Dec 17 Winners announced for PBS NewsHour Extra's #MyZeitgeist competition By News Desk NewsHour Extra, the NewsHour's educational resource site, challenged students to create a their own summary of 2013's most powerful and memorable events, inspired by Google's annual Zeitgeist year-in-review. We dubbed our contest the #MyZeitgeist competition. Using… Continue reading
Dec 17 Nearly half of Americans prefer 'Happy Holidays' greeting A recent poll showed 49 percent of Americans now prefer the "Happy Holidays" greeting from stores and businesses. Photo by Rod Lamkey/Getty Images According a recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, 49 percent of Americans say stores… Continue reading
Dec 17 Wish you could edit that tweet? Soon you might be able to. If you've wished you could edit a tweet after posting it, you may soon be in luck. According to journalist Matthew Keys, Twitter is working on an "edit" feature for tweets. While the exact details of the… Continue reading
Dec 17 110 years ago, Wright brothers took flight for the first time Photo courtesy of Library of Congress On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright took flight for 12 seconds in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Learn how they controlled their aircraft with NOVA's Wright brothers interactive. Continue reading
Dec 17 HealthCare.gov gets new tech exec Former Microsoft executive Kurt DelBene will take the lead on HealthCare.gov's revamp. Photo by Flickr user MicrosoftPDC. The Obama administration has announced that a former Microsoft executive will be taking over the revamp of the health care… Continue reading
Dec 17 Having a dog protects against asthma and infection, study says A new study shows why children raised in households with dogs have a lower risk of asthma and allergies. Photo by Flickr user Junayed Sadat Dog owners already know their four-legged friend is good for their health, but they… Continue reading
Dec 17 Survey says workers are most productive on Tuesday Photo by John McBride & Company Inc. Are you being productive at work today? Chances are, yes, you are. That's according to a survey, performed by temporary-staffing firm Accountemps, that reports around 39% of human resource managers… Continue reading
Dec 17 Lost in interpretation By Ellen Rolfes Sign language interpreters catch a speaker's words, translate their meaning and reformulate their message into sign -- all within seconds. It's part performance, part science, and part cognitive gymnastics. But what happens when things go wrong?… Continue reading
Dec 17 Senate clears bipartisan budget deal for passage The Senate has cleared the bipartisan, two-year budget bill on a 67-33 vote, the Associated Press reports, advancing past the filibuster threshold. The measure is expected to clear the Senate by Wednesday and be signed into law by… Continue reading
Dec 17 GlaxoSmithKline to stop paying doctors for drug promotion Photo by Flickr user Ian Wilson Doctors will no longer be paid to speak on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline and its products, the British drug maker said Tuesday. In addition, the pharmaceutical company said, the pay of… Continue reading