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 old

Saturn'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: the best of 2012

New Scientist looks back at the video games that explored the boundaries of science and technology this year

Friday Illusion: Mystery mirror reveals missing banana

A prize for the first person to figure out how a strange mirror image remains in view

Syria again disconnects nation from the internet

Once again, the Syrian government appears to have pulled the plug on the internet, cutting off its citizens from the rest of the world

Crowdfund your area's projects one brick at a time

As the recession bites and budgets are cut, websites are springing up that allow citizens to club together to fund everything from parks to bridges

Omniphobia: the stuffs that stick at nothing

Whether it's water, oil, ketchup or ants, materials that repel everything that touches them are on the way, says Jessica Griggs

Feedback: Commas in breach of copyright

Why these words break the law, impure apples, Google rewrites the history of everything, and more

A quantum of... We want to see your movies!

The deadline for the Quantum Shorts Film Competition is hard on us and we've already had some amazing entries - submit yours before Sunday

LHC sees hint of high-speed particle pancake

Purely by accident, the Higgs-boson-hunting Large Hadron Collider may have stumbled upon a rare state of matter called a colour-glass condensate

Social bee-haviour: The secret life of the hive

Bees have a brain the size of a pinhead, yet their daily activities rival the range of behaviours seen in many mammals

Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall

China's censors have innovative ways of stopping its citizens accessing banned websites, including poisoning internet servers

Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

A slow and steady rescue mission has seen the population of the iconic creatures on Española Island leap from just 12 into the thousands

Messenger finds hints of ice at Mercury's poles

The innermost planet of the solar system could harbour a small polar habitable zone - but the chances of finding life there are remote

Projections of sea level rise are vast underestimates

Estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 were wildly wrong

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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 text of the email was released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was also shared by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his Facebook post on Saturday.

The resolution was adopted with 138 voting in favour and nine against. Singapore was one of 41 countries that abstained.

Mr Masagos highlighted Singapore's voting record at the United Nations.

Singapore supported two General Assembly resolutions last November pertaining to the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and Jerusalem.

Singapore also voted in favour of another resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self determination.

Of the 19 resolutions on various Palestinian-related issues tabled at the UNGA since 2008, Singapore has voted in favour of 18 while one was adopted by consensus.

Mr Masagos said it is therefore incorrect to say that Singapore does not support the Palestinian cause.

As to why Singapore abstained from voting on the latest resolution, Mr Masagos reiterated the point made in the explanation of the vote.

He said Singapore believes that only a negotiated settlement consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 242 can provide the basis for a viable, long-term solution.

Israel and Palestine have legitimate rights and shared responsibilities, and must be prepared to make compromises to achieve the larger good of a lasting peace.

Mr Masagos said because the rights and responsibilities of both sides are inextricably intertwined, no unilateral move can result in a just, peaceful and durable outcome.

He added that Singapore believes that Palestine's aspirations are not helped by this latest unilateral move as facts on the ground will not be changed.

But Singapore understands the desires of the Palestinians for an independent state and that of Israel for its security.

Singapore also shares the international community's concerns about the lack of progress in the Middle East Peace Process.

Mr Masagos said this is why Singapore chose not to vote against the resolution.

Singapore hopes that Israel and Palestine will resume negotiations as early as possible.

He said Singapore will continue to support all international efforts to facilitate a negotiated solution that will be in the long-term interests of Palestine, Israel and the region as a whole.

On the issue of violence or oppression, Mr Masagos said Singapore had publicly expressed concern at the loss of innocent lives on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides during the recent outbreak of hostilities.

Singapore called for an immediate ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid.

Singapore also hopes that both sides will continue to uphold the latest ceasefire brokered by the Egyptian government and United Nations.

- CNA/xq

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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 campaign got first dibs on a finished Ouya for as little as $95, but those aren't scheduled to ship until March. However, the hundreds of folks who ponied up $699 or more for a first-run, rooted developers' system with early SDK access get to experience Christmas twice in the same week when their consoles ship on December 28.

