Once again, the United States is the home of the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Two years ago, the title was taken from the U.S. by China and last year Japan won the distinction. The supercomputer is an IBM computer system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which is part of the Department of Energy. The system is capable of more than 16.32 sustained petaflops. The ranking takes place twice each year and was released on Monday. The name of the system is Sequoia and it has over 1.57... 

Yamaha Gold is the third largest producer of gold in Canada by market value. The company has agreed in principle to purchase Extorre Gold Mines to expand into Argentina for $404 million in cash and stock. Extorre stockholders will get cash and a small percent in stock from Yamaha. The price is a 54% over the 20-day average price for the Extorre stock. Yamaha is like many other producers of gold that are looking to increase production following 11 consecutive years of price increases for the precious... 

Police said they have started an investigation into the death of Rodney King. King apparently died Sunday morning by drowning in his pool. King became a hero in 1991 after he was brutally beaten by four Los Angeles Police Department officers. King was outside his home for the majority of Saturday night said Cynthia Kelly, his fiancée, who reported to police that she found his body in the bottom of the pool. Police said that Kelly was inside the home and had been sleeping and King had been talking... 

Lockheed Martin announced that it had hired 300 temporary workers to replace striking union employees at its Fort Worth plant.  3,300 union workers went on strike on April 23.  The workers are striking over the company’s proposed changes to their health benefits and a plan to stop offering a traditional pension to new employees.  Union officials said their resolve would not be weakened by the company’s actions.  Lockheed is the nation’s largest military contractor. The factory where the... 

For over fifty years, Cubans have not seen or heard commercial spots on TV or radio, likewise for website banners, billboards and newspapers. President Raul Castro has allowed limited free market reform but one thing is to have your own business, but how do you let customers know you even have a business is the new problem. Small business owners on the island nation are using unconventional low cost advertising. One restaurant owner said it has been difficult to advertise and get the word out about... 

Aimee Copeland, a woman from Georgia, has been fighting a disease that eats her flesh since May 1. The college student despises morphine and has refused to take any pain medication when receiving certain procedures, because of personal convictions. Her father said in an update online about her health that his daughter studied techniques in holistic pain management  and that has made her feel like a traitor to her own convictions when she takes medications to manage the pain. Her father also said... 

Today, the Queen’s birthday is celebrated throughout the British Isles and the British Empire Medal is making a comeback after more than 20 years. The medal honors those who perform hands-on service in their local communities. Topping the list of honorees are Kate Winslet and Kenneth Branagh, two actors who will receive knighthood. Following them will be 293 British Empire Medal recipients. Prime Minister David Cameron revived the award to reward those who volunteer. The award extends the reach... 

Four climbers were presumed dead following an avalanche on Mount McKinley on Thursday. The four feared dead are Japanese climbers and Park Rangers continue to perform a search and recovery effort. The avalanched took place early Thursday and was at a section of the mountain that is approximately 11,800 feet ASL. Park rangers said that because of the long amount of time the four have been trapped, it is no longer a search and rescue effort but a search and recovery. In all, five climbers were traveling... 

Health officials in Oregon confirmed a case of plague in a man that was bitten by a stray cat. The man had been attempting to extract a dead animal from the cat’s mouth when he was bitten. The man has not been identified but is from Prineville, Oregon and on Friday was in the hospital in critical condition. He has a type of the plague that is blood-borne. The disease at one time killed close to 1/3 of Europe during the 1500s, but that affected the lymph nodes and was referred to as the bubonic... 

Burger King has formed a new joint venture in China to open over 1,000 restaurants within the next five to seven years. The chain is looking to gain new ground in key emerging growth markets. The fast food giant said it entered into the agreement with the Kurdoglu family, a master franchisee family for many years with Burger King and Cartesian Capital Group a private-equity company. The deal is the company’s large development agreement for multi-units and will make the Kurdoglu’s the system’s... 

After serving over 35 years of his prison sentence, one of the three people convicted of kidnapping a bus full of schoolchildren from California, will be released. The Department of Corrections in California announced on Friday that it was releasing Richard Schoenfeld in late June at a location that is still undetermined. The announcement came following an appeals court ruling earlier that ordered the immediate release of Schoenfeld, ruling the Board of Parole Hearings had set his date of release... 

Shenzhou-9, China’s latest spacecraft blasted off Saturday night from a western China desert. The spacecraft is carrying a crew of three, which includes the first female astronaut in the country. The astronauts will try to complete the first manned space docking for China during the mission. This is an important step for the country in its ambitious plan to have a space station before 2020. The launch was powered by the Long March 2F rocket and was telecast live on state TV from the Jiuguan Launch... 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new vaccine for children manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline that can be used for two common causes of bacterial meningitis that at times are fatal. The vaccine is called MenHibrix and is designed for children who are six weeks to 18 months old. It combines vaccines for Hib disease and meningococcal disease. Both diseases are common causes of meningitis infection. MenHibrix was rejected by the FDA on two previous occasions over the last two years.... 

