Today on New Scientist: 9 December 2012

Climate talks stumbling towards a deal

As the Qatar climate summit looks set to run into the weekend, we look at some key issues, such as compensation for poor countries harmed by climate change

Twin spacecraft map the mass of the man in the moon

Two satellites called Ebb and Flow have revealed the fine variations in the moon's surface with the most detailed gravity map ever

Just cut down on fat to shed weight

A review of studies involving 75,000 people shows that simply eating less fat made them lighter

North-east Japan quake rattles same fault as last year

A new quake off Japan's Pacific coast revives memories of 2011 tsunami; Fukushima nuclear power station "undamaged"

YouTube reorganises video with automated channels

Software that automatically classifies video into channels catering to specific interests is YouTube's latest ploy to become the future of television

A mathematician's magnificent failure to explain life

An attempt to explain life was career suicide for mathematician Dorothy Wrinch, we learn from Marjorie Senechal's biography I Died for Beauty

Parasite makes mice fearless by hijacking immune cells

The Toxoplasma parasite does its dirty work by getting immune cells to make a chemical normally found in the brain

'Specialist knowledge is useless and unhelpful'

Kaggle.com has turned data prediction into sport. People competing to solve problems are outclassing the specialists, says its president Jeremy Howard

Feedback: Numerical value of 'don't know'

The value of indifference, carbon-free sugar, scientists massacred in the nude, and more

Friday Illusion: 100-year-old quilt reveals 3D vortex

See a mind-bending effect crafted into a recently discovered quilt that changes depending on its colours and dimensions

Space-time waves may be hiding in dead star pulses

The first direct detection of gravitational waves may happen in 2013, if new studies of pulsars affected by galaxy mergers are correct

2012 Flash Fiction shortlist: Go D

From nearly 130 science-inspired stories, our judge Alice LaPlante has narrowed down a fantastic shortlist. Story five of five: Go D by Michael Rolfe

Captured: the moment photosynthesis changed the world

For the first time, geologists have found evidence of how modern photosynthesis evolved 2.4 billion years ago

Commute to work on the roller coaster train

A Japanese train based on a theme park ride could make getting around cleaner - and more fun

BSE infected cattle have prions in saliva

The discovery of tiny levels of prions in cow saliva might pave way for a test for BSE before symptoms develop, and raises questions about transmission

Space bigwigs offer billion-dollar private moon trips

Robots aren't the only ones heading to the moon. The Golden Spike Company will sell you a ticket whether you want to explore, mine or just show off

Human eye proteins detect red beyond red

Tweaking the structure of a protein found in the eye has given it the ability to react to red light that is normally unperceivable

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Philippine typhoon survivors 'loot' shops

TAGUM, Philippines: Hungry survivors of a deadly Philippine typhoon looted shops and warehouses in a hard-hit town in a bid to stay alive amid stalled aid deliveries, a rescue official said.

Local officials monitored the desperate scenes in the early aftermath of Typhoon Bopha's onslaught in the isolated southern town of Cateel, Cedric Daep, a provincial public safety official, told AFP.

"The food aid took so long to arrive that the locals broke into whatever building left standing in search of something to eat," said Daep, a specialist sent to the south by the government to help rescue and relief operations.

Warehouses and grocery stores were broken into in Cateel, a coastal town near where the eye of the typhoon made landfall on Tuesday, Daep said.

Officials said damage to roads and bridges by floods and landslides trapped 150,000 people for three days in Cateel and the nearby towns of Baganga and Boston, where they said 97 percent of buildings were flattened or unroofed.

The typhoon killed more than 500 people and left hundreds of others missing across the south, rescue officials said.

A Philippine Navy vessel with 31 tonnes of emergency relief and 132 volunteer aid workers reached Baganga on Thursday, navy spokesman Omar Tonsay told AFP, saying he had not heard of the Cateel looting.

Daep, speaking in the city of Tagum, at the edge of the southern disaster zone, said the region suffered its last strong typhoon in 1922, and has little expertise in coping with them.

"You have to organise (pre-disaster) evacuation, relief distribution systems, and putting up temporary shelters... They were not prepared," he said.

