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Elsa Schiaparelli, doyenne of 1930s Paris fashion, may be long gone - buried in her favorite hue of shocking pink - but nearly 200 pieces from her closet, along with her fine art and furniture, may enjoy a second life after an auction next week. In the heady, pre-war Paris of the 1930s, Italian-born Schiaparelli exerted her sense of subversive, outlandish whimsy on couture from her design studio on the Place Vendome, creating conversation pieces that flouted convention. Devotees of the trailblazer who dared women to be bold can choose between a silk violet blouse from the "Astrology" collection, a series of Man Ray photographs of the designer, a multi-colored feather boa or a delicately painted bird cage - up for the highest bidder at the January 23 auction in Paris. "She had this incredible side of her that loved to have fun, that was very original, that dared to do anything, that was provocative but always chic," said Schiaparelli's granddaughter, Marisa

In a letter to his college friend, a young J.D. Salinger writes about yearning for fame. In ensuing correspondence to the same woman and her son over the next four decades, the American author describes how much he loathes his status as a celebrity. In the letters from Salinger to Ruth Smith Maier, a woman he met while attending Ursinus College in Pennsylvania in 1938, the two share stories about parenthood, working as a writer and general banter about popular culture. The letters, which experts say humanize the notoriously reclusive author as he experiences a range of life-changing events, were acquired by the Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library at the University of Texas, and made available to researchers this week. In the earliest correspondence from January 1941, a confident 22-year-old Jerry Salinger writes to Ruthie that he intends to leave his mark as an author. "Oh, but I'm good," he says in the single-spaced, typewritten letter. "It will

Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle, creator of some of Ireland's most renowned characters, will tackle one the country's best known when he teams up with Roy Keane to write the former footballer's memoir. _0"> Former Manchester United captain Keane and Doyle, author of books such as 'The Commitments', will collaborate on 'The Second Half', the fiery midfielder's autobiography set to be published later this year, the Orion Publishing Group said on Friday. Keane, who wrote his first autobiography in 2002, shortly after walking out on the Irish national team during that year's World Cup, enjoyed a hugely successful playing career that was equally filled with controversy. The ex- Ireland captain, who became assistant manager of the national team last year, won seven league titles with United and helped them to a first European title in over 30 years in 1999 before famously falling out with manager Alex Ferguson. His World Cup walk out

Spacewalking Russian cosmonauts on Friday spent over eight hours installing two cameras outside the International Space Station for a Canadian streaming-video business and then retrieving the gear due to connectivity problems. Station commander Oleg Kotov and flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy left the station's Pirs airlock at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) as the complex sailed 260 miles over Australia , mission commentator Rob Navias said during a NASA Television broadcast of the spacewalk. It was the third spacewalk this week by members of the station's six-man crew. NASA astronauts Rich Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins made spacewalks on Saturday and Tuesday to replace a failed cooling pump. During the first part of Friday's planned seven-hour outing, the Russian cosmonauts set up a high-definition video camera on a swiveling platform and a medium-resolution still imager for Vancouver-based UrtheCast Corp. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, agreed to host the cameras on the

Russia successfully launched an upgraded version of its Soviet-design Soyuz rocket on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said, giving a boost to the country's troubled space program. _0"> The launch of the Soyuz 2.1v rocket, which features a new engine and digital guidance system, had originally been planned for the beginning of 2012 but was postponed due to an accident during testing which caused engine damage, Interfax reported. It was then scheduled to be launched earlier this week but was delayed again, Interfax reported. The lightweight launch vehicle blasted off Saturday afternoon from Russia's Plesetsk launch pad in the northwest Arkhangelsk region. A spokesman said it was a debut launch for the rocket to place a scientific earth-monitoring satellite into orbit. The Soyuz 2.1v is the latest addition to Russia's Soyuz family of rockets, which has become the world's most frequently used booster since its first launch in 1966. In 1961, a prototype of the

Scientists seeking a cure for AIDS say they have been inspired, not crushed, by a major setback in which two HIV positive patients believed to have been cured found the virus re-invading their bodies once more. True, the news hit hard last month that the so-called "Boston patients" - two men who received bone marrow transplants that appeared to rid them completely of the AIDS-causing virus - had relapsed and gone back onto antiretroviral treatment. But experts say the disappointment could lay the basis for important leaps forward in the search for a cure. "It's a setback for the patients, of course, but an advance for the field because the field has now gained a lot more knowledge," said Steven Deeks, a professor and HIV expert at the University of California, San Francisco. He and other experts say the primary practical message is that current tests designed to detect even very low levels of HIV present in the body are simply not sensitive enough. As wel

A mission to put humans on Mars that drew 200,000 applicants has selected more than a thousand candidates who will now be tested to come up with a final list of 24 would-be Mars-dwellers. _0"> Mars One was set up in 2011 by two Dutch men with the goal of establishing permanent human life on Mars in 2025. They hope the project will be funded by investors and the rights from the documentary-cum-reality TV broadcasting of the tests, training and final selection. The 1,058 candidates who got through to the first round come from all over the world. By far the largest number - 297 - are American, followed by 75 Canadians and 62 Indians. They must now undergo rigorous tests, including simulations of life on Mars and coping with isolation, co-founder Bas Lansdorp said. "The challenge with 200,000 applicants is separating those who we feel are physically and mentally adept to become human ambassadors on Mars from those who are obviously taking the mission much less seriously,