NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thermo Fisher Scientific Incis emerging as the lead contender in an auction for Life Technologies Corp , a genetic testing maker with a market value of more than $11 billion, three people familiar with the matter said this week.

Thermo Fisher, the world's largest maker of laboratory equipment, is considering a bid of $65 to $70 per share for Life Tech and is interested in buying the entire company, two of the people said.

It can squeeze more cost savings than buyout firms can and is expected to have a leg up on private equity bidders, which do not believe they can still achieve desired returns at that price range, the three people said. Thermo also has an advantage over rival trade buyers, which may not want all of Life Tech or have not been as aggressive in their pursuit of the company so far, the sources said.

Bids are due next week and it is still too early to tell the outcome of the auction, all three sources said, asking not to be named because the matter is confidential.

Shares of Life Tech rose 1.8 percent to close at $65.75 on Tuesday, giving the company a market value of $11.2 billion. Thermo Fisher, whose shares rose 4 percent to $78.56, had a market cap of roughly $28 billion.

Carlsbad, California-based Life Tech, which has hired advisers to explore a sale, has also attracted interest from Danaher Corp , Roche Holdings AGand private equity firms, people familiar with the matter told Reuters previously.

A buyout consortium of Blackstone Group LP , Carlyle Group LPand Singapore's state investor, Temasek Holdings, remains in the process, but it is not expected to outbid Thermo, several people familiar with the matter said this week.

They said KKR & Co LPbriefly teamed up with Hellman & Friedman LLC to pursue a deal but is not expected to bid anymore. The position of Hellman & Friedman in the deal could not be learned.

Life Tech, Thermo Fisher, Roche, KKR, Blackstone and Carlyle declined to comment, while Danaher and Hellman & Friedman did not respond to requests for comment.

DEAL SEEN BOOSTING EARNINGS

If Thermo Fisher wins the auction, it would boost its presence in scientific research, genetic analysis and applied sciences and make it a major player in the genetic sequencing market. It would also create a healthcare technology giant with annual revenues of over $16 billion and some 50,000 employees.

But depending on the final price, a deal could also stretch it financially.

At a range of $65 to $70 per share for Life Tech, Thermo Fisher believes the deal would add to its earnings, two of the people said.

Life Tech, however, may seek more than $70 per share, based on the view that potential synergies Thermo would be able to extract would make a deal accretive even at that price, the third source said.

Shares of Life Tech, which makes genetic testing equipment and products used in biotechnology development, have run up in expectation of a deal. They are trading at around $65, up 32 percent year to date, outperforming a 9.5 percent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 Indexover the same period. Thermo shares have risen more than 18 percent.

Life Tech is already trading in line with its peers, at about 9 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

Meanwhile, with its net debt equivalent to 2.4 times its EBITDA, Thermo Fisher's leverage is higher than the median of its peers, 1.6 times, according to Thomson Reuters data.

This could inform Thermo Fisher's decision on whether to fund its bid just with cash or also issue new equity.

Life Tech said on January 18 it had hired Deutsche Bankand Moelis & Co to assist in its "annual strategic review," opening the door to a possible sale.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis, Soyoung Kim and Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr, Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

Each driver and car owner was docked 25 championship points, dropping Keselowski from second to fourth in the Cup standings and Logano from ninth 14th.

Along with the $100,000 fine they each got, Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe and Logano crew chief Todd Gordon were suspended for the next six championship points races and placed on probation for the rest of the calendar year. Also suspended and put on probation were Travis Geisler, who serves as team manager for both cars, and the individual car chiefs and team engineers for the two cars.

NASCAR also announced penalties for Martin Truex Jr. and Ron Hornaday Jr., but neither was as steep as those against the Penske cars.

Penske Racing vowed to appeal, a move that would put any suspensions on hold.

"Penske Racing will appeal utilizing the appropriate NASCAR process," the team said. "We have no further comment at this time."

NASCAR inspectors confiscated the original rear-end housing with suspension parts from Keselowski's No. 2 Ford and Logano's No. 22 before Saturday night's race, causing a pre-race scramble for both teams. Logano was late to the starting grid because of additional inspections and had to start at the back of the field. He recovered to finish fifth and Keselowski was ninth.

Keselowski was livid following the race.

"The things I've seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I'm not happy about it," Keselowski said. "I have one good thing to say, and that was my team and the effort they put in today, in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that's been the last seven days in this garage area."

