Science / Technology News Archives

"It is the first new species of giant elephant-shrew to be discovered in more than 126 years. From the moment I first lifted one of the animals into our photography tent, I knew it must be a new species - not just because of its distinct coloring, but because it was so heavy!"

Consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout in men, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

Death Valley may be known by its three superlatives: hottest, driest, and lowest - as in temperature, rainfall, and elevation in the United States. But it was the flow of water through the National Park that attracted Boston College Geologist Noah P. Snyder to the desert of eastern California.

NASA is planning to return to the moon by 2020. In a new capsule called Orion, it will take the Chariot, a lunar rover.

Japanese researchers have implanted a small camera inside a mouse's brain to see how memory is formed, in an experiment they hope to some day apply to humans to treat illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.

Corporate users are dying to get their corporate email on the iPhone, and HyperOffice has announced a public beta to allow iPhone users to connect to their corporate email, contacts, calendars, tasks and notes.

A report in BioMedical Engineering OnLine refutes claims that portable music players, such as Apple's iPod, interfere with cardiac pacemakers.

Earthquakes occurring at the edges of tectonic plates can trigger events at a distance and much later in time, according to a team of researchers reporting in Nature. These doublet earthquakes may hold an underestimated hazard, but may also shed light on earthquake dynamics.

Oh, it brings such blessed relief and now scientists can tell you why -- scratching an itch temporarily shuts off areas in the brain linked with unpleasant feelings and memories.

What do you get when you cross a Geo Metro with an electric forklift, a golf cart, and a bunch of used batteries? You get a ridiculously inexpensive, home-built, street-legal electric car.

Thursday Amazon.com announced it has reached an agreement to buy Audible, which if you haven't already "heard," is the leading audiobook reseller. The deal is valued at $300 million, which is a 20% premium over Wednesday's closing price for Audible (ADBL).

We've spoken before about The Pirate Bay and their belief that they are protected by the DMCA's "safe harbor" clause and Swedish law. Apparently Swedish authorities don't agree as four of the operators of The Pirate Bay were formally charged Thursday with "assisting copyright infringement" of 4 software applications, 9 films and 22 music tracks.

Just a slim majority of Americans consider global warming "a very serious problem," and many aren't even taking the "green" actions they support, a nationwide survey suggested today.

John Pultorak, a 54 year old Lockheed Martin software engineer, built his own Apollo AGC in his basement. He completed it in 2005 - it took him 4 years to build it (working about 10 hours a week on the project) and he spent about $3, 000 for the required hardware.

When finished, he created a fantastic 1,000 page documentation which includes detailed descriptions and all schematics of the computer.

A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye color of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.

Healthy consumers can handle the low levels of bacteria occasionally found in cosmetics.

Using mice as models, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology traced some of the differences between humans and chimpanzees to differences in our diet.

Earthquakes occurring at the edges of tectonic plates can trigger events at a distance and much later in time, according to a team of researchers reporting in Nature. These doublet earthquakes may hold an underestimated hazard, but may also shed light on earthquake dynamics.

One of the oldest rivals to the community news site Digg is pointing to recent unrest at the site as evidence that the social news model is flawed.

Until recently, Nokia's software efforts have been perceived as the opposite of open: closed.

As early as Tuesday night, some early buyers of the MacBook Air received emails informing them that their orders had shipped and that they would receive their MBAs on Friday. This was confirmed today in an Apple press release, but that was the extent of the MBA love. None of the Apple stores I checked with had any inventory.

The tax deadline is only two and a half months away. This year, there are some new tax credits added, hopefully changes giving you back more money. We have tax tips you need to know this year. If you're a home owner, this tax season's for you. The government's expected to give back the most money in taxes if you own a home.

A study in Social Science Quarterly says that religious women are less likely to have abortions than secular women - not because they're more pro-life, but because they're less likely to get pregnant before marriage.

The sunscreen that you dutifully slather on before a swim on the beach may be protecting your body - but a new study finds that the chemicals are also killing coral reefs worldwide.

A proposal by the overseer of the Internet's addressing system could make it a lot easier for people to reserve the domain name they want for their Web site.

