Man-Size Meteor From Comet Lights Up Georgia Sky

A brilliant meteor blazed through the sky above Georgia recently, and two NASA fireball-monitoring cameras caught the dramatic display on video.

The meteor was caused by a human-size chunk of an unknown comet. It was the brightest meteor yet recorded by NASA's fireball-observing network — based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. — in its nearly three years of operation, officials said.

The 6-foot-wide (1.8-meter) space rock barrelled into Earth's atmosphere at 10:47 p.m. EDT on May 20 (0247 GMT on May 21), about 66 miles (106 kilometers) above the city of Macon, Ga. 

Cameras ready and waiting

Two NASA all-sky cameras, both located in northwest Georgia, tracked the resulting meteor and captured it on video. Analysis of the videos allowed scientists to calculate the basics of the object's speed, trajectory, mass and orbit.

When it entered the atmosphere, the comet chunk was traveling northwest at about 86,000 mph (138,404 kph), researchers said. At this velocity, the boulder-size "dirty snowball" possessed an energy or striking power somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tons of TNT.

But that striking power was never realized on the ground. The Macon meteoroid was too small, and made of the wrong kind of stuff, to survive the trip through Earth's atmosphere, researchers said. Indeed, the video shows four distinct flares emanating from the comet chunk as it broke apart multiple times.

After a last burst of light, the meteor burned up completely 38 miles (61 km) above the town of Villa Rica, Ga., officials said.

The Macon meteor qualifies as a fireball, which is officially defined as a meteor that shines brighter than Venus in the sky.

Fireballs like the May 20 event are impressive but not terribly unusual. Objects as big as washing machines typically fall into Earth's atmosphere on a monthly basis, but most of them burn up before reaching the ground.

Many of the resulting fireballs are not seen because they occur over remote areas or over oceans (which cover more than two-thirds of Earth's surface).

A robotic fireball-monitoring network

NASA's meteor-watching network, run by the Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall, currently consists of four robotic cameras: the two in Georgia, one in Huntsville, and one in southern Tennessee. These "smart" cameras are linked into a computer system that automatically analyzes their video, then calculates relevant information about incoming space rocks' trajectories and orbits.

Researchers hope to place a total of 15 such cameras in various locations throughout the eastern United States, which has few such systems, NASA officials said.

The overall goal of the camera system is to learn much more about the pieces of space rock that strike Earth and our atmosphere — how big they are, what they're made of and where they come from, researchers have said.

Foreclosing on a Bunch of Snakes

Commentary: Oh, serpents! Thought you said it had servants

They say there are snake pits on Wall Street.

Chase has learned there are snake pits on Main Street too.

Last year, the J.P. Morgan Chase banking unit foreclosed on a home near Rexburg, Idaho, that is infested with garter snakes.

They slide through the yard, the crawl space, the walls, the ceilings, even across the floors. Sure, they're harmless, but there are perhaps thousands of them. They give off malodorous secretions when alarmed, and can even leave the well water tasting a bit like the way they smell.

Two families have fled the house in scenes reminiscent of horror-film classics. One turned to a local TV station in 2006 to document the infestation, complaining of not being able to sleep at night. The video is still available on YouTube and is doing absolutely nothing for sales.

The next family appeared on TV's "Animal Planet" earlier this year. They said they were told the previous owners came up with the snake story to explain why they stopped paying their mortgage. But, it turns out, the story was true.

Search "Idaho snake house" on the Internet and several intriguing posts emerge. Zillow.com offers a sales description that mentions "a large kitchen with center island," but nothing about snakes on the kitchen floor.
The house, built in 1920 and remodeled about five years ago, has somehow become a hibernaculum, where snakes gather en masse for winter. It's so famously infested that Chase has taken it off the market.

Earlier this year, the five-bedroom home at 675 W. 5000 North was listed for $109,200. That's about $66,000 below its market value. But somehow there were no takers, even in a region known for its Snake River.

Chase is now in the unenviable position of having to be delicate with snakes that continue to live in the home despite a defaulted mortgage. Once a house has been featured on "Animal Planet," you can't just burn it down or otherwise slaughter its reptilian residents. You have to be nice to snakes. It's just good business.

"We have contracted to have the snakes trapped and released," said Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a Chase spokeswoman in Seattle.

"We plan to seal the foundation and install a barrier around the foundation to help prevent future access," she said. "A report will be issued by the contractor to be provided to any potential buyers."

Possible buyers might include some guy with a flute and a turban, or maybe a slippery salesman looking to replenish his line of proprietary oil. More likely, though, Chase is going to be stuck with the Idaho snake house for a long time.

Protesters recently appeared in Ohio at the annual meeting of Chase's parent, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to complain about the company's foreclosure practices. There have been similar protests at all major banks, as if these institutions actually love foreclosing on homes.

Banks currently have about 1.9 million homes on their books or in foreclosure proceedings, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate market researcher.

Imagine all the disrepair, the pet-fouled carpets, the mold, the bugs, the rats and the snakes.
Foreclosures have slowed in recent months, but that trend is largely attributed to legal delays, including banks' dubious use of "robo-signers" on court documents.

Yes, major banks have major problems. But they're still swamped with more foreclosures than they can handle, and Americans are still slithering away from their homes like it's not a snake-like thing to do.

The Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported that about 8.3% of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the January-March quarter. In a healthy market, that figure holds at about 1.1%.

Foreclosed homes made up 28% of all U.S. home sales in the quarter, according to RealtyTrac. And 2011 is on track to be another record year, with about 1.2 million foreclosures expected. This dashes any hope for a housing market recovery any time soon.

The snakes are just starting to awaken at the Idaho snake house. Chase can't chase them out just yet.
"Hopefully, in a few weeks," Donahoe-Wilmot said. "The contractor feels there is not yet enough activity to perform the capture."

Ohio woman, 100, has bank account dating to 1913

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – An Ohio woman who just turned 100 years old has taken customer loyalty to the extreme: She's still using a bank savings account that's been around almost as long as she has, since the year before World War I.

June Gregg recently mentioned to a friend that her account is the same one her father opened for her in January 1913, when she wasn't even a year-and-a-half old. The friend told the people at Gregg's small-town bank in southern Ohio.

"That perked my ears up, because I was like, `1913?!'" said Doug Shoemaker, general manager of what's now a Huntington National Bank branch in this community, 45 miles south of Columbus. The bank's investigation found out that not only was it the same account, but also that the account number changed only once, when Columbus-based Huntington acquired the plainly-named Savings Bank in the early 1980s, Shoemaker said.

Gregg still has the little blue passbook from when the account was opened with an initial deposit of $6.11. Her father, Gilbert, a farmer who grew corn, wheat and hay, was a Savings Bank customer and wanted his only daughter to learn thrift.

"That's what he always taught us: to stay out of debt and save our money and not buy anything until we had the money to pay for it," Gregg said in an interview.

With the help of the account, Gregg is comfortable in retirement even after so many years, Shoemaker said.
"I get along good because I don't have many wants," said Gregg, who never married and has no children.

The compact, white-haired woman who tends to speak with a chuckle in her voice retired in 1976 after working for the post office for more than a quarter century. Earlier, she operated a general store, using the savings account for the business. Gregg opened the store in 1932, three years after she graduated from high school and received as gifts a $2.50 gold piece and a $5 gold piece, which went into the account.

"I wish I hadn't put those in," she said, aware of gold's value. "It was during the Depression, and my dad told me to put them in the bank."

Gregg said she never considered taking her savings elsewhere because she liked the bank, across the street from the Ross County Courthouse. Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com, said it used to be far more common for customers and families to develop long-term attachments to banks, but that was before all of today's shopping around and bank name changes.

"It seems less prevalent today because we're seeing such consolidation and so many changes in banking, and incentives for consumers to move," he said.

Though she has a checking account to pay bills, Gregg said she uses the savings account for "personal dealings" and still goes to the bank regularly, though she lives in Bainbridge, 17 miles away.

"I had to give up driving two years ago, so now I just have to go when I get a chance. I try to go once a month if I can," she said. Gregg now relies on friends to get around and walks with a cane.

The bank toasted Gregg on her 100th birthday Thursday with a party complete with balloons and a cake with large candles of the numerals "1-0-0." Bank employees sang "Happy Birthday."

"Certainly I think June takes the cake" for loyalty, Shoemaker said, while noting that there are other customers who've stayed with the bank for 30 or 40 years, sometimes more.

As a gift, the bank will bump up Gregg's interest rate for the next 100 days to around 5 percent, about 5 times the average going rate, Shoemaker said.

Microsoft unveils touch-oriented Windows 8

IDG News Service - Microsoft showed the next version of its Windows OS at a press event in Taipei on Thursday, unveiling a completely new tile-based interface that it hopes will be better suited for the emerging world of tablet PCs.

