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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Can the internet revive US democracy?

Jim Giles, consultantTech-savvy campaigns get mixed results, as the Arab Spring shows (Image: William Dupuy/Picturetank)Gavin Newsom's Citizenville shows that technology can empower people, but the book fails to explore deep-rooted problems within the democratic processTHERE'S a lot of crime in Oakland, California. But until a few years ago, citizens had little way of assessing the scale of the...

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Two Nobel Prize winners share their success stories

SINGAPORE: Fifteen internationally-renowned scientists were in Singapore recently for the inaugural Global Young Scientists Summit.Among them were Nobel Prize winners Eric Cornell and Ada Yonath, who gave talks, participated in panel discussions and mentored young scientists during their time in Singapore.The discoveries that garnered them the prestigious Nobel Prize were years in the...

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Get a Microsoft Surface RT 32GB tablet for $424

You can grab a Surface RT for as little as $400 (if you don't mind waiting on a partial rebate).(Credit:Microsoft)Microsoft's Surface RT tablet has seen its share of headlines since it debuted in October -- not all of them good. For example, last month a patch prevented some users from accessing the Windows Store, and before that, the 32GB Surface RT was revealed to have only 16GB of available storage.Well,...

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Year of the Snake: The Serpent Behind the Horoscope

On February 10, people all around the world will ring in the Lunar New Year with paper lanterns and firecrackers. At the heart of it all sits the snake, a slithery reptile feared for its sharp fangs and revered for its undeniable charm. (Watch videos of some of the world's deadliest snakes.)Those born in the Year of the Snake are said to be intelligent and quick thinking, but they can...

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