In the late 19th century, hot southern summers hastened the invention of three fizzy drinks: Coke in Atlanta, Pepsi in North Carolina and Dr Pepper in Texas.

In April, the 100-meter radio telescope Effelsberg in Germany was tied in via fiber optics to radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank in the U.K., Medicina in Italy, Onsala in Sweden and Torun in Poland.

Symbian phones had 41 percent of the worldwide smart phone market in the second quarter, according to research firm Gartner, compared with 51 percent a year ago.