Today, we pay tribute to something that's in almost every piece of portable technology today: the humble battery. Henry Schlesinger is the author of a new book called "The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution." He explains how the battery went from animating a frog’s leg, back in the beginning, to powering your cell phone today.

While its connection to St. Patrick is tenuous, at best, fans of the the Shamrock Shake herald its annual return with glee (and green food dye). Can't find any near you? Learn how to make your own!

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, inspired by "Runaways," they take on movies about rock and rock bands.

According to Newsweek, recent high school and college graduates aren’t asking their parents for vocational and financial advice. Instead, they’re turning to their depression-era grandparents. After all, their grandparents survived a time when the American unemployment rate was 25 percent, while their parents came of age well after that devastating time and well before the recession of today.

When it comes to breast-feeding, the pendulum may be swinging back from "breast is best" to "formula is fine." Among the reasons: assertions that the health benefits of breast milk may be exaggerated, the perception by some that breastfeeding advocates are overly judgmental, and new research indicating that mothers who nurse may face negative economic consequences.

Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, the actor-director team behind the hugely successful "Bourne Identity" franchise release "Green Zone" today, inspired by an account of life in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Every year, the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, brings together a mix of musicians, film makers and technologists. This year's gathering starts tomorrow, and the docket includes eyeglass cellphones and game-playing robots.

When it comes to environmentally responsible eating, we’re often told what not to eat: Don’t eat tuna because it’s overfished. Don’t eat Chilean sea bass because it’s bottom-trawled. Don’t eat beef because of carbon dioxide emissions from cows.

But what we’re not often told is that putting jellyfish on the menu will help save the world.

Since December 2007, seven million jobs have been lost in our country, and the majority of those who’ve lost their jobs have been men. At the same time, females have been returning to the workforce in higher numbers than their male counterparts, and more and more women have taken on the role of primary breadwinner for their families.

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, they commemorate their third date with a talk about Sunday night's Oscar show.

A lot of people set their children in front of the television to watch educational videos and programming — from "Sesame Street" to "Baby Einstein" — with the hope that these shows will help their children to learn. But a new study out last week in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, says these videos don’t actually make kids smarter, and may in fact impede their learning.

After weeks of anticipation, the Academy Awards show is finally upon us. At 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, Oscars will be handed out and speeches will drag on forever. Telling us about what to expect from this year’s show, which will be broadcast on ABC, is Rafer Guzman, Takeaway movie contributor and film critic for Newsday. He gives his predictions on the winners.

Later today we expect to hear new national unemployment data which should offer economists a reasonable idea of where our economy is moving on a macro scale. But what about the smaller economic engines of America? How about the small towns in our country that may be largely sustained by a single industry or plant? Even if the economy, as a whole, were to make an unexpected recovery, that wouldn’t bring back the single manufacturing plant that sustaining some ten percent of its nearby residents, or the auxiliary economy that springs up around it like housing, restaurants, or shopping centers.

Today, the latest film by "Training Day" director Antoine Fuqua hits theatres nationwide. It's called "Brooklyn’s Finest," and it follows three cops who are forced to make impossible decisions during crisis points in their lives – and then live with the outcome of those choices.

When most of us watch the Oscars, our eyes are glued to the movie stars. But if you’re a movie star on Oscars night, it’s more likely that your eyes are glued to two accountants. We refer, of course, to the accountants of Pricewaterhouse Coopers – those guys with the briefcases who hit the red carpet each year, ballots in tow. From the actor's perspective, it's they who hold the key to your acceptance speech, or your stiff upper lip as a loser in front of the cameras.

Online vigilante justice has become commonplace in China, but it also occurs right here in the U.S. It's a phenomenon in which internet users hunt down and punish people who’ve attracted their wrath...oftentimes for unpunished acts that are considered reprehensible. Some feel this particular form using tech savvy to give people what they deserve is useful, but questions arise about whether online vigilantism is dangerous.

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, they discuss the Oscar nominees they each consider must-sees, and the ones they think are over-rated.

For this week's food segment, we take our inspiration from proposed sales taxes on sweets that are sweeping the nation — from California to Mississippi and New York. Legislators, government administrators, and others say such taxes like this may help to discourage us from consuming so many 'empty calories,' and to curb the rising problem of obesity throughout the country.

Our question: Are sweets really so bad? And should we be penalized for eating them?

Unemployment has spared no community in the past few years, but it’s been especially hard on older workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job-seekers over 45 make up a disproportionate percentage of the long-term unemployed population. And in many cases, those older workers never even get asked in for an interview. If you’re over 45 and applying for jobs, how do you avoid getting your resume tossed in the trash, and increase your chances of getting your foot in the door?

Frederic Chopin always claimed that March 1st was his birthday, despite church records saying he was born on February 22. Chopin would have been 200 this year, and it seems churlish to argue with a 200-year-old, so in honor of his special day we look back on what made him great, and why we still love his music.