If creators of the Ouya do fulfill their original commitment to ship the dev kits in December, they'll deserve kudos. Plenty of other Kickstarter-funded projects have run into snags meeting original timelines and commitments -- the Pebble watch is now months late on its original ship date and still working out production issues, for example.

Ouya points out that all consoles will actually be dev kits, but the late December batch is a special group that cost more to produce and give big early backers a first crack at working with the platform. The only catch for developers is that at least some part of the game play has to be available for free, be it a demo or the whole shebang.

Ouya is also working on its own ODK (Ouya development kit) that game designers will be able to access. At the same time, Ouya says it's been busy optimizing Android Jelly Bean for gameplay on a large screen.

If Ouya takes off, 2013 could be a year in which a certain segment of the population gets even less exposure to the sun than in the past.

If you missed out on the first Ouya rush, there's still a chance to get in on the ground floor noob level. Ouya is giving away 10 developers' consoles next month.

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

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  Into the Sea

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.

  Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











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  Sea of Fire

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.

  The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











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  Volcanic Flare

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.

  The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











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  Fiery Encounter

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  “Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











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  Point of Contact

  
  Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
  

  A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











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  Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  

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Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to 'Cliff' Deal?

Nov 30, 2012 1:45pm

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

The 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 of hope. There are currently 33 outgoing members of Congress — they’re either retiring or were defeated last month — who have signed the Grover Norquist pledge stating that they will not raise taxes. Those members, particularly the ones who have traditionally been somewhat moderate, could hold the key to that stance softening.

“You have 33 people who do not have to worry about the future political consequences of their vote,” said ABC political director Amy Walter. “These are people who theoretically can vote based purely on the issue rather than on how it will impact their political future.”

One outgoing member has publicly indicated a willingness to join with Obama and the Democrats on a partial deal.

“I have to say that if you’re going to sign me up with a camp, I like what Tom Cole has to say,” California Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack said on CNN on Thursday. Cole is the Republican who suggested that his party vote to extend the Bush tax-rates for everyone but the highest income earners and leave the rest of the debate for later. Mack’s husband, Connie, however, also an outgoing Republican member of Congress, said he disagreed with his wife.

But in general, among the outgoing Republican representatives with whom ABC News has made contact, the majority have been vague as to whether or not they still feel bound by the pledge, and whether they would be willing to raise tax rates.

“[Congressman Jerry Lewis] has always been willing to listen to any proposals, but there isn’t,” a spokesman for Rep. Lewis, Calif., told ABC News. “He’s said the pledge was easy because it goes along with his philosophy that increasing tax doesn’t solve any problems. However, he’s always been willing to listen to proposals.”

“Congressman Burton has said that he does not vote for tax increases,” a spokesman for Dan Burton, Ind., said to ABC.

“With Representative Herger retiring, we are leaving this debate to returning members and members-elect,” an aide for Wally Herger, Calif., told ABC News.

The majority of Congress members will likely wait until a deal is on the table to show their hand either way. However, it stands to reason that if any members of Congress are going to give in and agree to raise taxes, these would be the likely candidates.

An agreement will require both sides to make some concessions: Republicans will need to agree to some tax increases, Democrats will need to agree to some spending cuts. With Republicans and Democrats appearing to be digging further into their own, very separate territories, the big question is, which side will soften first?

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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.

The Galapagos boast the world's largest and most iconic tortoises. Throughout history, pirates and whalers have fed on the animals, and introduced pest species like goats to the islands, destroying the tortoises' habitat. "Goats are very problematic," says Michel Milinkovitch at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. "They eat everything." As a result, the giant-tortoise population of Española Island dwindled to near extinction four decades ago. In a bid to rescue it, conservationists in 1971 began collecting all the tortoises they could find on Española - just 14 - and took them to nearby Santa Cruz island to breed in captivity. They were joined by a 15th tortoise from San Diego Zoo in California.

