With gas prices reaching a high of around $2.25 in the Chicago land area does this mean the end of people buying big gas guzzling trucks? Some trucks get a little 10 mpg, but people still buy them. Even with the introduction of Hybrid cars which have proven to get as many as 75 mpg. But is it worth it, is economy more important to people than power and speed?

But with the introduction of hybrid cars why do people still buy big trucks or fast cars the require performance gas which can reach prices as high as $3.50? The basic reason is that is comes down to performance. A hybrid car's acceleration is much lower than that of a car that runs only on gasoline. A hybrid cars top speed is well below that of even full size pick-ups. The one hybrid that gets 75 mpg reachs a top speed of 50 mph. Would this car even make it on the highways or expressways of America where speeds can reach as high as 70 mph? While trucks who only recieve about 15 mpg on average can reach speeds as high as 120 mph. But these truck companies are selling more than the hybrid companies. With this would any of these companies ever switch to making hybrid cars when the American buyer chooses to buy trucks and fast cars?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/01/25/space.planet.reut/index.html

The linked article covered about the discovery of a new planet with a atmosphere much like ours. The planet is habitable enough to be considered "Earth-like" which adds to the discussion, "Are we alone?" Aside from that the main point that the story tried to get across was how this planet was discovered.

The way this new method works is using a network of telescopes to focus on light from distant stars and waiting for the opportunity for another star massive enough to move infront of the observed star and the telescope so the light from observed star is magnified. The light is bent around the interfearing star the same way light is bent from water, and due to the magnifying nature it is possible to observe these new planets.

The link below goes to a recent article (January 2006) posted by Blizzard Entertainment® about the increasingly popular online game, World of Warcraft®, also known as WoW. Its popularity has spread across the globe and continues to get new subscribers, as Europe reaches over a million. Why? What is so wonderful about this particular game? I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that someone can sit at a computer for hours on end playing this, in my opinion, boring game. I have never been into video games and never will. I don't see the point in them. I keep hearing stories of people playing WoW for 8, 12, even 36 hours straight! How is that possible?

This page links to a story that's been in the news a lot recently about a memoir selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club. Oprah's selection of works makes them instant best-sellers, so she carries a great deal of economic and cultural capital. The problem is that in this case the autobiography was heavily embellished and in parts just plain made-up:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060112/ap_on_en_ot/books_disputed_memoir

The author, James Frey, and Oprah hold that the facts and events of the book are inconsequential, because "the emotional truth is there." It is their position that the soul of the book is an emotive depiction of the author's experiences with addiction and recovery; the specific manifestation of that tale, whether factual, or in this case, not, is unimportant.