Daep said the priority was to ensure a reliable supply of food, safe water, shelter and clothing to the displaced victims, which the national government said included more than 200,000 people who have lost their homes.

"We have been receiving reports of people getting sick because they had been drinking contaminated water," he said.

He urged local governments in the disaster areas to help their people instead of waiting for the national government to organise relief and rehabilitation.

"They should organise cash- or food-for-work programmes to build shelters for the displaced," Daep said.

- AFP/ck

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Hot new games for iOS

The stars lined up just right this week (read: gift-giving season is here!) to have a number of awesome game sequels and new releases launch all at once. Frankly, there are so many new games that there is no better time than the present to check out what the App Store has to offer.

Rick Broida already wrote about Grand Theft Auto: Vice City earlier today, but there are plenty more that would make nice additions to your iOS gaming collection.

This week's collection of apps is a group of excellent games released over the course of this week. The first is a funny and fun dual-stick shooter with tons of weapons to collect. The second is the latest installment in probably the best FPS franchise at the App Store. The third is a port of an old game to the
iPad (and only the iPad), but it might be the most famous classic RPG ever.

Minigore 2: Zombies ($1.99) is the sequel to the fun and funny dual-stick shooter Minigore. The graphics in this zombie-themed sequel still have that funny block-head look, but you're no longer fighting the furry baddies; now you're blowing away the undead.

Part of the fun in the game is John Gore's constant grimace as he blows away zombies.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Much like the first game in the series, Minigore 2 is all about mindless shooting in all directions as hordes of zombies and other creeps try to kill you. You'll also find several melee weapons like swords and giant hammers for close quarters combat. But just when you thought there couldn't be any more zombies swarming around you, a boss will appear that will take a lot of hits to bring down. Fortunately they often also drop a ton of coins so you can upgrade your weapons.

To acquire new weapons, you'll first need to buy them in the store. You get a machine gun for free, but you'll need to purchase new weapons to have them randomly show up in the game for a varied attack. Then, as you collect more coins, you can upgrade your weapons to make them more powerful, unlock new levels, and unlock new characters to play with. Each of the characters can be upgraded as well, helping you last longer against the endless shambling horde. Coins come pretty quickly as you play, so you'll soon be using weapons like shotguns, grenade launchers, and other powerful hardware.

Minigore 2: Zombies is all about mindless fun as you try to complete 300 in-game challenges, blow away 60 different types of enemies, and battle seven giant bosses. If you liked the first Mini Gore game, or just like the mindless action of dual-stick shooters, this sequel is one of the best.

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour ($6.99) is the latest installment from Gameloft's incredibly popular Modern Combat franchise. While there's not much new gameplay wise, you have more terrorists to kill with a whole new story, and it's still probably the best FPS for the touch screen.

In one level you'll need to clear a path with a remote controlled drone.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

In this latest sequel, the game challenges you to fight in countries around the world, from Barcelona to Africa, and you will find and use several different kinds of weapons as you complete mission objectives. In this installment, you will also have the option to play as the villain, giving you a whole different perspective on the game. The game is a universal download, so you can play on any of your iOS devices, but I think it is at its best on the iPad.

You get three different types of control schemes to pick from, with variations of onscreen joysticks and touch-screen actions. I found the default control method to work best for me, using a movement joystick on the left and the touch screen to aim and fire with my right thumb. Some added controls appear in certain situations where you need to pick up an item or jump down from a wall, for example. You can reload your weapon with a single tap on the gun in the upper right or you can double tap to switch weapons as you discover them in the game. One issue here is that the reload button is a little inconvenient (top right of screen) while playing on an iPad, but I was able to get used it after awhile. It still seems like it should be closer to your right thumb.

Though the touch screen will never be as easy to use as a keyboard and mouse or console controller, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour manages to make the controls fairly easy to use. Auto aim (found in the options) helps a lot to offset the less-than-optimal controls in the beginning, but after spending some time with the game you'll be able turn it off for a more realistic experience.