In total, this breeding colony comprised 12 females and 3 males. Meanwhile, conservationists cleared Española of goats. Baby tortoises were hand-reared until they were about 5 years old before being taken to Española in batches. The programme was widely regarded as a success story. Since its inception, over 1700 tortoises have been reintroduced.

A true measure of success, though, is how well the animals are coping on the island - whether they are able to survive and breed when left to their own devices. All the new tortoises were born from the same 15 animals, so genetic diversity is thought to be low. That can cause a problem, as inbred animals die younger, have poor fertility, and are often more vulnerable to environmental changes. "There's always a big risk that the animals don't survive or don't breed," says Milinkovitch.

To investigate how well the tortoises were doing, Milinkovitch and his colleagues carried out a genetic analysis of all tortoises on Española, searching for tortoises born on the island.

Eighteen years ago, none of the tortoises on Española had been born there. From blood samples collected in 2007, the researchers have now found that about a quarter of the tortoises are native, the offspring of reintroduced animals (Evolutionary Applications, doi.org/jts).

"We're really excited," says Milinkovitch. "The habitat is restored, the species is thriving and the animals are breeding happily. We can now safely say that the species is saved."

"It certainly looks like it," agrees Richard Griffiths at the University of Kent, UK, though researchers will have to check back in a couple of generations' time to be sure.

Jean-Christophe Vié, deputy director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Programme, is more cautious: "I'm not sure you can ever say a species is completely safe." He gives the example of white and black rhinos in Africa, which were recently rescued from the brink of extinction. But, since the start of this year, around 500 are thought to have been poached. "It's fragile," he says. But Vié adds that the early success of the tortoise programme is encouraging. "We need these kinds of successes. What is really important here is that you can do something about this extinction crisis. There is always hope."

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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 said the mayor quoted Noda as saying "President Putin's health condition is bad".

Noda, who is facing a December election widely expected to see him lose his job, met with Nemuro City mayor Shunsuke Hasegawa to talk about the Russian-controlled Kuril islands, the source of a long-standing territorial dispute between Moscow and Tokyo.

A Japanese government source told AFP that Russian officials had informed their Japanese counterparts the leaders' planned meeting would have to be cancelled due to Putin's unspecified health problem.

A spokesman for Noda on Friday declined to confirm the prime minister's reported remarks to the mayor or that health reasons were behind the cancelled trip, which had been scheduled in September.

According to Russian media reports, Putin has recently postponed a number of foreign trips and largely stayed at his suburban Moscow government retreat after aggravating a sports injury.

The Kremlin had insisted there had been no change to his schedule.

Russia said Wednesday Putin would visit Turkey next week after postponing the trip last month.

- AFP/ir

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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 sedan with some odd quirks.

By and large, premium and luxury automakers use rear-wheel-drive for their flagship sedans, an architecture maintained more out of tradition than real necessity. Acura has alway bucked this trend, and continues to do so with the RLX. This model will launch as a front-wheel-drive
car sporting a 3.5-liter direct injection engine.

But current standards, that specification is nothing to write home about, as even economy car makers go to direct injection. However, later next year Acura promises a much higher tech drivetrain, this one incorporating a hybrid system and all-wheel-drive. The 3.5-liter V-6 will remain, and get added power from an electric drive system at the rear wheels. As with other hybrids, the battery pack will recapture energy that would have been lost from braking.

The hybrid version should not only add significant power, but Acura estimates it will get 6 mpg better for average fuel economy than the front-wheel-drive V-6 version.

Acura boasts a few intriguing technologies for the new sedan. For one, it will come with LED headlights standard, wide arrays that bookend the Acura shield grille. LED headlights use much less power than current bi-xenon lamps, and should last much longer, as well. In addition, LED headlights allow for a more tightly defined throw pattern.

