Silent Skype calls can hide secret messages

Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence. A new technique can embed secret data during a phone call on Skype. "There are concerns that Skype calls can be intercepted and analysed," says Wojciech Mazurczyk at the Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. So his team's SkypeHide system lets users...

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A*STAR develops instant speech-to-speech translator

  SINGAPORE: Singaporeans can now speak to its neighbours in Asia without having to worry about language barriers, thanks to a new instant translator, developed by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).The software detects users' speech on a handphone and translates it to the desired language.The new speech-to-speech translator project is a collaboration of eight...

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What does the International Space Station sound like?

Can you hear me, Major Tom? Hadfield rocks out in the ISS cupola. (Credit:Canadian Space Agency)If you're heading to the International Space Station, try to bunk in the Japanese section. It's as quiet as a Zen temple. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recently went aboard the ISS and has been recording what it sounds like. It's not quite the elegant "2001: A Space Odyssey" experience you might expect....

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

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AI 'lifeguard' could save young swimmers from drowning

THIS goes way beyond water wings. An AI system is learning to recognise the panicky movements people make when they are drowning. The idea is that the system could one day be used to save children's lives when there are no lifeguards around. ...

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France seeks to grill Swiss shooter over Britons' murders in Alps

GENEVA: French police investigating the murder of a British-Iraqi family in the Alps have asked to question a Swiss gunman who killed three women in his home village, police in Switzerland said Friday.The police in the neighbouring French region of Haute-Savoie made the request to their colleagues in the Swiss canton of Valais, where on Thursday the gunman went on a shooting spree, a spokesman...

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Apple could launch 'iPhone Mini' next year, analyst says

Will the iPhone get a baby brother?(Credit:CNET)Is an "iPhone Mini" on the horizon? Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston thinks so. But why?Samsung has been the clear winner in the smartphone wars, with Apple playing second fiddle. And that lead may wider further in 2013.Based on data sent to CNET, Mawston expects Samsung to carve out a 33 percent chunk of the smartphone market this year, up from...

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Pictures We Love: Best of 2012

Photograph by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/APPowder-splattered, and powder-splattering, runners cross the finish line of The Color Run 5K in Irvine, California, on April 22. Each kilometer (0.6 mile) of the event features a color-pelting station dedicated to a single hue, culminating in the Pollock-esque riot at kilometer 5.The "magical color dust" is completely safe, organizers say, though...

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Chelsea Clinton Raises Profile During Mom's Illness

While Hillary Clinton was in the hospital it was daughter Chelsea -- not the secretary of state or the former president Bill Clinton -- who spoke for the family.She, along with the State Department, doled out what little information the family wanted to share in a series of tweets and when her mother was released from the hospital, it was Chelsea who delivered the thanks on...

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New positioning technology could compete with GPS

A ground-based system that uses much stronger signals than GPS can pinpoint your location in cities and indoors GOT a smartphone or satnav but still can't get a fix on where you are? A new positioning system could compete with GPS to make sure you never lose your bearings again. ...

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141 journalists killed in 2012: media watchdog

GENEVA: Last year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries and Syria the most dangerous place on earth for reporters, a media watchdog said Thursday.The Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which fights for the protection of journalists, said the figure was up by 31 percent on 2011.At least 37 journalists, among them 13 working for...

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Maybe China Mobile needs the iPhone more than it thinks

Apple's iPhone 5.(Credit:CBS Interactive)China Mobile, the largest carrier in China, and the crown jewel for Apple, might be suffering by not offering the iPhone to customers, an analyst claims.In a note to investors, Evercore Partners analyst Rob Cihra said that he believes "China Mobile could be starting to need the iPhone more." He pointed out that China Mobile's 3G market share is down 7 percent...

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Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast GuardWaves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel...

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Senate Swears in Historic 20th Female Senator

Today the Senate will make history, swearing in a record-breaking 20 female senators – 4 Republicans and 16 Democrats – in office.As the 113th Congress is sworn in today on Capitol Hill, ABC "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer has an exclusive joint interview with the historic class of female Senators.Diane Sawyer's complete interview will air on World News this evening."I can't...

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LHC to stir up hot particle soup before 2013 shut down

At the foot of the misty mountains a mighty ring was forged – again! For one month, the Large Hadron Collider will smash two types of particles in a single magnetic ring. So far, the LHC at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland, has been colliding...

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US stocks soar on fiscal cliff deal

NEW YORK: US stocks shot up Wednesday on news of a fiscal cliff deal in Congress that prevented most tax increases and delayed sharp spending cuts.Fifteen minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 215.17 points (1.64 percent) at 13,319.31.The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 71.73 points (2.38 percent) at 3,091.24, while the broad-market S&P 500 gained 25.76 points...

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Judge decides to keep Samsung sales data unsealed

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh has denied Samsung's request to keep its phone and device sales data out of the public's eye.According to Bloomberg, which obtained a copy of an order filed earlier this week, Koh decided that Samsung must file and cannot seal an exhibit detailing total units sold on certain Samsung products. The products included in that exhibit, as well as the span of time in which...

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Space Pictures This Week: Ice “Broccoli,” Solar Storm

Happy TrailsPhotograph by Alex Cherney, TWANAmateur astronomer Alex Cherney captured these star trails as they blazed above Lake Tyrrell, a salt lake in Victoria, Australia in...

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Obama Hails 'Cliff' Deal, Warns of Next Fiscal Fight

Minutes after the House of Representatives approved a bipartisan Senate deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and preserve Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans making less than $400,000 per year, President Obama praised party leaders and wasted little time turning to the next fiscal fight."This is one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy for everybody," Obama said.Obama...

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In-depth 2012: The best long reads of the year

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" Dig deeper, look closer and think harder – these are the goals of New Scientist's in-depth articles. Each one is perfect for saving in your favourite read-it-later...

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Football: Brazil starlet Lucas relishing PSG challenge

DOHA: Brazilian international midfielder Lucas Moura said Tuesday he is ready to embrace the "challenge" at an evolving Paris Saint-Germain.Lucas, 20, signed from Sao Paulo in the summer on a four-and-a-half-year deal worth 40 million euros as PSG held off competition from the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid to snare a player hailed as one of the bright hopes of the Brazilian...

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Why I still love the Nexus 7

There's something about the holidays and the cold January that often follows in the Northeast that makes me want to curl up on the couch with a good book -- or in this day and age, a book on my e-reader ortablet.TheNexus 7 debuted more than six months ago at Google's annual developer conference, but I am still a big fan of the device. And I have no trouble recommending it to tablet buyers. In this...

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Space Pictures This Week: Ice “Broccoli,” Solar Storm

Happy TrailsPhotograph by Alex Cherney, TWANAmateur astronomer Alex Cherney captured these star trails as they blazed above Lake Tyrrell, a salt lake in Victoria, Australia in...

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