Along with the fun gameplay, Modern Combat: Zero Hour has amazing graphics, great audio with satisfyingly explosive-sounding guns, and fairly good voice acting in-game and during cut scenes.

When you think you've honed your skills enough, you can take your game online and play in battles of up to 12 players, across eight maps, and in several game modes (FPS staples like Conquest and Capture the Flag are my current favorites). You also have four new specializations for your soldier (chosen before a match) to make him stronger at different strategies like Stealth or Support. Your starting soldier comes with fairly powerful weapons, but you'll need to play several games to earn coins in order to buy new ones. Judging by how populated the servers are so soon after launch, you'll be able to find plenty of games to play do increase your cash.

If you liked any of the earlier installments of Modern Combat, Zero Hour is an excellent choice with more-exciting gameplay, challenging missions, and probably the best graphics yet. If you like first-person shooters, this game is a must-have on your iOS device.

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition ($9.99 - iPad Only) is a touch screen recreation of the mega-hit classic RPG adventure game. While a game based on Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition rules is not for everyone, if you have the patience, tutorial levels teach you the basics so you can start your adventure.

As you explore dank dungeons, you'll need to use the abilities of every character to survive.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

As the port of a game that was originally released in 1998, the graphics are not on par with today's games. Your isometric 3D view from above doesn't show off crystal clear graphics or smooth 3D modeling like you might be used to. But Balder's Gate was a huge fan favorite in its time for its epic storyline and complex gameplay, and the iOS version is a fantastic recreation. So while you won't be dazzled by the graphics, the gameplay definitely holds up, especially if you're a fan of Dungeons and Dragons type role-playing games.

You start by creating your character. Baldur's Gate has three preset options if you want to jump in right away, with a pre-rolled Fighter, Thief, or Mage. But you also can choose to pick from 11 available classes (Druids, Barbarians, Clerics, and more) and set up all the stats yourself, choose your skills or spells, and customize your look. The freedom to set up your own stats means you can customize your character exactly how you want, in effect making the 11 available classes starting points for your perfect character type. It's this type of customization that makes Baldur's Gate great, but it takes some time to learn the ins and outs of all the many skills, so don't expect to just jump in and start hacking away at bad guys.

Once you're in game, you'll quickly realize Baldur's Gate is incredibly complex, requiring you to manage six adventurers all of different classes (Rangers, Druids, Fighters, Wizards, and several others), each with their own abilities that you control. You'll even often need to hit the pause button in the middle of combat in order to plan each characters' moves and actions if you want to stand a chance against the game's many monsters.

To add to the confusion for new players, several skills and spells are not well labeled, making it difficult to pick out the exact action your trying to achieve. Though I was able to figure most of it out with some practice, you should definitely expect a learning curve here. Fortunately, you can experiment all you want in the tutorial levels, and I suggest you try to get familiar with the spell and skill icons before you get too far into the game.

Overall, Baldur's Gate is a faithful recreation of the popular 1998 original with 80 hours of epic RPG adventure and a large world to explore. If you like deep RPG games or played the original Baldur's Gate, this game is a worthwhile purchase.

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")

Since the flowers were orbiting some 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth at the time, the NASA-funded experiment suggests that plants still retain an earthy instinct when they don't have gravity as a guide.

"The role of gravity in plant growth and development in terrestrial environments is well understood," said plant geneticist and study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul, with the University of Florida in Gainesville. "What is less well understood is how plants respond when you remove gravity." (See a video about plant growth.)

The new study revealed that "features of plant growth we thought were a result of gravity acting on plant cells and organs do not actually require gravity," she added.

Paul and her collaborator Robert Ferl, a plant biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, monitored their plants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using images sent from the space station every six hours.

Root Growth

Grown on a nutrient-rich gel in clear petri plates, the space flowers showed familiar root growth patterns such as "skewing," where roots slant progressively as they branch out.

"When we saw the first pictures come back from orbit and saw that we had most of the skewing phenomenon we were quite surprised," Paul said.

Researchers have always thought that skewing was the result of gravity's effects on how the root tip interacts with the surfaces it encounters as it grows, she added. But Paul and Ferl suspect that in the absence of gravity, other cues take over that enable the plant to direct its roots away from the seed and light-seeking shoot. Those cues could include moisture, nutrients, and light avoidance.