Microsoft called it a "reimagining" of Windows that will run on all types of devices from small, touch-sensitive screens to traditional large-screen PCs, and that can be used with or without a keyboard and mouse.

It is intended partly to improve Microsoft's position in the emerging tablet PC market, where Windows 7 has struggled to compete effectively with operating systems from Google and Apple. But the new interface is intended for use on all types of PCs.

Microsoft showed several prototype systems on stage running the software, including tablets, laptops and all-in-one PCs. The new interface is a significant departure from the traditional Windows desktop that Microsoft has relied on for decades.

The start screen now has several large, colored application icons that look similar to those on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 OS. Tapping an icon with a finger launches the application and allows it to take up the entire screen, without the usual Windows menus, system tray and scroll bars around the edges of the screen.

"The application comes quickly to life as Windows fades to the background," said Michael Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows planning, hardware and ecosystem, who demonstrated the new software here.

"The tiles on the start screen are live -- they represent your people, your applications, your contacts, the information you care the most about," he said. "You can group them, arrange them and name them as you like, so that first start screen experience is really personal."

The application tiles display new information from the Web automatically, such as Twitter and e-mail messages, or news items from a news reader, he said.

These Web-friendly applications, which Microsoft calls tailored apps, are built on a new Windows 8 development platform and relies heavily on Internet Explorer 10, which will ship with the new OS, and also on HTML 5, Javascript and CSS.

"These languages form the backbone of the Web, so that on day one when we ship Windows 8, hundreds of millions of developers will already know how to build Windows 8 applications," Angiulo said.

The Windows 8 interface can be controlled using gestures on devices that have touch-screens. From within an application, swiping a finger in from the right makes a Windows control panel appear, including a Start button to get back to the welcome screen. From there, new applications can be opened.

Dragging a finger from the left allows the user to toggle between applications that are already open. And dragging a finger up from the bottom of the screen, opens the control menu for each application.

The interfaces shown on several prototype devices here seemed to run smoothly, and Angiulo was able to move quickly through applications and menus.

Windows 8 also introduces a new level of multi-tasking. When a video is playing and the user opens another application, the audio from the video continues to play in the background. A feature called Snap creates a split screen with one application running on each side.

Windows Explorer and the Windows desktop will continue to be available, and Microsoft says the OS will be compatible with current Windows 7 applications and peripherals.

Still, there will likely be much for developers to learn, and Microsoft announced a new conference, called Build, that will take place in Anaheim, California, in September, where developers can learn how to program for the new OS. "Space is limited and registration is open right now," Angiulo said.

Microsoft has also said that Windows 8 -- which it continued to refer to on Thursday as a "code name" -- will run on ARM-based processors from the likes of Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, as well as on the x86 platform from Intel and AMD, as it does today. ARM chips are used in most of today's smartphones and tablets.

Angiulo showed some prototype ARM-based devices running Windows 8, and said ARM processors will not be limited to tablets. "ARM enables ultra-portable computers of all form factors," he said.

Microsoft designed Windows 8 to meet the needs of a changing computer landscape. "The trends we're facing have changed," Angiulo said. "Today we're facing trends around immersive Internet computing, ultra-portable devices, and of course touchscreens. Windows 8 is a reimagining of Windows for those trends."

Several top executives from ARM, Qualcomm and other chip vendors joined Microsoft for its press event. It also previewed the new OS a few hours earlier in the U.S., at the Wall Street Journal's D9 conference.

There was a slight shadow hanging over the event, after a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday that said Microsoft is requiring the five biggest chip makers to each work exclusively with one PC maker, to help get Windows tablets to market quickly.

Some Taiwanese PC makers have been excluded from the initial program, according to the Journal, and it quoted Acer President Jim Wong saying the PC industry "does not belong to Microsoft, and it does not belong to Intel."

Steve Guggenheimer, who heads Microsoft's OEM division, declined to comment on the report ahead of Thursday's event. Microsoft spokespeople at the event also declined to comment.

However, Microsoft did show a prototype Windows 8 laptop Thursday from Quanta, the giant Taiwanese contract manufacturer, so it clearly is working with some big Taiwanese companies on the new software.

AP IMPACT: US declines to try half Native crimes

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – There was swelling on the little girl's skull and hemorrhages around her brain. There was a tear between her right ear and scalp. The scars on her 36-pound body were consistent with burns from a space heater, a curling iron and hot noodles.

