Insurance analysts estimate the impact could wipe out as much as a quarter of profits for companies with significant exposure to the area, which include Allstate, Travelers and Chubb Group.

FORBES: More Sandy Fallout: Verizon Sees 'Significant' Storm Impact

These data are overlaid with estimates of exposure: for example, the number of buildings in an area that are vulnerable and what it would cost to rebuild them.

ECONOMIST: Reinsurance risks

"For example, hiking in a rural area of the Indian subcontinent where dogs commonly roam free carries a sufficient risk of exposure - combined with potential difficulties in obtaining early, safe and effective post-exposure prophylaxis - to warrant vaccination before travelling, " he said.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Rabies warning over minor bites

In the study, Tammemagi and his colleagues surveyed more than 600 nonsmokers from the Detroit area -- half of whom had been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis -- about their exposure to secondhand smoke at home, at work, in public places (such as bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys), and in private social settings over a five-year period.

CNN: Sinus trouble? Secondhand smoke may be to blame

Core research areas addressed in the 2011 strategy include: nanomaterial measurement, human exposure assessment, human health, environment, risk assessment and management, and the new core area of predictive modeling and informatics.

WHITEHOUSE: Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

But according to follow-up studies reported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the resulting average dose of radiation that about 2 million people in the TMI area received amounted to 1 millirem, six times less than exposure to a single standard chest x-ray.

FORBES: Media Hype Over Nuclear Energy Increases Anxiety And Confusion

The patent application also covers what could be controlled using the touchscreen, including settings like the focus detection area, flash adjustment, ISO, white balance, and exposure correction, to name a few -- all of which will surely be welcome to some, but we just hope the touchscreens will be accompanied by at least a few buttons and knobs for us old curmudgeons.

ENGADGET: Canon patent application points to touchscreen DSLRs