diff --git a/wp-admin/index-extra.php b/wp-admin/index-extra.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..782e0a7e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wp-admin/index-extra.php
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+<?php
+require_once('admin.php');
+require_once (ABSPATH . WPINC . '/rss.php');
+
+switch ( $_GET['jax'] ) {
+
+case 'incominglinks' :
+$rss = @fetch_rss('http://feeds.technorati.com/cosmos/rss/?url='. trailingslashit(get_option('home')) .'&partner=wordpress');
+if ( isset($rss->items) && 1 < count($rss->items) ) { // Technorati returns a 1-item feed when it has no results
+?>
+<h3><?php _e('Incoming Links'); ?> <cite><a href="http://www.technorati.com/search/<?php echo trailingslashit(get_option('home')); ?>?partner=wordpress"><?php _e('More &raquo;'); ?></a></cite></h3>
+<ul>
+<?php
+$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 10);
+foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
+?>
+	<li><a href="<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>"><?php echo wptexturize(wp_specialchars($item['title'])); ?></a></li>
+<?php } ?>
+</ul>
+<?php
+}
+break;
+
+case 'devnews' :
+$rss = @fetch_rss('http://wordpress.org/development/feed/');
+if ( isset($rss->items) && 0 != count($rss->items) ) {
+?>
+<h3><?php _e('WordPress Development Blog'); ?></h3>
+<?php
+$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 3);
+foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
+?>
+<h4><a href='<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>'><?php echo wp_specialchars($item['title']); ?></a> &#8212; <?php printf(__('%s ago'), human_time_diff(strtotime($item['pubdate'], time() ) ) ); ?></h4>
+<p><?php echo $item['description']; ?></p>
+<?php
+	}
+}
+?>
+
+<?php
+break;
+
+case 'planetnews' :
+$rss = @fetch_rss('http://planet.wordpress.org/feed/');
+if ( isset($rss->items) && 0 != count($rss->items) ) {
+?>
+<h3><?php _e('Other WordPress News'); ?></h3>
+<ul>
+<?php
+$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 20);
+foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
+$title = wp_specialchars($item['title']);
+$author = preg_replace( '|(.+?):.+|s', '$1', $item['title'] );
+$post = preg_replace( '|.+?:(.+)|s', '$1', $item['title'] );
+?>
+<li><a href='<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>'><span class="post"><?php echo $post; ?></span><span class="hidden"> - </span><cite><?php echo $author; ?></cite></a></li>
+<?php
+	}
+?>
+</ul>
+<p class="readmore"><a href="http://planet.wordpress.org/"><?php _e('Read more'); ?> &raquo;</a></p>
+<?php
+}
+break;
+}
+
+?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/wp-admin/index.php b/wp-admin/index.php
index c6d2e9130..6573931b2 100644
--- a/wp-admin/index.php
+++ b/wp-admin/index.php
@@ -1,9 +1,24 @@
 <?php
 require_once('admin.php'); 
+
+function index_js() {
+?>
+<script type="text/javascript">
+Event.observe( window, 'load', dashboard_init, false );
+function dashboard_init() {
+	var update1 = new Ajax.Updater( 'incominglinks', 'index-extra.php?jax=incominglinks' );
+	var update2 = new Ajax.Updater( 'devnews', 'index-extra.php?jax=devnews' );
+	var update3 = new Ajax.Updater( 'planetnews', 'index-extra.php?jax=planetnews'	);
+}
+</script>
+<?php
+}
+add_action( 'admin_head', 'index_js' );
+wp_enqueue_script('prototype');
+
 $title = __('Dashboard'); 
 $parent_file = 'index.php';
 require_once('admin-header.php');
-require_once (ABSPATH . WPINC . '/rss.php');
 
 $today = current_time('mysql', 1);
 ?>
@@ -15,22 +30,7 @@ $today = current_time('mysql', 1);
 <div id="zeitgeist">
 <h2><?php _e('Latest Activity'); ?></h2>
 
-<?php
-$rss = @fetch_rss('http://feeds.technorati.com/cosmos/rss/?url='. trailingslashit(get_option('home')) .'&partner=wordpress');
-if ( isset($rss->items) && 0 != count($rss->items) ) {
-?>
-<div id="incominglinks">
-<h3><?php _e('Incoming Links'); ?> <cite><a href="http://www.technorati.com/search/<?php echo trailingslashit(get_option('home')); ?>?partner=wordpress"><?php _e('More &raquo;'); ?></a></cite></h3>
-<ul>
-<?php
-$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 10);
-foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
-?>
-	<li><a href="<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>"><?php echo wptexturize(wp_specialchars($item['title'])); ?></a></li>
-<?php } ?>
-</ul>
-</div>
-<?php } ?>
+<div id="incominglinks"></div>
 
 <?php
 $comments = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT comment_author, comment_author_url, comment_ID, comment_post_ID FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 5");
@@ -128,48 +128,11 @@ if (0 < $numcats) $numcats = number_format($numcats);
 <?php endif; ?>
 </ul>
 <p><?php _e("Need help with WordPress? Please see our <a href='http://codex.wordpress.org/'>documentation</a> or visit the <a href='http://wordpress.org/support/'>support forums</a>."); ?></p>
-<?php
-$rss = @fetch_rss('http://wordpress.org/development/feed/');
-if ( isset($rss->items) && 0 != count($rss->items) ) {
-?>
-<div id="devnews">
-<h3><?php _e('WordPress Development Blog'); ?></h3>
-<?php
-$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 3);
-foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
-?>
-<h4><a href='<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>'><?php echo wp_specialchars($item['title']); ?></a> &#8212; <?php printf(__('%s ago'), human_time_diff(strtotime($item['pubdate'], time() ) ) ); ?></h4>
-<p><?php echo $item['description']; ?></p>
-<?php
-	}
-}
-?>
-</div>
 
-<?php
-$rss = @fetch_rss('http://planet.wordpress.org/feed/');
-if ( isset($rss->items) && 0 != count($rss->items) ) {
-?>
-<div id="planetnews">
-<h3><?php _e('Other WordPress News'); ?></h3>
-<ul>
-<?php
-$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, 20);
-foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
-$title = wp_specialchars($item['title']);
-$author = preg_replace( '|(.+?):.+|s', '$1', $item['title'] );
-$post = preg_replace( '|.+?:(.+)|s', '$1', $item['title'] );
-?>
-<li><a href='<?php echo wp_filter_kses($item['link']); ?>'><span class="post"><?php echo $post; ?></span><span class="hidden"> - </span><cite><?php echo $author; ?></cite></a></li>
-<?php
-	}
-?>
-</ul>
-<p class="readmore"><a href="http://planet.wordpress.org/"><?php _e('Read more'); ?> &raquo;</a></p>
-</div>
-<?php
-}
-?>
+<div id="devnews"></div>
+
+<div id="planetnews"></div>
+
 <div style="clear: both">&nbsp;
 <br clear="all" />
 </div>