The mother said she had accidentally rolled over onto her daughter in bed, smothering her. The medical examiner concluded that the brown-eyed toddler with the wavy dark hair had been beaten, declaring her death a homicide.

Had 2-year-old Kiara Harvey died elsewhere the case likely would have been handled by the county sheriff or police, and the local district attorney.

But Kiara was a Navajo and she lived on the expansive Navajo Nation. On tribal lands, only federal prosecutions can lead to serious penalties for major crimes involving Native Americans. Those prosecutors, however, end up declining to pursue half of the cases nationally.

"No one speaks for that baby," said Bernadine Martin, the Navajo Nation's chief prosecutor. "It's OK to kill her and go on because prosecutors apparently don't want to put a little more effort into investigations."
In the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation, which also stretches into New Mexico and Utah, Kiara's case was one of 37 that federal prosecutors declined to take during a 9-month period last year, an Associated Press review found.

Among all tribes in Arizona during the same period, there were 122 such cases. The overwhelming majority were alleged sex crimes that included rape and abusive sexual contact, followed by assaults. Nineteen cases involving deaths were rejected.

The AP's analysis found the reasons to be both complicated and frustratingly similar, and perhaps as exasperating to federal prosecutors as they are to tribal authorities. They cited poor evidence, reluctant witnesses and jurisdictional issues.

Federal authorities "want to prosecute the individual, they want to get a stiff sentence, they want to go to trial, so declining it is tough," said Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, whose office issued the letter saying that it would not take the Kiara Harvey case.

"It's not a process that leaves anyone with any comfort," he said.

Whatever the reasons, no one disputes that many people suspected of violent crimes are walking free on reservations, or are lightly punished under tribal laws that allow only a year in jail — or up to 3 years if the tribe has trained judges and tribal courts can guarantee that defendants get legal aid.

The Arizona letters provide a window into a much larger government study of Department of Justice records in which 50 percent of the 9,000 cases filed from tribal lands during fiscal years 2005-2009 were declined.
In the study, 42 percent of rejections were attributed to weak or insufficient admissible evidence; 18 percent to "no federal offense evident;" and another 12 percent to witness problems.

In the AP's Arizona review, the reasons — many cases cite more than one — were:

• 59 percent cited insufficient or inadmissible evidence. That could mean anything from inferior investigations by law enforcement to inadequate crime scene preservation.

• 27 percent cited witness problems, which can include witnesses recanting, being viewed as not credible, or simply disappearing.

• 16 percent cited a lack of jurisdiction, which can speak to the level of a crime. For example, the injuries of a detention sergeant beaten by an inmate weren't serious enough to be a federal crime.

The Government Accountability Office's study was published after a change in federal law last summer meant to bolster justice on tribal lands. The report was produced at the behest of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs led by then-Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota.

Former U.S. attorneys testified that reservation cases were often not treated as a priority, Dorgan told the AP in an interview before the bill was passed. "In many cases, it didn't get done. The result is that violent crime continues and those that commit them don't get prosecuted."

DOJ officials don't like being measured by declination rates.

"Unfortunately, federal declination numbers on face value, without full context, are not an appropriate measure of whether justice was served," DOJ spokeswoman Jessica Smith said. The numbers don't capture the reasons cases are rejected and miss those that are prosecuted outside the federal system, she said.

The declination rate for other federal cases, which can include terrorism, environmental violations or corruption, is not directly applicable since they are so different from the types of cases in Indian Country, said David Maurer, who helped author the GAO study.

The Justice Department has reported that the crime rates experienced by Native Americans are two and a half times higher than those experienced by the general population, and that violent crime happens in Indian Country at a rate of 101 per 1,000 persons.

Federal prosecutors in South Dakota and Arizona had the largest number of cases reported from Indian Country. Each comprised some 24 percent of the total national caseload, according to the GAO report.

Arizona has 12 federally recognized tribes, with the Navajo Nation being the largest in number and land area.

Federal prosecutors received 2,538 cases and declined 38 percent of them. South Dakota has seven federally recognized Indian tribes, including the well-known Oglala Sioux at Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux at Rosebud. Federal prosecutors there received 2,414 cases, declining 61 percent.

Brendan Johnson, the U.S. attorney for South Dakota, said a lack of manpower makes it more difficult to investigate and prosecute cases. "We need more police officers. We need more investigators," he said.
Johnson said a lack of collaboration between tribes and federal prosecutors is also to blame.

His office has focused on improving ties with tribes by having an assistant U.S. attorney spend most of his week at one reservation and working to have the tribal prosecutor on another reservation designated a special U.S. attorney, he said. That would allow the attorney to come into federal court and help prosecute cases.

In the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock, the Navajo prosecutor keeps the Kiara Harvey case rejection letter in a red folder on her cluttered desk. The letter offers details of Kiara's death in Cove, 145 miles to the north, on June 6, 2008:

Kiara woke up early that morning, crying, and followed her father into the living room as he was leaving for work. An aunt said he picked up the girl wearing a shirt, diaper and socks and took her to a bedroom where her mother and sister were sleeping.

When her mother tried to wake her around 8:30 a.m., Kiara was cold to the touch and her body was stiff, according to the initial report by tribal police — who arrived 75 minutes after the mother called. The officers wrote that they saw no signs of foul play, but noted bruising and burns on her body.

New Mexico medical examiner Ross Reichard, whose office was closest to Cove, ruled out the mother's assertion that she had accidentally smothered the child. The girl was "beaten by assailant(s)," he reported. But he said he couldn't rule out that the child was with her father at the time she was fatally injured.

Kiara's parents no longer live together but maintain contact for the sake of their children, her mother, Norena Joe, said in a phone interview with the AP. She declined to talk about her daughter's death.

Both parents denied any abuse, according to FBI records obtained by the AP as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

Burke, the U.S. attorney in Arizona, wouldn't say when his office received the case from the FBI, but the bureau's records show that it was more than 19 months after Kiara's death. FBI agents — along with those from the Bureau of Indian Affairs — conduct most of the federal investigations in Indian Country.

"You have a situation where the only two people in the room are the parents, and being able to say we have enough on one as opposed to the other, that has to be really solid," Burke said. "It is really a disturbing situation, but it just doesn't get you a conviction."

Federal prosecutors rejected the case more than two years after Kiara died.

Martin received the case file from Navajo investigators at the end of March, including copies of the autopsy report, interviews, pictures and results of polygraph tests that, according to the case rejection letter, the father passed and the mother failed.

Mac Rominger, supervisory special agent for the FBI's Flagstaff office, declined to comment specifically on Kiara's death. But, he said, "There are rarely more difficult cases to prove than cases involving infants who are the victims of homicide."

Even if Martin can get a conviction in the child's death under tribal law, the maximum sentence would be one year in jail.

John Major, the chief prosecutor for the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona, said tribal authorities there pursue charges under tribal law even when cases are referred to the federal government. If federal prosecutors take the case, tribal charges often are dropped. If not, the tribe still can pursue justice. Federal prosecutors rejected 20 cases from the tribe over nine months last year.

"The federal system is like a huge freight train that, when it goes, it's very powerful. But it takes a long time to accelerate from a dead stop and get up to speed," Major said.

Under last year's Tribal Law and Order Act sponsored by Dorgan, federal prosecutors must explain declinations to tribal prosecutors and provide evidence that could be used in tribal court to prosecute the case.

When Burke became U.S. attorney in Arizona in late 2009, he sent a letter to tribes saying that every case referred to his office would have a 30-day turnaround. In the past, that communication hadn't been made to tribal prosecutors for months or years.

Burke doesn't dismiss criticism of those delays, and said those affected by the crimes have a right to assume a lack of interest on the part of federal prosecutors when cases are declined. By communicating better and using the rejection letters as teaching tools, "we're doing a better job" of helping tribal leaders understand why there was a problem with the case, he said.

Tribal prosecutors in Arizona say they largely agree with the federal government's reasons for declining cases but often don't have the resources to investigate for themselves.

The 270 Navajo police officers and criminal investigators respond to 235,000 calls a year on the 27,000-square-mile reservation, the size of West Virginia, and officials say it's difficult to do more than race from one crime scene to another.

The Navajo prosecutor said none of the 37 Navajo cases declined for federal prosecution in the Arizona tract of the vast reservation have been prosecuted under tribal law.

The large number of declined sex assault cases, both in the national study and in the AP's Arizona survey, are particularly problematic because the victim and suspect often know one another, making the victim reluctant to pursue charges, BIA officials said.

"I hate to see that our Native women here seek help, cry for help, but no one helps them," said Doreen Gatewood, a victims' advocate for the White Mountain Apache Tribe.

