President Obama Calls for 'Collective Action'

Invoking the nation's founding values, President Obama marked the start of his second term today with a sweeping call for "collective action" to confront the economic and social challenges of America's present and future."That is our generation's task, to make these words, these rights, these values -- of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- real for every American,"...

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Quadruple DNA helix discovered in human cells

Sixty years after James Watson and Francis Crick established that DNA forms a double helix, a quadruple-stranded DNA helix has turned up. Quadruple helices that intertwine four, rather than two, DNA strands had been made in the laboratory,...

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Japan govt says no confirmation on nine dead in Algeria

TOKYO: Japan's government said Monday it was aware of reports that nine Japanese had died in the desert standoff in Algeria, but had no confirmation of the fate of 10 of its nationals who remain unaccounted for.In a midnight press conference, chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters vice foreign minister Minoru Kiuchi had arrived at an airport near the gas facility that...

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Texting newscaster falls into freezing canal

Here's one of Birmingham's picturesque canals.(Credit:Voxley19/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Let's try and make some excuses.She's a newscaster, so she's so used to focusing on words written down that she loses track of everything else.She was texting her boyfriend, who is so astoundingly gorgeous that she would have walked through morning traffic in Manhattan just to send him an "LOL."No,...

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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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Obama, Biden Sworn In for Second Term

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today officially embarked on their second term, taking the Constitutionally mandated oath of office in two separate private ceremonies inside their homes.Shortly before noon in the Blue Room of the White House, Obama raised his right hand, with his left on a family Bible, reciting the oath administrated by Chief Justice John...

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Earth may be crashing through dark matter walls

Earth is constantly crashing through huge walls of dark matter, and we already have the tools to detect them. That's the conclusion of physicists who say the universe may be filled with a patchwork quilt of force fields created shortly after the big bang. ...

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Badminton: Lee Chong Wei reaches Malaysia Open finals

KUALA LUMPUR: World number one Lee Chong Wei dropped his first game of the tournament Saturday as he overcame Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen to secure a place in the finals of the Malaysia Badminton Open.The home favourite, bidding for record ninth Malaysia Open title, dropped the second game to the determined and energetic 26-year-old emerging Dane, but eventually won through 21-13, 17-21,...

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Recalibrate your expectations of how good an in-ear headphone can sound

I've been listening to Jerry Harvey's custom-molded in-ear headphones for years. The very first one, the UE10, was a game changer; in 2006 it was the best sounding in-ear headphone I'd heard. Now with his new Freqphase JH13 and JH16 in-ears, Harvey's done it again. The performance gains in clarity, detail, resolution, and stereo imaging are huge -- the adrenaline-pumping sound of the music you love...

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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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