False memories prime immune system for future attacks

IN A police line-up, a falsely remembered face is a big problem. But for the body's police force – the immune system – false memories could be a crucial weapon. When a new bacterium or virus invades the body, the immune system mounts...

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Pertapis children's home using music to boost academic performance

SINGAPORE: Pertapis children's home is trying to raise its residents' academic achievements through using music as educational therapy.As part of the programme, the children learn to play various musical instruments. It is one way to help them express themselves and focus better on their studies as a result.The home is also getting help from partners like Hwa Chong Institution for lessons...

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How Apple got serious about style

Humble beginnings -- an early conceptual modular Apple tablet from 1982.(Credit:Harmut Esslinger, Frog Design)When Frog Design founder Hartmut Esslinger met Steve Jobs in 1982, it sparked a chain of events that monumentally changed Apple's design philosophy forever. It wasn't just a change in how future products would look -- Esslinger ushered in a change of mindset and a unified design language across...

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Picture Archive: Making Mount Rushmore, 1935-1941

Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National GeographicThere's no such thing as Presidents' Day.According to United States federal government code, the holiday is named Washington's Birthday, and has been since it went nationwide in 1885.But common practice is more inclusive. The holiday expanded to add in other U.S. presidents in the 1960s, and the moniker Presidents' Day became popular...

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Vatican Raises Possibility of Early March Conclave

The Vatican raised the possibility Saturday that the conclave to elect the next pope might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.Vatican spokesman The Rev. Federico Lombardi said that the Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that "this is a question...

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Russian meteor will teach us about future bigger hits

You wait years for a space rock and then two come along at once. Just hours before an asteroid is due to almost graze Earth, a meteor has exploded over the Russian region of Chelyabinsk, injuring hundreds of people and damaging nearby buildings. ...

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Eurozone returns to trade surplus

BRUSSELS: The 17-nation eurozone posted a 2012 trade surplus of 81.8 billion euros ($108 billion), more than reversing a deficit of 15.7 billion euros in 2011, official data showed Friday.For December, the eurozone had a trade surplus of 11.7 billion euros, down from 13 billion euros in November, as exports fell 1.8 percent and imports by 3.0 percent, the Eurostat agency said.For the wider...

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Uh oh: Nintendo sold 57,000 Wii U units in the U.S. in January

Nintendo's Wii U had a rough January, CNET has learned.Nintendo sold only 57,000 Wii U units in the U.S. in January, a person familiar with NPD's game industry sales data has confirmed to CNET. The leading console maker during the period, Microsoft, sold 281,000 units in January.Gamasutra was first to report that Wii U sales were sluggish in January. That publication's source said only that January...

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Why We Walk … and Run … And Walk Again to Get Where We're Going

You have to get to a bus stop to catch the once-an-hour express ... or to a restaurant to meet a friend ... or to a doctor's office. You've got maybe a half a mile to cover and you're worried you'll be late. You run, then you stop and walk, then run some more.But wait. Wouldn't it be better to run the whole way?Not necessarily.A new study by an assistant professor of mechanical engineering...

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Falling Meteor Causes Blast, Injures Hundreds

A massive meteor shower slammed into Earth near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, located about 1,000 miles east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.Dashboard cameras captured a blinding flash of light streaking across the sky. Moments later, the fragments smashed into the ground. The impact, and the sonic boom of the meteor entering the atmosphere, shattered windows around the city...

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How Facebook makes breaking up hard to do

Paul Marks, senior technology reporter(Image: Andy Kingsbury/Corbis)I am not particularly prone to earbugs, but Jimmy Ruffin's emotive Motown classic What Becomes of the Brokenhearted began playing in my mind when I came across this intriguingly titled research paper last week: "Design for forgetting: Disposing of digital possessions after a breakup".Yes, I know it’s Valentine’s Day, and love is...

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Life in Kashmir inches back to normalcy after curfew lift

SRINAGAR: Life in Indian Kashmir is slowly returning to normal as authorities lift a curfew in phases. The curfew was imposed during the weekend after the execution of a Kashmiri militant.The Batmalu area of Srinagar in Kashmir valley was under curfew since Saturday, after Afzal Guru was hanged in Central Prison in Delhi. Since Guru came from the valley, police anticipating any kind of...

