NPR News

This week, the governors of New York and California proposed tax hikes to plug major holes in their state budgets. Governors Andrew Cuomo and Jerry Brown are both Democrats, and both are asking their states' wealthiest residents to pay higher income taxes.

That's pretty much where the similarities end. The execution of their tax proposals is a study in contrasts.

'We Have To Talk'

In New York, Cuomo's tax reform proposal followed a carefully crafted script, including a recorded video message to his constituents.

While nations wrangle over a new global treaty on climate change, the question on many minds is: What happens next?

Key portions of the Kyoto Protocol are set to expire at the end of 2012. But many of the world's major greenhouse gas emitters have already set national targets to reduce emissions, and they're forging their own initiatives to meet those goals.

To become a cab driver in London, you have to acquire "The Knowledge," which is their fancy way of saying that you have to memorize all the streets in London. It's quite a process that takes most three to four years to complete.

Now, scientists have found that studying for the test makes your brain bigger. The U.K. Press Association reports:

Cookie dough may be one of the joys of the holiday season, but it's dangerous, at least for people who nibble it raw.