Astrophile: A scorched world with snow black and smoky

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse Object: Titanium oxide snowLocation: The hot-Jupiter planet HD 209458b There is something magical about waking...

Read More..

Cambodians bid farewell to ex-king ahead of cremation

PHNOM PENH: Thousands of Cambodians paid their last respects to their beloved former king Norodom Sihanouk as his body lay in state Saturday ahead of his cremation next week.The mourners were able to glimpse the late monarch's gilded casket through doorways to the purpose-built crematorium where it was carried Friday in a lavish procession that brought Phnom Penh to a standstill.His body...

Read More..

Powertrekk fuel cell charger to be released in Spring

Along with a fuel cell puck, the PowerTrekk gives your iPhone a bit of juice. Just add water.(Credit:Lynn La/CNET)While it's been circulating around at trade shows for a while, including Mobile World Congress 2011 and CES 2012, the PowerTrekk phone charger is slated to finally come to the U.S. at the end of this quarter.Although the $229 device is peddled as a charger that can simply juice up your...

Read More..

Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...

Read More..

Gov's Handling of Sandusky Case Under Investigation

The newly-elected attorney general of Pennsylvania is going after the state's governor, Tom Corbett, who was attorney general when child sex allegations against Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky were first brought forward.Kathleen Kane, a Democrat who was sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 15, said that she will name a special prosecutor in the coming days to investigate Corbett's...

Read More..

Swarm-mongering: Brainless blobs flock together

Birds of a feather flock together and now so do brainless, inanimate blobs. Made of microscopic particles, the artificial swarms could shed light on the mysterious mechanisms behind the natural swarming seen in fish and birds. They might also lead to materials with novel properties like self-healing. ...

Read More..

"The sooner, the better" for COC on South China Sea: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has reiterated the need for a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, saying the sooner it is started the better.He said this in a live interview with the BBC on Friday morning, covering issues such as the South China Sea claims, US-China relations and ASEAN.He was asked whether it is possible to have some kind of resolution via ASEAN.Mr...

Read More..

DotCom's Mega removing legitimate files

Thousands of legitimate files are being blocked and removed from users' Mega accounts, even when the file is legal for sharing, according to a report.TorrentFreak tested the situation, uploading a number of files free for sharing, including, amusingly, a video explaining fair use and a copy of Mega founder Kim DotCom's own music single. All were removed within minutes, with TorrentFreak receiving...

Read More..

Sinkhole Swallows Buildings in China

Photograph from AFP/Getty ImagesThe sinkhole that formed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (pictured) is, unfortunately, not a new occurrence for the country.Many areas of the world are susceptible to these sudden formations, including the U.S. Florida is especially prone, but Guatemala, Mexico, and the area surrounding the Dead Sea in the Middle East are also known for their impressive sinkholes....

Read More..

Arias' Lawyer Shows Ex-Boyfriend's Lewd Photos

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was kept away from the Mormon friends of her lover Travis Alexander and their torrid sex affair was kept secret by Alexander, even as he sent lewd photos of himself to her online, according to court testimony today.The testimony in Arias' trial for killing Alexander in 2008 was intended to bolster the defense's argument that she killed him in self...

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 30 January 2013

Timbuktu's precious scientific texts must be saved Islamist militants in Mali have burned documents that attest to science in Africa before European colonisation - what remains must be protectedThink that massage feels good? Try adding drugs Nerve bundles that respond to stroking have been identified and chemically activated in miceHow Obama will deliver his climate promise The US is set to...

Read More..

More people volunteering their services to help others: survey

SINGAPORE: More people are giving their time and making the effort to help others, with one in three serving as volunteers in 2012.A survey by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) found that about 32 per cent of its respondents were volunteers, which is the highest rate since it started the survey in 2000. The same survey conducted in 2010 had 23 per cent.The survey,...

Read More..

Tumblr avoids porn label and adds mature rating to iOS app

Tumblr's iPhone app.(Credit:Tumblr)Tumblr looks to be trying to avoid the porn-war that recently harangued the 500px photo app and Twitter's Vine app. The microblogging company threw up a 17-and-over age warning for its iOS app for all new users and any people updating their app to the 3.2.4 version, which was released today. "You must be at least 17 years old to download this app," Tumblr writes...

Read More..

New Theory on How Homing Pigeons Find Home

Jane J. Lee Homing pigeons (Columba livia) have been prized for their navigational abilities for thousands of years. They've served as messengers during war, as a means of long-distance communication, and as prized athletes in international races.But there are places around the world that seem to confuse these birds—areas where they repeatedly vanish in the wrong direction or scatter on...

Read More..

No Device Eliminates Concussion Risk, Experts Say

As the long-term consequences of concussions become clearer, a cottage industry has popped up to sell athletes and worried parents products designed to mitigate risks of concussions that even helmets cannot prevent.Despite the bold claims of some companies, however, many experts say the Holy Grail in contact sports -- a device that prevents concussions -- simply does not exist....

Read More..

