IBT Staff Reporter

There?s a chance that S&P could downgrade America?s rating another notch to AA if no serious action is taken on the deficit.

U.S. stocks rose about 1 percent on Friday as mildly encouraging retail sales put the S&P on track for a two-day winning streak for the first time since mid-July as investors shrugged off weak consumer sentiment data.

LinkedIn gets rid of user photos on social ads after a minor uproar.

Researchers developed a tattoo-like film that will enable doctors to monitor vital signs without the burdensome wiring and electrodes. "What we are trying to do here is to really reshape and redefine electronics...to look a lot more like the human body, in this case the surface layers of the skin," John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois told CBS News.

Underscoring divisions at the U.S. central bank, one top policymaker on Friday said he had cut his forecast for economic growth, even as another said he saw no economic need for new monetary stimulus.

Disappointing economic growth in the first half of 2011 clearly can not be blamed only on one-off factors, one of the central bank's most influential policymakers said on Friday, adding he had cut his expectations for the pace of the recovery.

If history is any guide, another oil-induced recession may be just around the corner, at least for the United States and some of the other developed economies.

One of the central bank's most influential policymakers said on Friday he does not expect the economy to suffer a double-dip recession.

J.C. Penney Co Inc forecast weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings as more price cutting threatened to further dent its gross margin, sending its shares down 1 percent in morning trade.

European fund managers led a chorus of criticism of a two-week short-selling ban slapped on four euro zone stock markets on Friday, with restrictions seen more likely to nurture erratic trading than eliminate it.

A few blogs have found leaked shots of Google's Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The United State military's hypersonic glider Falcon HTV-2 was lost over the Pacific Ocean during a test flight of the fastest plane on earth. What does this mean for potential hypersonic air crafts and the future of Mach-20 travel?

Pennsylvania researchers used a "killer" technique where patients with leukemia had some of their own blood removed and genetically reprogrammed to attack tumor cells. The treatment made the most common type of leukemia disappear in two patients, and reduced cancer cells by 70 percent in a third.

Researchers at a leading European business school are blasting financial regulators in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain for imposing or extending short-selling bans in the wake of renewed market volatility.

The Italian government will pass a sweeping package of cuts and tax increases at a cabinet meeting Friday as it scrambles to meet European Central Bank demands for action to shore up confidence in its public finances.

Consumer sentiment worsened sharply in early August, falling to the lowest index level since 1980, even though retail sales posted the biggest gains in three months in July, separate reports on Friday showed.

Stocks rose on Friday as mildly upbeat retail sales data offset a weak reading on consumer sentiment, with the S&P on course to notch up a second winning day.

Planking is when a person impersonates a stiff plank of wood by lying face down. The photos are then posted on Facebook or other social networking sites.

Shares of Nvidia Corp rose as much as 11 percent on Friday on the company's strong third-quarter revenue forecast, but brokerage Evercore Partners said it was surprised with the lack of growth of the graphics card maker's much-touted Tegra processors.

The financier Alex Meruelo is being joined by Meruelo Capital Partners in the purchase of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.

LONDON/NEW YORK - An anorexic under doctor's orders to put on weight might fret unnecessarily about getting fat one day.

Now you can be a history maker, as CERN initiated a new volunteer project in its search for the elusive "God particle" - the Higgs boson, which allows commoners to run simulation of particle physics experiment.

With the new LHC@home 2.0 project, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) are using citizen volunteer computers to help prove the existence of the God particle.

Consumer sentiment worsened sharply in early August, falling to the lowest index level since 1980, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading.

Middle-aged to older women who suffer from depression and are taking antidepressants were found to be associated with a 29 percent higher risk of having a stroke, according to Harvard researchers.

Consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest point in more than three decades in early August, as fears of a stalled recovery gelled with despair over government policies, a survey released on Friday showed.

Portugal still faces some tough challenges but is on track to meet this year's budget deficit goal despite a shortfall in performance so far, officials from the European Union and IMF said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday, extending the previous session's sharp rise as data showed retail sales posted their biggest gain since March.

Women who suffer from depression and use antidepressants have an increased risk of stroke, say Harvard researchers.