Kenyan elephant numbers plummet by 1000 in four years

IT'S a case of up then down for Kenya's second largest population of elephants. After a promising growth spurt, the elephants are now dying faster than they are being born. The decline is being blamed on illegal poaching, driven by Asia's demand for ivory. ...

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Life & works of local literary icon on exhibit

SINGAPORE: An exhibition that features the life and works of local literary icon Dr Muhammad Ariff Ahmad was launched at the National Library Building on Saturday."Sumbangsih MAS: Muhammad Ariff Ahmad" also showcases his writings that are displayed for the first time, including an unpublished manuscript.The well-respected Malay language and cultural luminary turned 88 two days ago.This...

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Android's Google Now services headed for Chrome, too

It looks like Chrome users, not justAndroid users, will get access to Google Now, the search giant's technology for bringing weather reports, trip departure reminders, birthday alerts, nearby restaurant reviews, and more to the attention of Android users.Chrome team programmers accepted the addition of a "skeleton for Google Now for Chrome" to the Google browser yesterday, an early step in a larger...

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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...

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Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter...

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Parasite makes mice fearless by hijacking immune cells

The Toxoplasma parasite is an unusually devious operator. When it infects mice, it alters their behaviour so they become fearless enough to seek out cats and get eaten. But exactly how it did this was it a mystery. Now it appears...

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Yachting: Stamm takes lead in Vendee Globe

PARIS: Switzerland's Bernard Stamm has taken the lead for the first time in the solo, round-the-world Vendee Globe race ahead of France's Francois Gabart, Jean-Pierre Dick and Armel Le Cleac'h, organisers said on Friday.Stamm took pole position in the southern Indian Ocean after Le Cleac'h, who had held the lead for much of the last 18 days, paid the price for trying to cut off an anticyclone...

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Google puts deadline on bids for Motorola STB biz -- report

Google solicitation of bids for Motorola's set-top box business could come to an end later today.Google has been accepting bids for Motorola's operation for some time, but the company has set a deadline on the last bid round for today, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing people who are familiar with the dealings. The Journal's sources said that Google might extend the deadline if the offers...

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

Cassiopeia’s BubbleImage courtesy T.A. Rector, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSFA new camera called the One Degree Imager, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is responsible...

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November Unemployment Falls to 7.7 Percent

The economy generated 146,000 new jobs in November and unemployment fell to 7.7 percent, better than economists expected, despite worries that superstorm Sandy and the looming fiscal cliff would dampen hiring.There are still 12 million people unemployed in the country, but the Labor Department said Sandy did not "substantively impact" employment.The Labor Department's Bureau of...

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Your next boss could be a computer

Software that delegates tricky problems to human workers is changing the nature of crowdsourcing "I'D RATHER have a computer as my boss than a jerk," says Daniel Barowy. To that end he has created AutoMan, the first fully automatic system that can delegate tasks to human workers via crowdsourcing platforms...

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OUE sets deadline for F&N takeover offer

SINGAPORE: A consortium led by property group Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) has set a deadline for its takeover offer of conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N).Its S$13.1 billion offer for F&N will close on 3 January.OUE is controlled by Lippo Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate that was founded by tycoon Mochtar Riady. Mr Mochtar is father of OUE's executive chairman Stephen...

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Tim Cook: Steve Jobs told me to 'just do what's right'

Apple CEO Tim Cook with late co-founder Steve Jobs in 207.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Steve Jobs provided much-needed advice to him before he officially became chief executive.Speaking to Bloomberg BusinessWeek in an interview published today, Cook said that Jobs called him one day and asked to speak with him about his plans for Apple's future. Jobs told him that he would...

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High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

Patrick J. Kiger Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity...

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Cliffhanger: Can They Get to 'Yes'?

There are all sorts of theories floating around Washington about what kind of deficit reduction deal Democrats and Republicans eventually cut and when and how they get there.And, nearing the end of a week when little progress appears to have been made, one thing is certain: Americans are worried about the consequences of going over the fiscal cliff.According to a new Quinnipiac...

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The butterfly effect – in giant balloons

Kat Austen, CultureLab editorOn Space Time Foam (Image: courtesy of Fondazione HangarBicocca; photography by Alessandro Coco)See more in our gallery: "The universal art of networking""I HAVE always been fascinated by the butterfly effect," says Tomás Saraceno. "A butterfly's movement here will make a storm somewhere else."An artist and architect trained in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saraceno sees...

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AA to introduce new advanced defensive driving course

SINGAPORE: The Automobile Association of Singapore (AA) plans to introduce a new advanced defensive driving course, as part of its continuing efforts to promote safe driving and safer roads. Speaking at the AA's 105th charity gala dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, AA president Bernard Tay said that the association will be working with the authorities on the curriculum.No...

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#askpontifex meme takes off before pope's first tweet

The Pope has already racked up nearly half a million followers in eight languages ... and a long queue of queries.(Credit:Screenshot by CNET)Pope Benedict XVI has signed up for Twitter and though the pontiff has yet to bestow his first tweet upon us, he's racked up nearly half a million followers.He is also already facing a backlog of questions -- ranging from sincere to raunchy -- from the faithful...

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Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

Jane J. Lee The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker...

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Majority Back Clinton for Presidential Bid in 2016

Kevin Lamarque/AP PhotoCarried by a new high in personal popularity and broad approval of her work as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton closes out her diplomatic career with majority support as a candidate for president in 2016.Fifty-seven percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they’d back a run by Clinton to succeed Barack Obama, vs. 37 percent opposed. That includes a broad...

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Battling nature in your backyard

Phil McKenna, contributor(Image: Shattil & Rozinski/Naturepl.com)Your yard is the new frontier as wildlife returns to the suburbs. In Nature Wars, Jim Sterba calls for a shift from conservation to culling to win back territoryBEARS are at the bird feeder and gangs of turkeys terrorise the suburbs. In Nature Wars, author Jim Sterba takes readers on a fascinating journey to the front lines of...

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Asian hedge fund industry faces challenges ahead

SINGAPORE: Hedge fund managers said industry consolidation and increased regulatory oversight with accompanying costs are the top two challenges facing the industry in the next one to two years.This is according to a pool of 100 hedge fund managers interviewed by accounting firm, Ernst and Young.Many also pointed to a downward pressure on fees, resulting in a drop in revenues.Hedge funds...

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Apple nabs former TI engineers for chip push, report says

Apple's A6 chip, which is designed by Apple but manufactured by Samsung.(Credit:Apple)Reports suggest that Apple is in the hunt for former Texas Instruments engineers in Israel, in a bid to expand its operations in the country. According to sources speaking to The Next Web, Apple has been hiring "dozens" of engineers after the chipmaker cut 250 jobs from one of its Israeli operations center.Apple...

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Insiders Reveal 2012 Election Secrets

Pete Souza/White HouseThe 2012 election cycle came full circle last week when representatives from the Obama and Romney campaigns, as well as top advisers to many of the GOP primary candidates and several influential outside groups, gathered at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for a 2012 debrief — finally answering some of the lingering questions about the race.On neutral ground in Cambridge,...

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