It's an effort astronomers liken to "listening to one hundred million radios, each tuned to a different channel." It's the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and it's no simple task.
That’s why Dr. Jill Tarter, director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), is asking for help from the rest of the global scientific community in her quest. Tarter and SETI are planning to release astronomical radio telescope data to astronomers and researchers all over the world for analysis, according to a statement released Monday. FULL POST
A look at highlights from the day's business news:
Dow pulls out a gain
Stocks ended mostly higher Monday as investors set aside some worries about the fallout from Goldman Sachs and scooped up financial, consumer and energy stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 73 points, or 0.6 percent, after having been down by as much as 41 points earlier. The S&P 500 index gained 5 points, or 0.5 percent. The Nasdaq composite ended just below unchanged.
The student body president of California State University, Chico, was recovering Monday from stab wounds suffered in what police believe was a hate crime, officials said.
Joseph Igbineweka, who was born in Nigeria, was stabbed early Sunday while walking in a Chico neighborhood near the college where mostly students reside, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said.
The Los Angeles coroner's ruling on what killed Corey Haim last month should be released this week, according to an investigator.
While those closest to the 1980s teen actor say they don't think he overdosed, California Attorney General Jerry Brown last week called Haim "the poster child" for the problem of addicts "doctor shopping" for dangerous drugs.
Haim, 38, died on March 10 after collapsing at the Los Angeles apartment he shared with his mother.
A Delaware pediatrician was indicted Wednesday on 58 additional counts of rape and other sexual offenses in the alleged child abuse of his patients, state Attorney General Beau Biden announced Monday.
Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, previously pleaded not guilty to 471 felony counts involving 102 girls and one boy.
Toyota Motor Corp. has announced a recall of 2010 model year Lexus GX 460 SUVs. The recall is related to an increased risk of rollover.
The recall covers about 9,400 SUVs in the United States.
Militants in Pakistan have kidnapped a Pakistani filmmaker and two former Pakistani intelligence officials and are demanding the release of three Afghan Taliban leaders in return for the release of the three hostages, an Afghan Taliban source said Monday.
The source e-mailed CNN videos of the two former intelligence officials, Khalid Khawaja and retired Col. Sultan Amir Tarar. The source said they would be killed if Afghan Taliban leaders Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Abdul Kabir and Mullah Mansour Dadullah were not released in 10 days.
The deputy mayor of Kandahar, Afghanistan, was assassinated Monday as he took part in evening prayers, according to a local government spokesman.
Azizullah Yarmal, 45, was praying in a mosque in the Sadoza Dana neighborhood around 9 p.m. when at least one attacker walked in and shot him in the back of the head, Zalmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar government, told CNN. He called it a "brutal attack."
The eruption of an Icelandic volcano, which had slowed in recent days, strengthened on Monday, spewing a new cloud of ash that officials said was heading toward the United Kingdom - possibly posing a renewed threat to air travel.
The statement came after millions of travelers stranded on both sides of the Atlantic were given a glimpse of hope earlier in the day, with officials announcing a plan to partially reopen European skies to air traffic.
Two top senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee served the government with subpoenas Monday for witnesses and documents involving the 2009 shooting attack at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people.
A new video has surfaced of a group of Germans apparently training with jihadist groups in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. It’s the latest evidence of young European Muslim converts joining the Taliban and al Qaeda.
The half-hour video is produced by Elif Medya, which produces such propaganda films several times a year. It is titled “In Namen Allahs," which means "In the name of Allah."
The video features a variety of training and firing exercises involving a group that calls itself Deutsche Taliban Mujahideen. It also includes clips of speeches by German Chancellor Angela Merkel covered by images of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and a commentary that says: “The German occupiers have set their signature under many bloody massacres that were committed in Afghanistan.” Germany has more than 4,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The millions of people stranded by widespread flight shutdowns across Europe had reason for hope Monday as officials announced a plan to partially re-open the skies to air traffic.
NASA hopes R2, or Robonaut 2, will one day work alongside humans in space.
In a not too distant future, on a space station not too far away, there will be a 300-pound human-like robot to assist astronauts on space missions.
And it will be a GM.
At least that's the plan for Robonaut 2, or R2, a space station robot developed by NASA and General Motors Corp.
R2 is set to make its debut in September on space shuttle Discovery. While not quite as handy as C-3PO or R2D2 from the "Star Wars" franchise, NASA officials have equipped Robonaut 2 with human-like hands and arms to hold the same tools that station crew members use.
Chinese soldiers help clear the rubble from an earthquake in the Qinghai province.
[Updated at 2:13 p.m.] The death toll from last week's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in northwest China has risen to 2,039, state media said late Monday.
Another 195 people were still missing, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing rescue headquarters.
[Updated at 1:52 p.m.] Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that the killing of two al Qaeda leaders in Iraq shows the growing strength of Iraqi security forces.
[Updated at 10:38 a.m.] The U.S. military has confirmed that the two most senior leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation Sunday.
[Posted at 9:26 a.m.] Two of the most wanted terrorist figures in Iraq have been killed in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday.
Abu Ayyub al-Masri, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq - an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq - were killed in a security operation in al-Tharthar, north of Baghdad, al-Maliki said.
There was no immediate word from the U.S. military. The operation involved missile strikes and ground forces, al-Maliki said. The two men were in a house and then hid in a hole where their bodies were found by security forces, he said.
Al-Maliki showed reporters photos of the two men.
Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, both Republicans from Arizona, called Monday for the immediate deployment of 3,000 National Guard troops to the state's border with Mexico and other steps to increase security.
"South Park" showed the Prophet Mohammed disguised in a bear suit.
The radical Islamic Web site Revolutionmuslim.com is going after the creators of the TV cartoon series "South Park" after an episode last week included an image of the Prophet Mohammed in disguise.
Revolutionmuslim.com, based in New York, was the subject of a CNN investigation last year for its radical rhetoric supporting “jihad” against the West and praising al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Its organizers insist they act within the law and seek to protect Islam.
On Sunday, Revolutionmuslim.com posted an entry that included a warning to South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone that they risk violent retribution – after the 200th episode last week included a satirical discussion about whether an image of the prophet could be shown. In the end, he is portrayed disguised in a bear suit.
The posting on Revolutionmuslim.com says: “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”
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