Actually, this shouldn't come as a surprise. It was clearly indicated in the Apple press release about the new iTunes Video Rental service that it was only compatible "iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch."

Beijing has successfully managed to stop light rainfall in experiments aimed at guaranteeing a dry opening ceremony at August's Olympic Games, officials said on Wednesday.

A group of the world's leading sequencing centers have announced plans to sequence 1000 human genomes. The cost of the first human genome project was about $3 billion; by comparison, the next 1000 will be a steal at possibly only $50 million dollars (and that's total cost, not per genome).

But that's still a lot of money - why are we investing so much in sequencing genomes?

Without much in the way of electrical infrastructure to begin with, aid groups and the private sector are gearing up to design cheaper and more energy efficient technologies for the developing world.

E-mail seems to be an every day thing. Between work and home, many people have more than one e-mail account. There's a name for those that are e-mail--obsessed: email-aholics. To over-come this tech-addiction, we have some tips to help you cut down on e-mail time.

Being a millionaire seems like a long-shot goal for many, but it might be easier than you think. Whether you're just starting to save at 25 or only have ten years to go until retirement, there's still hope for you reach that one million dollar mark.

There's no doubt about it, the cell phone has changed our lives in many ways. But the changes are just beginning. With 82% of the population carrying a cell phone, manufacturers are looking at new way to use a cell phone.

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers have probed the inner parts of the disc of material surrounding a young stellar object, witnessing how it gains its mass before becoming an adult.

Google has a new idea to monetize an old technology: print ads. It plans to use small, square barcodes like the one above left .

Middle age is truly miserable, according to a study using data from 80 countries showing that depression is most common among men and women in their 40s.

Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein Research, has backed off his initial assertion that tons of iPhones are sitting on warehouse shelves. Rather than that, Sacconaghi estimates about 1 million iPhones have been unlocked - which is possibly worse news for Apple.

While the IFPI and the RIAA have been actively pushing for ISP liability for file sharing, it appears some in the industry are taking it even further.

Crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense." So says the homepage of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement .

This is what Wikileaks was created for, right? Leaked documents dated Sept. 4th, 2007 have been leaked by the German "Pirate Party" or "Piraten," showing that the German government is investigating ways to wiretap Skype, using Trojan Horses.

(For those unfamiliar with Skype, it basically allows calls and other messaging services over the Internet).

The document, (.PDF, German), shows that the German government was discussing the use of a "Skype Capture Unit," basically a form of malware to be installed on each "target PC," with the company DigiTask.

A Canadian health study suggested a link between a woman's breast size by age 20 and the development of type 2 diabetes as she matures.

In the aftermath of the Big Bang, particles collided and shifted with terrific force - yet protons came out of these crashes intact. This identity retention was a primitive form of memory and it was the foundation of culture.

A delegation of Tasmanian government officials traveled halfway around the world to visit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ...

The Black Death that decimated populations in Europe and elsewhere during the middle of the 14th century may not have been a blindly indiscriminate killer, as some experts have believed.

Busy and absentee parents, meet your new best friend. As part of DEMO 08, the emerging tech conference which takes place in Palm Desert Januaury 28 to 30, LeapFrog is unveiling a new handheld learn-to-read technology that interacts directly with real books.

French city of Nantes recently became host to extremely strange and fascinating sculptural display: "Les Machines de l'Ile Nantes" ...

Qtrax kinda, sorta went live at 12:00 AM EST on Jan. 29th. I say kinda, sorta because although I was able to download the Songbird-based Qtrax app - and install it - I couldn't register because when I clicked on the registration button it took me to a blank screen.

Just how much will Mountain View invade Madison Avenue? Several hundred New Yorkers involved in advertising and marketing packed a room in Google's Chelsea headquarters here Monday night to find out.

You'd think this isn't related to tech, but without LEGO, we wouldn't have LEGO Mindstorms - or LEGO Star Wars. Even Google recognized Monday, January 28th, as the 50th anniversary of the patenting of the iconic LEGO brick.

It used to be that El Nino was a predictable phenomenon that explained odd weather changes but recent global warming studies minimized its impact - everything was global warming instead. Now, it seems, El Nino is back in atmospheric fashion.

