Zebrafish made to grow pre-hands instead of fins

PERHAPS the little fish embryo shown here is dancing a jig because it has just discovered that it has legs instead of fins. Fossils show that limbs evolved from fins, but a new study shows how it may have happened, live in the lab. ...

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Cautious Obama faces gun control pressure after school shooting

WASHINGTON: The latest mass shooting in the United States - this time with 20 children among the dead - is triggering a deluge of calls for President Barack Obama to address gun control, a politically sensitive issue which he avoided during his first term in the White House.With the nation in shock over the carnage on Friday, Obama went on television and wiped away tears as he mourned...

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Apple rumors never cease

The iPad Mini will be a magnet for lots of rumors in the coming months.(Credit:Apple)Apple rumors are a fact of life. And it's silly to think that tech sites will begin writing fewer stories about the latestiPad/iPhone chatter. It's like asking the Washington press corps to stop writing about Beltway scuttlebutt or Hollywood reporters to cease scribbling about la la land -- however frivolous. Ain't...

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National GeographicThe aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles...

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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind...

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CERN becomes first pure physics voice in UN chorus

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter(Image: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)If CERN observes the proceedings of the United Nations, will it change the outcome?The international particle physics laboratory, based near Geneva, Switzerland, has been granted observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, CERN officials announced today. The lab joins environmental groups and public...

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US Dollar falls as fiscal cliff worries grow

NEW YORK: The US dollar dropped to its lowest level against the euro in three months Friday, the euro going above US$1.31 as politicians in Washington appeared no closer to averting the economy-crunching fiscal cliff.With just over two weeks to go before the deadline, markets began to show strains from worries that US leaders will not be able to carve out a compromise deal to beat the...

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Walmart selling iPhone 5 for $127 in stores, 4S for $47

Apple's iPhone 5.(Credit:Apple)Walmart is apparently quite eager to get shoppers in its doors and is now selling theiPhone 5 for $72 less than Apple's retail price. The retailer today said that it would be selling the iPhone 5 for $127 with a new 2-year contract, or to customers who are eligible for an upgrade through their carrier. Walmart also dropped the price of last year'siPhone 4S down to $47...

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National GeographicThe aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles...

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza; 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old who killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut this morning, was "obviously not well," a relative told ABC News.Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described his mother Nancy as very rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said one friend.Late today, police...

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Today on New Scientist: 13 December 2012

Violent beauty at the end of an Alaskan glacier You can almost hear the crash of ice on water in this stunning image of an ice sheet calving off the Chenega glacier in AlaskaOvereating now bigger global problem than lack of food The most comprehensive disease report ever produced confirms that, for the first time, there is a larger health problem from people eating too much than too littleIn...

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EU leaders upbeat on euro future after deal on banks, Greece

BRUSSELS: EU leaders debated the euro's future in a bullish mood Thursday after deals on banks and Greece, despite fears that political uncertainty in Italy could cause new worries for the single currency.As video showed the bloc's 27 leaders smiling and joking with each other at the beginning of a two-day summit, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders should aim to cap a triumphant...

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Buy a TV now or wait?

Most new TV models are announced at the Consumer Electronics Show, held every January. It's usually a few months before they ship, arriving in stores sometime in the spring.So with new models imminent, should you wait to buy a new TV? We break down what we expect to see, and figure out when is the best time to buy.Upgrades?When it comes to the new models, a direct replacement for what's out now, none...

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Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker

If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents...

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NASA Debunks Mayan Doom, 10 Days Early

Dec 13, 2012 2:57pm Kukulkan pyramid, Yucatan, Mexico. Jeremy Woodhouse/Getty.We’ll never know if they were wrong.NASA has quietly published a web video explaining why the world did not come to an end “yesterday,” Dec. 21, 2012.The date of its release, December 11, was no mistake, even if doomsayers would likely call it one last act of earthly hubris. NASA uploaded...

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UK government urged to consider relaxing drug rules

JUST say yes to considering relaxed drug controls, urged a panel of UK parliamentarians this week - but Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected the calls. Many countries have loosened their penalties for drug use, including the Czech Republic and Portugal, which...

