Two worms, same brains – but one eats the other

IF TWO animals have identical brain cells, how different can they really be? Extremely. Two worm species have exactly the same set of neurons, but extensive rewiring allows them to lead completely different lives. Ralf Sommer of the Max Planck Institute...

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Football: Ronaldo's own goal condemns Real Madrid to defeat

MADRID: Real Madrid's dismal season went from bad to worse when Cristiano Ronaldo scored an own goal to hand relegation-threatened Granada a shock 1-0 win on Saturday.Real coach Jose Mourinho announced he had already given up winning the league before Christmas and this latest blow means that Barcelona can increase their lead over them to 18 points if they win away to Valencia on Sunday.There...

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For Valentine's Day, Cupid ditches arrows, opts for e-cards

Admit it. You've always wanted to love like John Travolta.(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Romance isn't dead.It's merely been reduced to the level of a friend request, a poke, and a privacy control.Often in that order.How else can one interpret the staggeringly predictable research -- performed on behalf of SOASTA, the oddly named company that performs cloud and mobile testing -- that...

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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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Body of Missing Mom Reportedly Found in Turkey

The body of an American woman who went missing while on a solo trip to Turkey has been pulled from a bay in Istanbul, and nine people have been held for questioning, according to local media.Sarai Sierra, 33, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board a flight home to New York City.The state-run Andolu Agency reported that residents found a woman's body today...

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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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Israeli raid hit Syrian missiles, buildings: US official

WASHINGTON: An Israeli air raid in Syria this week struck surface-to-air missiles and a nearby military complex on the outskirts of Damascus, as Israel feared the weapons would be transferred to Hezbollah, a US official said Friday.Earlier reports had suggested Israeli warplanes may have targeted two separate locations in Wednesday's raid in Syria: a military site outside of the capital...

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Rarified Retina MacBook Pros get priced closer to earth

13.3- and 15.4-inch Retina MacBook Pros(Credit:Apple)MacBook Pros equipped with a Retina display are not exactly priced to move. Best Buy and Amazon are trying to change that. Best Buy, for example, is now selling the 128GB version (model MC975LL/A) of the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro Retina for $1,549.99, $150 off the regular $1,699.99 price. Need 256GB of solid-state storage with that gorgeous Retina screen?...

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Best Science Pictures of 2012 Announced

Image courtesy Pupa U.P.A. Gilbert and Christopher E. Killian, U.W. Madison via Science/AAASA micrograph, or microphotograph, of a sea urchin's crystalline tooth won first place and people's choice for photography in the 2012 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.Colors applied with Photoshop reveal the interlocking crystals that form the choppers of Arbacia punctulata. The...

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Arias Trial Puts Mormon Sex Rules in Spotlight

The murder trial of Jodi Arias has been filled with salacious details of phone sex, graphic text messages, and an erotic sexual relationship between her and her devout Mormon ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.Arias, 32, converted to Mormonism when she began to date Alexander, then 29, in 2006. Though they were both outwardly devout, they immediately developed a sexual relationship.The...

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Swarm-mongering: Brainless blobs flock together

Birds of a feather flock together and now so do brainless, inanimate blobs. Made of microscopic particles, the artificial swarms could shed light on the mysterious mechanisms behind the natural swarming seen in fish and birds. They might also lead to materials with novel properties like self-healing. ...

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Candidates to head WTO clear hurdle

GENEVA: The last of a record nine candidates to lead the World Trade Organization finished defending their candidacies on Thursday, but the real campaign is only just getting started."This is a procedure that is all but unique in the world -- a selection rather than an election that takes several months to complete," a source close to the process told AFP.The candidates -- six men and...

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Smart LED desk lamp is sensitive to your moods

It's more than just a lamp.(Credit:Satechi)The day of the single-purpose gadget is rapidly fading. You can't just have a phone that you use to talk to other people. It has to do 50 other things. You can't just have a desk lamp that lights up your desk. You have to have one that charges your phone and gives you mood lighting, too.The Satechi Smart LED Desk Lamp tries to fit as much functionality in...

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14 Pygmy Elephants Die Mysteriously in Borneo

Fourteen endangered Borneo pygmy elephants have recently been found dead in a Malaysian forest, presenting a mystery for wildlife officials and conservationists. The recent deaths highlight the vulnerable status of the species, which now numbers about 1,500 animals. Scientists don't know how many pygmy elephants previously existed on the island, although it's likely the population wasn't...

