Simulated launch, real deathNASA officials had one word for the simulated launch of the space shuttle at Cape Canaveral last week: "Super!" Then disaster struck. For reasons yet to be explained, five Rockwell International technicians removed an access panel and entered a rear section of the orbiter above the engine. A few minutes later, they began keeling over from lack of oxygen. One technician, John Bjornstad, 50, died in a helicopter en route to a hospital, and another, Forrest Cole, was in critical condition.The reason for the ...

Five days before a 2007 article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the diabetes drug Avandia was linked to a 43% increase in heart attacks compared with other medications or placebos, a group of scientists and executives from the drug's maker, GlaxoSmithKline , gathered in a conference room at the offices of the Food and Drug Administration in White Oak, Md. The GSK goal: to convince regulators that the evidence that the company's $3 ...

Swiss "JetMan" Yves Rossy canceled his first U.S. flight in a jet-propelled wing suit at the last minute Friday, saying he didn't have enough time to train. Rossy had planned to jump from a helicopter, then soar above Arizona's scenic Grand Canyon. The Federal Aviation Administration gave him the go-ahead less about an hour before the 51-year-old adventurer was scheduled to take off. But with spectators and reporters gathered ...

Not a week goes by without news of a lab breakthrough using rats or mice. But of all the promising medical interventions that make it to animal trials, only a fraction seem to translate into major breakthroughs for humans. Frankie Trull, president of the non-profit Foundation for Biomedical Research , explains the promise and the pitfalls of pre-clinical trials. Q: What do animal trials really tell us about humans? A: Animals are surrogates for humans. The basic reason for ...

Over the past six years, The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled more than 180 million pieces of metal jewelry that contained dangerous levels of lead, and in August 2009 it lowered the acceptable amount of lead in children's jewelry to 300 parts per million . But the progress in regulating lead appears to have propelled manufacturers to use another toxic metal, cadmium. In January of this year, an Associated Press investigation revealed that many cheap metal pendants and ...

In a country once marked by genocide, even the battle-hardened police were aghast at last month's scene of carnage and mayhem. Outside the southern beach town of Sihanoukville on March 4, a speeding truck driver slipped off a slope and smashed head-on into a minivan crammed with 25 wedding revelers. The result? One of Cambodia's worst traffic crashes in history, say authorities: nineteen bodies were strewn around dead at the scene, including the truck driver, many of ...

With 85 million baby boomers and 50 million Gen Xers, there is already a yawning generation gap among American workers--particularly in their ideas of work-life balance. For baby boomers, it's the juggling act between job and family. For Gen X, it means moving in and out of the workforce to accommodate kids and outside interests. Now along come the 76 million members of Generation Y. For these new 20-something workers, the line between work and home doesn't really exist. They ...

Like his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Governor Jerry Brown is struggling to keep the state afloat in an ocean of red ink. Facing a $26 billion deficit, he warns of "draconian" cuts to education and public safety if the state cannot raise revenue and has to adopt an all-cuts budget. Brown, 72, a Democrat famous for austerity and Buddhist simplicity, would prefer not to go there — but his attempts to court enough Republican support to ...

Federal investigators have interviewed the pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said on Sunday.

Afghanistan's president is downplaying accusations of widespread fraud in his country's recent elections, but he's emphasizing the importance of a runoff for the sake of ensuring peace and stability in his nascent and war-torn democracy. NEW YORK (CNN) -- Afghanistan's president is downplaying accusations of widespread fraud in his country's recent elections, but he's emphasizing the importance of a runoff for the sake of ensuring peace and stability in his nascent and war-torn democracy. "We must have a second round," ...