Today on New Scientist: 21 December 2012

Cadaver stem cells offer new hope of life after death Stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow five days after death to be used in life-saving treatmentsApple's patents under fire at US patent office The tech firm is skating on thin ice with some of the patents that won it a $1 billion settlement against SamsungHimalayan dam-building threatens endemic species The world's highest mountains...

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Football: Inter Milan held by Genoa, nine points behind Juve

ROME: Inter Milan fell further behind Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday after being held 1-1 at home to struggling Genoa.Inter, nine points behind the defending champions who beat Cagliari 3-1 on Friday, had to rely on a goal from Argentinian veteran Esteban Cambiasso five minutes from time to rescue a point.Genoa's Ciro Immobile had given the visitors the lead in the 77th minute with...

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A troubling promise in iPad Mini's new Xmas ad

Only in her dreams, Grandad.(Credit:Apple screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Xmas is a time for families to be together and share all the tensions they have harbored for the whole year.So to celebrate family closeness, Apple has just released an ad -- bless you, MacStories -- for theiPad Mini. It features a grandfather and granddaughter. She is singing to him over FaceTime.We see her face on a regular...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether...

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Apple's patents under fire at US patent office

Paul Marks, senior technology correspondentWhen engineers at CERN invented the touchscreen, they chose not to patent it. Yet Apple, Microsoft and Nokia are among the slew of tech firms who have chosen to patent aspects of the way software responds when humans touch or interact with touchscreens. But if Apple's recent experiences are any kind of harbinger, it looks like a strategy that's beginning...

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Moments of silence, bells mark US school shooting

NEWTOWN: Mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, stood in silence under heavy rain while church bells rang to honour the 20 young children and six staff massacred in a school shooting a week ago.The sombre scene at 9:30 am local time, the moment a week earlier when a deranged local man armed with semiautomatic weapons burst into the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was echoed around the country...

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Facebook's about-face over Instagram (week in review)

It didn't take Facebook long to backtrack over controversial policy changes it intended to make regarding its photo-sharing app Instagram.A public backlash was ignited by Instagram stating that had it the perpetual right to sell users' photographs without payment or notification. Under the new policy, Facebook claimed the right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization,...

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Winter Solstice 2012: Facts on the Shortest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21.Some predicted that today would also mark Earth's doomsday, thanks to a longstanding rumor that the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012. But earlier this year, National Geographic grantee William...

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Amid Protest, NRA Calls for Armed Guards in Schools

The National Rifle Association stood its ground today in arguing that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, while blaming the media and violent entertainment and video games for recent deadly shootings."The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre...

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How to reduce the toll from US gun violence

It is tragic that it took the deaths of 20 children, but it seems that the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has finally shifted the debate about guns and violence in the US. In focusing on Newtown, Connecticut,...

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Russia's Putin denies propping up Assad

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denied propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and stressed that Moscow was only seeking to avert a perpetual civil war."We are not concerned about (Bashar Assad's fate. We understand that the family has been in power for 40 years and there is a need for change," Putin told a major Moscow press briefing.But he made no call on Assad...

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T-Mobile grows 4G in 14 new markets, sort of offers 4G iPhone

Soon, you can get a 4G iPhone that runs on T-Mobile's network.(Credit:CBS Interactive)If you're desperate to stay with T-Mobile's service and rock an iPhone, the nation's fourth-largest carrier has good tidings on both fronts.Today, T-Mobile unveiled plans to expand its 1,900MHZ band in 14 new markets, bringing its grand total to 37 cities covered by the faster network.In addition, the carrier announced...

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Detecting Rabid Bats Before They Bite

A picture is worth a thousand words—or in the case of bats, a rabies diagnosis. A new study reveals that rabid bats have cooler faces compared to uninfected colony-mates. And researchers are hopeful that thermal scans of bat faces could improve rabies surveillance in wild colonies, preventing outbreaks that introduce infections into other animals—including humans.Bats are a major reservoir...