"Bottom line is that although plants 'know' that they are in a novel environment, they ultimately do just fine," Paul said.

The finding further boosts the prospect of cultivating food plants in space and, eventually, on other planets.

"There's really no impediment to growing plants in microgravity, such as on a long-term mission to Mars, or in reduced-gravity environments such as in specialized greenhouses on Mars or the moon," Paul said. (Related: "Alien Trees Would Bloom Black on Worlds With Double Stars.")

The study findings appear in the latest issue of the journal BMC Plant Biology.

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Baby Gabriel's Mother Sentenced to Prison

Elizabeth Johnson -- who at one point admitted to killing her son, the missing infant Gabriel Johnson, before saying she gave him away -- told a judge she "deserved the maximum" sentence, before receiving a prison term of 5.25 years, half of the max.

In October, Johnson, 26, was found guilty of custodial interference and unlawful imprisonment stemming from the disappearance of her 8-month-old son, last seen on Dec. 24, 2009. The baby's whereabouts remain unknown.

"I am brokenhearted over my son still being missing," said Johnson, wearing a striped prison jumpsuit. "I'm at a loss because I do deserve the max. What I have done is unconscionable. I would convict myself.

"I do deserve the maximum, I do," she said through tears. "[But it] wasn't how [the prosecution] made it out to be. It wasn't like that. That's all I have to say."

Judge Paul McMurdie said he wished he could design a sentence that would compel Johnson to disclose Gabriel's whereabouts, but could only "sentence her for the offenses [for which] she's been convicted."

Johnson, 26, will serve 5.25 years in an Arizona state prison, followed by four years of probation.

At today's sentencing hearing, prosecutor Angela Andrews called Johnson' actions "despicable," but said the state would drop its request to see Johnson serve out a maximum sentence if she would tell authorities where her son could be found.

Johnson, who has been in jail for the past three years, faced a maximum of 9.5 years in prison on the two convictions. In October, the jury did not reach a verdict on a third charge of kidnapping.

Before Gabriel's disappearance, Johnson had been embroiled in a custody battle with the baby's biological father, Logan McQueary. The couple differed on putting their infant son up for adoption. Johnson had wanted to, McQueary did not.

"I think Elizabeth should be held accountable for her actions, for making my son disappear," Johnson told the court. "She should stay in jail until Gabriel is found or be given the maximum sentence as possible."

While she was fighting with McQueary over custody of their son, Johnson left Tempe, Ariz., with Gabriel and traveled to San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2009. Johnson failed to bring Gabriel back to visit with McQueary two days later, violating a court custody order.

Gabriel was last seen with his mother on Dec. 26, 2009. The following day, Johnson sent text messages to McQueary saying she had killed him. Johnson was recorded telling McQueary that she suffocated their son with a towel until he turned blue. She said she then put his body in a diaper bag and put the bag in the trash.

Later, Johnson told authorities she gave Gabriel to a couple she met in a park in San Antonio, though she has never named who she gave the child to.

ABC News' Alexis Shaw contributed to this report.

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Space bigwigs offer billion-dollar private moon trips

Robots aren't the only ones heading to the moon. The first private company offering regular trips to the lunar surface plans to start flights in 2020, shuttling people two at a time on exploratory missions. However, with an expected price tag of $1.4 billion per flight, or around $750 million per person, the trek would likely be out of reach for all but the wealthiest moonwalkers.

Today's announcement, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC backs up recent rumours that Alan Stern, a former administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, had founded a company called Golden Spike in Colorado to run commercial moon trips.

Named for the final spike driven into the first US transcontinental railroad line, Golden Spike plans to market to governments, corporations and individuals to routinely send people to the moon for scientific purposes, to mine for resources or simply for prestige.

"Why the moon? Because it's close, because it's enormous, and because we think that there's going to be a strong market for it," says Stern. No tickets have yet been sold. But preliminary talks with space agencies in Asia and Europe are underway, he adds. "We see our main market as selling expeditions to foreign space agencies."

