Today on New Scientist: 18 December 2012

Violent polar storms help control the world's weather Without the mini-hurricanes which form over the Arctic, the world could face massive weather disruptionAncient city of Troy rebranded itself after war Changing styles of pottery 3200 years ago show the Trojans were quick to align themselves with the region's new political powerCourt ruling will clarify end-of-life decisions Canada's supreme...

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Philippine leader signs US$49b anti-poverty budget

MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday signed into law a 2.005 trillion-peso ($49 billion) budget for 2013, vowing to use higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol to boost programmes to reduce poverty.Education, health, agriculture and a cash-transfer scheme for the poor are the key priorities of the appropriations, which are 10.5 percent higher than the 2012 national budget,...

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CNET's Next Big Thing: the connected revolution

It's been called the Internet of Things, the connected future, the post-PC and even, in our minds, the post-mobile world: however you want to refer to it, the trend toward ubiquitously connected devices and people is inescapable, and poised to change everything about the consumer electronics world. At CNET, we're calling it the post-mobile future: mapping the next frontier of consumer electronics....

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Race Is On to Find Life Under Antarctic Ice

A hundred years ago, two teams of explorers set out to be the first people ever to reach the South Pole. The race between Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of Britain became the stuff of triumph, tragedy, and legend. (See rare pictures of Scott's expedition.)Today, another Antarctic drama is underway that has a similar daring and intensity—but very different stakes.Three...

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Newtown Settles In for Prayerful, Somber Christmas

Residents of Sandy Hook, Conn., gather every year under an enormous tree in the middle of town to sing carols and light the tree. The tree is lit this year, too, but the scene beneath it is starkly different.The tree looms over hundreds of teddy bears and toys, but they are for children who will never receive them. The ornaments are adorned with names and jarringly recent birth...

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Fungal frog killer hops into crayfish

Crayfish are vulnerable to the same fungus that is killing frogs all over the world. The discovery helps explain how the disease spreads even after all the amphibians in an area have been wiped out. Worryingly, chemicals released by the fungus may alone be enough to kill. ...

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Malaysia Airlines to buy 36 turboprop planes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines on Tuesday said it will buy 36 new ATR turboprop aircraft for 3.0 billion ringgit ($916 million) as it looks to further expand its regional and domestic networks.Of the 36 ATR-72-600 planes, the carrier said 20 will go to subsidiary Firefly, which is fast expanding its lucrative routes, while 16 are for MASwings which flies to Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo...

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NRA's Facebook page shuttered, Twitter activity halted

The NRA posted this photo on Twitter the day before the Newtown school shooting. Now it's Facebook page has completely disappeared.(Credit:Screenshot by Dara Kerr/CNET)In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, when an armed man stormed a Connecticut elementary school and killed 26 people, including 20 children, gun control has been under high scrutiny from both lawmakers and citizens. The National Rifle...

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GRAIL Mission Goes Out With a Bang

Jane J. Lee On Friday, December 14, NASA sent their latest moon mission into a death spiral. Rocket burns nudged GRAIL probes Ebb and Flow into a new orbit designed to crash them into the side of a mountain near the moon's north pole today at around 2:28 p.m. Pacific standard time. NASA named the crash site after late astronaut Sally Ride, America's first woman in space.Although the mountain...

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Conn. Kids Laid to Rest: 'Our Hearts Are With You'

Visibly shaken attendees exiting the funeral today for 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of 20 children killed in the Connecticut school massacre last week, said they were touched by a story that summed up the first-grader best.His mother, Veronique, would often tell him how much she loved him and he'd respond: "Not as much as I [love] you," said a New York man who attended the funeral...

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