High-Tech Mug Keeps Coffee Just Right

As many as 50 locations could open by year's end

(NEWSER) - As promised , Starbucks is officially coming to India, and the first store will open by September. A senior executive at Tata Global Beverages, which is partnering with Starbucks for the venture, says that as many as 50 stores could open by the end of the year, and up to 3,000 stores could eventually pepper the country. It won't be the first foreign coffee chain: Lavazza of Italy and the US-based Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf have a presence in the country. But the dominant player is the Bangalore-based Café Coffee Day, which currently claims 1,200 stores, the New York Times reports. More»

Relativity, theory of evolution top the list

(NEWSER) - Every year, the website Edge poses a big, open-ended question to leading scientists. This year's query— "What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?" —received 191 answers covering a wide range of ideas, with Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution receiving the most replies, reports Reuters . Some interesting responses:

• "Darwin's natural selection wins hands down," writes Richard Dawkins, unsurprisingly. "Never in the field of human comprehension were so many facts explained by assuming so few."

Chain launches 'coffee for non-coffee drinkers'

(NEWSER) - Starbucks launched its new, mellower "Blonde" roast this week, and it doesn't want to hear any baristas sniggering about the name. "We were told at a regional rally there are absolutely no Blonde jokes to be told around the coffee whatsoever. It will be a written offense if so," a worker writes at Starbucks Gossip . Starbucks introduced the lighter roast after surveys found that an estimated 54 million Americans prefer a lighter roast than the chain's signature bold roast, the Chicago Tribune notes. The manager of Starbucks' flagship Chicago store describes the Blonde roast as "coffee for the non-coffee drinker." More»

Scottish company will sell 12-ounce cans for $5

(NEWSER) - You'll soon be able to crack open and swig down a can of… Scotch whisky? Liquor company Scottish Spirits Imports plans to introduce aluminum cans filled with Scotch to the US by February 1. Each can will contain 12 ounces of the 80-proof liquor, or about eight shots' worth, reports the Huffington Post . The retail price: $5 a can. More»

Tall coffees to cost 10 more cents in much of US

(NEWSER) - Some of us will have to shell out an extra dime for each coffee this year. Starbucks is planning a price hike of approximately 1% in the Northeast and Southern US. While the company hasn't named all the states that will face increased prices, they include New York and most of the South, plus DC, the AP reports. "Tall" coffees will cost 10 extra cents, and some six other drinks will see price hikes—though "grande" drinks won't cost any extra. Competition and commodity costs prompted the increase, a Starbucks rep said. More»