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NASA has successfully launched the super-pressure balloon (SPB) at Wanaka Airport. The balloon was lifted off around 10.15 am and will continue to inflate and increase in size when it will go to 33 kilometers above Earth.

Mission boss Debbie Fairbrother said that even after 15 years working with the Columbia Science Balloon Facility, she still feels excitement at the time of watching a launch.

She said it was 'dream scenario' to get airborne on the second attempt and said that an aborted effort on Monday would have been a good trial.

Fairbrother said, "The launch was great. Now we gotta get it to float. It's a test balloon. We gotta get it up to the right altitude. It has to deploy properly and depressurize".

Twitter on Thursday launched a new application Periscope, a move that could dampen enthusiasm for the rising online star Meerkat, which offers a similar service.

The Periscope app is a streaming video application like Meerkat, allows anyone to stream live video to a wide audience with their Smartphone.

Twitter's Kevin Weil said in a blog post that the new app enables to share and experience live video from mobile phone and is also perfect complement to Twitter.

The team associated with development of the Periscope app outlined a range of possibilities for the service, including how it can turn any smartphone user into a global reporter.

A new report has revealed that biotechnology, big data and undersea systems are among the areas that have been identified by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as key to move America's technology forward.

Bi-annual ‘Breakthrough Technologies for National Security’ report of the agency works as an analysis of latest DARPA work. It also works as a guide for what areas the agency look forward to invest in over the coming years.

DARPA director Arati Prabhakar said, “All of those are signs of a Defense Department that is taking a fresh look at the world. There is need to take that fresh look again after this intense period of particular focus on two ground wars”.

State public health officials have issued a warning on Tuesday stating that consuming raw milk can have potential dangers.

The warning came after the officials noted that nearly six Northern California residents were diagnosed with campylobacteriosis, a bacterial infection that can be caused by consuming contaminated raw milk.

Department officials said a recent identified multiple bottles of Claravale Farm raw milk that tested positive for campylobacter.

Symptoms of campylobacteriosis include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever, said experts. Most people recover completely within about a week but it may vary in some cases, they said.

A Texas woman gave a big smile while posing for a mug shot after her arrest for allegedly setting fire to the yoga studio where she had been taking classes.

According to CBS reports, Nancy "Suzanne" Duarte said that she wanted to relieve stress, so she broke into American Power Yoga with a baseball bat, a can of gasoline and a pack of matches on Saturday.

Duarte is currently in the Dallas County Jail, where she's being held on a $16,000 bond. She told CBS, "Most people can't understand the smiling mug shot".

But, Duarte has reportedly admitted that she thought it was going to make me happy, to burn the place that had brought her so much pain and suffering.

A young San Fernando Valley woman won a $28.2 million lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente. The woman who lost her leg said on Thursday that the verdict will bring positive changes in the managed care giant and will encourage patients to learn about their treatment.

Anna Rahm, a 23-year-old Cal State Northridge student, said she is confident that this will bring change in health care reform. "However, I know that it takes so much advocacy and so much passion. We went into this with an initiative hoping that no matter the outcome, we wanted to get our story out there for everyone to be able to relate to and to learn from", she said.