The fate of NASA's moon rocks
Of nearly 400 moon rocks given to state and world leaders after the Apollo 11 and 17 missions, almost 200 have been lost, destroyed, or stolen, according to a new NASA survey. NASA says that 517 moon rocks and other “astromaterial” samples that were lent to scientific labs or political leaders between 1970 and 2010 also have been lost or stolen.
The New York Times
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Republicans' fondness for Reagan
Ronald Reagan’s name was invoked 221 times over the course of the first 16 Republican debates. George W. Bush’s name was spoken 56 times, while his father, George H.W. Bush, was mentioned twice.
WashingtonPost.com
Tablet and e-reader ownership soars
Ownership of tablets and e-readers almost doubled in the U.S. over the holidays. The Pew Research Center found that 10 percent of those surveyed on Dec. 21 owned tablet computers, and another 10 percent owned e-readers. A month later the survey found both figures had soared to 19 percent.
Time.com
Tech's rising lobbying costs
With anti-piracy legislation in the congressional pipeline, Google spent almost twice as much money on lobbying last year—$9.68 million—as it did in 2010—$5.16 million. Facebook spent almost four times as much on lobbying in 2011—$1.35 million—as it did the year before—$351,000.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Abortion rates in 2008
About one in five pregnancies throughout the world ended in abortion in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics have been compiled, according to the Guttmacher Institute. That’s 43.8 million abortions. Abortion rates are higher in parts of the world where it is banned or heavily restricted than where it’s legal.
Los Angeles Times