Want an easy way to order medicine and have it delivered right to your door? You don't even need a prescription. A website is making all of this possible. The website is webpillstation.com It allows the user to request medicine and have a doctor review the request. The doctor approves your request and the prescription is then mailed to you.

Exercising and alcohol...many would answer that one is better than the other. Turns out, that may not be the case. Many probably think exercise is better for the body, and you may have heard that drinking a little is better than not drinking at all. But you may not have known that drinking and exercise help your body in the exact same way.

Market research company Gartner confirmed what many consumers seem to already think: the hi-def DVD war is over.

With the earlier defection of Warner Bros. to Blu-ray exclusivity, among major studios, only Paramount and Universal still support HD-DVD. Given the lack of content, Gartner believes HD-DVD to be in its death throes.

Music fans around the world faced confusion today as it was announced they would be able to download unlimited, free songs without breaking the law - but record labels have denied they had granted permission to share the songs.

According to two studies published in Cell Transplantation, stroke victims may benefit from human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) or bone marrow stromal cell (BMSCs) transplantation. In both studies, the migration of chemically 'tagged' transplanted stem cells were tracked to determine the degree to which the transplanted cells reached damaged areas of the brain and became therapeutically active.

Hydrogen-powered cars are already on the road, and one company plans a limited release of models to the general public later this year.

The cars run quietly, emit only distilled water and can range more than 250 miles, just like gasoline-powered vehicles.

But these wonder vehicles have a "chicken or the egg" problem, notes the U.S. Department of Energy: very few fueling stations. Without those stations, who's going to buy hydrogen cars? If no one's buying the cars, who wants to build a fuel stop?

As I indicated yesterday, I'll believe it when it happens: free, legal, unlimited downloads from all the major labels and more. Right. So far it hasn't worked out that way.

U.S. cosmologists have proposed ancient light absorbed by neutral hydrogen atoms could be used to test certain predictions of string theory.

What seems to me the strangest decision apple made in designing the MacBook Air, its almost complete reliance on Wi-Fi for communications.

Could it be that the “natural” mental decline that afflicts many older people is related to how much lead they absorbed decades before?

Pioneering research at the University of Sunderland has shown that regular exposure to safe low level infra-red light can improve learning performance and kick-start the cognitive function of the brain.

According to two studies published in the current issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION , stroke victims may benefit from human mesenchymal stem cell or bone marrow stromal cell transplantation.

Is one week of sales data an indicator of the end of HD DVD or simply a temporary blip?

Last week Blizzard announced that it had reached 10 million subscribers in World of Warcraft (WoW). Guess who else has reached 10 million? The Pirate Bay.

The bidding topped $3.7 billion on the second day of the Federal Communications Commission's auction of government-owned airwaves, but there were no new suitors Friday for a closely watched block of spectrum to be shared with public safety agencies.

Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.

It's hard to visualise but the intelligent and ever-friendly dolphin can also be a determined killer.

Remember when the MacBook Air was intro'ed? Steve Jobs said they'd be available in two weeks. Hmmm. Based on that info, it would be ... this week! Specifically, it would be Tuesday, two weeks after the Macworld keynote.

The first gives us plenty of reasons to be excited, as it confirms some previous rumors and gives us hope that Palm has finally seen the light and is dropping their horrendous 'Athena' connector:

Do's and don'ts with babies - the pictures seem to be from a book by David and Kelly Sopp.

San Carlos Tesla confirmed that it will begin production of its $100,000 electric roadster this Spring.

Inspired by the most traditional of water-travel methods, SkySails aims to get cargo ships using wind power once again. With oil prices rising considerably, and industry increasingly interested in searching out cheaper alternatives, SkySails’ ‘wind propulsion system’ claims to be attracting a considerable amount of interest and it’s no great surprise why.

Actually, I'll believe it months after it happens - meaning I'll believe it can actually work at that point.

According to Qtrax, they have the support of all the major record labels with a selection of 25 million tracks. While it sounds too good to be true, upon closer examination there will be big negatives with the service.

