Controversial plastic hardener bisphenol-A (BPA), best known for the extensively-reported controversy over its use in plastic baby bottles and sippy cups, has shown up somewhere new: receipts from retail cash registers.
A new study, commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), found that 40 percent of receipts printed on heat-activated synthetic paper by cash registers and [...]

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus believes that although the effort in Afghanistan has ways to go–thanks to sufficient resources and a new strategy–the campaign is on track.
The progress achieved so far in Afghanistan is “about standard for any one of these kinds of deliberate campaigns,” he said.
The current Afghanistan strategy has been in place since [...]

President Barack Obama is expected to announce tomorrow that companies will be able to benefit from a new tax write-off for investments over the next year.
The move, along with Obama’s plan to pour $50 billion into infrastructure improvements, is aimed at stimulating companies to purchase now rather than later. The plan would allow businesses to [...]

Cyber self-defense is key to avoiding cyber threats to U.S. national security, according to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The committee conducted a six-month study on cybersecurity and found that basic measures such as installing software updates and running up-to-date virus programs can defeat most threats, but are often neglected by computer users.
According to a [...]

The infrastructure to train the Afghan security forces is in place, and surge forces have arrived and are conducting operations, according to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus.
“We have more than tripled the number of U.S. forces on the ground, NATO nations have contributed more forces as well and non-NATO nations as well,” he said.
Security forces [...]

NASA has unveiled NASA App HD, a new mobile application for the iPad providing videos, stories and NASA information all in one place.
The application is free and a smaller-screen version can also be downloaded for the iPhone and iPod touch.
The customizable application contains launch information and countdown clocks, mission information, a live stream of NASA [...]

The Taliban’s cash flow and recruitment in southwestern Afghanistan is in trouble, according to Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills.
This year’s low poppy harvest and government subsidies encouraging farmers to grow other crops have left the Taliban with “less than one-half of what they had last year in operating funds,” Mills said.
Coalition forces have [...]

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Federal Aviation Administration will invest $15 million in safety upgrades of the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The project is expected to create about 200 jobs by the time it is finished next year.
U.S Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari said the project would not have been [...]

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is campaigning to keep federal funds flowing as the United States begins to withdraw military forces from Iraq and eventually, Afghanistan.
Gates is concerned that, like in other times in U.S. history, wars ending will lead to a “peace dividend.”
Addressing the American Legion in a speech last week, Gates said: “As [...]

President Barack Obama announced plans this week to loosen export regulations and consolidate the agencies governing them.
The move supports the president’s effort to double U.S. exports, and is a win for technology manufacturers, many of whom expect the new rules could produce billions of dollars in new sales.
Three agencies oversee U.S. export controls and cover [...]