Source: Reuters * Burning of Koran could delay Afghan vote

* Protesters attack security post northeast of Kabul

(For more on Afghanistan, click [ID:nAFPAK])

By Paul Tait ...

Source: Reuters U.S. STATE DEPT SAYS DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IRAN IS CONTEMPLATING ON U.S. HIKERS, SAYS RELEASE WOULD BE TERRIFIC NEWS ...

A subset of children with asthma suffers from severe, treatment-resistant disease associated with more illness and greater allergic hypersensitivity, according to the results of the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute's Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP), presented in a recently published article in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology.

A giant telescope, 50 meters (164 feet) across, will this year start unraveling mysteries of the birth and death of galaxies up to 14,000 light years away, from atop a Mexican volcano.

Adobe shares soared on Thursday after Apple appeared to open the door for programs converted from Adobe's popular Flash video software to run on the iPhone and other Apple devices.

ARM today introduced the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor that delivers a 5x performance improvement over today`s advanced smartphone processors, within a comparable energy footprint. In advanced infrastructure applications the Cortex-A15 processor running at up to 2.5GHz will enable highly scalable solutions within constantly shrinking energy, thermal and cost budgets. The Cortex-A15 processor is available for licensing today and is targeted at manufacture in 32nm, 28nm, and future geometries.

DNA analysis is poised to experience a significant advancement thanks to the work of a Texas A&M University chemical engineer, who has discovered a way to achieve more effective separation of DNA fragments.

For cancer patients, who have an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) due to a hyperactive blood coagulation system, there is now an enhanced risk model to predict their chance of developing blood clots, according to a recent study published today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

It's no secret: the United States is in the thick of a "green trend." Increased awareness of and commitment to sustainability and improving the environment through reduced carbon emissions and energy use have led to more consumer demand for "green" products, including green construction. Even with the downturn in the housing market, a 2008 poll showed that 91 percent of registered voters nationwide would still pay more for a house if that meant a reduced impact on the environment.

(AP) -- An apple a day? Apparently not in the United States.