Computers, network allow villagers to monitor market prices: Villagers in Laos will now be able to know what the prevailing price of rice is when they take it to market. Vietnam War veteran Lee Thorn founded the Jhai Foundation to develop technology that would allow villagers in Laos, who don't have electric power or telephone lines, to access 21st century technology, according to CNN. Villagers will use plastic-encased computers built to withstand "punishing heat and monsoon rains." The computers run on generators powered by stationary bicycles and are connected using wireless (WiFi) networks. Villagers will be able to monitor food prices, sell handicrafts and email relatives, according to CNN. For the first time, villagers will also be able to make phone calls, using Internet-based voice technologies. And because much of the project is built around nonproprietary, or "open source" software, villagers will essentially own the system. "We're trying to make this as simple as possible so it can be replicated anywhere in the world," Thorn said after firing off email to the United States from his laptop perched on a 50-gallon oil drum.

Train arson in South Korean subway leaves over 120 dead: More than 120 are dead and dozens more injured and missing after a fire tore through a subway train in the South Korean city of Daegu, according to the BBC. Authorities say firefighters have reached two burnt-out cars of the train containing the remains of about 70 people, in addition to the 50 or so bodies already recovered. According to eyewitness reports, a man started the fire by setting alight a milk container containing flammable liquid in a car. Other passengers apparently tried to stop him but the box exploded into flames, reported the BBC. Police said they were treating the incident as arson and that a 56-year-old man had been arrested. Daegu Mayor Cho Hae-Nyong said the corpses were "all in a state of being difficult to identify." "It is not known immediately what has motivated [the suspect]. We believe he is mentally ill. He is known to have been treated at a mental hospital," Daegu Police Station Chief Suh Hyon-soo told the Associated Press. Authorities in Seoul have stepped up security at subway stations, fearing a possible copycat attack.

Blood type mismatch leaves teenager in critical condition: After mistakenly receiving organs with a different blood type during a heart/lung transplant at Duke University Hospital, teenager Jesica Santillan is listed in critical condition as hospital officials are working to get matched transplant organs for her, according to CNN.com. Santillan received the transplant Feb. 7, according to a hospital statement, which said the error was the "result of a blood type mismatch," but would not speculate as to how much time she has to live. "This is an especially sad situation since we intended this operation to save the life of a girl whose prognosis was grave. Jesica continues to remain at the top of the national organ donation list," according to a hospital official and CNN.com. This was the first such error after thousands of successful transplants at the Duke facility. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nation's only organ procurement and transplantation network, there were only 55 heart/lung transplants nationwide in 2001 and 2002; 197 people were on the waiting list for the procedure as of Feb. 7. Obtaining a heart/lung match may not be possible soon enough to save Santillan's life, according to CNN.