When Amazon MP3 launched last year, you can bet it was looked upon by Apple as just another minor threat to iTunes' dominance. But with the signing of Sony BMG, Amazon is the only retailer selling DRM-free music from all four major music labels. And now it's a major threat.

Today Amazon announced that Amazon MP3 is going global, spreading DRM-free music worldwide.

Las Vegas the tourist mecca of the World is set to begin development of the World's first vertical farm.

As a result of innovative work done by Skyonic Corporation in Texas, baking soda may become one of our greatest weapons against carbon emissions and global warming as well.

Geologists from the University of Leicester propose that humankind has so altered the Earth that it has brought about an end to one epoch of Earth's history and marked the start of a new epoch.

The long-sought-after biological 'gateway' that anthrax uses to enter healthy cells has been uncovered by microbiologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

In the culture wars, there is a conservative faction that loves nothing better than savaging the organic-farming movement as an elitist affectation that is out of touch with economic reality.

This contingent is ecstatic today, gleefully passing around a paragraph from a recent Economist article summarizing the negative views on organic agriculture held by famous agronomist Norman Borlaug.

Jeb Corliss wants to fly - not the way the Wright brothers wanted to fly, but the way we do in our dreams.

Drafting 18-wheelers with the engine off, taking death turns at 52 miles an hour, and other lessons learned while riding shotgun with the king of the hypermilers.

On Tuesday, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a patent on a "mobile entertainment and communication device." The description of the device:

a mobile entertainment and communication device in a palm-held size housing has a cellular or satellite telephone capable of wireless communication with the Internet and one or more replaceable memory card sockets for receiving a blank memory card for recording data directly from the Internet (more) ...

Sounds like a smartphone, doesn't it?

A good argument with your spouse could be just what the doctor ordered. Preliminary results from a survey of married couples suggest that disputing husbands and wives who hold in their anger die earlier than expressive couples.

A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday.

A procedure using bone marrow weans kidney recipients off anti-rejection medications which can produce side effects.

In the most recent edition of the Lancet, Cambridge scientists Drs. Oliver Jones and Julian Griffin highlight the need to research the possible link between persistent organic pollutants (POPs, a group which includes many pesticides) and insulin resistance, which can lead to adult onset diabetes.

The Canadian province of Alberta wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2050 through a big push into carbon capture and sequestration.

We've been waiting for a good personal jet pack system since seeing Sean Connery strap on that Bell-Textron thing in the opening sequence of Thunderball.

Analysts are mulling over Apple's iPhone sales numbers and are alarmed at a perceived discrepancy in the figures.

Microsoft released a refresh of its first service pack for Vista to beta testers this week, indicating the final release might be near.

Researchers say the military may employ small robots equipped with advanced three-dimensional vision technology in as little as a year.

With so much chatter focused on green technology, is there a mounting probability this infatuation has evolved into something akin to a religious movement?

A fleet of privately financed spaceships is emerging. It heralds a new business in space travel

When you think of Bluetooth, you probably think of a Bluetooth headset - you know, one of the ones that keep cutting out on you all the time and don't sound as good as a wired headset. Or perhaps you have a Bluetooth mouse.

In the case of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill, Bluetooth is enabling him to walk.

In the future, french fries might be infused with all the brimming, healthy flavor of oil produced by algae.

Biotechnology company Solazyme, which is developing techniques for converting vats of algae into car and plane fuel, will also exploit its manufacturing processes to make oils for other industries, including the food industry.

Apologies to Pete Seeger, but where have they gone? According to Apple's earnings conference call on Tuesday, Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007. Yet according to AT&T's Thursday earnings conference call, AT&T has "just at or slightly under 2 million iPhone customers" during the same period. Where are those other 1.7 million iPhones?

It's hard to live without your cell phone in this technology world, but it could be affecting your sleep. The trick to getting your best nights sleep could be turning off your cell phone. How will we live?

'Truthiness', according to font-of-all-important-wisdom and television host Stephen Colbert, represents the human preference to follow our intuition despite the presence of actual facts or evidence - and the more ambiguous an answer to a question, the more likely an individual will believe it is truthful.

The Greek traveler, Pausanias, living in the second century, CE, would probably recognize the spectacular site of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion.