john allston has more on the impact of social media. >> at last track the internet was available for less than 10% of the population in egypt. it was shut down by all but one provider. some cell phone service is coming back online, and texting is either nonexistent or spotty. unrest in egypt. a political uprising in a world of modern technology, which means cameras seemingly everywhere. tweeting, blogging, facebook. this woman moved to cairo. she was able to skype from a cairo hotel, one of the few places where there was still internet access. she talked about the chaos. >> we got ourselves back after not having them all day yesterday, which was wonderful, because having the entire country be called to have their final protest and nobody could communicate it. we didn't know if people were okay. it was incredibly scarey to not know. >> half a world away, this technology expert sits in his palo alto home and watches tweets from cairo. >> this one an hour ago. tookpicks of tear gas cameras -- cansters with "made in the u.s.a." >> it's how people spread the message and get international

solved increase the radiation generated by new powerful sources of light which we need to intensify allston generation plant growth and transpiration of water. and also there's a network of senses that help us keep track of the process from the main control room. which you know monitor the in teria and check system parameters we can also electronically transmit data not just to our scientists here but any other research institution elsewhere in russia. that information is of particular interest to a barcelona based project under the auspices of the european space agency. this so-called micro ecological life support alternative is to use the right mix of plants and bacteria. medium and long range species missions i would least some of their hefty supply load. and i was involved. in this to get there. and for the moment. in different. different countries they're going to use as a. loud for the moment. here for example instead of a. very big experience and with. six months so. only the beginning so for them it's a very interesting. head to head so it's a very interesting experience for them. s

abc 7's john allston reports. >> it's a new year's eve tradition along the embarcadero. barricades going up to keep revelers out of traffic and families getting in one last skate before the new year. it's a quieter evening in san leandro. >> these days, spend the day time with family and friends and head back to the house later on this evening. >> she's here with her god daughter tanya jones, a new year's eve birthday girl who turned nine today. >> do you get to stay up past midnight. >> i get to watch the fireworks on tv. >> another tradition is colliding with new year's eve this year, critical mass which rolled out of justin herman plaza at 6:30. >> seems to be a lot of number of street closures and for crowd control we have squads in specific areas like new year's square, broadway corridor. >> the city put up fences around the giant sculptures along the embarcadero as well as alongsided bay. this is a big night for hotels. the hyatt reports occupancy at 98% with an uptick of guests who live within driving distance. >> we haven't done that for a long time. just kind of

john allston reports. >> it's a new year's eve tradition along the embarcadero.arricades going up to keep revellers out of traffic and families getting in one last party for the new year. a quiet evening for jillette of san leandro. >> celebrate with family and friends and celebrate at the house later on this evening. >> she's here with her granddaughter, a new year's eve birthday girl who turned nine. >> i get to watch fireworks on tv. >> another tradition is colliding with new year's eve this year. critical mass which rolled out of justin herman plaza at 6:30. >> for crowd control we have squads in specific areas like union square, broadway corridor. >> the city has also put up fences along the giant sculptures along the embarcadero as well as alongside the bay. this is a big night for hotels. the hyatt regency reports occupancy at 98% with an uptick of guests who live within driving distance. >> we haven't done that in a long time. driving and it's such a beautiful place and so much to do here in the city. >> and then there's that other city, new york city, wh

john allston has more on the impact of social media. >> unrest in egypt.t's a political uprising in a world of modern technology which means cameras seemingly everywhere tweeting blogging, facebook.com. these images were recorded by a woman who moved from san francisco to cairo five months ago to work for a government-owned newspaper there. rachel anderson was able to skype from a cairo hotel, one of the few places there was still internet access. she talked about pulling the plugs from the cellphones and the web. >> got our phones back which after not having this all day which was horrible because the country to have their final protests. nobody knew whether people were okay. it was incredibly scary. >> technology expert larry magnet sits in his palo alto home and watches tweets from cairo. >> took picks of tear gas canisters, dear americans, this is where your taxes go. >> people in social immediate yo have been a vital part of uprising. >> i think twitter and text messages are having an enormous impact how people organize and gather troops and how they

allston's the rains began in november. look at this video flooding other purcell at least 30 people have died. conditions on the ground got worse when a dam gave way that just added fuel to the fire. a year after the earthquake in haiti the reconstruction of a downtown port-au-prince is going to start rain now more than 800 dozen people are homeless a quite a number people living in tents, at of the 130,000 temporary shelters plan to play builds more than 19,000 have been built. officials say security remains a major issue for the capital. on the earth caked struck a year ago it claimed to under and 22,000 lives displacing or vermilion people for many buildings including un headquarters was destroyed among those who died or were hundred un personnel. discovery is now expected to be ready for a possible launch in late february. nasa officials say they found their root cause of the cracks in the support beams they will make it those repairs use of a crack in the foam covering the tank that's what delayed the final launch sch