The 10,000-year bender: Why humans love a tipple

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

Talent Development Alliance formed to tap into workforce training in China market

SINGAPORE: Singapore has formed a Talent Development Alliance (TDA) to help the country's companies gain a stronger foothold in the China market through education and training.Driven by IE Singapore, the alliance is the first of its kind in the industry in Singapore with seven institutions from the public and private sectors - Civil Service College, ITE Education Services, NTUC LearningHub,...

Read More..

Michael Dell to use personal funds to seek majority control -- report

Dell founder and Chief Executive Michael Dell.(Credit:James Martin/CNET) Just weeks after reports surfaced that Dell was looking to go private, the company's founder appears willing to put his personal funds where his mouth is.Michael Dell may kick in equity financing of $500 million to $1 billion combined with his 15.7 percent stake in the company to seek majority control of the company, according...

Read More..

Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"

French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier. But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several...

Read More..

Clinton Talks 2016, Stands by Benghazi Testimony

In her final television interview as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton told ABC's Cynthia McFadden that she is "flattered and honored" at the intense interest in whether she might run for president in 2016.But Clinton maintained that right now she's "not focused" on a presidential campaign; instead she said she wants to return to a "normal" life when she steps down from office...

Read More..

Iran launches monkey into space

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporterLast summer, the Iranian Space Agency announced their plan to send a monkey into space - and now they've apparently done it.According to Iranian state-run television, a press release on the space agency's website, and photos of the event, Iran sent a live rhesus monkey into sub-orbital space aboard a small rocket called Pishgam, or Pioneer. There's even a...

Read More..

Man charged with using another person's credit card to pay for fast food

SINGAPORE: A man who used another person's credit card to pay for a fast food chain's home delivery service on four occasions has been charged with cheating. Tan Kok Sin, 32, allegedly made the home delivery orders between 29 January and 12 February in 2011.The orders, each costing more than S$21, were delivered to a residential address in Bukit Panjang.Tan faces four other charges of...

Read More..

Forget Episode VII, watch 'JJ Abrams Star Wars - The Musical'

Are you a late-model "Star Trek" fan with issues about your guy J.J. Abrams jumping ship in order to direct the next "Star Wars" film? Or maybe a "Star Wars" devotee filled with dread at having your favorite franchise be under the control of someone who's directed two "Star Trek" films?If so, there's a musical for you. "JJ Abrams Star Wars -- The Musical," to be precise.Picture Darth Vader and Abrams...

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Martian Gas, Cloud Trails

Image courtesy SDO/NASAThe sun is more than meets the eye, and researchers should know. They've equipped telescopes on Earth and in space with instruments that view the sun in at least ten different wavelengths of light, some of which are represented in this collage compiled by NASA and released January 22. (See more pictures of the sun.)By viewing the different wavelengths of light given off by the...

Read More..

US Mom Missing in Turkey Took Side Trips

Sarai Sierra, the New York mother who disappeared in Turkey while on a solo trip, took several side excursions out of the country, but stayed in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.Turkish media reported today that police were trying to establish why Sierra visited Amsterdam and Munich. Police were also trying to establish the identity of a...

Read More..

Is Obama about to blow his climate credentials?

The US president could be poised to approve the doubling of imports of tar sands oil, one of the filthiest fuels on Earth FACED with rising anger from environmentalists last year over his plans for a transcontinental pipeline to deliver treacly Canadian tar sands to Texas oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico,...

Read More..

New Zealand firm defends milk safety after chemical find

WELLINGTON: New Zealand's Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter, said Monday that its milk was "100 percent" safe to drink despite tests finding trace elements of an agricultural chemical in milk powder.Fonterra, which reported revenues of NZ$19.8 billion (US$16.6 billion) in the 2012 financial year, said tests had revealed low levels of dicyandiamide (DCD) in some milk samples.Chief...

Read More..

New iPad 4 reportedly in the works -- perhaps a 128GB model

Are you ready for an iPad with beefier memory?A new fourth-generation iPad with Retina display -- and perhaps as much as 128 gigabytes of memory -- is being readied for release, sources tell 9to5Mac. The upcoming slate would not be a new design but rather an addition to the current fourth-generation line, with the same color and wireless combinations as the iPad 4, these unnamed sources say.Pricing...

Read More..

Doomed Dolphin Speaks to New York's Vibrant Wildlife

By the time New Yorkers spied a dolphin swimming through the superfund sludge of the Gowanus Canal last Friday, it was too late. The marine mammal didn't even survive long enough for a rescue plan to come together. First sighted on Friday afternoon, the dolphin perished at 6:00 p.m.The reason the marine mammal died, and why the dolphin swam up the...

Read More..

'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims

The bodies of the young college students were found piled up just inside the entrance of the Kiss nightclub, among more than 230 people who died in a cloud of toxic smoke after a blaze enveloped the crowded locale within seconds and set off a panic.Hours later, the horrific chaos had transformed into a scene of tragic order, with row upon row of polished caskets of the dead...

Read More..