IBT Staff Reporter

NASA unveils the next generation launch system rockets, which will be designed to send astronauts into deep space.

On Wednesday, Facebook unveiled smart lists, an new, optional feature where lists are customizable, the same day the company's representatives met with D.C. lawmakers to address a privacy issue alarming a number of members of the U.S. Congress - children's online safety.

Chances the United States will lapse into another recession rose over the past month to nearly one in three as the economy faces a number of road blocks that could derail already weak growth, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

Stocks fell on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 extending losses and the Nasdaq turning negative after an Austrian parliamentary committee failed to approve the European Financial Stability Facility upgrade.

To tackle manmade climate change, scientists will investigate the feasibility of a geo-engineering project by building an artificial volcano, which will appear in the British county of Norfolk next month.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government won a confidence vote on Wednesday in the lower house of parliament on a 54-billion-euro austerity package aimed at staving off financial crisis in Italy.

Stocks pared gains on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 turning negative after a weaker-than-expected reading on business inventories.

Growth in retail sales stalled in August, hurt by a pitched battle over spending in Congress and raising fresh questions about the country's ability to steer clear of a double-dip recession.

Intel has woken up to demonstrate a Medfield-based smartphone running on Android Honeycomb, to be a part of the fast growing mobile sector, after a long era of dominance in the computer and server market.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday tried to shore up confidence in Europe's ability to solve its escalating debt crisis, saying they had the financial and economic capacity to do so.

Stocks opened higher on Wednesday after the head of the European Commission said it will present options for joint euro zone bonds, a tool that investors view as a step forward to addressing the region's debt crisis.

Italy's parliament is expected to approve a much revised austerity plan on Wednesday as Rome struggles to stem a debt crisis threatening the entire euro zone.

Top French bank BNP Paribas plans to sell 70 billion euros ($96 billion) of risk-weighted assets to ease investor fears about French bank leverage and funding as its main rivals were hit by ratings downgrades.

Growth in retail sales stalled in August after a pitched battle over spending in Congress undermined faith Washington could steer the country clear of a double-dip recession, data showed on Wednesday.

It doesn't do email, the internet, have a camera, games or GPS navigation, but a new mobile phone from Denmark is literally solid gold.

Large U.S. corporations are pressuring Congress and the White House to exempt overseas corporate profits from taxes, a policy shift that critics say would hurt the economy and increase the federal deficit.

U.S. stocks were set for a higher open on Wednesday after the head of the European Commission said it will present options for joint euro zone bonds, a tool that investors view as a step forward to addressing the region's debt crisis.

Growth in retail sales stalled in August after a pitched battle over spending in Congress led consumer confidence to crumble, data showed on Wednesday.

Allergan Inc is not worried about over-reliance on sales of its flagship Botox drug, the company's chief said, citing extensive safety data and supply reserves of the injectable medicine.

S&P 500 index futures pared gains but remained headed for a higher open on Wednesday after August retail sales came in weaker than expected.

Google introduces new flight search engine, based on the ITA Software, a flight data provider to let users search for airline flights and fares.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday after the head of the European Commission said it will present options for joint euro zone bonds, a tool that might help resolve the region's debt crisis.

Republican leaders have flatly rejected President Barack Obama's proposal to finance his jobs plan with a tax increase on job creators. But is it really? It depends how you define job creators.

A euro zone row over collateral to back loans to Greece has lost its explosive power under a plan that would let every member country decide for itself whether to make use of the facility, Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter told Reuters.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, recovering from earlier losses, after the head of the European Commission said it will present options for joint euro zone bonds, a tool that might help resolve the region's debt crisis.

The European Commission will soon present options on how the euro zone might issue bonds jointly, its President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday, but warned there was no simple solution to a debt crisis that threatens Europe's economic and political future.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp executed some currency transactions for two large public pension funds in a way that could trigger higher costs and boost its profit, the Wall Street Journal showed in an analysis.

Moody's cut the credit ratings of two French banks on Wednesday because of their exposure to Greece's debt, highlighting growing risks to Europe's financial sector from the deepening euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

European shares rose and the euro pared losses on Wednesday after the head of the European Commission said it would soon present options for the introduction of euro area bonds, offering a glimmer of hope for an easing of the sovereign debt crisis.