Bloomberg From an initial overture five months ago through a two-day bidding war last week, Alaska Air Group Inc. was determined to acquire Virgin America Inc. as a means toward national expansion – and protection from larger rivals. The combination boosts Alaska’s West Coast might with greater access to California, while providing more service to flight-constrained East Coast cities such …

Los Angeles / AFP A Technicolor scientist surrounded by the latest virtual reality technology inspects a vial containing a few droplets of water — and one million copies of an old movie encoded into DNA. The company has come a long way since the Hollywood golden age, when the world gazed in awe at the lush palette of “The Wizard …

Almaty, Kazakhstan / AFP The season may be drawing to a close at Central Asian Kazakhstan’s Chimbulak winter sports resort, but skiiers and snowboarders are still carving their way down a broad piste framed by the snow-speckled spruces of the Tien-Shan mountains. After a dip in interest that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union, the landlocked region is witnessing …