NASCAR said both Penske cars used parts that had not been approved before getting to Texas. This is the first year of the series' new cars that underwent nearly two years of testing before their debuts.

With the team manager and the engineers of both cars also being suspended, the penalties against the Penske teams went further than last season, when Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 car failed the opening day inspection at the Daytona 500. Five-time championship winning crew chief Chad Knaus and the car chief for that Hendrick Motorsports car were suspended for six races.

Knaus still had to pay a $100,000 fine, but the bulk of the penalties levied against him and the car chief were later overturned by NASCAR's chief appellate officer, the highest level of appeal. Johnson also got back 25 points that had been docked.

Logano said Wednesday on NASCAR Race Hub that the fines and penalties won't be a distraction for Penske Racing.

"We can definitely move ahead. We are ready for that and obviously we have talked a lot about it," said Logano, whose appearance on the Speed Channel show was previously scheduled. "Penske Racing has a lot of depth inside the company, and we can make adjustments to make sure we still run well.

"I think it goes to show we made some adjustments before the race started and we still were able to come home with a top-five finish," he said, also noting Keselowski's top-10 finish. "Proud of that effort in Texas, and especially after all of the adversity there. I think it says a lot about our company."

Keselowski, who has six top-10 finishes, got a penalty a week earlier at Martinsville for pitting outside his stall. He still disputes that.

"There's so much stuff going on. You guys have no idea ... what's going on," Keselowski said Saturday night. "I could tell you there is nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful."

NASCAR didn't punish Keselowski for his post-race rant.

Keselowski spent Tuesday at the White House, where President Barack Obama honored him and his crew for winning the Sprint Cup championship.

Truex, who finished second at Texas behind Kyle Busch, was punished for having a front end that was too low. He and owner Michael Waltrip were each docked six points and crew chief Chad Johnston was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until June 5. The points deduction dropped Truex from 16th to 19th heading into this weekend's race at Kansas.

NASCAR fined Hornaday $25,000 and docked him 25 points for spinning Darrell Wallace Jr. under caution in Sunday's Truck Series race at Rockingham.Hornaday's team, NTS Motorsports, said it wouldn't appeal the penalties.

___

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.

As always, thank you for broadening my wisdom horizon and giving me examples of solid advice from which both my and my family's life have been enriched. -- LONGTIME FAN IN OHIO

DEAR LONGTIME FAN: It depends upon whether the couple living together are engaged to be married and their level of education. From what I've read, the higher the level of education, the more stable the couple will be. If the question is presented to your daughters, ideally you will have gotten to know the young man, and the relationship will have developed beyond the casual stage.

However, I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of your girls being independent, self-supporting and completing their education before they decide to do this. One of the most common reasons women remain in unhappy marriages/relationships is the fear they can't survive on their own.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are hoping you could shed some light on the practice of throwing rice at a wedding. We were not only wondering when and how the practice started, but also do people still throw rice today at weddings? We had heard that guests had stopped doing so to help protect wildlife (especially birds). Have you found this to be true? If so, what do we throw now? -- EMPTY-HANDED IN WISCONSIN

DEAR EMPTY-HANDED: Rice-throwing is an ancient tradition that may date back to ancient Rome and Egypt or even earlier. It was a ritual having to do with fertility -- many grains of rice equating to having many children. In some countries, the couple is pelted with dates, raisins or even eggs, according to Ask Yahoo.

According to Emily Post: "All the traditional materials have their drawbacks: Rice can be dangerous for birds if ingested; birdseed can sprout weeds in unwanted places; rose petals are notoriously slippery; and even bubbles can stain a gown. Instead, you might distribute colored flags or streamers for guests to wave. ... It beats assigning someone the nearly impossible task of trying to recover grains and seeds from grass and flower beds."

It's Abby again: This is why I recommend that instead of tossing anything, you shower the happy couple with good wishes.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have three daughters, identical triplets. We, like many parents of multiples, are tired of questions and unsolicited comments from strangers concerning IVF -- which we did not use, hence "identical" -- or anything else triplet-related.

I don't think people realize how rude they are being. I have been asked when did I know, how much did they weigh, what are their full names, etc.

