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In 1887, Julius Petri invented a simple pair of nesting glass dishes, ideal for keeping specimens of growing bacteria sterile--the 'Petri dish.' Science historian Howard Markel recounts the history of this ubiquitous lab supply, and the serendipitous discovery of the stuff in it, agar.

The system eliminates the need for primary and runoff elections, but some say it is too complicated. In the mayoral race in San Francisco — where 16 candidates are on the ballot — voters will soon find out if the system works.

AT&T may have suffered another setback to its proposed $39 billion merger with rival wireless company T-Mobile. The FCC on Tuesday released a detailed analysis of its reasons for opposing the deal, contrary to AT&T's wishes.

As the natural gas industry booms in Pennsylvania, drillers are encountering a hodgepodge of local rules on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." State lawmakers are considering changes that would limit the way a local community regulates what happens in its own backyard.

The International Monetary Fund used to bail out deadbeat nations in Latin America. Now, in a role reversal, the IMF's new director, Christine Lagarde, is seeking the region's help in containing Europe's worsening debt crisis. Officials in Brazil, now the world's seventh-biggest economy, say they're putting together an IMF loan. And Lagarde says the whole region can provide Europe with lessons on how to manage the economy.

From comfort food to foraging to food trucks, we take a look at and round up the latest food trend lists for 2011 and 2012.

The former House speaker says the troubled mortgage giant paid him the consultant fee in 2006 for his "advice as a historian" — and that he was not a lobbyist. Strictly speaking, that's right. But one expert says what Freddie really wanted was "political protection and cover."

Japanese automaker Honda has had a tough time recently. The earthquake and tsunami disrupted production. And now flooding in Thailand is causing more trouble. There are concerns that the quality of Honda's cars may be slipping.

Lawmakers have spent much of this year struggling to reach a deal that could get budget deficits under control. But the problem has been developing for at least a decade. In 2000, there was a $200 billion surplus.

Even as Congress' deficit-reduction supercommittee ran into a dead end this week, the resulting mandatory spending cuts were immediately targeted by interest groups and sympathetic lawmakers. No interest group stands to lose more than the defense industry.