Computer games aren't just for fun anymore — they're also valuable research tools. Scientists are taking complex problems — like trying to figure out how proteins fold and how neural networks work — and turning them into engaging games. And they need your help.

Dale Stephens says many students would be better off ditching college and finding alternate ways to complete their educations. His new book, Hacking Your Education, explores that idea. "When you think about education as an investment, you have to think about what the return is going to be," he says.

Computer games aren't just for fun anymore — they're also valuable research tools. Scientists are taking complex problems — like trying to figure out how proteins fold and how neural networks work — and turning them into engaging games. And they need your help.

Pat Summitt grew up on a rural farm and went on to a stellar career in basketball. As head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, she won more games than any other basketball coach in NCAA history. Her new memoir, Sum It Up, records her memories even as she is losing them to Alzheimer's.

Pat Summitt grew up on a rural farm and went on to a stellar career in basketball. As head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, she won more games than any other basketball coach in NCAA history. Her new memoir, Sum It Up, records her memories even as she is losing them to Alzheimer's.

The generation that came of age in the 1960s is beginning to retire. Born after World War II, they grew up in an era of rising living standards, but the Great Recession destroyed any sense of financial security. Now they face challenges, including putting their kids through college and caring for their parents.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says the United States should overhaul its laws to make immigration easier and to give illegal immigrants a way to legal residence, not citizenship. He says granting citizenship would provide an incentive for others to come to the U.S. illegally.

With baseball gone from the Olympics, the World Baseball Classic is the only international professional baseball tournament. Former Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre said he put on a uniform again to manage the U.S. team because it's a privilege.

President Obama rounds out his Cabinet for his second term, nominating three new leaders Monday: Walmart Foundation's Sylvia Mathews Burwell for budget chief, MIT scientist Ernest Moniz to head the Energy Department and veteran regulator Gina McCarthy to run the EPA — a post that's likely be a lightning rod during Senate confirmations.

Burglary is a big problem in the California city so Mayor Jean Quan opened the door to some criticism when her newsletter of community events advertised a lock-picking class. Learn the art for only $40. Some residents were unhinged but organizers say the course is for lock-picking hobbyists, not criminals.

President Obama plans to announce three Cabinet-level nominations Monday, including a new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, who could be on the hot seat in the looming battle over global warming.

A woman in Spokane, Wash., stepped out of the shower to see her 14-month-old boy bouncing on the bed, and out a half-open second-story window. She dove after the boy, smashed through the window, grabbed his foot as he was tumbling down the porch roof and lowered him safely to his grandma, who was smoking on the porch.

The housing crisis has taken a toll in Idaho. Home prices dropped by 46 percent in the Boise area and many people lost homes to foreclosure. Before the bubble burst, Charter Pointe became less a neighborhood of neighbors, and more about investor-buyers looking to make money.

President Obama spent part of the weekend reaching out to members of Congress. He's still looking for some alternative to the budget cuts that he ordered on Friday.

Mira Winery, based in Napa Valley, is the first American winery to experiment with aging wine in the ocean. Four cases of the winery's 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon are in specially designed cages and sitting at the bottom of the Charleston Harbor; sommeliers will test the wine in three months to record any unique results.

In the East African nation of Kenya, voters are choosing the next president. Of greatest concern is whether these polls will provoke the same amount of deadly ethnic violence as the elections five years ago. More than 1,000 people were killed during voting in that election.

The giant oil company is on trial in New Hampshire. The state says Exxon and other companies knew the additive would pollute. Exxon says the chemical hasn't harmed anyone and was a requirement of federal law to help reduce air pollution.

The College of Cardinals is holding its first official meetings Monday at the Vatican. Some want the conclave to start as soon as possible; others want time to get to know each other. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has posed challenges for the cardinals as they set out to choose the next pope.

Since Congress and the White House were unable to find an alternative route to reduce the deficit, automatic spending cuts known as sequestration went into effect Friday. Steve Inskeep talks to David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal about the impact of the cuts.

Local builders in Gaza say they can't find everyday items like cement and gravel. Yet Israeli officials say they have widened the categories of items allowed into Gaza.