Ariz. City Gets a Do-Over

(AP) - Hundreds of passengers on a British Airways 747 flight to London used slides to evacuate the plane last night on the Phoenix Airport runway, the AP reports. The jumbo jet had just pushed back from the gate when smoke and an acrid odor was reported in the cabin. By the time fire crews arrived, 298 passengers and 18 crew were already on the tarmac. More»

Drivers from NY to LA find lawns in place of their favorite spots

(NEWSER) - Signs of a movement to highlight the need for more urban green space sprouted in cities across the US today, the LA Times reports, turning parking spaces into bite-sized parks. The second annual Park(ing) Day may prove an inconvenience to commuters from San Francisco to New York, but that’s the point, one organizer says. More»

Accidentally strangled trying to escape cuffs in Phoenix holding cell

(NEWSER) - The family of a New York woman who died in a holding cell at a Phoenix airport is suing the police department and city for $8 million, CNN reports. Carol Gotbaum became agitated after missing a flight last September and cops put her alone in a cell where she accidentally strangled herself as she tried to escape her handcuffs. Gotbaum, the stepdaughter-in-law of a New York City official, had been traveling alone to Tucson to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center. More»

MIT expert reveals the secrets of great products and services

(NEWSER) - In an interview with John Maeda, NPR correspondent Ira Flatow questions the MIT Media Lab designer about his new book, "The Laws of Simplicity." The 10 laws are:

1. Reduce: Remove functionality
2. Organize: Organization makes a system of many seem fewer
3. Time: Savings in time feel like simplicity
4. Learn: Knowledge makes everything simpler
5. Difference: Simplicity and complexity need each other