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Winter Weather Threatens Christmas Travel

A pre-Christmas blizzard that is battering at least eight states in the middle of the nation could trip up travelers headed home for Christmas in the coming days.Nearly 20 inches of snow have been reported in Colorado just west of Denver. Nebraska has reported 6-to-10 inches so far. Between 3 and 8 inches have accumulated in Iowa already and more is possible. Snow is falling...

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Cassini captures spectacle in Saturn's shadow

Flora Graham, deputy editor, newscientist.com(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)Like a Christmas bauble hanging in the night, this view ofa backlit Saturn shines in the darkness. The image was taken during a rare chancefor NASA'sCassini spacecraft to observe the planet's rings while in Saturn's shadow. Conveniently,Saturn blocks the sun and the rings are illuminated from behind. As well as providing...

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Football: Wilshere, four others sign new Arsenal deals

LONDON: Arsenal were given a major fillip on Wednesday when they announced that English midfielder Jack Wilshere and four other players have agreed new long-term contracts with the club.Wilshere joins fellow England internationals Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson and Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey in committing his future to the Emirates Stadium."We are delighted...

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CloudOn MS Office app adds support for iPhone, SkyDrive

CloudOn for the iPhone.(Credit:Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)CloudOn'sMicrosoft Office app has expanded its horizons beyond just theiPad.Released today, version 3.0 of CloudOn supports the iPhone, theiPad Mini, and the iPod Touch. It handles the iPhone 5, taking advantage of the new phone's longer screen. There's also a special reading mode for the iPhone, so you can easily scroll through a document...

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Race Is On to Find Life Under Antarctic Ice

A hundred years ago, two teams of explorers set out to be the first people ever to reach the South Pole. The race between Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of Britain became the stuff of triumph, tragedy, and legend. (See rare pictures of Scott's expedition.)Today, another Antarctic drama is underway that has a similar daring and intensity—but very different stakes.Three...

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Inside One School's Extraordinary Security Measures

While schools across America reassess their security measures in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., one school outside of Chicago takes safety to a whole new level.The security measures at Middleton Elementary School start the moment you set foot on campus, with a camera-equipped doorbell. When you ring the doorbell, school employees inside are...

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Ancient city of Troy rebranded itself after war

EVEN ancient cities knew about rebranding. Troy was destroyed by war about 3200 years ago - an event that may have inspired Homer to write the Iliad, 400 years later. But the famous city rose again, reinventing itself to fit a new political landscape. ...

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Football: Benitez promises handshake with old rival Warnock

COBHAM, England: Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez insists he is willing to shake hands with Leeds United boss Neil Warnock at Wednesday's League Cup quarter-final in a bid to end their simmering feud.Benitez has clashed with Warnock on several occasions in the past, with the most high-profile incident coming in 2007 when the Spaniard sent out a weakened Liverpool team against Fulham.Fulham...

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Gay-love text gets sender 3 years in jail

One text in Cameroon can put you in a cell.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)This story will move only those who have a heart. The remainder -- well, perhaps they man the judicial system in Cameroon.Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, 32, wanted to express his love by text. He sent this: "I am very much in love with you."The only problem is that Mbede lives in Cameroon. There, as the Associated Press reports, homosexual...

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GRAIL Mission Goes Out With a Bang

Jane J. Lee On Friday, December 14, NASA sent their latest moon mission into a death spiral. Rocket burns nudged GRAIL probes Ebb and Flow into a new orbit designed to crash them into the side of a mountain near the moon's north pole today at around 2:28 p.m. Pacific standard time. NASA named the crash site after late astronaut Sally Ride, America's first woman in space.Although the mountain...

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Threat Closes Newtown Elementary School

Local officials closed a Newtown, Conn., elementary school following a threat on what would have been the first day of classes since a shooting rampage at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School.Classes at Head O'Meadow Elementary School were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET, but as parents and students arrived at the school they encountered police who turned them away.Principal...

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