Vizio announced earlier in the year it would branch out from HDTVs into computers and has kept its promise. Today the company officially launched its all in one computers, a pair of laptops and a notebook. All of the categories start at just $898. The design of the computers is styled after Apple, but the insides are all Windows-based. Vizio said it wanted the computers to look elegant while delivering flawless entertainment and execution of tasks. The company said that design and innovation was... 

Output of U.S. Manufacturing declined during May. It was the second time in the past three months the sector has contracted. An important gauge for manufacturing for New York dropped sharply in the first two weeks of June as well, adding to the troubling signs the economy in the U.S. is starting to slow down. Factory output declined by 0.4% in May said the Federal Reserve early Friday. Total output in the industrial sector, which includes mines, factories and utilities declined by one tenth of one... 

In 1995, Japan was rocked by a nerve gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult that killed 13 people and sickened thousands. On Friday, Japan ended its 17-year hunt for suspects by arresting the final suspect from the Subway attack. The arrest closed one of the worst chapters in Japan’s history for domestic terrorism. The doomsday cult released nerve gas in the Subway system at rush hour in 1995. The founder of the group and 12 of his followers have received death sentences for their roles in the gas... 

San Francisco Giant pitcher Matt Cain pitched a perfect game last night, the 22nd  in the history of Major League Baseball. Wednesday night Cain defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 10-0 giving up no hits and allowing no runners on base. Cain needed 125 pitches in San Francisco to defeat the Astros. The Giants pitcher had 14 strikeouts to tie the record for strikeouts in a perfect game with Sandy Koufax that was set back in 1965. Cain was mobbed by his teammates at the pitching mound after... 

Low cost airlines may not always live up to their names for fares or fees, but in customer satisfaction, they are much further ahead than their larger competitors are. On Wednesday, the latest annual J.S. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Study for North America was released. The report found satisfaction scores for low-cost carriers increased by three points to a total of 754 based upon a scale of 1,000. The larger carriers saw their point total declined by 4 points to a low of 647. Part... 

Taking omega-3 supplements on a daily basis does not seem like it provides protection against the decline of memory and thinking skills in adults that are older, says a new review of evidence. Researchers have felt that since the body’s brain has many polyunsaturated fatty acids like the ones in fish oil, adding to them by taking omega-3 supplements would boost an individual’s memory and help slow down the cognitive dementia and decline. However, recent trials for the supplements have resulted... 

The U.S. Open will start on Thursday at The Olympic Club outside San Francisco. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will be paired together for the first two days of the tournament along with Bubba Watson the current Masters champion. Wood and Mickelson have not been paired in the U.S. Open since 2008 when it was played at Torrey Pines and groupings were made by rankings. As he usually does, Woods said the pairing would have no affect whatsoever on his game the first two days. Mickelson however could... 

For the second consecutive month, retail sales in May fell. In addition, wholesale prices declined by the most in 36 months, which offers more evidence of a slowdown in the recovery of the economy. Retail sales dropped by 0.2% as building material demand was sluggish and drops in gasoline prices weighed on sales at service stations, said a report released on Wednesday by the Commerce Department. Sales in April were revised to indicate a 0.2% decline instead of a 0.1% gain that had been previously... 

The voters in California’s November election will decide whether a special label is needed on genetically engineered foods, announced the Secretary of State for California as part of the Right to Know initiative. The new historic initiative would become the first in the United States to become law that requires the labelling of a wide variety of foods that are genetically engineered. The supporters for the initiative feel it is the right of the people to know what they are eating to make better... 

Children and even grandchildren of men who had children later in life might enjoy genetic benefits that are life extending, including the ability of having children later in life. Northwestern University researchers believe it is due to an unusually quick adaptation that telomeres, which are DNA found at the tips of chromosomes, lengthened and that is thought to promote longer healthy aging. The study analyzed 1,779 Filipino adults’ DNA and that of their mothers. The researchers found the children... 

A study that was recently published claims that humans are the cause of the overall rise in the temperature of the world’s oceans. The study showed that at most, that natural variability in the temperatures of the world’s oceans amounted for only 10% in temperature change. Inputs came from India, Japan, Australia and the United States in the study. Test were done to account for various uncertainties nevertheless the researchers found no evidence the increase in surface temperatures in the world’s... 

On Tuesday, a 32-year old mystery over Azaria Chamberlain’s death in the outback of Australia was ended. The case split the country by national opinion and attracted headlines around the world. A coroner found that a dingo was the one responsible for killing the young infant. The finding by the coroner ends a three-decade plus legal fight to find justice by the infants parents Michael and Lindy Chamberlain. Lindy had been originally jailed for more than three years for the death of her daughter...