Criegee biradicals, invisible chemical intermediates, are powerful oxidizers of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide produced by combustion and can naturally clean up the atmosphere. Sounds like fiction, right? These chemical intermediates were first postulated by Rudolf Criegee in the 1950s but researchers now say that they have been detected and with further research could play a major role in off-setting climate change.

Astronomers have clocked the fastest wind yet discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole - about 20,000,000 miles per hour, 3 percent of the speed of light. This is nearly 10 times faster than had ever been seen from a stellar-mass black hole.

SpareOne may be the world's most useful emergency cell phone. It debuted today at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona and runs on a single AA battery, providing up to 10 hours of talk time and 15 years (yes, years) of talk-ready stored power (based on Energizer(R) Ultimate Lithium AA battery, included with the phone.) Because AA batteries are the most widely used batteries in the world, that makes it quite useful, even in the absence of electricity.  Take that, Apple and your 'we don't want you to replace the battery ever' mentality.

88% see WiFi as a commodity that should be available everywhere but it should be super secure and it should be free.  They don't care who provides it, just like water or electricity. 

Is that a business model?  

 Devicescape, which manages the largest virtual network of hotspots worldwide, thinks so and unveiled the results of its latest WiFi usage survey as supporting evidence. They found that 88% of consumers think of WiFi access as a ubiquitous commodity. The 200 mobile WiFi users who participated in the survey also said maintaining appropriate levels of security over WiFi is still an issue.  That means more costs.

Previously undiscovered islands of cold gas and a mysterious haze of microwaves could bring us closer to revealing the blueprint of cosmic structure.

The results include the first map of carbon monoxide to cover the entire sky. Carbon monoxide is a constituent of the cold clouds that populate the Milky Way and other galaxies. Predominantly made of hydrogen molecules, these clouds provide the reservoirs from which stars are born but hydrogen molecules are difficult to detect because they do not readily emit radiation. Carbon monoxide forms under similar conditions and, even though it is much rarer, it emits light more readily and therefore is more easily detectable. So, astronomers use it to trace the clouds of hydrogen.

Older maternal age is associated with an increased change of having a child with autism.
Older paternal age  is associated with an increased change of having a child with autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and repetitive, sometimes obsessive, behaviors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently estimated that as many as one in every 100 children has something in the ASD range.