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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Obama recognises Syrian opposition

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Syrian opposition was now "the legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, in the most significant US intervention yet in the brutal civil war."We have made a decision that the Syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population, that we consider them the legitimate...

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Facebook Powerball hoaxer: Girlfriend wanted me to nix it

The triumphant pose.(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)You've probably not yet got over your disappointment that Nolan Daniels won't be giving you $1 million.This is understandable. It's near Xmas and you've become rather excited about finally owning a four-bedroom McMansion with a Bilirubin-colored Lexus sitting outside.Daniels -- for those who've been secreted in their panic rooms in preparation...

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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 Predicts GOP Will Cave on Taxes

As the clock ticks toward a tax hike on all Americans in 20 days, President Obama predicted Republicans would join Democrats to extend current rates for 98 percent of earners before the end of the year."I'm pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals," Obama said today in an exclusive interview...

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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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Dollar dips as investors expect new Fed stimulus

NEW YORK: The dollar dipped against other major currencies Monday as investors bet the Federal Reserve would provide more stimulus to the lackluster US economy at its rate-setting meeting this week.The euro was buying $1.2939 at 2200 GMT, up from $1.2928 at the same time Friday.Against the Japanese currency, the European currency weakened to 106.53 yen from 106.64 yen late Friday, while...

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Instagram improves camera, editing and adds new filter

Instagram new iOS app.(Credit:Instagram)Instagram rolled out new apps today with promises of a better camera, scaling and cropping functions, control over the blurring of photos and -- of course -- another filter.The company touted its upgrades in a blog post , highlighting the camera's new features for iOS. This includes an Instagram-themed shutter and shutter release button, a preview of the most...

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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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