Domestic violence charges face similar hurdles.

"You have a very close-knit community that's tied together by family or traditional means," said Darren Cruzan, deputy director of the BIA's Office of Justice Services and a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. "Everybody kind of knows everybody else."

Martin, the Navajo prosecutor, holds out hope for a tribal prosecution in Kiara's case, saying evidentiary rules that differ under tribal law may provide an opening. "We can't let this one go," Martin said. "They may get a `not guilty,' but we're going to make our best effort to let the public know you can't kill your kid and get away with it."

Five things you didn’t know about yo-yos

If you've ever Walked the Dog, gone Around the World, or Skinned the Cat, you've clearly spent some time with a yo-yo.

An ancient Greek image of a yo-yo Bibi Saint-Pol Tracing its history back to at least 500 B.C., when the ancient Greeks were making them out of terracotta, they're one of the oldest toys around -- and thanks to a massive renaissance in the twentieth century, they've never been more popular. But did you know that they (probably) weren't ever used as weapons? Or that a yo-yo once presented to Richard Nixon fetched over $16,000 at auction? Read on for a fresh spin on an old favorite.

Why are they called yo-yos?
It's a curious name, isn't it? Something about the symmetry of the word seems appropriate for the up-and-down motion of the yo-yo itself, but the name actually comes from Tagalog, the language native to the Philippines. According to legend, it came to America by way of a Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores, who made the U.S. his home in 1915. While working as a bellhop in Santa Barbara, Flores hit upon the idea of mass-producing the yo-yo, a popular toy in the Philippines -- and he's credited with giving it its modern name. Before Flores, the toy was known in the West as the "bandalore."

Were they originally designed as weapons?
So goes the popular myth: yo-yos were first used by Filipino warriors as hand-to-hand weapons. But although we indeed owe the word "yo-yo" to the Philippines, and the device itself was popular on the islands long before it made it big in the West, its status as a primitive weapon isn't so solid.
Modern Yo-Yo Duncan Apart from anything else, they'd surely be as dangerous to the thrower as to the target. And they're at their weakest when they're fully extended -- hardly what you want in a fight. Not that a rock on a string can't be a perfectly good weapon. Just ask the Inca, whose "bolas" could be wielded to great effect by a skilled thrower. But a bolas isn't a yo-yo; notably, it isn't designed to return to the hand after use. Unless you're prepared to broaden the definition of "yo-yo" to include just about any rock-on-a-string implement, we ain't buying it.

So what's the truth? We'll defer to the Americans of Filipino Descent FAQ, which documents at some length where the weaponized yo-yo story originated -- and it wasn't in the Philippines. Instead, reliable individuals put the blame for starting the tale at the doors of Donald Duncan, the 1930s inventor and entrepreneur who bought out Flores, making the yo-yo a pre-war smash. Clearly, Duncan knew the marketing power of a good tall story.

What's the world's most valuable yo-yo?

Yo-yos designed for pro tricksters can cost several hundred dollars, but they've got nothing on the one-off presented to President Richard Nixon by country singer (and yo-yo virtuoso) Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry in March of 1974. It would be quite a performance for music-loving Nixon: he accompanied Acuff on the piano in a rendition of "God Bless America," and in return, Acuff taught him a yo-yo trick or two. Nixon seemed impressed with his gift, remarking: "I will stay here and try to learn how to use the yo-yo; you go up and be President, Roy." The yo-yo, which carries Nixon's autograph, was auctioned after Acuff's death in 1992 for over $16,000.

What's the most collectible yo-yo?
Like any popular toy with a few years of history behind it, almost any yo-yo is collectible to some degree. Just ask Lucky Meisenheimer, M.D., who literally wrote the book on yo-yo collecting and owns more than 4,000 himself -- a world record. If you were in school during the 1980s, though, you'll probably think immediately of the range of Coke yo-yos made popular at the time. Available with various soft drink branding and offered in a wide selection of colors, they fetch enough money on eBay that we really wish we hadn't lost, broken, or given ours away back in the days.

What's the hardest yo-yo trick?
Opinions vary. According to some, it's the Double-Suicide, which involves rotating the stalled yo-yo around one hand before catching the looped string with the other. Youtube user limoguy333 will teach you, but it's going to take some practice.
Others say it's the ladder escape, where the yo-yoer knots the string into an impossibly complicated hourglass shape before dropping it free. Arthur C. Clarke wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic; watch those vids and you'll extend that to any sufficiently advanced yo-yo trick, too.

