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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