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Economy
4:27 pm
Thu May 2, 2013

Housing Recovery Lifts Other Sectors, Too

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Credit Gene J. Puskar / AP
Chevy trucks line the lot of a dealer in Murrysville, Pa. Sales were up by double digits at Chrysler, General Motors and Ford last month.
Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Construction workers move a framed wall into place at a new housing development in San Mateo, Calif.
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Originally published on Thu May 2, 2013 5:00 pm

The government's employment report for April comes out Friday. It's an important measure of the economy's health and the advance signals have been mixed. One report this week showed layoffs falling to a five-year low, but another suggests disappointing jobs creation.

At least one sector is providing some positive news for the job market: housing.

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Shots - Health News
4:14 pm
Thu May 2, 2013

Women's Health Groups Angered By Morning-After Pill Moves

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
Soon after President Obama spoke at Planned Parenthood's national conference in Washington, D.C., last Friday, the administration alienated some women's health groups.
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Originally published on Thu May 2, 2013 4:27 pm

The administration's actions this week on emergency contraception have left many women's health groups sputtering with anger.

But what really has some of the President Obama's usual allies irritated is the fact that the moves are in direct contrast to speeches he made in just the past week.

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Movies
4:14 pm
Thu May 2, 2013

In 'Iron Man 3,' A Metalhead Gets The Blues

Credit Marvel
Window Dressing: Tony Stark's ongoing Iron Man research involves more than one suit of self-assembling armor.
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Originally published on Thu May 2, 2013 5:07 pm

Y'know, I think this bummed-out superhero thing is catching. Depressed Bat-guy, brooding Spider-dude, even the Man of Steel seems existentially troubled in previews of his most recent incarnation.

And smart-alecky Iron Man? He'd appeared inoculated by Tony Stark's reflexive snark from succumbing to a similar ailment — but even he's having anxiety attacks these days. Ever since that Avengers dust-up with those unpleasant aliens last summer, he's evidently been having trouble sleeping.

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Music Interviews
3:46 pm
Thu May 2, 2013

Natalie Maines On Motherhood, Eddie Vedder And Leaving Country Music

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Mother is the solo debut of Natalie Maines, former Dixie Chicks frontwoman.
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Originally published on Thu May 2, 2013 5:22 pm

Natalie Maines is a small woman with a really big voice. Flanked by Emily Robison on banjo and Martie McGuire on fiddle, Maines powered the Dixie Chicks to some 30 million records sold. And then came the collapse — after what the band calls "the incident."

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Research News
3:37 pm
Thu May 2, 2013

Of Flybots And Bug Eyes: Insects Inspire Inventors

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Credit Kevin Ma, Pakpong Chirarattananon / AAAS/Science
These robotic flies, which were built in a Harvard lab, can flap their wings independently of each other and fly around while tethered to a power and control wire.
Credit University of Illinois and Beckman Institute
An insect's eye lets it see really well because each of its light-sensitive cells has a dedicated lens. This miniature camera, which mimics an insect eye, is made from an array of microlenses arranged on a stretchable sheet that can be inflated like a balloon to a hemispherical shape.
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Originally published on Thu May 2, 2013 4:49 pm

A smartphone can tell you where to get a cup of coffee, but it can't go get the coffee for you. Engineers would like to build little machines that can do stuff. They would be useful for a lot more than coffee, if we could figure out how to make them work.

But the rules of mechanics change at small scales. Friction becomes dominant; turbulence can upend a small airplane.

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