IF TWO animals have identical brain cells, how different can they really be? Extremely. Two worm species have exactly the same set of neurons, but extensive rewiring allows them to lead completely different lives. Ralf Sommer of the Max Planck Institute...
6.9-magnitude quake hits Japan's Hokkaido
Label: Technology TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 struck off Japan's Hokkaido island late on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.The quake hit at a depth of 103 kilometres (64 miles) at 23:17pm (1417 GMT), about 109 kilometres west of Kushiro, Hokkaido, the USGS said. !-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b"; innity_zone...
Building better Super Bowl ads by watching you watch them
Label: LifestyleA side-by-side test of Apple and Samsung ads.(Credit:Screenshot courtesy of Affectiva)WALTHAM, Mass.--The makers of Wheat Thins cereal may have a hit Super Bowl commercial on their hands.I believe this because I watched the ad on my computer while another computer watched me watching it over the Internet. The ad combined a box of Wheat Thins, night vision goggles, fear of Bigfoot when there should...
Pictures We Love: Best of January
Label: HealthPhotograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...
Ala. Standoff: Students Say Suspect Threatened to Kill
Label: Business A brother and sister who escaped the school bus where a 5-year-old autistic boy was taken hostage by a retired Alabama trucker are speaking out about the standoff and the man who threatened the lives of the children on board."I look up and he's talking about threatening to kill us all or something," 14-year-old Terrica Singletary told ABC's "Good Morning America." "He's like,...
Feb
01
Texas mega-battery aims to green up the grid
Label: World IN A remote corner of west Texas, in the shadow of a sprawling wind farm, one of the world's largest batteries was switched on last week. Deep in oil country, the battery is at the vanguard of efforts to help renewable energy sources realise their potential and, ultimately, oust fossil fuels in the US. ...
Motor Racing: New car but only one driver for Force India
Label: Technology LONDON: Force India unveiled their new car for the forthcoming Formula One season at Silverstone on Friday, but they are still to confirm the identity of British driver Paul di Resta's teammate.The vacancy next to Di Resta is one of only three across the grid for the 2013 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 17.French driver Jules Bianchi, the team's...
Why is the BlackBerry Z10 on sale in the U.K. first?
Label: LifestyleThe BlackBerry Z10 with the UK flag Photoshopped onto its screenTwo days ago, the company formerly known as RIM pulled out all the stops at a super-swanky event in New York to launch two new phones that will either kill or cure the company.But despite the global launch happening in the US, America is the last of the first batch of countries to see the Z10, BlackBerry's first phone to ship with...
Sinkhole Swallows Buildings in China
Label: HealthPhotograph from AFP/Getty ImagesThe sinkhole that formed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (pictured) is, unfortunately, not a new occurrence for the country.Many areas of the world are susceptible to these sudden formations, including the U.S. Florida is especially prone, but Guatemala, Mexico, and the area surrounding the Dead Sea in the Middle East are also known for their impressive sinkholes....
'Terrorist Blast' at US Embassy in Turkey
Label: Business At least one person was killed in what the State Department called a "terrorist blast" outside the U.S. Embassy in Turkey today.The explosion, which occurred at a checkpoint to the embassy in Ankara in the early afternoon local time, claimed the life of an embassy guard and wounded a Turkish citizen, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardione told reporters. April...
Jan
31
Drone school: Not a cushy number
Label: World* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...
US consumer spending flat in December
Label: Technology WASHINGTON: US consumers held tight to their wallets in December, the key holiday shopping season, despite a rise in incomes, according to Commerce Department data released on Thursday.Household spending edged up 0.2 percent from November, only half the growth of the prior month and slightly below the consensus estimate of 0.3 percent.Consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy,...
Despite waning demand, Nintendo rules out Wii U price cut
Label: LifestyleThe Wii U's troubles attracting gamers won't be solved by a price cut, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata argues.Speaking to reporters in Tokyo yesterday, Iwata acknowledged that Wii U sales disappointed last year, but he didn't necessarily feel that dropping the price of the $300 Basic Set or the $350 Deluxe Set would do the company much good."We are already offering it at a good price," Iwata said, according...
New Theory on How Homing Pigeons Find Home
Label: HealthJane J. Lee Homing pigeons (Columba livia) have been prized for their navigational abilities for thousands of years. They've served as messengers during war, as a means of long-distance communication, and as prized athletes in international races.But there are places around the world that seem to confuse these birds—areas where they repeatedly vanish in the wrong direction or scatter on...
Jan
30
First real time-travel movies are loopers
Label: World* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...
Basketball: ABL looking to connect more with fans this season
Label: Technology SINGAPORE: Around 135,000 spectators caught all the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) matches live last season.And new measures are being introduced this season to help increase viewership both on and off the court for the six teams including the Singapore Slingers.The ABL was launched in 2009 and it has raised the profile of the game of basketball.However, there is still a huge market to...