In 2010 President Barack Obama scrapped NASA's Constellation program for sending astronauts to the moon. Shortly afterwards, Stern convened a secret meeting of heavy-hitters in the space industry in Telluride, Colorado, to discuss the possibility of a private lunar mission. A four-month feasibility study led to the company's quiet founding later that year.

Beyond robots

Golden Spike now has several experienced directors and advisors, including Gerry Griffin, former director of NASA's Johnson Spaceflight Center, and Wayne Hale, former chief of NASA's space shuttle programme. It also boasts some colourful characters: Newt Gingrich, a former US presidential candidate who previously championed a lunar colony, and Mike Okuda, a set designer for the Star Trek franchise, are also on the advisory panel.

"One thing you can say about Stern is that he knows the game," says William Whittaker, CEO of Astrobotic Technology, one of many teams competing to put a robot on the moon and win the $20-million Google Lunar X Prize. "As NASA's former science director, he had a favoured insider's perspective. He knows people."

Although several of the firm's directors have NASA experience, Golden Spike will be a purely private enterprise that will not seek government funding, Stern says. The plan is to purchase a rocket and a crew capsule from one or more of the other private space enterprises that have sprung up in recent years, such as SpaceX or Blue Origin.

Golden Spike has signed contracts to begin development of a lunar lander and space suits. Its first lunar mission is expected to cost the company between $7 and $8 billion. To help cover expenses, the company plans to merchandise each mission, for instance, by selling the naming rights for their spacecraft.

Meanwhile, Space Adventures of Arlington, Virginia says it is on track to send people on flights that would circle the moon starting in 2016 or 2017. The price for each flight is $300 million, or $150 million per seat. There are two seats available for the maiden voyage, and one has already been sold, spokesperson Stacey Tearne told New Scientist.

Fred Bourgeois, head of FREDNET, another Lunar X Prize team, worries that the idea of sending people to the moon on private ships is premature. "We need to prove some things with robotic systems first, so we don't put lives at risk," he says. "I would not get on a private mission to the moon today, even though I would love to go."

But Stern says he's confident that robots will get to the moon's surface long before the first Golden Spike flights at the end of the decade. Human beings, he says, will then be needed for activities beyond the capabilities of a robot – from doing field geology to maintaining mining equipment. Says Stern: "We need to start now in order to be ready for the next phase."

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Indonesia anti-graft agency probes sports minister

JAKARTA: Indonesia's anti-corruption agency has named the country's sports minister as a suspect in a multi-million-dollar graft case, in the latest scandal to hit the president's party ahead of the 2014 elections.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) asked authorities late Thursday to ban sports minister Andi Mallarangeng from travelling as it probes the construction of a sports centre built on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta.

The KPK said in a statement it was conducting an investigation into corruption "regarding the construction of the Hambalang sports facilities and infrastructure between 2010 and 2012, carried out by suspect Andi Alfian Mallarangeng".

The contracts to build the sports facility were worth 2.5 trillion rupiah ($261 million).

The KPK has named several members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party as suspects in various cases in the recent years, threatening the ruling party's position ahead of mid-year elections in 2014.

The KPK this year prosecuted the party's former treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, who is now also implicated in the sports centre case.

- AFP/ck

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California AG sues Delta over mobile app privacy

California's attorney general filed a lawsuit today against Delta Air Lines for failing to prominently display a privacy policy in its mobile app.

The lawsuit is the first brought under the state's new Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires Web sites and apps that collect personal information to prominently post a privacy policy, as well as give users the opportunity to read the privacy policy before downloading the app.

The Atlanta-based airline was among 100 app developers and companies warned recently by Kamala Harris' office that they were in violation of California's privacy laws and had 30 days to comply with the new law.

"Losing your personal privacy should not be the cost of using mobile apps, but all too often it is," Harris said in a statement this evening. "California law is clear that mobile apps collecting personal information need privacy policies, and that the users of those apps deserve to know what is being done with their personal information."

Harris is seeking immediate alteration of the app to comply with state laws and damages of up to $2,500 for each violation.