Abby, would you please discuss baby etiquette with the world? I do not feel questions about my children from total strangers are appropriate. They even make me feel unsafe. -- MULTIPLE MOM IN OKLAHOMA

DEAR MULTIPLE MOM: Identical triplets are unusual, and what the questioners are doing is exhibiting natural curiosity. While I agree that asking how your daughters were conceived is inappropriate, a polite way to respond would be to say, "They were conceived with love."

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

Of course, that could change very quickly, says Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. But as of today’s metrics, the top trending MLB teams after the Red Sox are the defending champion San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals.

The season’s first batter took the plate on March 31 with a Sunday night game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Opening Day for most clubs was the following Monday, April 1.This year’s 162-game season, split between home and away games for each squad, runs through Sunday, September 29.

Roughly 19 games into the season, Boston is atop the American League East standings with 13 wins and six losses, after last Monday night’s win over the Oakland Athletics.

“Baseball tickets are trending higher than other sports events at the current time,” said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. “NBA and NHL playoff games are also very popular, along with WWE Raw.”

“That’s why we’re proud to offer sports fans the most complete and continuously updated selection of tickets online, with a worry-free guarantee to protect their purchase,” said Martinez.

“To access the full line-up ofnow available, customers can go to BuyAnySeat.com and search for the Boston Red Sox – then select their tickets,” said Martinez.

The Red Sox end their series with the Oakland Athletics tonight. The Houston Astros come to town tomorrow for a four game stint. In terms of attendance, the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park led both leagues for the 2012 season with 101.4 percent attendance capacity.

MLB Baseball has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world. (Source: wikipedia.org)

To shop for , visit BuyAnySeat.com.

About BuyAnySeat.com: An online ticket marketplace, BuyAnySeat.com connects sports, theater and other live entertainment fans to an extensive worldwide network of ticket sellers. The site’s simplified listings and navigational tools enable fans to easily locate, compare and purchase inexpensive, discounted or lower-priced tickets to virtually all advertised sports and entertainment events around the globe.

The site, which is PCI-compliant and Norton Secured, also provides customers with a complete Worry-Free Guarantee on all ticket purchases. Based in Denver, Colorado, BuyAnySeat.com is a subsidiary of Denver Media Holdings. For more information, please visit .

Calvert GamwellBuyAnySeat.com303-495-3412

The research, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, findssnacking on other microbes, a form of feeding called heterotrophy. Heterotrophs can't make their own organic nutrients, so they have to eat other life forms. This is in contrast with autotrophs (think plants), which can synthesize their own food from sunlight or inorganic chemicals.

Researchers suspected that organisms have been eating other organisms for a very long time about 3.5 billion years, said study researcher Martin Brasier, a professor at Oxford University's department of earth sciences. The new study clarifies the process about 1.9 million years ago. []

"In this study, for the first time, we identify how it was happening and 'who was eating who,'" Brasier said in a statement. "In fact, we've all experienced modern bacteria feeding this way, as that's where that 'rotten egg' whiff of hydrogen sulfide comes from in a blocked drain."

Early Earth may also , according to a 2007 study that found that ancient microbes may have shone a purplish hue.

Brasier and his colleagues analyzed fossils of a bacterium called Gunflintia. These fossils measured just 3 to 15 microns in diameter; in comparison, the eye of a needle is about 1,230 microns across. Compared with other bacterial fossils, the tubular outer sheath of Gunflintia were more likely to show perforations, a sign that other bacteria had been snacking on them.

Another clue that early Earth was a bacteria-eat-bacteria world was the discovery of iron sulfide replacing some segments of the Gunflintia sheaths. Iron sulfide, the compound that makes up fool's gold, is a waste product of certain heterotrophic bacteria that . These sulfate-reducing bacteria, which ultimately produce sulfides, date back 3.5 billion years, according to previously researched fossils.

"Whilst the Gunflintia fossils are only about half as old, they confirm that such bacteria were indeed flourishing by 1,900 million years ago," researcher David Wacey, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Western Australia, said in a statement, referring to the fossils from this study. "And that they were also highly particular about what they chose to eat."

The sulfate-breathers may not have been the only ones chowing down. The researchers also found clusters of 1-micron-sized rod and sphere bacteria in the Gunflintia fossils that may have died while in the process of consuming the larger microbes.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on and . Follow us , & . Original article on .

The HTC One may not be as hotly anticipated this year as the Samsung Galaxy S4, thanks largely to(which dwarfs even Coca-Cola's according to Horace Dediu). It's the Taiwanese manufacturer's last-ditch attempt at getting a hit smartphone on the market, however, and its North American carrier partners are offering bonus items -- up to $100 in trade-in credit -- to people who order an HTC One.

