Virginia is the most romantic state, according to Ibotta

Virginia really is for lovers. That's according to Ibotta, the mobile shopping app whose users have earned more than $170 million in cash-back rebates on everyday purchases. On Thursday, Ibotta released results from its first-ever Valentine's Day shopping data analysis, and found that Virginia is the most romantic state based on wine and chocolate sales. [Full story]

ClixSense removes PayPal as payment option

The popular online rewards website ClixSense has removed PayPal as a payment option for its users due to new policy changes at PayPal. [Full story]

Video: Coast Guard overflight of New Orleans tornado damage

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans conducted an overflight in eastern New Orleans to assess the damage caused by tornadoes on Tuesday. The Coast Guard has not conducted search and rescue operations in response to the tornadoes. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis Magee.

10th annual Routes Americas conference to plan new flights in North and South America

The aviation industry will gather in Las Vegas next week (Feb. 14-16) at the 10th annual Routes Americas conference to plan new flights in North and South America.

Routes Americas brings together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to develop new air services. It moves to a new city every year to highlight the diverse aviation markets across the Americas. The Las Vegas event will be the largest to date with 820 delegates taking part in 2,700 meetings.

Nearly half of Las Vegas' 42.9 million annual visitors travel by air and the airport generates $30 billion in local economic impact. The city held more than 21,000 meetings, trade shows and conventions in 2016 which supported 65,000 jobs.

McCarran International Airport and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) will host Routes Americas 2017. The leading airlines that will attend include American Airlines, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Delta Air Lines, jetBlue, Latam and United Airlines. Around 100 airlines, 260 airports and 40 tourism authorities are expected in total.

The latest issues and challenges facing the aviation industry will be debated at the event's Strategy Summit. The high profile speakers include Brian Hedberg, director of the Office of International Aviation at the U.S. Department of Transport; Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel Association; and Peter Cerdá, regional vice president of International Air Transport Association.

This will be the second time that LVCVA and McCarran International Airport have brought a Routes event to the city. Las Vegas gained more than 120 weekly flights with an estimated annual economic impact of $440 million in direct visitor spending in the year after the event.

"The U.S. aviation market is the busiest in the world and it is expected to grow to 904 million passengers a year by 2025," said Steven Small, brand director of Routes.

The conference will be held at ARIA Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.

Phone app lets users play matchmaker and earn money

Spritzr, the popular app that lets users play matchmaker, now lets users earn money by making successful matches. With some inspiration and Cupid-like skills, users can earn up to $250 each month, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

Spritzr has an intuitive interface where users simply drag and drop photos of singles they think are suited. If the individuals like each other, a successful match is made earning the matchmaker $10 Cupid Cash. This can be cashed out into real dollars when the user hits $100. Matches can be made for friends or complete strangers alike, with a limit of 10 couples matched per day. Matchmakers can tap on someone’s photo to reveal a profile including several other pictures, basic personal information (height, age, kids, work, education, etc), and a series of “tags” or labels that identify interests and personality traits (yogi, world traveler, adrenaline junkie).

Singles seeking love trade in $10 Cupid Cash for each successful match they receive. They replenish Cupid Cash by playing matchmaker for other singles or by purchasing it outright. Typically, online daters pay a monthly subscription or purchase credits for additional ‘likes’, with no guarantee they’ll make a match. On Spritzr, singles will only pay for successful matches. Furthermore, by playing matchmaker for others, singles could end up with more money than they started with.

Virginia has the most romantic restaurants in America

Proving Virginia really is for lovers, the state boasts 13 winning restaurants, followed by Florida with 10 and Ohio with eight, according to a list of most romantic restaurants.

In celebration of the romantic dining experiences we have on and around Valentine's Day, OpenTable unveiled their 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America for 2017.