The front-wheel-drive model will also get an innovative handling technology, four wheel steering. Acura calls this system Precision All-Wheel Steer. It is designed to work in concert with traction control and stability technologies to allow for fast, stable cornering. The all-wheel-drive hybrid version will not feature this technology, but should offer torque vectoring at the rear wheels.

The exterior of the RLX looks unremarkable, a long, smooth-sided sedan with little ornamentation. Its most distinguishing features are its grille and headlights. However, what could be seen as lack of flair becomes understatement when you sit in the cabin, which exudes a sense of luxury through its materials and design.

Most telling for the luxury experience is an optional 14 speaker Krell audio system, a step up from the standard 10 speaker ELS system. During an in-car demo on the show floor, the system delivered an incredibly dynamic audio experience. Playing tracks with traditional instruments on an Acura demo CD, the entire range of a single note from a bass guitar came through clearly, while the vocal reproduction made it sound like the singers were in the car. For those who appreciate music, this system will offer plenty of satisfaction.

Krell is not a generally familiar name, playing in the high-end audio world. The company spent four years during the development of the RLX, coming up with speaker technologies and placement, and refining the system's output. Beyond its sound quality, the system announces its presence with nice, metal grilles on the door speakers.

The dashboard of the RLX on display in Los Angeles had two LCDs in the center stack, which was reminiscent of the 2013 Accord model recently launched by Honda. In the Accord, the screen arrangement is an inelegant solution to building cars with and without a navigation option. For the RLX, Acura should have either made navigation standard, and consolidated infotainment on one screen. Alternatively, the company could have just made a single screen host only phone and audio information when the navigation option was not present. The two screen system is a little strange.

The RLX will also offer a host of driver assistance features, from blind spot monitoring to adaptive cruise control, helping it compete with other luxury flagships.

The front-wheel-drive RLX model should go on sale in the first half of 2013, with the hybrid model following in the second half.

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL

Looking 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 challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.

This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.

"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.

(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")

—Brian Handwerk

Published November 29, 2012

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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, Martin County Sheriff's Department officials arrested Chester Duane Price, 42, who recently lived in Haleyville, Ala., and charged him with first-degree murder and kidnapping of a child under the age of 13, after he was indicted by a grand jury.

Price was acquainted with Andrea at the time of her disappearance, and also knew another man police once eyed as a potential suspect, officials told ABC News affiliate WPBF in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Handout/Martin County Sheriff's Office

"The investigation has concluded that Price abducted and killed Andrea Gail Parsons," read a sheriff's department news release. "Tragically, at this time, her body has not been recovered."

The sheriff's department declined to specify what evidence led to Price's arrest for the crime after 19 years or to provide details to ABCNews.com beyond the prepared news release.

Reached by phone, a sheriff's department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Price was yet represented by a lawyer.

Price was being held at the Martin County Jail without bond and was scheduled to make his first court appearance via video link at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

In its news release, the sheriff's department cited Price's "extensive criminal history with arrests dating back to 1991" that included arrests for cocaine possession, assault, sale of controlled substance, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of domestic violence injunction.

"The resolve to find Andrea and get answers surrounding the circumstances of her disappearance has never wavered as detectives and others assigned have dedicated their careers to piecing this puzzle together," Martin County Sheriff Robert L. Crowder said in a prepared statement. "In 2011, I assigned a team of detectives, several 'fresh sets of eyes,' to begin another review of the high-volume of evidence that had been previously collected in this case."

A flyer dating from the time of Andrea's disappearance, and redistributed by the sheriff's office after the arrest, described her as 4-foot-11 with hazel eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jean shorts, a dark shirt and clear plastic sandals, according to the flyer.

The sheriff's department became involved in the case after Andrea's mother, Linda Parsons, returned home from work around 10 p.m. on July 11, 1993, to find her daughter missing and called police, according to the initial sheriff's report.

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