Here's a quick preview of the Galaxy S4's closest competitor, and what Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile are doing to try to lure you to buy one.

The HTC One itself

Spec-wise,is almost identical to the Samsung Galaxy S4 under the hood, with the same 2 GB of RAM and a comparable quad-core processor. Its 4.7-inch screen is slightly smaller than the Galaxy S4's 5-inch display, but has the same 1080p resolution, making it a little bit sharper as well. Its marquee feature is BlinkFeed, which turns its Android home screen into a Windows Phone style display of animated, scrolling tiles that show news and weather and what your friends are up to. It also has a durable aluminum unibody chassis, plus an improved "UltraPixel" camera and "BoomSound" stereo speakers and amplifiers.

AT&T:

On Thursday at 1 p.m. Central time, AT&T will start taking preorders for the HTC One. If you sign up for a "2-year wireless agreement with voice & data plans or Mobile Share plan" when you preorder your HTC One, you also get anHDMI adaptor. This is a box that plugs into your HDTV and lets you wirelessly stream media from an HTC smartphone, even allowing you to play movies from it on the big screen while you're doing other things with it. It normally costs $90, and also works with some earlier HTC smartphones like the EVO 4G.

AT&T is the only wireless carrier in the United States that will have the $299 64 GB HTC One at launch. Sprint and T-Mobile will only have the $199 32 GB model at first.

Sprint: $50 Google Play credit plus $10 off from Radio Shack

Sprint will begin taking preorders for the HTC Oneand will sell the phone itself in stores starting on April 19. (AT&T's preorder bonus ends on April 18, which suggests that it's following a similar timetable.) If you buy aon a two-year plan, you'll get $50 worth of credit for apps and media from the Google Play store, plus $10 off the $199 price tag. (These bonuses apparently also apply to the AT&T version, according to Phandroid's Kevin Krause, but you probably won't be able to get the preorder bonus from AT&T at the same time.)

T-Mobile: $99 up-front pricing, $100 trade-in credit, free car kit

Pre-register (sign up for a mailing list)and you'll be eligible for a $100 Visa gift card if you buy an HTC One on its network by April 26 and trade your old (working) smartphone in by May 31. You also get a dashboard car mount "while supplies last" if you order online, and when it comes out the HTC One

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi is putting finishing touches to plans to establish a financial free zone that could resemble, and therefore compete with, the Dubai International Financial Centre, sources familiar with the matter said.

A federal decree was passed by the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan in February to create the area, known as the Abu Dhabi World Financial Market, on Al Maryah island, the sources told Reuters.

Detailed regulations covering the zone will be outlined shortly, an Abu Dhabi government source said, declining to be named under briefing rules.

"It will have all the offerings of a financial free zone - 100 percent foreign ownership, tax and capital repatriation, internationally accepted laws and regulations and other things," the source said.

The UAE's free zones are areas in which foreign companies can operate under light regulation, and where foreign investors are allowed to take 100 percent ownership in companies; outside the zones, they generally need to have local partners.

One of the country's most successful free zones is the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), established in 2004 with its own civil and commercial laws, its own courts and a financial exchange, NASDAQ Dubai.

It has become the Gulf's top financial center, housing regional headquarters for many of the world's biggest banks and finance firms. Others have tried to emulate its success; the Qatar Financial Centre was set up in 2005 in Doha, and the Bahrain Financial Harbour opened in 2009.

Unlike neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi has huge oil reserves, so it has less economic need to develop as a financial center. But Abu Dhabi is keen to develop its economy beyond oil and make its mark on the global stage.

Al Maryah island, formerly Sowwah island, is close to downtown Abu Dhabi and has an area of about 114 hectares. It has been developed by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala since 2007, and some 50 local and international firms have set up offices on the island.

Because of its oil wealth and the monetary resources of its banks and sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi will have some strengths as a financial center, but it is not clear whether it can draw much business away from Dubai, which has a well-entrenched position and a more freewheeling business culture.

"The challenge for Abu Dhabi would be to find a niche, a competitive edge for how to compete with Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain and capture its market share," said Tariq Qaqish, head of asset management at Al Mal Capital.

