Astrophile: A scorched world with snow black and smoky

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse Object: Titanium oxide snowLocation: The hot-Jupiter planet HD 209458b There is something magical about waking...

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Projected 6.9m population basis for healthcare planning: Gan

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the projected 6.9 million population by 2030 in the White Paper will serve as a basis for planning efforts to ensure sufficient capacity in the healthcare sector. He also said his ministry is adjusting its plans to be able to meet future healthcare needs. Mr Gan stressed that the 6.9 million figure is not a target. !-- Zone Tag : Channel...

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Super Bowl from the sidelines: Tech readiness is priority No. 1

View from main CBS control truck at the Superdome.It's always a treat to watch the game coverage by the peerless NFL on CBS team, which is the very best in the business. And backing up our amazing group of analysts and experts in front of the camera is a trained crew of CBS Sports production and technical pros behind the scenes. Their No. 1 priority is to deliver the perfect angle of every play, along...

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...

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Gov's Handling of Sandusky Case Under Investigation

The newly-elected attorney general of Pennsylvania is going after the state's governor, Tom Corbett, who was attorney general when child sex allegations against Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky were first brought forward.Kathleen Kane, a Democrat who was sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 15, said that she will name a special prosecutor in the coming days to investigate Corbett's...

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Mind-meld brain power is best for steering spaceships

TURNS out two heads really are better than one. Two people have successfully steered a virtual spacecraft by combining the power of their thoughts - and their efforts were far more accurate than one person acting alone. One day groups of people hooked up to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) might work together to...

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Taiwan premier resigns over flagging economy

TAIPEI: Taiwanese Premier Sean Chen said Friday he has stepped down for health reasons, after the cabinet he heads came under fire for its poor handling of the economy."I have some health problems ... and I need to completely change my life and work style to reverse the situation," the 63-year-old finance expert told a press conference to announce his resignation."I believe that the economy...

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Crave giveaway: $200 shopping spree at KlearGear.com

In case you've been missing the '80s lately. (Credit:KlearGear.com)Feeling geeky? This week's giveaway lets you wear your geekiness on your sleeve, head, desk, or wherever else you can put it. We're giving away a $200 gift certificate from KlearGear.com, purveyor of geek goods galore. The gadget manufacturer and retailer sells more than a thousand items -- everything from an iBrick case that gives...

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Sinkhole Swallows Buildings in China

Photograph from AFP/Getty ImagesThe sinkhole that formed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (pictured) is, unfortunately, not a new occurrence for the country.Many areas of the world are susceptible to these sudden formations, including the U.S. Florida is especially prone, but Guatemala, Mexico, and the area surrounding the Dead Sea in the Middle East are also known for their impressive sinkholes....

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Arias' Lawyer Shows Ex-Boyfriend's Lewd Photos

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was kept away from the Mormon friends of her lover Travis Alexander and their torrid sex affair was kept secret by Alexander, even as he sent lewd photos of himself to her online, according to court testimony today.The testimony in Arias' trial for killing Alexander in 2008 was intended to bolster the defense's argument that she killed him in self...

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Keep rainforests – they drive the planet's winds

WHAT creates the wind? Anyone will tell you that temperature differences are key. Hot air rises and is replaced by cooler air surging in beneath. Except that maybe the explanation found in every textbook is too simple. What if, instead,...

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Four arrested for suspected thefts from the elderly

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested four men suspected of stealing from the elderly.On January 10, police received reports of theft in some housing estates by men who approached the victims and offered to pray in their residences. The suspects targeted elderly victims who were alone at home during the day.The four suspects, aged between 21 and 55 years, were arrested along Syed Alwi Road on...

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Tumblr avoids porn label and adds mature rating to iOS app

Tumblr's iPhone app.(Credit:Tumblr)Tumblr looks to be trying to avoid the porn-war that recently harangued the 500px photo app and Twitter's Vine app. The microblogging company threw up a 17-and-over age warning for its iOS app for all new users and any people updating their app to the 3.2.4 version, which was released today. "You must be at least 17 years old to download this app," Tumblr writes...

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New Theory on How Homing Pigeons Find Home

Jane J. Lee Homing pigeons (Columba livia) have been prized for their navigational abilities for thousands of years. They've served as messengers during war, as a means of long-distance communication, and as prized athletes in international races.But there are places around the world that seem to confuse these birds—areas where they repeatedly vanish in the wrong direction or scatter on...

