Get cirrus in the fight against climate change

FEATHERY cirrus clouds are beautiful, but when it comes to climate change, they are the enemy. Found at high-altitude and made of small ice crystals, they trap heat - so more cirrus means a warmer world. Now it seems that, by destroying cirrus, we could reverse all the warming Earth has experienced so far. ...

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10 police killed in Afghanistan suicide attack: official

KABUL: At least 10 policemen were killed and 18 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in a suicide attack Saturday in a crowded area of the northeast Afghan city of Kunduz, provincial authorities said.The attacker, who was on foot, detonated his explosives next to a group of police officers, according to several sources."We have 10 dead, including the counter terrorism police chief and...

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Oppo BDP-105: Not your average Blu-ray player

The Oppo BDP-105 Blu-ray, SACD, and DVD-Audio player(Credit:Oppo)Even by Oppo's high standards the BDP-105 is an extraordinary Blu-ray player. Sure, it's loaded with up-to-the-second features -- 4K upscaling, 2D-to-3D conversion, and a high-quality USB 2.0 digital-to-analog converter -- but what really makes the Oppo special is the sound. Pop the cover and look inside and you'll see why. Most of the...

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

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Cops Using More Private Cameras to Nab Suspects

Philadelphia detectives were able to quickly make an arrest in the murder and burning of a female pediatrician by viewing surveillance video of nearby stores and a hospital that captured the suspect entering the doctor's home and later getting into his truck.In the hours after Dr. Melissa Ketunuti's body was found strangled and burning in her basement, city's Homicide Task Force...

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Hagfish gulped up in first video of deep-sea seal hunt

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->We no longer have to imagine elephant seals feasting in the deep sea. An underwater camera has filmed one slurping up a hagfish, the first sighting of seal predation on the sea floor. The event was captured...

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US scholar urges dramatic rethink on Taiwan

WASHINGTON: With Beijing growing in strength, a US scholar is calling for a major rethink on Taiwan in which the island would cut its troop numbers in half and rebrand its army as a self-defence force.The proposal marks a rare break from the conventional view of American and Taiwanese policymakers that the island needs to close the military gap with Beijing, but its author said an opposite...

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Samsung unveils rugged Galaxy phone for the outdoor type

Galaxy Xcover 2(Credit:Samsung)Samsung has created a new smartphone that can handle the great outdoors and even spend time underwater.Announced today, the Galaxy Xcover 2 is built as a durable and rugged device, according to Samsung. The phone is both dustproof and sandproof.It can also hold its breath underwater, at least at a depth of around three feet for up to 30 minutes. You probably won't be...

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8 Other Nations that Send Women to Combat

As the Pentagon works to figure out precisely how it will integrate women into military specialties previously closed to them—including infantry and artillery units—top U.S. defense officials are actively studying other militaries around the globe that have already sent women to combat.The review includes researching the experiences of Australia, Canada, and other nations with whom American...

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Mars Rover Celebrates Milestone on Red Planet

It was never supposed to last this long. When the Mars rover Opportunity settled on the Martian surface nine years ago today, mission managers at NASA said they would be pleased if it lasted for 90 days.Instead, it's been 3,201 days, and still counting. The rover has driven 22.03 miles, mostly at a snail's pace, from one crater to another, stopping for months at a time in...

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'If the Royal Institution is sold, that's the end'

We must find a way to save the Royal Institution from having to sell its historic London home, says Nobel laureate Harry Kroto Why is it important to save the Royal Institution (Ri)?It is of tremendous historical importance. It's...

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Keppel Corp's net profit falls 22% on-year in Q4

SINGAPORE: Falling margins from building oil rigs has hit the bottomline of Keppel Corp. Net profit for the world's leading rig builder fell 22 per cent on-year to S$305 million in the fourth quarter last year.Still, full year profit for the conglomerate came in 15 per cent to S$2.24 billion.Despite lower net profit in the three months ended Dec 31, Keppel Corp still declared a final dividend...

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Pebble smartwatch app clocks in for iOS, Android

Owners of the new Pebble smartwatch can now download an iOS or Android app to get even more out of the watch.Available today, the iOS and Android versions offer a dashboard for your Pebble watch. You start by pairing your phone or tablet with your watch via Bluetooth. Once they've been paired, the app offers several handy features.You can install custom watch faces onto the Pebble. You can receive...

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Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The researchers observed the group in...

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Exterminator Charged in Pa. Doctor's Murder

An exterminator named Joseph Smith was arrested and charged today in the strangling and burning death of Philadelphia pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti.Smith, 36, had been sent to Ketunuti's home on a service call where the two got into "some kind of argument" in Ketunuti's basement on Monday, Capt. James Clark of the Philadelphia police department said this morning."At her home...