2017 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America

1. Alexander's – Roanoke, Virginia 
2. Antebellum – Flowery Branch, Georgia 
3. Arabellas Italian Ristorante – Winter Haven, Florida 
4. Arielle's Country Inn – Sellersville, Pennsylvania 
5. BakerStreet – Fort Wayne, Indiana 
6. Bertrand at Mister A's – San Diego, California 
7. The Bistro at Gervasi Vineyard – Canton, Ohio 
8. Bistro L'Hermitage – Woodbridge, Virginia 
9. Bistro San Martin – Arlington, Washington 
10. Boulevard Bistro – Elk Grove, California 
11. Byrd and Baldwin Bros. Steakhouse – Norfolk, Virginia 
12. Café Central – El Paso, Texas 
13. Café Matisse – Rutherford, New Jersey 
14. Cafe Renaissance – Vienna, Virginia 
15. Carlos' Bistro – Colorado Springs, Colorado 
16. Chef's Table at the Edgewater – Winter Garden, Florida 
17. Chez François – Vermilion, Ohio 
18. Chez Nous French Restaurant – Humble, Texas 
19. Chimney Park – Windsor, Colorado 
20. Christopher's World Grille – Bryan, Texas 
21. The Chop House – Multiple Locations 
22. Circa 1886 – Charleston, South Carolina 
23. Coldwater Cafe & Catering – Tipp City, Ohio 
24. Collage Restaurant – St. Augustine, Florida 
25. Cygnus 27 – Grand Rapids, Michigan 
26. Daniel's Restaurant – Hamburg, New York 
27. Del Alma – Corvallis, Oregon 
28. The Dining Room-Biltmore Estate – Asheville, North Carolina 
29. Don's Pomeroy House – Strongsville, Ohio 
30. Edgewood Restaurant – Stateline, Nevada 
31. El Gaucho – Tacoma, Washington 
32. The English Grill at Brown Hotel – Louisville, Kentucky 
33. Fearrington House Restaurant – Pittsboro, North Carolina 
34. Firefly – Panama City Beach, Florida 
35. Flagstaff House – Boulder, Colorado 
36. The Flatiron Cafe – Omaha, Nebraska 
37. Fleurie – Charlottesville, Virginia 
38. Four Winds Steakhouse – Wills Point, Texas 
39. Franklinville Inn – Franklinville, New Jersey 
40. Gabriel's Restaurant – Sedalia, Colorado 
41. Gardner's – Olympia, Washington 
42. Geja's Café – Chicago, Illinois 
43. The Goodstone Inn & Estate Restaurant – Middleburg, Virginia 
44. Gracie's – Providence, Rhode Island 
45. Harry's Restaurant – Manhattan, Kansas 
46. The Hobbit – Orange, California 
47. Hugo's Cellar-Four Queens – Las Vegas, Nevada 
48. Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm – Holicong, Pennsylvania 
49. The Inn at Little Washington – Washington, Virginia 
50. Jackson's Steakhouse – Pensacola, Florida 
51. Jillian's – Palm Desert, California 
52. Joshua Wilton House – Harrisonburg, Virginia 
53. Katherine's Steakhouse – Mesquite, Nevada 
54. L'Auberge Chez François – Great Falls, Virginia 
55. La Cocina International Restaurant – St. Augustine Beach, Florida 
56. La Cremaillere Restaurant – Bedford, New York 
57. Latitudes – Key West, Florida 
58. Le Cep – Fort Worth, Texas 
59. Le Vallauris – Palm Springs, California 
60. The Little Dipper – Wilmington, North Carolina 
61. Mahogany Prime Steakhouse – Tulsa, Oklahoma 
62. The Melting Pot – Multiple locations 
63. Michel's at the Colony Surf – Honolulu, Hawaii 
64. Monarch – Scottsdale, Arizona 
65. Montalcino Ristorante Italiano – Issaquah, Washington 
66. Mr. Lester's Steakhouse – Charenton, Louisiana 
67. Nick and Nino's Penthouse Steakhouse – Springfield, Illinois 
68. The Old Inn On The Green – New Marlborough, Massachusetts 
69. Orchids at Palm Court – Cincinnati, Ohio 
70. Over the Moon Cafe – Tacoma, Washington 
71. Penrose Room-The Broadmoor – Colorado Springs, Colorado 
72. Pepper Tree Restaurant – Colorado Springs, Colorado 
73. Perry Street Brasserie – Galena, Illinois 
74. Pier W – Cleveland, Ohio 
75. Primavista – Cincinnati, Ohio 
76. Quiessence at The Farm at South Mountain – Phoenix, Arizona 
77. The Refectory Restaurant & Bistro – Columbus, Ohio 
78. The Restaurant at Convict Lake – Mammoth Lakes, California 
79. The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge Inn – Blowing Rock, North Carolina 
80. Restaurant Iris – Memphis, Tennessee 
81. Rey's – Raleigh, North Carolina 
82. Ristorante Massimo – Portsmouth, New Hampshire 
83. Russell's Steaks, Chops, and More – Williamsville, New York 
84. Saint Jacques French Cuisine – Raleigh, North Carolina 
85. Second Empire Restaurant and Tavern – Raleigh, North Carolina 
86. Sedgley Place – Greene, Maine 
87. Ski Tip Lodge – Keystone, Colorado 
88. Sky's Restaurant – Grand Forks, North Dakota 
89. Sonoma – Princeton, Massachusetts 
90. St. Martin's Wine Bistro – Dallas, Texas 
91. Stables Steakhouse – Terre Haute, Indiana 
92. The Steakhouse at Harrah's-Harrah's Reno – Reno, Nevada 
93. The Studio, An Artistic Dining Experience – Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 
94. Tempo Dulu – Portland, Maine 
95. TS Steakhouse at Turning Stone – Verona, New York 
96. V.Mertz – Omaha, Nebraska 
97. Vernon's Speakeasy – Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico 
98. Vintage Tavern – Suffolk, Virginia 
99. Wally's Desert Turtle – Rancho Mirage, California 
100. Yono's Restaurant – Albany, New York

Video: NASA's Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment

Our atmosphere consists of several layers and each plays a different role in our climate. The bottom two layers are the troposphere and the stratosphere, and in between these two is a region of colder air known as the Tropopause. It is critical to understand the Tropopause, its composition and interaction with gases, aerosols, and humidity that affect the stratosphere’s climate, which ultimately affects the climate in the troposphere. NASA launched a mission called Airborne Tropical TRopopause Experiment (ATTREX) to find answers to these questions.