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An experimental technique called optogenetics is starting to change the way researchers look at the brain. The tool allows them to switch entire brain circuits on and off using light, and may help figure out what's going wrong in brain ailments from epilepsy to depression.

Before Syria's civil war, there was no real need for a clinic that could teach the disabled how to walk on artificial legs. Now there's huge demand, not only for the legs, but also for training.

Japan already relies on a system that helps prevent industrial accidents and train derailments by sending warnings as much as a minute before the ground starts shaking. That much time could save lives after a major earthquake in California, but seismologists say a prototype system there lacks funding and has big gaps.

As a middle-school student in the '80s, Lee Buono stayed after school one day to remove the brain and spinal cord from a frog. He did such a good job that his science teacher told him he might become a neurosurgeon someday. That's exactly what Buono did.

The Afghans will elect a new president, and the U.S. combat mission will end. There are worries about a resurgent Taliban, the fragile economy and the future of women's rights. In short, Afghans are concerned about most everything.

Just six people managed to sign up for health insurance through the federal website the day it opened for business. The numbers are better now, but the botched rollout may have not only inconvenienced people, but also permanently changed people's perceptions of the Affordable Care Act.

Scientists hope to solve mysteries of the human brain by studying much simpler neural networks — like the brain circuits of fruit flies and mice. Already such research is turning up clues to why many people with autism are easily overwhelmed by bright lights and loud sound.

Along with the usual traffic citations, police in Melbourne, Fla., gave out scratch-off lottery tickets. The cops themselves paid for them — in the spirit of the season, they said. No word of any big winners, just yet.

From Michigan to Maine and parts in between, power outages that began before Christmas continue. Storms brought down power lines. More winter weather is forecast for coming days in many of the affected areas.

The attack comes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai continues to deliberate over a security pact with the U.S. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing.