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Seeing red Fans of Independiente light smoke bombs as they cheer for their team before their Argentine First Division soccer match against Racing Club in Avellaneda on Saturday. from msnbc.com

Why Bigger Quake Sows Less Damage Scientists Say Recent Temblors Are Unrelated; Underwater Topography May Explain Where Tsunami Wreaked Havoc By GAUTAM NAIK Three massive earthquakes have struck in less than two months, raising the questions: Are they related, and are we living in a time of more and bigger temblors? The Chile earthquake, 8.8 on the Richter scale, was by far the largest. But a little noticed 7.0 quake struck near Japan's Ryukyu islands just a few hours earlier, triggering its own tsunami warnings. The Jan. 12 temblor in Haiti was also 7.0, about 500 times less powerful than the Chile quake, though it appears to have killed many more people. That prompts yet another question: Why did a much larger quake cause much less destruction? Scientists say the three recent earthquakes probably aren't related, mainly because they occurred at such great distances from one another. To be sure, the back-to-back quakes in Japan and Chile both occurred along the no...

Heroes and Villains of Tech Here's a look at standout good guys and bad guys -- from passionate heroes who balance profit with innovation and social responsibility to money-mad, egomaniac villains who simply cannot be trusted. Shane O'Neill, CIO Feb 28, 2010 1:30 pm http://www.pcworld.com/article/190372/heroes_and_villains_of_tech.html?tk=rss_news

A boat sails next to Olympic rings in the Vancouver harbor on February 9, 2010, three days before the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 11:51 p.m. ET, 2/9/10 March 1, 2010 Olympic Flame Burns Brighter on Last Day of the Games By JULIET MACUR VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Olympics that started under the cloud of an athlete’s death ended Sunday, much more joyously than they had begun. A victory by the Canadian men’s hockey team over the United States in the final competition of these Games spurred throngs of fans onto the streets, where they celebrated a gold medal — and an Olympics — that united this nation. In waves of their red and white Canadian hockey jerseys, they waved flags and shouted “Go Canada!” to mark the country’s record 14th gold medal here. “I knew the Games would be a success, even though in the beginning they were a bit gloomy, with legitimate issues and teething pains,” Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee...

A TV grab from Telesur shows an image of a burning building in Concepcion after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile, Feb. 27. breaking news NBC, msnbc.com and news services UPDATE 11-Massive earthquake strikes Chile, 122 dead http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSNLDE61Q02O20100227?type=marketsNews 11:19am EST * Quake kills at least 122 people * Buildings toppled, bridges and roads damaged * Operations halted at two major copper mines (Updates with death toll, adds details) By Alonso Soto SANTIAGO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A huge magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile early on Saturday, killing at least 122 people, knocking down homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific. TV Chile reported that a 15-storey building collapsed in the hardest-hit city of Concepcion, where buildings caught fire, major highway bridges collapsed and cracks opened up in the streets. Cars turned upside down lay scattered across one damaged bridg...

February 26, 2010, 10:54 am Freakonomics Radio, Fat Edition: Is the Obesity Epidemic for Real? By STEPHEN J. DUBNER   We’ve just completed our second full-length podcast. It’s called “Is America’s Obesity Epidemic for Real?” It costs $0.00. (The podcast, that is, not the epidemic.) Get it here at iTunes; if you subscribe, all future episodes will be delivered in your sleep. You can also get it here via RSS feed, or listen now (see box at right).   If you are a regular reader of this blog, you could be forgiven for thinking, Geez, when will these guys shut up about fat already? True, we have written on the topic repeatedly, including: an astounding spike in bariatric surgery; the female-male weight gap; a possible connection between plumbing and obesity; the usefulness of posted calorie information in restaurants; whether behavioral nudges like “piano stairs” help keep people trim; and whether it may be time for a fat tax. The podcast touches on several of these i...