NEWS
March 31, 2012 | By Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Hard-core Harry Potter fans who devoured the books, camped out for the movies and trekked through the theme park now have a new way to relive the boy wizard's adventures. PHOTOS: Making of Harry Potter studio tour Debuting Saturday, the Making of Harry Potter behind-the-scenes tour at theWarner Bros.studios in England will let wizards, mudbloods and muggles pull back the curtain on the movie-making secrets of the most successful film series of all time. Located 20 miles outside of London, the three-hour self-guided tour will take visitors past sets, props, costumes, models and special effects exhibits from the eight "Harry Potter" movies.
HEALTH
January 16, 2012 | By Lisa Zamosky, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Lipitor is the most prescribed name-brand drug in America - nearly 3.5 million people take it every day to control their cholesterol. Since the statin entered the market in 1997, it's earned New York-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. $81 billion, making it the best-selling prescription drug of all time, according to IMS Health, a Danbury, Conn.-based healthcare information company. So when Lipitor's patent protection came to an end Nov. 30 and a generic alternative became available, an awful lot of patients had a decision to make: Should they stick with the drug they knew or switch to something less expensive?
HEALTH
March 30, 2009 | Elena Conis
A sweetener made from the juice of a Mexican cactus is an increasingly common ingredient in bottled teas, energy drinks, nutrition bars and desserts from health food stores. In just the last few years, agave syrup's popularity has soared: The number of agave products on the market more than tripled between 2003 and 2007, according to market analysis firm Data Monitor. This year, a major food manufacturer -- McCormick & Co. -- placed the syrup on its list of top 10 flavors for 2009.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 26, 2000 | JESSICA GARRISON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Two El Segundo toddlers found dead in their beds last spring were poisoned by oleander leaves from a neighbor's yard that they picked and ate, coroner's officials said Tuesday. The case of Alexei and Peter Wiltsey, ages 2 and 3, represents the first confirmed accidental deaths by oleander poisoning in county history, said coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier.
SCIENCE
January 2, 2010 | By Lori Kozlowski
James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar" takes place in 2154 on the lush moon Pandora. To help make the set believable, Jodie Holt, chairwoman of the department of botany and plant sciences at UC Riverside, was approached to consult on the film's plant life, as well as how a botanist would study such flora. Holt, a plant physiologist, talked about her involvement in the film and the "Pandorapedia," a detailed catalog of the moon's features, including its many plants. How did you become involved in the film?
NEWS
December 23, 1989 | ROSEMARY KNOWER, THE BALTIMORE SUN
The boom in house plants has led to a minor industry in this country: beautiful, unusual and very expensive plant pots. If you find that term a little crude, go for the French cachepot--literally, "hide-the-pot." The canny and civilized French have known for a long time that a spectacular display can be made of an ordinary plant, just as a spectacular fashion statement can be made by women who choose the right accessories.