Today on New Scientist: 30 November 2012

Dinosaurs might have once gazed into the Grand Canyon It had been thought that the canyon formed 6 million years ago, but now two geologists say it is actually closer to 70 million years oldSaturn's rings may double up as a moon factory A new model suggests Saturn's famous rings spawned the planet's moons. Could the mechanism explain the moons of Uranus, Neptune and even Earth?Gaming the future:...

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S'pore supports Palestinians' right to homeland: Masagos Zulkifli

SINGAPORE: Singapore has consistently supported the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland, said Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.He made this point in an email reply to a member of the public who had asked about Singapore's decision to abstain from voting on the UN resolution to grant the Non-Member Observer State status to Palestine.The...

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Android-based Ouya game console shipping soon

Early birds get their hands on Ouya after December 28.(Credit:Ouya)Let the gamers,Android nuts, and open-source geeks rejoice -- the Ouya is shipping on time!Well, at least the developers' consoles are, that is. Ouya first garnered attention by raising more than $8.5 million on Kickstarter this summer to create an inexpensive, open-source, Android-based game system. Early supporters of the crowdfunding...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to 'Cliff' Deal?

Nov 30, 2012 1:45pm AP Photo/Carolyn KasterThe outlook for reaching some sort of bipartisan agreement on the so-called “fiscal cliff” before the Dec. 31 deadline is looking increasingly grim. Shortly after noon today, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, appeared before the cameras to say the talks had reached a “stalemate.”But there may be a glimmer...

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Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

LONESOME GEORGE'S death in the Galapagos Islands may have signalled the end of the Pinta Island tortoises, but a related subspecies on a neighbouring island has been saved from extinction. The huge success of the rescue mission suggests that similarly endangered species may have a chance, too. ...

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Putin's "health issue" sees Japan PM cancel visit

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cancelled a planned visit to Russia next month due to a "health issue" affecting President Vladimir Putin, media reports and a government source said on Friday.The mayor of a northern Japanese city said Noda had explained the reasons for the cancellation to him during a meeting in Tokyo Friday, Jiji Press and Kyodo news agencies reported.Kyodo...

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Acura seeks flagship status for new RLX model

Acura's new RLX model features an impressive set of technologies, and a few quirks.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)LOS ANGELES - Once upon a time, Acura pushed the cutting edge of cabin technology, pioneering such features such as navigation and active noise cancellation. But times changed and Acura didn't, letting other automakers steal the high-tech mantle. Now Acura fights back with the RLX, a new high-end...

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNLLooking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand...

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Man Arrested in Fla. Girl's 1993 Disappearance

Police have arrested a 42-year-old man and charged him with murder in the case of a Florida girl who vanished almost 20 years ago.Andrea Gail Parsons, 10, of Port Salerno, Fla., was last seen on July 11, 1993, shortly after 6 p.m. She had just purchased candy and soda at a grocery store when she waved to a local couple as they drove by on an area street and honked, police said.Today,...

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Countering the new horsemen of the apocalypse

Nuclear war, climate change, lab-created viruses and out-of-control machines need to be understood, but there are risks to lumping threats together CALL them the modern horsemen of the apocalypse: nuclear war, climate change, doomsday viruses and out-of-control machines. These are the subjects of the proposed Centre for the Study of Existential...

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Abbas seeks historic state backing at UN

UNITED NATIONS: Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas will head to the General Assembly on Thursday with huge backing for his bid for UN recognition of statehood despite strong US and Israeli opposition.Abbas will make the case for Palestine to become a UN "non-member observer state" and indicate his conditions for talks with Israel in a key speech to the 193-member assembly.The Palestinian...

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Meet Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Hollywood's new copyright ally

Incoming Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte on stage at a gala event in Washington D.C. in 2010 organized by a pro-SOPA music industry group.(Credit:ASCAP)The outgoing chairman of a House of Representatives panel responsible for U.S. copyright law conceived the memorable Stop Online Piracy Act. Its next chairman happens to be even more enthusiastic about expanding digital copyright law.Rep. Bob Goodlatte...

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again. Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite...

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Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $579 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not be announcing a town until later this morning. Powerball's website reports the other winning ticket was purchased...

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Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

Human error and corroded pipes were a catastrophic combination on 23 November when a natural gas explosion in Springfield, Massachusetts, injured 21 people and damaged more than 40 buildings. Gas company officials attributed the...

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President Tony Tan lays wreath at National Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta

SINGAPORE: President Tony Tan Keng Yam has laid a wreath at the Kalibata National Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta.The Singapore President and his delegation spent 30 minutes paying their respects to Indonesia's fallen national heroes and visiting the site's museum.President Tan is scheduled to be given a ceremonial welcome by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace...

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Sharp to sell ultrathin IGZO 4K LED display

Sharp will begin sales an ultrathin IGZO 4K LED display from early next year. The Japanese display maker said Wednesday that it will launch sales of a Full HD 3,840x2,160 resolution 32-inch LED-backlit display starting on February 15, 2013. Including the chassis, the model PN-K321 display is 35mm thick and compatible with DisplayPort and HDMI connectors. Probably its most salient feature is the use...

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation IndiaA young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian...

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Study Finds Most Pork Contaminated

Nov 27, 2012 6:24pm A sample of raw pork products from supermarkets around the United States found that yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known food-borne pathogen, was present in 69 percent of the products tested, according to a study released today by Consumer Reports.The  bacteria  infects more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for...

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Lake life survives in total isolation for 3000 years

It is seven times as salty as the sea, pitch dark and 13 degrees below freezing. Lake Vida in East Antarctica has been buried for 2800 years under 20 metres of ice, but teems with life. The discovery of strange, abundant bacteria in a completely...

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Malaysian Islamic party urges Elton John show ban

KUALA LUMPUR: An Islamic political party on Tuesday urged the government of predominantly Muslim Malaysia to ban a concert by Elton John, saying the openly gay British pop icon promotes "immoral" values.John, who is popular in Malaysia, is scheduled to perform on Thursday at a resort outside the capital Kuala Lumpur."This concert must be cancelled. Artists who are involved in gay and lesbian...

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Bing's top searches reveal iPhone 5 as No. 1 news story

Bing reveals the top searches for 2012.Believe it or not but the No. 1 most searched for news story on Bing this year has been the launch of Apple's iPhone 5. In fact, the debut of this device beat out the 2012 presidential election, the Olympics, and Superstorm Sandy, which followed respectively for the next top searches. The Honey Boo Boo reality TV show came in at No. 5. Microsoft released its...

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

High Horse Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.Taken...

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