Earth may be crashing through dark matter walls

Earth is constantly crashing through huge walls of dark matter, and we already have the tools to detect them. That's the conclusion of physicists who say the universe may be filled with a patchwork quilt of force fields created shortly after the big bang. ...

Read More..

WP will strengthen the voice of the opposition: Lee Li Lian

SINGAPORE: Workers' Party (WP) candidate for the Punggol East by-election, Lee Li Lian said having another WP member in Parliament will strengthen the voice of the opposition.It means more airtime for the opposition to ask more questions on behalf of Singaporeans and this, she said will definitely make a difference. Ms Lee refuted talk that having the WP members in Parliament did not make...

Read More..

'Glee' accused of ripping off indy YouTube singer

Have they been naughty?(Credit:GleeSeason4Songs/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)"That's mine!""No, it isn't! It's mine!"Such is the dialogue I imagine the writers of "Glee" would pen to describe a slight kerfuffle between its own creators and Jonathan Coulton.Coulton enjoys a bit of fame on YouTube. He writes tunes like "Code Monkey." He created the themes of Portal video games.He clearly...

Read More..

Algeria Hostage Crisis Over, One American Dead

After the Algerian military's final assault on terrorists holding hostages at a gas complex, the four-day hostage crisis is over, but apparently with additional loss of life among the foreign hostages.One American, Fred Buttaccio of Texas, has been confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department. Two more U.S. hostages remain unaccounted for, with growing concern among U.S. officials...

Read More..

NASA planet-hunter is injured and resting

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter(Image: NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel)NASA's planet-hunting Kepler telescope has put its search for alien Earths on hold while it rests a stressed reaction wheel.The injured wheel normally helps to control the telescope's orientation, keeping it pointed continuously at the same patch of sky. Kepler stares at the thousands of stars in its field of view...

Read More..

Fate of two Malaysians unknown in Algerian crisis

KUALA LUMPUR: The fate of two Malaysians believed to have been caught up in the ongoing hostage crisis at a gas complex in the Algerian desert remains unknown, the foreign ministry said Saturday.It said that three other Malaysians who were working at the gas plant were safe. The embassy in Algeria "is still determining the fate" of the other two, the foreign ministry said in a statement.Al-Qaeda-linked...

Read More..

Researcher: Apps meant to spot skin cancer are inaccurate

Researchers ran 188 images of skin lesions through four apps and found that three apps incorrectly described at least 30 percent of the melanomas as benign.(Credit:Screenshot by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore/CNET)When a patient asked Laura Ferris, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, her opinion on smartphone apps that purport to distinguish between...

Read More..

Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

Read More..

Armstrong Tearful Over Telling Kids Truth

Lance Armstrong, 41, began to cry today as he described finding out his son Luke, 13, was publicly defending him from accusations that he doped during his cycling career.Armstrong said that he knew, at that moment, that he would have to publicly admit to taking performance-enhancing drugs and having oxygen-boosting blood transfusions when competing in the Tour de France. He...

Read More..

Matching names to genes: the end of genetic privacy?

Continue reading page |1 |2 Are we being too free with our genetic information? What if you started receiving targeted ads for Prozac for the depression risk revealed by your publicly accessible genome? As increasing amounts of genetic information is placed online, many researchers believe that guaranteeing...

Read More..

Three dead in S. Korean fishing boat fire: Japan coastguard

TOKYO: Three people were dead and five missing Friday in a fishing boat fire in waters near islands at the centre of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, Japan's coastguard said."We have been informed by South Korean officials that three people died and five are missing from a South Korean fisheries ship that caught fire in waters near Uotsuri island," a spokesman said, referring to an...

Read More..

Anonymous launches attack on Mexico's Defense Department

Anonymous has set its sights on Mexico's Department of Defense. The group's Mexican legion has claimed responsibility for waging a distributed-denial-of-service attack on the government site, rendering it inoperable for several hours yesterday, according to the Associated Press. During the attack, the group posted a statement on the media section of the government's Web site. The statement claimed...

Read More..

Opinion: Lance One of Many Tour de France Cheaters

Editor's note: England-based writer and photographer Roff Smith rides around 10,000 miles a year through the lanes of Sussex and Kent and writes a cycling blog at: www.my-bicycle-and-I.co.ukAnd so, the television correspondent said to the former Tour de France champion, a man who had been lionised for years, feted as the greatest cyclist of his day, did you ever use drugs in the course...

Read More..

