Leech cocoon preserves 200-million-year-old fossil

Move over amber. When it comes to preserving soft-bodied animals through the ages, there's a newcomer in town: fossilised leech "cocoons". The cocoons are secreted by many leech and worm species as mucous egg cases that harden and often fossilise. Almost...

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Typhoon smashes into Philippines

MANILA: Typhoon Bopha smashed into the southern Philippines early Tuesday as more than 40,000 people crammed into shelters to escape the onslaught of the strongest cyclone to hit the country this year.The state weather service said Bopha made landfall on Mindanao island's east coast at dawn, raking across the island of 10 million people, packing gusts of up to 210 kilometres (130 miles)...

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McAfee: Photo 'location' leak meant to mislead cops

John McAfee(Credit:Personal photo)The ongoing saga of John McAfee, the tech entrepreneur-turned-fugitive, took a twist today when Vice magazine published a photo that appeared to indicate he had taken refuge in Guatemala.That deduction was based on the EXIF location metadata associated with the image, which the camera applications included with iOS andAndroid devices include, depending on what privacy...

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Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has detected several simple carbon-based organic compounds on Mars, but it remains unclear whether they were formed via Earthly contamination or whether they contain only elements indigenous to the planet.Speaking at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco, Curiosity mission leaders also said that the compound perchlorate—identified...

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Suspect Allegedly Told Cops He Traveled to Kill

A man charged in the death of a teenage barista in Alaska told police that he traveled the country with the sole purpose to kill strangers because he "liked to do it," prosecutors said today.Vermont and federal prosecutors detailed the meticulous and cold-blooded murder of Bill and Lorraine Currier in Essex, Vt., last year and said the information came from Israel Keyes before...

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Tiny tug of war in cells underpins life

TUG of war could well be the oldest game in the world. Cells use it for division, and now researchers have measured the forces involved when an amoeba plays the game. Hirokazu Tanimoto and Masaki Sano at the University of Tokyo,...

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Golf: McDowell wins World Challenge

THOUSAND OAKS, California: Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell ended a two-year victory drought Sunday with a three-shot triumph in the World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods.McDowell, who capped a stellar 2010 season that saw him win the US Open with a victory in this unofficial post-season invitational, hadn't won anywhere in the world since then.He carded a four-under par 68 in the final...

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Facebook Powerball hoaxer is software engineer, report says

Is that a software engineer's beard?(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)You have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of sniveling snail would put their picture up on Facebook with a fake winning Powerball ticket.Or you have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of saintly sort would ask people to share on Facebook his picture with a winning Powerball ticket and offer $1 million...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Chiefs: Jovan Didn't Have 'Long Concussion History'

The death of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, the latest in a string of tragic NFL suicides, has left the player's teammates, coaches, family and friends wondering what could have led a man described as generous and caring to murder his girlfriend -- the mother of his 3-month-old daughter -- and then kill himself.Kansas City police say Belcher, 25, shot and killed...

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