In The News

American Cows Have Indian Origins, Scientists Find

Subodh Varma March 29, 2013
Genetic research is showing that breeds of cows in the Americas, including the Texas Longhorn, are descendants of cows from India, reports Subodh Varma for the Times of India. India has the world’s largest cattle population in the world, followed by Brazil, China and US. The Indian breeds were shipped to East Africa, then to Spain and eventually to the Caribbean, suggests a study from the...

World Agriculture Suffers From Loss of Wild Bees

March 18, 2013
Wild bees are better at fertilizing plants than bees managed by humans, and their falling numbers are hurting global agriculture, according to a study in the journal Science, reported on by Health24. Wild bees live in edge habitats, borders between grasslands and forests, which are increasingly targeted by development. The Canadian researchers examined 41 crop systems. “Paradoxically, most...

GitHub Revolution: We’re All in Open Source Now

Mikeal Rogers March 8, 2013
Open source software is freely available to all, and new potential is discovered daily by companies, cities, and individuals ranging from artists to developers who work with software code. GitHub, an open software platform for collaboration, “is doing to open source what the internet did to the publishing industry,” explains Mikeal Rogers, an advocate for open source programming, for Wired. “As...

As Sea Ice Melts, Storm Surges Batter Arctic Coasts

Becky Oskin March 7, 2013
As the climate warms and changes, scientists learn more about the planet’s the intricate connections. Rising temperatures not only deliver harsher storms and melt sea ice – the loss of thick sea ice eliminates an obstacle that once slowed Arctic storms, and analysts predict new speed and power behind storm surges and ocean flooding. In turn, rising saltwater is killing off vegetation that...

Police Defend Probe Into Singapore Death

Christine Spolar February 22, 2013
The death of an engineer working on gallium nitride research in Singapore has many complexities – considering he had expressed concerns that his work at Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics may be compromising US security. Shane Todd was found hanged in his home after his last day of work at IME. “After Todd’s death, the family found an external computer hard drive in his Singapore apartment...

The Rise of the Robots

Robert Skidelsky February 21, 2013
Automation and technology, along with a do-it-yourself culture, contribute to greater productivity and fewer jobs, with some developments more disruptive for labor and select industries than others. Countries, particularly the most developed, must consider the prospect of running out of jobs, and not just for the low-skilled, writes political economist Robert Skidelsky for Project Syndicate....

Meteorite Explodes Over Russia, More Than 1,000 Injured

Andrey Kuzmin February 16, 2013
Chelyabinsk, transportation hub and one-time Russian industrial center for weapons manufacture, was closed to foreigners until 1992. The combination of crisscrossing highways, a million-plus population and Russians’ fondness for dashboard cameras in vehicles to collect evidence in the event of potential mishaps has given the world ample footage of a rare event – a large meteorite blazing across...