Lance Armstrong Confesses to Doping

Lance Armstrong, formerly cycling's most decorated champion and considered one of America's greatest athletes, confessed to cheating for at least a decade, admitting on Thursday that he owed all seven of his Tour de France titles and the millions of dollars in endorsements that followed to his use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs.After years of denying that he had taken...

Read More..

NASA buys blow-up habitat for space station astronauts

NASA wants to blow up part of the International Space Station – and a Las Vegas firm is eager to help. The US space agency has signed a $17.8-million contract with Bigelow Aerospace of Nevada to build an inflatable crew habitat for...

Read More..

NUS prof Tey questions CPIB officer in "trial within a trial"

SINGAPORE: The law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case is cross-examining an anti-graft officer on the admissibility of one of six statements -- in what is called a "trial within a trial".Tey Tsun Hang is questioning Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Chief Special Investigator Bay Chun How to prove his case that the statement given to CPIB was made under...

Read More..

Apple, Samsung add new devices to upcoming patent suit

Apple's iPhone 5 was added to a list of devices that allegedly infringe on Samsung's patents.(Credit:CNET)A slew of new devices have been tacked onto the patent lawsuit in a legal order that was jointly filed by Apple and Samsung today. Included in the devices are Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S III. U.S. Judge Paul Grewal agreed to let both companies add devices to the case, which is scheduled...

Read More..

6 Ways Climate Change Will Affect You

Photograph by AP Photo/Marcio Jose SanchezThe planet keeps getting hotter, new data showed this week. Especially in America, where 2012 was the warmest year ever recorded, by far. Every few years, the U.S. federal government engages hundreds of experts to assess the impacts of climate change, now and in the future. From agriculture (pictured) to infrastructure to how humans consume energy, the National...

Read More..

FAA Grounds Boeing 787 Dreamliners

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets until their U.S. operator proves that batteries on the planes are safe.United is the only U.S. carrier flying the Boeing 787s, which have been touted as the planes of the future. However, several operated by overseas airlines have run into recent trouble, the latest because of a feared...

Read More..

Why musical genius comes easier to early starters

Good news for pushy parents. If you want your child to excel musically, you now have better justification for starting their lessons early. New evidence comes from brain scans of 36 highly skilled musicians, split equally between those who started lessons before and after the age of 7, but who had done a similar amount of...

Read More..

Foreign direct investment in China falls in 2012

BEIJING: Foreign direct investment in China fell 3.7 percent in 2012 to $111.72 billion, according to the government.For the month of December FDI also declined, slipping 4.5 percent from the same month in 2011 to $11.7 billion, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.Investment from the European Union declined 3.8 percent to $6.11 billion, the ministry said.But investment from the United...

Read More..

Apple, Amazon ordered to try settlement in 'app store' suit

A judge has ordered Apple and Amazon to meet to try to work out an agreement about whether "app store" is a generic term before the case goes to court. U.S. Judge Elizabeth Laporte ordered the two companies to meet on March 21 with their attorneys in tow and work to negotiate and settle the lawsuit, according to Bloomberg. It seems that the judge is looking to find other ways for the companies to...

Read More..

Sandy Aid Clears Huge Hurdle in Congress

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)Seventy-nine days after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeast, the House of Representatives voted this evening to approve about $50 billion of additional relief for the region pounded by the storm.The measure passed 241-180, mostly behind Democratic support, winning 49 votes from Republicans and 192 votes from Democrats. Just one Democrat opposed the legislation, while...

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 14 January 2013

Activist's death sparks open-access tribute on Twitter Hundreds of researchers have been offering free access to their work in tribute to internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide on Friday Exploding microchip could make arms dumps safer Shrapnel and bullets can set off huge explosions if they hit weapons stores. But microchip-based detonators could help keep them safeThe...

Read More..

Asian stocks rise after Fed comments

HONG KONG: Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke reassured markets that easing measures were set to stay in place, with Tokyo leading regional bourses higher.Traders also mulled a warning from US President Barack Obama to Republican rivals not to delay raising the debt ceiling, as the next budget fight took shape in Washington following the...

Read More..

Predicting the next big thing up Mark Zuckerberg's sleeve

Mark Zuckerberg on stage at f8 in 2010.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg won't be phoning it in tomorrow when he shows off something rumored to be quite grand. Will he unveil a Facebook phone, a search engine, a reimagined version of the mobile News Feed, a measly Messenger app for iPad, or all of the above? Anything seems possible at this point. Perhaps, the only thing we know...

Read More..