King's Landing from 'Thrones' gets the Minecraft treatment
Label: LifestyleExplore one of the 3,000 buildings in the King's Landing area within the WesterosCraft Minecraft server.(Credit:Maruku/WesterosCraft)Do you love "Game of Thrones"? Do you eat, sleep, and breathe to the tune of the epic HBO television series based on George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels? I know times are tough, especially since the new season doesn't start until March 31. But we might...
Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"
Label: Health French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier. But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several...
Gunman Kills Bus Driver, Takes Child as Hostage
Label: Business A gunman shot and killed a school bus driver in Midland City, Ala., Tuesday afternoon and escaped the scene with a 6-year-old passenger, which has prompted a hostage situation that is still going on this morning.The suspected gunman is identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 60-something military veteran, a police source told ABC News. Dykes and the child are in an underground bunker...
Jan
29
Drug reduces enlarged prostate with few side effects
Label: World Relief from the constant call of nature is the aim of a new drug, tested in rats, which can shrink an enlarged prostate and is likely to have few side effects. By the age of 60 an estimated 70 per cent of men have prostate enlargement. Treatment involves surgery or...
Tampines junction to be reviewed after fatal accident
Label: Technology SINGAPORE: MP for Tampines GRC Baey Yam Keng says authorities will review the junction of Tampines Avenue 9 and Tampines Street 45, following a fatal accident there.Two brothers, aged seven and 13, died after their bicycle collided with a cement truck on Monday evening.The brothers Nigel and Donovan cycled around the Tampines estate frequently.The tragic accident came as a rude shock to...
RIM to livestream BlackBerry 10 launch tomorrow
Label: LifestyleRIM CEO Thorsten Heins at a BlackBerry event last year.(Credit:Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)Those of you who want to catch RIM's BlackBerry 10 action tomorrow can tune into a live webcast.Scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow, the event will run simultaneously in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta, and Delhi. People who can't make the trip to any of those cities can watch...
5 Years Later, What's New on Immigration Reform?
Label: Business The announcement of a proposal for immigration reform inspired renewed excitement for some involved in the fight Monday, but other players in the debate felt a sense of déjà vu.Monday afternoon, senators introduced a framework of changes previewed over the weekend, with President Obama and a secret group from the House of Representatives expected soon to follow suit.The press...
Jan
28
Stellar performances finally gain the limelight
Label: World Michael Brooks, consultant(Image: Five Finger Yamanaka/courtesy of Phil Ross)In Heart of Darkness, Jeremiah P. Ostriker and Simon Mitton add new stars to the constellation of astronomy to tell the subject's full historyWE HAVE all heard of the Hubble Space Telescope, named after Edwin Hubble, but where is the Tinsley telescope?Beatrice Tinsley was an excellent astronomer, but her career was stymied...
Retail rents in S'pore up 2% in 2012
Label: Technology SINGAPORE: Prices of shop space rose 2.0 per cent in 2012, while rentals dropped marginally by 0.3 per cent according to the latest statistics from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).Yields of retail units have dropped last year, but most market experts Channel NewsAsia spoke to are optimistic about the demand for retail space in Singapore from both investors and retailers. After...
Porn briefly makes 'Editor's Pick' on Twitter's Vine
Label: LifestyleThe current top result for "Editor's Pick" on Vine.(Credit:Screenshot taken by Roger Cheng/CNET)A pornographic video briefly made Vine's "Editor Pick" list, further raising the question of whether the video-clip-sharing app has a porn problem.The clip showed up this morning, and was spotted by The Verge, before it was quickly taken down. A video featuring the "I love NY" logo is the current top editor's...
Doomed Dolphin Speaks to New York's Vibrant Wildlife
Label: Health By the time New Yorkers spied a dolphin swimming through the superfund sludge of the Gowanus Canal last Friday, it was too late. The marine mammal didn't even survive long enough for a rescue plan to come together. First sighted on Friday afternoon, the dolphin perished at 6:00 p.m.The reason the marine mammal died, and why the dolphin swam up the...
Gym Turned Into Morgue for Nightclub Fire Victims
Label: Business Coffins lined a gymnasium in Santa Maria, Brazil, today as family members tried to identify their loved ones after a fast-moving fire tore through a crowded nightclub Sunday morning, killing more than 230 people and injuring hundreds more.A community gym near the popular Kiss nightclub has been converted to a temporary morgue were family members were led in one by one Sunday...
Jan
27
DNA privacy: don't flatter yourself
Label: World The secrets contained in our individual genomes are less valuable than we like to believe IMAGINE donating your DNA to a project aimed at discovering links between genes and diseases. You consent to your genome sequence being released anonymously into the public domain, though you are warned there is a remote possibility that it might...
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