Commodore 65 prototype sells for $7,625

Did you adore your 64? Well, wanna buy a 65? That'll cost you.Earlier this month we saw how fans of vintage home computers can get a little crazy on eBay, bidding up the price of a 1983 10MHz Texas Instruments TI-99/8 to $3,240. Well that's nothing compared with the enthusiasm that Commodore commands. A prototype Commodore 65 more than doubled the winning TI bid when it sold on eBay recently for a...

Read More..

Are Honeybees Losing Their Way?

A single honeybee visits hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flowers a day in search of nectar and pollen. Then it must find its way back to the hive, navigating distances up to five miles (eight kilometers), and perform a "waggle dance" to tell the other bees where the flowers are.A new study shows that long-term exposure to a combination of certain pesticides might impair the bee's ability...

Read More..

Ship Stranded: Love Boat to Horror Honeymoon

A Texas couple's fantasy wedding quickly turned into a nightmare honeymoon when the fire-damaged Carnival Cruise ship carrying them became stranded in the Gulf of Mexico.Rob Mowlam, 37, and Stephanie Stevenson, 27, of Nederland, Texas, got married on the Carnival Triumph on Saturday. The four-day cruise was meant to be back to shore on Monday, but was left disabled by an engine...

Read More..

Plants listen more closely to kin than strangers

It is not just humans that like a natter with their nearest and dearest – plants pay most attention to their closest relatives. When an insect bites a leaf, many plants release volatile chemicals to prime their neighbours for attack. The defences...

Read More..

Pre-pregnancy folic acid linked to lower autism risk

WASHINGTON: Children born to women who started taking folic acid supplements four to eight weeks before pregnancy appear to be at a lower risk of autism, a study showed on Tuesday.Pal Suren of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and colleagues looked into the use of folic acid supplements before and during early pregnancy, and any impact on the later risk of various disorders on the...

Read More..

BlueStacks brings a boat-load of Android apps to the Surface Pro

Thanks to BlueStacks, Angry Birds can officially be found on almost every Surface.(Credit:BlueStacks)Hunting around the Windows store for your favorite apps can sometimes be a sad and demoralizing experience, particularly if you just dropped about a grand for that slick new Surface Pro from Microsoft.Enter the startup BlueStacks on its multicolored digital steed prepared to liberate the Surface with...

Read More..

Where Will Pope Benedict XVI Retire?

Someone with a suspicious mind and deep knowledge of Vatican trivia might have guessed that something was going on months ago. Last November, a community of cloistered nuns vacated the  Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located inside Vatican Gardens, two years before they were expected to do so.The monastery has since been closed for renovation.On Monday, in the press conference that followed...

Read More..

Wanted Ex-Cop Possibly in Shootout, Chase

Fugitive former cop Christopher Dorner has barricaded himself inside a mountain cabin near Big Bear, Calif., and exchanged gunfire with police who had pursued him after he broke into a home in the area, authorities said.Two San Bernadino County Sheriff's deputies injured in the firefight and subsequently airlifted to a nearby hospital. The extent of their injuries is unknown.Dozens...

Read More..

Arctic sunshine cranks up threat from greenhouse gases

IT'S a solar double whammy. Not only does sunlight melt Arctic ice, but it also speeds up the conversion of frozen organic matter into carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon in dead vegetation preserved in the far northern permafrost is estimated...

Read More..

IBM puts supercomputer to work on cancer

WASHINGTON: IBM is putting its Watson supercomputer to work fighting cancer, in what is described as the first commercial program of its kind to use "big data" to help patients with the disease.The US computing giant last week unveiled its initiative with health insurer WellPoint and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.The supercomputer, which gained fame by defeating two...

Read More..