Silent running

Couldn't you just put baseball cards in the wheels? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing sound standards for electric vehicles. Not because they're too loud but because they're so quiet that pedestrians and cyclists often don't hear them as they approach. NHTSA is proposing automakers choose from a range of added noises for electric cars.

This could be a huge selling point. We'd love to see the reaction of cyclists who hear a Harley coming up behind them and then see a Prius pass by.

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No, the McRib doesn't count: McDonald's is expanding its test marketing to Chicago for its "Mighty Wings" chicken wings, deep-fried bone-in chicken wings served with a choice of dipping sauce.

It's the first time that McDonald's has offered a menu item that, unlike the McNugget and the McBite, actually comes from an identifiable part of the chicken.

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Somebody's been sleeping in my planet: Astronomers scanning the skies for Earthlike planets say the Milky Way galaxy is home to at least 17 billion planets similar in size to our planet, but they have yet to find one in the so-called Goldilocks zone, where a world would not be too hot nor too cold.

Even more sought-after is a world in the Hansel and Gretel zone where the planet's crust is made of gingerbread.

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Don't know much about history: On this day in 1963, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," measuring 30 inches by 21 inches, went on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., with President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline, in attendance.

Jackie remarked on its small size, to which John replied, "Ah, that's what she said."



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