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Three-deal Thursday: Pogoplug, Klipsch earbuds, and apps

Klipsch earbuds for $15? I'll take two pair, please.(Credit:Woot)Happy Valentine's Day, cheeps! Here's hoping you have a day filled with love, chocolate, and, of course, deals.That's right: deals, plural. I couldn't settle on just one today, so I've rounded up three (well, five, technically) to make your day a little sweeter.1. Pogoplug MobileThe Pogoplug Mobile is a small box that plugs into your...

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Are Honeybees Losing Their Way?

A single honeybee visits hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flowers a day in search of nectar and pollen. Then it must find its way back to the hive, navigating distances up to five miles (eight kilometers), and perform a "waggle dance" to tell the other bees where the flowers are.A new study shows that long-term exposure to a combination of certain pesticides might impair the bee's ability...

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'Blade Runner' Charged With Murdering Girlfriend

Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic and Paralympic athlete known as the "blade runner," was taken into custody in South Africa today and charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who was fatally shot at his home.Police in the South African capital of Pretoria received a call around 3 a.m. today that there had been a shooting at the home of 26-year-old Pistorius, Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale...

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Culling urban foxes just doesn't work

Continue reading page |1 |2 Rare cases of foxes biting children cause uproar, but culling won't cut numbers – it is our behaviour that needs addressing, says an ecologist In the UK, whenever wildlife are seen to be posing a problem, it goes without saying that the culprits are branded as overabundant – be...

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Apple loses rights to iPhone trademark in Brazil

BRASILIA: Regulators in Brazil on Wednesday rejected Apple's application to register its iPhone trademark in the country, having already recognized a local manufacturer's claim to the name.The Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) "denied Apple registration of the iPhone trademark," the institute's press office told AFP. The decision was officially published by the INPI.- AFP/fa !--...

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A&E brings full-length episodes to iPhone -- for free

A look at A&E's iPhone app.(Credit:A&E)Apple iPhone owners now have the ability to stream full episodes of some of the most popular A&E shows.The network updated its iOS application earlier this week, allowing iPhone owners to watch everything from "Duck Dynasty" to "Storage Wars" and "The First 48." A&E's other networks, Lifetime and The History Channel, have also received updates...

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Obama Pledges U.S. Action on Climate, With or Without Congress

If there were anything in President Barack Obama's State of the Union to give hope to wistful environmentalists, it was the unprecedented promise to confront climate change with or without Congress, and to pursue new energy technology in the process.Following his strong statements in his inaugural address about the ripeness of the moment to address a changing climate, Obama outlined a...

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Robotic tormenter depresses lab rats

Hal Hodson, technology reporter(Image: Chris Nash/iamchrisphotography/Getty)Lab rats have a new companion, but it's not friendly. Researchers at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, have developed a robotic rat called WR-3 whose job is to induce stress and depression in lab animals, creating models of psychological conditions on which new drugs can be tested. Animal are used throughout medicine...

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Cycling: Sagan wins second stage in Oman, takes lead

AL BUSTAN, Oman: Slovakia's Peter Sagan won the second stage of the Tour of Oman on Tuesday and moved into the overall lead, following a 146km run from Fanja in Bidbid to Al Bustan, close to the Oman Sea.The 23-year-old Cannondale rider broke free from the pack in the final kilometre to finish nine seconds in front of Frenchman Tony Gallopin, with Swiss rider Martin Elmiger a further two...

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Samsung's Open Innovation Center aims at startup innovation

Samsung yesterday announced the launch of a new Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley that aims at connecting the conglomerate with the latest and greatest software ideas.David Eun, Samsung Electronics executive vice president and leader of the Open Innovation Center, announced its opening yesterday at the D: Dive Into Media event. He told All Things Digital's Kara Swisher that while the company's...

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Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival

Holy BathPhotograph by Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty ImagesThe Hindu festival known as Kumbh Mela, often referred to as the world’s largest gathering of humanity, peaked on Sunday at...

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Could an African Cardinal Be the Next Pope?

Feb 12, 2013 9:09am Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson attends a Mass for Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, in this April 13, 2005 photo. (Pier Paolo Cito/AP Photo)By BAZI KANANI and PHOEBE NATANSONROME – After Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in hundreds of years to voluntarily resign, the Roman Catholic Church could be...

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