Where to get started
Basic yo-yo tricks aren't difficult. Get yourself a simple, solid model (around $10-20), make sure the string isn't too long (it should stretch from the floor to your navel), wind it up, and go. The first technique you'll want to master is the "sleep" -- making the yo-yo spin at the end of the string without returning to your hand. From there, the sky's the limit: plenty of online tutorials will show you the ropes, and Youtube is full of great videos that'll give you a detailed look at the secrets of the pros. You'll be pulling a Ladder Escape before you know it.

Cellphones a 'possible' carcinogen — like coffee

A respected international panel of scientists says cellphones are possible cancer-causing agents, putting them in the same category as the pesticide DDT, gasoline engine exhaust and coffee.

The classification was issued Tuesday in Lyon, France, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer after a review of dozens of published studies. The agency is an arm of the World Health Organization and its assessment now goes to WHO and national health agencies for possible guidance on cellphone use.

Classifying agents as "possibly carcinogenic" doesn't mean they automatically cause cancer and some experts said the ruling shouldn't change people's cellphone habits.

"Anything is a possible carcinogen," said Donald Berry, a professor of biostatistics at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. He was not involved in the WHO cancer group's assessment. "This is not something I worry about and it will not in any way change how I use my cellphone," he said — speaking from his cellphone.

The same cancer research agency lists alcoholic drinks as a known carcinogen and night shift work as a probable carcinogen. Anyone's risk for cancer depends on many factors, from genetic makeup to the amount and length of time of an exposure.

After a weeklong meeting on the type of electromagnetic radiation found in cellphones, microwaves and radar, the expert panel said there was limited evidence cellphone use was linked to two types of brain tumors and inadequate evidence to draw conclusions for other cancers.

"We found some threads of evidence telling us how cancers might occur, but there were acknowledged gaps and uncertainties," said Jonathan Samet of the University of Southern California, the panel's chairman.
"The WHO's verdict means there is some evidence linking mobile phones to cancer but it is too weak to draw strong conclusions from," said Ed Yong, head of health information at Cancer Research U.K. "If such a link exists, it is unlikely to be a large one."

Last year, results of a large study found no clear link between cellphones and cancer. But some advocacy groups contend the study raised serious concerns because it showed a hint of a possible connection between very heavy phone use and glioma, a rare but often deadly form of brain tumor. However, the numbers in that subgroup weren't sufficient to make the case.

The study was controversial because it began with people who already had cancer and asked them to recall how often they used their cellphones more than a decade ago.

In about 30 other studies done in Europe, New Zealand and the U.S., patients with brain tumors have not reported using their cellphones more often than unaffected people.

Because cellphones are so popular, it may be impossible for experts to compare cellphone users who develop brain tumors with people who don't use the devices. According to a survey last year, the number of cellphone subscribers worldwide has hit 5 billion, or nearly three-quarters of the global population.

People's cellphone habits have also changed dramatically since the first studies began years ago and it's unclear if the results of previous research would still apply today.
Since many cancerous tumors take decades to develop, experts say it's impossible to conclude cellphones have no long-term health risks. The studies conducted so far haven't tracked people for longer than about a decade.

Cellphones send signals to nearby towers via radio frequency waves, a form of energy similar to FM radio waves and microwaves. But the radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light. At very high levels, radio frequency waves from cellphones can heat up body tissue, but that is not believed to damage human cells.

Some experts recommended people use a headset or earpiece if they are worried about the possible health dangers of cellphones. "If there is a risk, most of it goes away with a wireless earpiece," said Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

Brawley said people should focus on the real health hazards of cellphones. "Cellphones may cause brain tumors but they kill far more people through automobile accidents," he said. Brawley added it was also reasonable to limit children's use of cellphones since their brains are still developing.

Earlier this year, a U.S. National Institutes of Health study found that cellphone use can speed up brain activity, but it is unknown whether that has any dangerous health effects.

The cellphone industry trade group, CTIA-The Wireless Association, pointed to two U.S. agencies that have found no evidence cellphones are linked to cancer — the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.

The WHO's cancer research agency has reviewed more than 900 occupational exposures, chemicals and other agents since 1971, classifying their link to cancer by labeling them from carcinogenic to probably not carcinogenic. The American Cancer Society has estimated that only about 6 percent of cancers are related to environmental causes and most of that is on-the-job occupational exposure.