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No Device Eliminates Concussion Risk, Experts Say

As the long-term consequences of concussions become clearer, a cottage industry has popped up to sell athletes and worried parents products designed to mitigate risks of concussions that even helmets cannot prevent.Despite the bold claims of some companies, however, many experts say the Holy Grail in contact sports -- a device that prevents concussions -- simply does not exist....

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The 10,000-year bender: Why humans love a tipple

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

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Greater community support helps ex-offenders

SINGAPORE: Greater community support for ex-offenders has paid off -- with overall fewer ex-inmates imprisoned for re-offending -- according to the Singapore Prison Service's annual report card.However, drug offenders who were released from Drug Rehabilitation Centres recorded a higher percentage of re-offending.For some inmates who have no family support, they might not have a job or...

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Michael Dell to use personal funds to seek majority control -- report

Dell founder and Chief Executive Michael Dell.(Credit:James Martin/CNET) Just weeks after reports surfaced that Dell was looking to go private, the company's founder appears willing to put his personal funds where his mouth is.Michael Dell may kick in equity financing of $500 million to $1 billion combined with his 15.7 percent stake in the company to seek majority control of the company, according...

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Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"

French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier. But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several...

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Clinton Talks 2016, Stands by Benghazi Testimony

In her final television interview as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton told ABC's Cynthia McFadden that she is "flattered and honored" at the intense interest in whether she might run for president in 2016.But Clinton maintained that right now she's "not focused" on a presidential campaign; instead she said she wants to return to a "normal" life when she steps down from office...

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Iran launches monkey into space

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporterLast summer, the Iranian Space Agency announced their plan to send a monkey into space - and now they've apparently done it.According to Iranian state-run television, a press release on the space agency's website, and photos of the event, Iran sent a live rhesus monkey into sub-orbital space aboard a small rocket called Pishgam, or Pioneer. There's even a...

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North Korea threatens "merciless" retaliation on South

SEOUL: North Korea on Tuesday vowed "merciless" retaliation against the South for its support of UN sanctions, as Seoul urged Pyongyang to step back from a widely expected nuclear test.The perennially tense situation on the Korean peninsula has been stretched to its limit in the past week, with almost daily threats from the North that it is preparing to conduct a nuclear test as a riposte...

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Forget Episode VII, watch 'JJ Abrams Star Wars - The Musical'

Are you a late-model "Star Trek" fan with issues about your guy J.J. Abrams jumping ship in order to direct the next "Star Wars" film? Or maybe a "Star Wars" devotee filled with dread at having your favorite franchise be under the control of someone who's directed two "Star Trek" films?If so, there's a musical for you. "JJ Abrams Star Wars -- The Musical," to be precise.Picture Darth Vader and Abrams...

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Space Pictures This Week: Martian Gas, Cloud Trails

Image courtesy SDO/NASAThe sun is more than meets the eye, and researchers should know. They've equipped telescopes on Earth and in space with instruments that view the sun in at least ten different wavelengths of light, some of which are represented in this collage compiled by NASA and released January 22. (See more pictures of the sun.)By viewing the different wavelengths of light given off by the...

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US Mom Missing in Turkey Took Side Trips

Sarai Sierra, the New York mother who disappeared in Turkey while on a solo trip, took several side excursions out of the country, but stayed in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.Turkish media reported today that police were trying to establish why Sierra visited Amsterdam and Munich. Police were also trying to establish the identity of a...

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Is Obama about to blow his climate credentials?

The US president could be poised to approve the doubling of imports of tar sands oil, one of the filthiest fuels on Earth FACED with rising anger from environmentalists last year over his plans for a transcontinental pipeline to deliver treacly Canadian tar sands to Texas oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico,...

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EU calls for more entrepreneurs

BRUSSELS: Policy makers in Europe want to convince more people to become entrepreneurs in order to bring back jobs and growth to the struggling bloc. Critics have argued too many start-ups in a volatile financial climate will only struggle to survive while others said business-minded self-starters are born, not bred.Policy makers in Brussels are more and more adamant that self-made businessmen...

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Meet the man who would make BlackBerry apps cool

The fate of Research in Motion rests on the success or failure of BlackBerry 10.(Credit:Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)LAS VEGAS--Alec Saunders needed a little bait.Soon after Saunders took over the developer relations team, he asked Research In Motion's then co-CEO Mike Lazaridis in October 2011 for 25,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. When Lazaridis asked why, Saunders said he intended to give them away....

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