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Arias' Ex-Boyfriend Kept Affair Secret

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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Today on New Scientist: 30 January 2013

Timbuktu's precious scientific texts must be saved Islamist militants in Mali have burned documents that attest to science in Africa before European colonisation - what remains must be protectedThink that massage feels good? Try adding drugs Nerve bundles that respond to stroking have been identified and chemically activated in miceHow Obama will deliver his climate promise The US is set to...

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Departing Kerry warns senators of crippling gridlock

WASHINGTON: US Senator John Kerry offered some tough love Wednesday to the colleagues he leaves behind to become secretary of state: end the fierce partisanship or risk the nation's reputation as a beacon of democracy.Kerry, whose confirmation as President Barack Obama's choice to replace Hillary Clinton as chief US diplomat sailed through the Senate a day earlier, said lawmakers needed...

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U.S. Cellular dials up $300 rebate for new family plans

For a limited time, the Huawei Ascend Y costs just a penny with activation.(Credit:CNET)U.S. Cellular is offering a limited time "Family Switcher Bonus" for new customers who activate at least two lines on a Family Plan. The deal, which runs through April 1, provides consumers with a $300 MasterCard debit card.The catch? At least one of the new lines must be a smartphone.To sweeten the deal, U.S....

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6 Bizarre Animal Smuggling Busts

Officers in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport recently discovered 11 live otters in a piece of unclaimed luggage left at the oversized baggage area.The six smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata)—Southeast Asia's largest otter—and five oriental small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea), the world's smallest otters at less than 11 pounds (five kilograms), are under threat in...

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Arias Trial Shocked by Slashed Throat Photo

The courtroom at the Jodi Arias murder trial was shocked -- and Arias began sobbing -- when the prosecutor stunned them by suddenly flashing a photograph of Arias' ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander with his throat slashed open.Alexander's sisters and friends burst into tears and one ran out of the courtroom when prosecutor Juan Martinez held up the grisly picture of Alexander with...

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Today on New Scientist: 29 January 2013

Creatures of the air caught in the mist Photographer Todd Forsgren uses mist nets to briefly ensnare a variety of tropical South American birds before releasing them, unharmedDrug reduces enlarged prostate with few side effects Shrinking enlarged prostates by blocking a potent growth factor could avoid problems - such as erectile dysfunction - that accompany current treatmentsClimate change blamed...

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Erectile dysfunction signals heart troubles: study

WASHINGTON: Erectile dysfunction might signal more than a need for the little purple pill, researchers said Tuesday in a study showing a link with heart disease and early death.The Australian study -- the world's largest investigating links between erection problems and heart disease -- suggested erection problems could act as a warning sign of more serious health issues."The risks of...

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Smaller Apple TV box hinted at in FCC filing

A new regulatory filing suggests Apple is readying a fourth-generation Apple TV set, one that looks a whole lot like the last two models, but with one minor difference.That difference is size. The new version, which was spotted by Endgadget in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today, is 93.78mm around versus the current model's 98mm. It also carries the model number A1469,...

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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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Jodi Arias Borrowed Gas Cans Before Killing Ex

Accused murderer Jodi Arias borrowed two five-gallon gas cans from a former boyfriend the day before she drove to Arizona to kill another ex, Travis Alexander, according to testimony in Arias' murder trial today.In cross examination, prosecutors also forced Arias' former live-in boyfriend Darryl Brewer to describe his sex life with Arias as "pretty aggressive."Brewer, 52, dated...

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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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Golf: Tiger wins Torrey Pines title for 75th career crown

LA JOLLA: World No. 2 Tiger Woods captured his 75th career title on Monday, winning the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes for his record-setting eighth career triumph at Torrey Pines.Despite struggling in windy conditions Monday over the final 11 holes, Woods showed flashes of the form that has brought him 14 major titles as he chases the all-time record of 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.Woods...

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With new 'Star Wars' on tap, Lucasfilm bails on Episodes II and III in 3D

George Lucas and new 'Star Wars Episode VII' director J.J. Abrams.(Credit:Joi Ito)With the creative team for "Star Wars Episode VII" now in place, Lucasfilm and Disney appear to be using the forward movement on that project as an excuse to shelve plans to release 3D versions of Episodes II and III.In a news post today on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm announced the abandoning of the release of the 3D versions...

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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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