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At an altitude of up to 20,000 feet, the so-called Airborne Snow Observatory measures snowpack's depth and water content with precision.
• Improving on the old method of taking snow samples from the ground, scientists said that from the lofty heights they can calculate snow depth to within 4 inches and water content to within 5 percent.
• The figures will answer a list of questions about mountain snowpack, said Tom Painter, NASA's lead investigator for the mission.
• "About 75 to 80 percent of our water comes from the snowmelt," Painter said. "Understanding the snowpack is really, really important."
• ___

• PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Fox and Hound pub in downtown Philadelphia boasts all the fixings of a standard sports bar: huge TVs, numerous beers on draft and a menu filled with burgers, wings and nachos.
• So what are all the easels and canvases for?
• Welcome to Paint Nite, an opportunity to tap your inner van Gogh. Just order a drink, put on a smock and lighten up a bit as a friendly instructor takes you step-by-step through the brush strokes of a landscape, still life or skyline.
• But be sure to reserve your spot ahead of time. The two-hour event, like more than a dozen others held weekly in Philadelphia, often sells out.
• The experience known as social painting is seeing explosive growth in cities across the country as people seek to imbibe and relax while rediscovering their creative side.
• ___

• NEW YORK (AP) -- When her abusive husband left for work last fall, she grabbed her kids, her dog and her bags, only to run up against a heart-wrenching obstacle: None of the city's more than 50 domestic violence shelters would accept the pet.
• "Should I still leave?" the 34-year-old woman asked herself before fleeing and ultimately finding a foster home for her Chihuahua.
• Now, after months apart, the family and Peppah the Chihuahua recently moved

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