Many online retailers offer free holiday shipping
The majority of online retailers hope to entice shoppers this holiday season by offering free shipping, and almost half will offer it without conditions, a National Retail Federation study out Wednesday shows.

Early Adopters Pay for Bragging Rights
In the wake of Apple’s swift–and steep–iPhone price cuts, early adopters may have to live with shorter windows of joy.

Laptop foundation production delay means shortage
BOSTON (Reuters) - A non-profit group developing a low-cost laptop for poor children said that a production delay would cause a shortage of computers available in the United States and Canada as part of a holiday giving program.

The Math of Teenage Sex (by Christopher Wanjek at LiveScience)
A girl “sophisticated” enough to seek oral contraception at a health clinic likely has a boyfriend, often older, pressuring her to have sex without a condom, or she is already sexually experienced. Either way, the odds are against her remaining disease free. Alas, American teenagers don’t like math. They like sex.
Well, it would be nice to have a study instead of your assumption about older partners, Christopher.  And it would be nice to have some information about how the rampant pregnancies and STDs you describe are related to the abysmal state of sex education in the schools.

Many at Risk for HIV Not Being Tested
Screening should be part of routine medical care, researchers suggest

Experts Sound Off on Workout Grunting
Some gym members object, but these noises may boost fitness.

Marital Stress Linked to Heart Disease
Couples with troubled relationships have hardening of the coronary arteries, research says

More Women Choosing ‘Preventive’ Double Mastectomy
There’s no proof cancer will spread to the healthy second breast, researchers say

Dementia in More Educated Hits Later But Harder
More schooling delayed disease onset, but decline was more rapid afterward, study finds

Near-Earth Space Bubbles Mapped
Enormous bubbles of plasma trapped within Earth’s magnetic fields have been fully mapped for the first time.

Weather cooperates for on-time shuttle launch
Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven rocketed away Tuesday in pursuit of the international space station, where a formidable construction job awaits them.