Stock futures flat, but techs rally in preopen trade

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were flat on Wednesday, with investors reluctant to make big bets following a five-day rally that took major averages to levels not seen since December 2007. Tech shares will be in focus following strong results from both IBM and Google, which rallied in premarket and continued the string of major companies outperforming following results. ...

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Williams loses to Stephens; Azarenka into semis

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams was only thinking out loud when she muttered that this Australian Open had been "the worst two weeks."Not long after a courtside microphone picked up those comments during her quarterfinal with 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens, things got a whole lot worse.Stephens outplayed Williams, whose movement and serves had been slowed by a back injury, and beat...

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NASA’s Alien Planet Archive Now Open to the World

Scientists with NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft have revamped the mission’s online archive of alien worlds, opening up the database for the entire world to see.Researchers are now posting all exoplanet sightings by the Kepler observatory into a single, comprehensive website called the “NASA Exoplanet Archive.” Instead of going through the long planet confirmation process before making data...

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2013 could be 'climate game-changer'

An ice sculpture entitled 'Minimum Monument' by Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo outside Berlin's Concert Hall, September 2, 2009.STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe "neglected" risk of climate change seems to be rising to the top of leaders' agendasExtreme weather events are costing the global economy billions of dollars each yearGas can be an important bridge to a lower carbon future but it's not the answerMore investment...

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Blackhawks silence Blues 3-2 in home opener

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane on his team's 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. In Brian Elliott's worst nightmare,...

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Cameron promises Britons straight choice on EU exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Wednesday to give Britons a referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave if he wins an election in 2015, placing a question mark over Britain's membership for years. Cameron ended months of speculation by announcing in a speech the plan for a vote sometime between 2015 and the end of 2017, shrugging off...

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Stock index futures signal mixed open

PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Tuesday after Monday's holiday. S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.22 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.21 percent at 1035 GMT. European shares fell in morning trade, with Germany's blue-chip DAX <.gdaxi> among the laggards, dragged down by large futures trades and...

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Jim, John Harbaugh ready for rematch at Super Bowl

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jim and John Harbaugh have exchanged a handful of text messages, and plan to leave it at that. No phone conversations necessary while the season's still going. No time for pleasantries, even for the friendly siblings.There is work to be done to prepare for the Super Bowl, prepare for each other, prepare for a history-making day already being widely hyped as "Harbowl" or...

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NASA’s Planet-Hunting Kepler Telescope Stalled by Glitch

NASA’s prolific planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has been placed in a precautionary “safe mode” after engineers noticed a problem with the instrument’s orientation mechanism.The Kepler telescope went into safe mode on Jan. 17 for a planned 10 days, during which time the telescope’s reaction wheels — spinning devices used by the observatory to maintain its position in space —will be rested. The...

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Defterios: What keeps Davos relevant

STORY HIGHLIGHTSSince the late 20th Century, the ski resort of Davos has been synonymous with the World Economic ForumDefterios: I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent, two months after the Berlin Wall fellFall of Communism, China's opening, removal of apartheid in South Africa unfolded in the 90sIt's the inter-play between geo-politics and business is what keeps the forum relevantDavos...

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