(Editing by Andrew Torchia)

Some people are lucky to be allergy-free, but wealth has nothing to do with it. In fact, one popular theory dubbed the "" suggests children raised in rural areas and surrounded by animals and germs are less likely to suffer from allergies and asthma.

But there are some allergens most of us will never have to worry about. These are the allergy triggers for the 1 percent -- rare, but no less debilitating than the pollen plaguing just about everyone right now.

Research In Motion Ltd. said Tuesday that all four major U.S. carriers will carry the Q10.

It is available May 1 in Canada.

A delay in selling the new keyboard BlackBerry has complicated RIM's efforts to hang on to customers attracted by Apple's iPhone and devices running Google's Android system. The BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals, but many users have stayed loyal because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touch screen on the iPhone and most Android devices. Temptations to switch grow with each delay, despite favorable reviews for the new BlackBerry 10.

The touch-screen Z10 launched in the U.S. last month.

April 6 (SportsDirect) -Capitals 4, Panthers 3

Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded his 12th career hat trick - and second this season - and Braden Holtby turned aside 27 shots as visiting Washington posted its seventh win in nine games (7-1-1).

Mike Ribeiro scored and set up a goal and Nicklas Backstrom notched three assists for the Capitals, who are even in points with Winnipeg.

Tomas Kopecky scored twice - with the latter tally coming with 33 seconds remaining in the third period as Jacob Markstrom (27 saves) was pulled for an extra attacker.

- - -

Rangers 4, Hurricanes 1

Henrik Lundqvist turned aside a season-high 48 shots and Rick Nash and Derek Stepan scored power-play goals as New York earned its seventh straight victory over Carolina.

Captain Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle also tallied for the seventh-place Rangers, who kept pace with the Islanders by recording points in their fourth consecutive game.

- - -

Maple Leafs 2, Devils 1

Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak scored goals as Toronto extended its point streak against New Jersey to six games.

James Reimer turned aside 27 shots for the Maple Leafs, who improved to 6-1-3 over their last 10 contests. Toronto moved two points ahead of idle Ottawa for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

David Clarkson scored and Martin Brodeur made 16 saves for the struggling Devils, whose winless streak reached six games (0-3-3). New Jersey fell three points behind the New York Islanders for the eighth and final playoff berth in the East.

- - -

Islanders 4, Lightning 2

Matt Martin scored the go-ahead goal with 6:26 remaining in the third period and the Islanders held off Tampa Bay in New York to earn points for the seventh time in eight games.

Martin beat a screened Ben Bishop from just above the left face off circle for his third goal of the season and defenseman Andrew MacDonald sealed it with an empty-netter with 13.3 seconds to go.

Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, Michael Grabner also scored and Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves for New York, which improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight contests.

- - -

Canadiens 2, Bruins 1

Michael Ryder burned his former team with a power-play goal early in the second period and Carey Price turned aside 26 shots as Montreal edged Boston to extend its lead in the Northeast Division to three points.

Rookie Alex Galchenyuk scored for the second straight contest and defenseman P.K. Subban recorded his second consecutive two-assist performance for the Canadiens, who have won five of six overall and four straight at home.

- - -

Kings 4, Oilers 1

Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist as host Los Angeles won for the fifth time in seven games.

Mike Richards and defenseman Slava Voynov also scored goals and Jonathan Quick made 23 saves as the Kings moved ahead of Pacific Division rival San Jose and into sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference.

Drew Doughty added an empty-net tally for Los Angeles while Magnus Paajarvi scored the only goal for Edmonton.

- - -

Jets 4, Flyers 1

Grant Clitsome and Kyle Wellwood scored 27 seconds apart to ignite a four-goal second period as Winnipeg halted a five-game losing streak.

Evander Kane and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist and Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 30 shots as the Jets remained level on points with Washington atop the Southeast Division.

Ruslan Fedotenko scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

- - -

Blackhawks 1, Predators 0

Ray Emery made 20 saves for his second shutout in three starts and Bryan Bickell scored the only goal as visiting Chicago took the first game of a weekend home-and-home series with Nashville.

Michal Handzus, acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline for a fourth-round pick, earned his first point with his new team by feeding Bickell a perfect pass on a 2-on-1 at 5:31 of the first period.

Emery, who only needed 16 saves when he blanked Calgary on March 26, improved to 13-1-0 for the league-leading Blackhawks.

- - - (Editing by Julian Linden)