Azerbaijan has begun to enforce a law that bans foreign companies from broadcasting on national frequencies, effectively closing its airwaves to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and the BBC.

Foreign companies are still permitted to broadcast on shortwaves, satellite and cable, according to Ali M. Hasanov, an official in Azerbaijan’s presidential administration.

“They can broadcast any way they like, except for on our national FM frequency,” Mr. Hasanov said by telephone from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital.

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The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday.

The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.

Over a billion people are expected to join in Internet voting that will nominate 77 semifinalists for the top natural wonders, which will share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen 18 months ago.

"We are calling on people all over the world to actively show their appreciation for our ... natural world by joining together to celebrate the most extraordinary sites on our planet," said Tia Viering, spokeswoman of the New 7 Wonders campaign.

The Swiss-based nonprofit foundation collected 441 nominations over the Internet since it opened the selection process in 2007.

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As a candidate, Barack Obama promoted hybrid cars.

Auto enthusiasts have panned the design of the new presidential limo, which will be painted all black.

As president, he'll be handed the keys to one. Sort of.

Shortly after taking the oath of office, Obama will climb into the Mother of All Hybrids -- part car, part truck and, from the looks of it, part tank.

In keeping with recent tradition, the Secret Service will place a brand-new presidential limousine into service January 20 to drive the new president on the 2-mile jaunt down Pennsylvania Avenue during the inaugural parade.

Already, spy photos of the limo -- with patches of gray primer -- have leaked out. And already, the reviews:

"Ugly as sin," says one car enthusiast on an auto Web site. "Can't we make a hotter ride for our pres?"

"Sheesh," says another, "why don't they just transport the president around in an Abrams tank."

One news agency, noting its 8-inch-thick doors, says the limo can withstand a "direct hit from an asteroid." But GM spokeswoman Joanne K. Krell laughed off the comments.

"And it will fix you a latte if you ask," she jokes.

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That car is pretty sweet. I wouldn't mind riding around in it, even though it doesn't look very good.

A 40-year-old high-level e-commerce executive in the Pacific Northwest — we'll call him Bob — felt he was losing his edge. Although his colleagues saw him as a star, he feared he wouldn't be able to continue the lightning pace and constant multitasking his job required. So he saw his doctor. Now Bob takes Adderall, a prescription amphetamine ordinarily used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

"It gives me clarity of thinking and focus," says Bob. He credits the drug with improving both his career and his personal relationships. "I am still getting accolades," he says. He was initially wary of taking any substance with a so-called black-box warning, he says, but after nine months of using Adderall under close supervision by his doctor, he has not developed an addiction, required a dose increase or had any other adverse effects.

Welcome to the brave new world of "cognitive enhancement," a term that typically refers to the use of attention- or memory-boosting prescription drugs, such as Adderall, Ritalin and modafinil (Provigil), along with other performance-raising medications, to improve productivity. College kids have been doing it for years. About 7% of U.S. university students report having taken stimulants "nonmedically" at least once, according to a 2005 study of nearly 11,000 students. On some campuses — primarily private, élite schools — a full quarter of students admit to nonmedical drug use in the past year, mainly in an attempt to improve grades.

More about it here.

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I thought speed was illegal? Adderall is time released Amphetimine - Speed.

DNA has been found to have a bizarre ability to put itself together, even at a distance, when according to known science it shouldn't be able to. Explanation: None, at least not yet.

Scientists are reporting evidence that contrary to our current beliefs about what is possible, intact double-stranded DNA has the “amazing” ability to recognize similarities in other DNA strands from a distance. Somehow they are able to identify one another, and the tiny bits of genetic material tend to congregate with similar DNA. The recognition of similar sequences in DNA’s chemical subunits, occurs in a way unrecognized by science. There is no known reason why the DNA is able to combine the way it does, and from a current theoretical standpoint this feat should be chemically impossible.

Even so, the research published in ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry B, shows very clearly that homology recognition between sequences of several hundred nucleotides occurs without physical contact or presence of proteins. Double helixes of DNA can recognize matching molecules from a distance and then gather together, all seemingly without help from any other molecules or chemical signals.

More about it here.

The government mobilized 100,000 North Koreans for Monday's annual New Year's rally, which honors leader Kim Jong Il and reaffirms full public support for his rule in the year ahead.

Pumping their right fists in unison, they marched through Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung plaza pledging their loyalty, some waving huge red flags as top officials watched from a viewing stand.

Kim Jong Il did not appear among them in footage broadcast by APTN. The 66-year-old leader has not shown up at a mass event since reportedly suffering a stroke in mid-August, even missing the country's milestone 60th anniversary in September.

But North Korean officials deny the reports of Kim's collapse. They say Kim has been busy touring farms, factories and military units across the country, with state-run media recording some two dozen trips since early October alone.

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Despite a bleak economic environment featuring wide-ranging layoffs and rising unemployment, the nation's premier law enforcement agency is touting "one of the largest hiring blitzes in our 100-year history."

The FBI is about to embark on its biggest hiring spree since immediately after the September 11, 2001.

The FBI posted openings for 850 special agents and more than 2,100 professional support personnel. Officials say it's the largest FBI job posting since immediately after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The FBI's unexpectedly large number of job openings results more from attrition and a wave of retirements than from growing government appropriations, Bureau officials told CNN.

The FBI routinely advertises openings for individuals with critical skills in computer science and language fluency. But John Raucci, assistant director of the FBI's Human Resources Division, says current needs are much more wide-ranging.

"We're also looking for professionals in a wide variety of fields who have a deep desire to help protect our nation from terrorists, spies and others who wish us harm," Raucci said.

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Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly -- defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began.

More about it here.

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Somebody call Al Gore and tell him, oh sorry, I forgot, he does not care.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Chrysler says its December U.S. sales plunged 53 percent, blaming a tough economy with driving customers from showrooms.

Chrysler sold a total of 89,813 vehicles compared with 191,423 in the same month last year. Despite the drop, the month's sales were up about 5 percent from November levels.

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Is this because of the Economy or is this because Chrysler Sucks and has for a while? Sucked so bad they practically had to give away the cars to people who could not afford them anyway. When was the last time you heard anyone say wow I am going to buy a Chrysler? Let them fail.

Two sushi bar owners paid more than $100,000 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction Monday, about ten times the average price and the highest in nearly a decade, market officials said.

The 282-pound (128-kilogram) premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched 9.63 million yen ($104,700), the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said.

Yoshida said the extravagant purchase — about $370 per pound ($817 per kilogram) — went to a Hong Kong sushi bar owner and his Japanese competitor who reached a peaceful settlement to share the big fish. The Hong Kong buyer also paid the highest price at last year's new year event at Tokyo's Tsukiji market, the world's largest fish seller, which holds near-daily auctions.

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