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Pure colour mixing gets laser power

Jeff Hecht, consultant(Image: Alexander R. Albrecht, University of New Mexico)The three coloured jets aren't what they seem. They look like fluids dyed different colours mixing to make a clear liquid. But all the water is clear: the colour comes from red, green and blue lasers. This photo won Alexander Albrecht of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque first prize in the 2012 After Image photo...

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Japan presses Algeria for answers as toll hits nine

ALGIERS: A senior Japanese official met Algeria's prime minister on Wednesday to press for an explanation of the gas plant siege, as Tokyo confirmed the deaths of two more nationals, taking its toll to nine.Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shunichi Suzuki arrived aboard a government jet that is to repatriate the bodies of those known to have been killed in the hostage crisis, along with the...

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Apple, Google, others agreed not to poach workers, reveal e-mails

Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, and other companies had agreements in place during the mid-2000s not to steal employees from each other and other technology players.A series of e-mails posted today by The Verge point to a paper trail of non-poaching agreements among a variety of companies.The revelation follows a civil lawsuit filed in 2011 by five workers against Apple, Google, and others alleging that...

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Pictures: Trout vs. Trout in Yellowstone Lake

Photograph by Jay FlemingWithout aggressive management, the population of Yellowstone cutthroats could be decimated. To suppress the population of lake trout, the National Park Service engaged a contract fishing company to net them. Cutthroats are removed carefully from the traps and thrown back. Lake trout are removed and killed. Last year about 300,000 of the non-native intruders were taken...

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Clinton Says Budget Cuts Undermine Security

An energized Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood her ground today, telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she has overseen plans to secure diplomatic outposts around the world while cuts in State Department funding undermine those efforts.Citing a report by the department's Accountability Review Board on the security failures that led to the deaths of four...

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Did Mars hide life in its watery pockets?

Signs of the most recent life on Mars may have sprung up from underground. Because they would have been protected from harsh conditions on the surface, such as radiation, pockets of underground water may be where Martian life existed most recently. ...

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SGX's Q2 net profit rises 17% to S$76m

SINGAPORE : Rising interest in derivatives trading helped lift earnings for the Singapore Exchange (SGX) last quarter. Asia's second-largest bourse operator reported a 17 per cent on-year rise in second-quarter net profit to S$76 million.It also attracted a large number of new bond listings in the same quarter.Derivatives trading has been the star performer in SGX.Over the October to December...

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Bigger iPhone still coming -- just not this year, report says

iPhone 5(Credit:CNET)In an about-face, Digitimes -- the purveyor of numerous Apple rumors, some of which have been true -- says not to get your hopes up for an even larger version of the iPhone. At least not this year.The tech news site says Apple's still working on one, but that it won't come in the second half of this year, as it excitedly reported earlier this month. That report made waves after...

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Newly Discovered Nebula Looks Like a Manatee

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... a manatee? The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) believes that a gas cloud in the constellation Aquila bears an uncanny resemblance to the endangered aquatic mammal.Heidi Winter, executive assistant to NRAO's director, first noticed the similarity. And Tania Burchell, an NRAO media producer who used to work in manatee conservation, quickly...

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Group Finds More Fake Ingredients in Popular Foods

It's what we expect as shoppers—what's in the food will be displayed on the label.But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice."Food products are not always what they purport to be," Markus Lipp, senior director...

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Twitter reveals how Higgs gossip reached fever pitch

Jacob Aron, reporterAnyone who fondly remembers the heady days in early July 2012 when the discovery of the Higgs boson was hotly anticipated, and eventually announced, can now relive the thrilling experience thanks to an analysis of Higgs-related traffic on Twitter.The traffic - amounting to more than 1 million tweets - provides a neat reflection of real-world excitement, starting with rumours...

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Football: Cardiff sign Sunderland's Campbell

LONDON: Championship leaders Cardiff have signed striker Fraizer Campbell on a three-and-a-half-year deal from Premier League club Sunderland, the Welsh club announced Monday.The 25-year-old England international scored just 10 goals in 72 appearances for Sunderland after joining the north-east side from Manchester United.Campbell came through the Old Trafford youth system before signing...

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RIM CEO says licensing of BlackBerry 10 'conceivable'

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Research In Motion will launch devices running BlackBerry 10 at the end of the month, but the handset maker is still playing with the idea of licensing its new operating system to other manufacturers.When asked whether RIM might license the new platform as Microsoft did with Windows Phone, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told German newspaper Die Welt that it's...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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