. Is Ex-Prosecutor, in Signal to Wall St.

President Obama is tapping Mary Jo White, a former United States attorney turned white-collar defense lawyer, to be the next chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the White House.Mr. Obama is set to announce the nomination at the White House on Thursday afternoon at 2:30. As part of the event, the White House will also renominate Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial...

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Clinton takes responsibility for Benghazi failures

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing tough questions from Senate Republicans on the deadly Sept....

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Why Subtraction Is the Hardest Math in Product Design

Simple doesn’t just sell, it sticks. Simple made hits of the Nest thermostat, Fitbit, and TiVo. Simple brought Apple back from the dead. It’s why you have Netflix. The Fisher Space Pen, the Swiss Army Knife, and the Rolex Oyster Perpetual are some of our most enduring products. All are marvels of simplicity.Yet while many mechanical marvels of simplicity remain true to their original form,...

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Actress Lake Bell finds her directorial voice “In A World”

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) – In a world where men rule the voice-over industry, actress Lake Bell brings a tale of women versus men and old versus new in her directorial debut comedy.“In A World,” which premiered at the Sundance Film festival this week, follows voice-over artist Carol (Bell) attempting to follow in the daunting footsteps of her father (Fred Melamed), a famous and respected voice who...

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Well: Have a Health Question? Ask Well

The Well section of The New York Times is starting a new online featured called Ask Well. If you have a question about fitness, nutrition, illness or family health, the staff of The New York Times Health section is ready to help you find the answer.How do you solve the problem of back pain caused by sitting in an office chair all day? Do you still need the flu shot even if you’ve had the flu? What’s...

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Cameron Promises Britons a Referendum on E.U. Membership

Oli Scarff/Getty ImagesPrime Minister David Cameron of Britain speaking in London on Wednesday. LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron promised Britons a decisive referendum within five years on membership in the European Union — provided he wins the next election — in a long-awaited speech on Wednesday whose implications have alarmed the Obama administration and are likely to set the markers for an...

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