http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083003937.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

In June, the Department of Defense announced that the mineral wealth of Afghanistan -- including iron, copper, gold and lithium -- might be worth more than $900 billion. Despite the historic importance of the first three, lithium seemed to be the material that most excited Pentagon officials, who gushed in internal memos about Afghanistan's becoming the "Saudi Arabia of Lithium."

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6820615n

Reports: Since 1997, Concussions Double for Younger Children, Up 200 Percent in Kids 14-19. Two studies released today by The American Academy of Pediatrics report the number of concussions suffered by children in sports is on the rise. One found that from 1997 through 2007 emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old had doubled, and that concussions skyrocketed 200 percent among kids ages 14 to 19 over the same span. But why?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Sleep/teens-young-adults-losing-sleep-tech-toys/story?id=11480259

Experts Say Effects Can Be Very Detrimental to Health. A growing body of research suggests that more and more young people are becoming sleep-deprived because they can't put down their high-tech toys.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/30/earlyshow/leisure/main6819157.shtml

The Early Show's Taryn Winter Brill explored new ways to search for a "BFF." 

Many Women Are Turning to the Internet to Cultivate New Friendships at Any Age or Stage of Life.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/30/heavy-drinkers-live-longer-than-non-drinkers-study-finds/

Abstaining from drinking alcohol tends to increase one’s risk of dying and moderate drinking is associated with the lowest mortality rates in research on alcohol use, a new study suggests.

The study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, can’t explain why abstainers’ mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers, but Time has offered some suggestions below.

http://www.torontosun.com/life/2010/08/30/15189211.html

Paying for sex remains taboo (and illegal), but could paying for friends be the start of a new trend?

Nowadays, you can rent almost anything if you can't really afford it: a car, a house, a flat-screen television or a great sofa. And now you can even rent the thing that takes years to build up to - a friend.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/30/pm-used-cars-in-demand/

Consumers have been waiting for the economy to turnaround before purchasing a new car. But with the future still uncertain, many are opting for used cars -- and that demand is driving prices up.

http://futuretense.publicradio.org/blog/index.php?id=1021600424

No more evenings wandering around Blockbuster amidst popcorn-y carpet smells and confusion about which recent movies are worth taking home. The video rental company is apparently getting ready to file for bankruptcy next month. The idea is to shed bricks-and-mortar stores during bankruptcy, and those expensive leases along with them.  Blockbuster could still emerge from the ashes with branded kiosks, like Redbox has. And the company will expand in digital space.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org//display/web/2010/08/30/pm-companies-opt-to-spend-on-acquisitions-and-mergers/

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9182783/Richard_Clarke_Preparing_For_A_Future_Cyberwar

In Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It, you write about how vulnerable America is to electronic attack. Is it possible to create an effective deterrence policy against cyberwar, as was done for nuclear war?

That doesn't work in cyberspace for lots of reasons. In the nuclear era, there were more than 2,000 tests worldwide. Nations demonstrated they could do damage. It's hard to demonstrate cyberweapons in advance. In a nuclear war, you see missiles. In cyberwar it's not clear who's attacking. People can pretend to be other people. (See our review of Cyber War.)