Air Force ground controllers last year successfully rescued a $1.7 billion military communications satellite that had been stranded in the wrong orbit and at risk of blowing up, possibly because some cloth had been left in a fuel line during manufacture.
Crews used backup propulsion systems to coax the satellite more than 21,000 miles (33,800 kilometers) higher. It took 14 months as the satellite battled gravity and dodged space junk. It finally arrived at its planned orbit last October.

Apple appears to be making less of a profit from each new iPad than it did when it launched the previous model a year ago, according to a research firm's analysis.
IHS iSuppli took apart a new iPad on Friday, the day the device went on sale in the U.S. and nine other countries, and found that the components are more expensive than those of the iPad 2.

When Benjamin Gleitzman moved from New York to the San Francisco Bay area, he used a talking turn-by-turn driving app to guide him across the country. In the middle of Wyoming, the voice told him to turn left where there was no road.
Rather than complain to the maker of the app, called Waze, he logged in and made a note for anyone else who happened to drive that way that the road wasn't there. It was a small gesture of consideration to his fellow travelers.

A group of prominent Chinese writers have demanded compensation from technology giant Apple Inc. for allegedly selling unlicensed versions of their books in its online store.
The case is a departure from the usual pattern of U.S artists or companies going after Chinese copycats.

Norah Jones unveiled something new at South By Southwest — again.
Ten years after she shook Austin and the music world with "Come Away With Me," the 25 million-selling debut she released just weeks before the 2002 conference and festival, she returned to play her entire new album "Little Broken Hearts" at La Zona Rosa on Saturday night.

Jerry Lewis did not turn 86 quietly.
The comedian and filmmaker flew in to New York from Las Vegas for an hours-long celebration Friday night.

The comedian Gallagher is telling jokes after being taken out of a medically induced coma that doctors put him in following his heart attack last week in Texas.
Doctors slowly woke up Gallagher on Sunday morning. His promotional manager, Christine Scherrer, says Gallagher immediately recognized his family and started talking to them. She says he's breathing on his own, moving and joking around.

The first study to look at methamphetamine's potential lasting effects on children whose mothers used it in pregnancy finds these kids at higher risk for behavior problems than other children.
The behavior differences — anxiety, depression, moodiness — weren't huge, but lead researcher Linda LaGasse called them "very worrisome."

A former Mr. Universe who has just turned 100 said Sunday that happiness and a life without tensions are the key to his longevity.
Manohar Aich, who is 4 foot 11 inches (150 centimeters) tall, overcame many hurdles, including grinding poverty and a stint in prison, to achieve body building glory.

Angeline Chilton says she can't drive unless she smokes pot.
The suburban Denver woman uses medical marijuana to ease multiple sclerosis symptoms and says she'd never get behind the wheel right after smoking. But her case underscores a problem that no one's sure how to solve: How do you tell if someone is too stoned to drive?