CNET has contacted Delta for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

The move is the latest in a campaign Harris has been waging to force companies operating in California to be more transparent about their privacy policies. In February, Harris announced that Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, and Research In Motion had agreed to improve mobile privacy protections, starting with requiring privacy policies in apps. Facebook joined the roster in June.

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

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  Cassiopeia’s Bubble

  Image courtesy T.A. Rector, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSF

  A new camera called the One Degree Imager, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is responsible for this enticingly crisp image of the Bubble Nebula. Released on December 4, this closeup highlights the sphere of gas blown out by the nebula's central star, which is 45 times larger than our own sun.

  Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, the Bubble Nebula is ten light-years across. Intense radiation from the massive star causes the otherworldly glow that lights up what looks like a celestial soap bubble.

  (Related: "Amazing Hubble Images.")

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Midnight Light

  Photograph by Frank Olsen, My Shot

  Delicate green auroras light up the water at Buksnesfjord, Norway, in a picture taken just after midnight on December 4.

  (See pictures of auroras sparked by a massive solar flare.)

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Great Escape

  Image courtesy SDO/NASA

  Sheets of plasma—or superheated gas—break off from the surface of the sun in this image taken in extreme ultraviolet light. Before floating free, the plasma rose up and danced along pathways determined by magnetic fields. These unseen forces pushed and pulled the gas into contorted shapes.

  (Learn about the sun.)

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  New Look

  Image courtesy NASA

  What looks like a jawbreaker is actually a gravity map of the moon. Red areas indicate places with higher gravity fields while blue areas indicate lower gravity fields.

  (Learn about lunar exploration.)

  Twin probes circling the moon—part of NASA's GRAIL mission—since 2011 have been recording changes in gravity as they fly over peaks and valleys on the lunar surface. As one probe flies over an area with a greater gravity field, the washing-machine-size instrument speeds up slightly, increasing the distance between it and its sister probe. These minute changes in position have enabled scientists to construct this very detailed view of local changes in the moon's gravity.

  (How well do you know your moon myths? Take our quiz.)

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Grainy Picture

  Illustration courtesy L. Calçada, ESO/NAOJ/NRAO
  

  In this artist's conception of fine-grained particles around a brown dwarf—or a failed star—bits of debris are on their way to becoming a rocky planet.

  Current thinking on Earthlike, rocky planet formation says that random collisions between tiny debris occur in the disc of material surrounding newborn stars. But the recent discovery of such a disc surrounding a brown dwarf has some astronomers rethinking that hypothesis. If planets can form from the debris around these failed stars, then rocky planets may be much more common than previously thought.

  (Related: "Coldest Star Found-No Hotter Than Fresh Coffee.")

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Night Vision

  Image courtesy Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, Suomi NPP/NASA

  The Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime image of the aurora australis over the Antarctic coast south of South Africa. Despite the winter darkness and a waning crescent moon, the auroras produced enough light for sensors on board the new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite to capture the boundary between the ice shelf and what some scientists call the Southern, or Antarctic, Ocean (dark line across the bright center swirl).

  Launched last year, Suomi NPP enables scientists to capture nighttime images of the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The new sensor is so sensitive, it can capture the lights from one ship at sea.

  (Learn about Antarctica.)

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Pearl Islands

  Image courtesy Michael Taylor, Landsat/NASA

  In NASA's Landsat 5 satellite image, the Mergui Archipelago shows off the vibrant greens of its rain forests and the brilliant blues of the surrounding tropical ocean. Located along the southern border of Myanmar (Burma), next to Thailand, the area is known for valuable pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima) and a highly diverse concentration of plants and animals.

  (See photos of Myanmar.)

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Venusian Volcano

  Illustration courtesy AOES Medialab/ESO

  The Venusian atmosphere is made mostly of carbon dioxide, along with periodic spikes in sulfur. Recent research has found that volcanoes on the planet's surface, seen here in an artist's conception, are likely injecting that sulfur into the upper atmosphere. Direct confirmation is difficult, however, since Venus's thick atmosphere precludes a peek at its peaks.