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Clashes as Argentines outraged by sex slavery case

BUENOS AIRES: Angry Argentines clashed with police and smashed windows and politicians voiced outrage on Wednesday after a court acquitted 13 people charged with running a sex slavery ring.Demonstrators furious over the legal ruling took to the streets of the capital and in at least seven provinces, including Tucuman in the north, where a court announced the acquittal Tuesday.Susana Trimarco,...

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Video teases latest major effort to jailbreak Apple's iOS 6

A promotional image teasing the release of the first untethered jailbreak for iOS 6.(Credit:Dream Jailbreak)Even if the world doesn't end on December 21, things might go a bit sour for Apple the day after. An unidentified hacker behind a hack called Dream Jailbreak posted video evidence this evening of something countless iPhone,iPad, andiPod Touch owners greatly desire: an untetherediOS 6 jailbreak...

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Gold “Mining” Termites Found, May Lead Humans to Riches

Want to know if you're literally sitting on a gold mine? Get some termites, a new study suggests.New experiments in West Australia reveal that termites "mine" and stockpile the precious metal while they're collecting subterranean material for their nests.For the study, entomologist Aaron Stewart, with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and colleagues...

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Mall Shooter Quit Job, Was Going to Hawaii

In the days before he stole a semiautomatic weapon and stormed into an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people in a shooting spree, Jacob Roberts quit his job, sold his belongings and began to seem "numb" to those closest to him.Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, 20, told ABC News today that the man who donned a hockey mask and opened fire on Christmas shoppers...

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Today on New Scientist: 11 December 2012

Out-of-season's greetings from the Arctic frost flowers Season's regards from an icy meadow in the Arctic, but it's no winter wonderland and please don't dash out into itHow hacking a mosquito's heart could eradicate malaria Watch how a double-pronged trick helps mosquitoes remain healthy while carrying disease, a process that could be exploited to eliminate malariaNew drug lifts hard-to-treat...

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Freezing fog grounds British flights

LONDON: Severe fog has forced the cancellation of dozens of flights scheduled to take-off and land at Britain's airports on Wednesday with more disruption expected later in the day.Flights to Warsaw, Nice, Stockholm, Aberdeen and several German cities were among 20 cancelled by London's Heathrow."It's better to cancel flights when there's fog because in fog you can't land as many planes...

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John McAfee said to be released from Guatemalan detention

John McAfee(Credit:Personal photo)A Guatemalan judge has ordered Antivirus-software pioneer John McAfee to be released from a local detention center, according to the Associated Press. Judge Judith Secaida reportedly told McAfee's lawyer, Telesforo Guerra, that she ruled McAfee's detention to be illegal and he had 10 days to figure out his immigration status. McAfee was detained last week after crossing...

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal ObservatoryThis image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon...

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Obama Recognizes Syrian Opposition Group

In a diplomatic shift, President Obama said today his administration now formally recognizes the newly-formed, leading coalition of Syrian rebels who are fighting to topple Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad."We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider...

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Doha summit launches climate damage aid

The latest summit to stop climate change, held in Doha, Qatar, over the past two weeks has been roundly slammed. Little was agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the latest modelling, carried out by the Climate Action Tracker consortium shows global averages temperatures are still set to rise by at least...

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US to press on trade in China talks

WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it would press China on intellectual property rights and other key concerns as the world's two largest economies hold top-level trade talks next week.The Commerce Department said that Vice Premier Wang Qishan would visit Washington on December 18-19 for the annual Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the main US-China forum to discuss trade...

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Cats beware, dogs can drive

Dogs work as shepherds, lead the blind, and conduct search and rescue missions. And now it looks like they could be grabbing chauffeur jobs as well.To prove the value of the abandoned mutts it takes in, New Zealand's SPCA taught three of them to drive acar. The site drivingdogs.co.nz redirects to a Facebook page showing the dogs behind the wheel, and explaining how they were trained. It also suggests...

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U.K. Dash for Shale Gas a Test for Global Fracking

Thomas K. Grose in London The starting gun has sounded for the United Kingdom's "dash for gas," as the media here have dubbed it.As early as this week, a moratorium on shale gas production is expected to be lifted. And plans to streamline and speed the regulatory process through a new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil were unveiled last week in the annual autumn budget statement by...

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