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  











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  Image courtesy SSI/ISA/ESA/NASA

  Published December 6, 2012

  
  

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John McAfee Out of Hospital, Back in Cell

Software millionaire John McAfee has been returned to an immigration detention cell in Guatemala after being rushed to a Guatemala City hospital via ambulance.

McAfee, 67 -- who soon may be deported back to Belize, where authorities want to question him about the shooting death of his neighbor -- was reportedly found prostrate on the floor of his cell and unresponsive.

He was wheeled into the hospital on a gurney. Photographers followed in pursuit right into the emergency room, but as emergency workers eased McAfee's limp body from the gurney and onto a bed and began to remove his suit, he suddenly spoke up, saying, "Please, not in front of the press."

Earlier today, McAfee had complained of chest pains, raising concerns he might be having a heart attack.

However, that did not appear to be the case. Hours after his emergency, hospital officials sent McAfee back to the detention center, telling ABC News they found no reason to keep him overnight.

In a phone interview overnight, McAfee told ABC News, "I simply passed out, everything went black."

He said he hit his head on the floor when he collapsed. McAfee explained that for the past 48 hours he hasn't eaten and had very little to drink.

McAfee had been scheduled to be deported to Belize, ABC News has learned. But a judge could stay the ruling if it is determined that McAfee's life is threatened by being in Belizean custody, as McAfee has claimed in the past several weeks.

McAfee's attorneys hope to continue delaying the deportation by appealing to the Guatemala's high court on humanitarian grounds.

Raphael Martinez, a spokesman for the Belize government, said that if McAfee is deported to Belize, he would immediately be handed over to police and detained for up to 48 hours unless charges are brought against him.

"There is more that we know about the investigation, but that remains part of the police work," he said, hinting at possible charges.

He added that a handover by Guatemala would be "the neighborly thing to do."

A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Guatemala said that "due to privacy considerations," the embassy would "have no comment on the specifics of this situation," but that, "U.S. citizens are subject to the laws of the countries in which they are traveling or residing, and must work within the host countries' legal framework."

Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo

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Just hours before McAfee's arrest, he told ABC News in an exclusive interview Wednesday he would be seeking asylum in Guatemala. McAfee was arrested by the Central American country's immigration police and not the national police, said his attorney, who was confident his client would be released within hours.

"Thank God I am in a place where there is some sanity," said McAfee before his arrest. "I chose Guatemala carefully."

McAfee said that in Guatemala, the locals aren't surprised when he says the Belizean government is out to kill him.

"Instead of going, 'You're crazy,' they go, 'Yeah, of course they are,'" he said. "It's like, finally, I understand people who understand the system here."

But McAfee added he has not ruled out moving back to the United States, where he made his fortune as the inventor of anti-virus software, and that despite losing much of his fortune he still has more money than he could ever spend.

In his interview with ABC News, a jittery, animated but candid McAfee called the media's representation of him a "nightmare that is about to explode," and said he's prepared to prove his sanity.

McAfee has been on the run from police in Belize since the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull.

During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.

He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.

Investigators said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of the former developer, who was found shot in the head in his house on the resort island of San Pedro, but that they wanted to question him.

McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.

McAfee has been hiding from police ever since Faull's death -- but Telesforo Guerra, McAfee's lawyer in Guatemala, said the tactic was born out of necessity, not guilt.

"You don't have to believe what the police say," Guerra told ABC News. "Even though they say he is not a suspect they were trying to capture him."

Guerra, who is a former attorney general of Guatemala, said it would take two to three weeks to secure asylum for his client.

According to McAfee, Guerra is also the uncle of McAfee's 20-year-old girlfriend, Samantha. McAfee said the government raided his beachfront home and threatened Samantha's family.

"Fifteen armed soldiers come in and personally kidnap my housekeeper, threaten Sam's father with torture and haul away half a million dollars of my s***," claimed McAfee. "If they're not after me, then why all these raids? There've been eight raids!"

Before his arrest, McAfee said he would hold a press conference on Thursday in Guatemala City to announce his asylum bid. He has offered to answer questions from Belizean law enforcement over the phone, and denied any involvement in Faull's death.

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