Sooty ships may be geoengineering by accident

GEOENGINEERING is being tested - albeit inadvertently - in the north Pacific. Soot from oil-burning ships is dumping about 1000 tonnes of soluble iron per year across 6 million square kilometres of ocean, new research has revealed. Fertilising the world's...

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Golf: Snedeker, Hahn share lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Brandt Snedeker, runner-up to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the past two weeks, fired a four-under par 68 Saturday to share the lead after 54 holes at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.Snedeker, a 32-year-old American who won last year's PGA playoff crown, stood alongside Korean-American PGA rookie James Hahn on 12-under 202 through three rounds in quest of...

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Almost famous: See celebs' early roles

By Henry Hanks, CNNupdated 5:05 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013Stars who started out like GoDaddy's geekJesse HeimanSylvester StalloneJohn TravoltaKeanu ReevesCourtney CoxMatt LeBlancTina FeyRainn WilsonMegan FoxDean Wint...

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Slain Texas prosecutor remembered at memorial service

TERRELL, Texas A Texas prosecutor gunned down outside his courthouse office last month was remembered Saturday for his zealousness in pursuing tough cases, love of flying and ability to tell stories. Hundreds turned out in a school auditorium to celebrate the life of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse during a 90-minute memorial service that included stories about the veteran...

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After Blizzard, Northeast Begins to Dig Out

The Northeast began the arduous process of cleaning up after a fierce storm swept through the region leaving behind up to three feet of snow in some areas.By early this morning, 650,000 homes and businesses were without power and at least five deaths were being blamed on the storm: three in Canada, one in New York and one in Connecticut, The Associated Press reported.The storm...

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Data-wiping algorithm cleans your cellphone

Paul Marks, chief technology correspondentMailing your cellphone to a recycling company might make you a few pounds, but it can leave you at risk of identity theft. The deletion techniques recycling companies use are meant for hard discs, and so don't work on the solid-state flash memory used in mobile phones. That means personal data like banking info, texts, contacts and pictures can end up in...

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Venezuela devalues currency 32% against US dollar

CARACAS: Venezuela said Friday it is devaluing its currency by 32 per cent against the dollar on the orders of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, in part to trim a bloated budget deficit.The bolivar will go from 4.3 to 6.3 to the dollar at the official exchange rate. The move was announced at a press conference by Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani. He said it will take effect...

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The making of a No. 1 song

Singer/songwriter Benny Blanco has produced some major hits by stars like Maroon 5, Rihanna and Ke$sha.STORY HIGHLIGHTSA hit song could be a catchy earworm or a heartfelt balladTop producer Benny Blanco says every song needs a hookBillboard expert says while albums aren't selling big, music is everywhere(CNN) -- Don't ask music super-producer Benny Blanco to whip up a No. 1 song for an artist because...

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Clamping down on prescription painkiller abuse

(CBS News) The Food and Drug Administration has called the abuse of prescription painkillers a "major public health challenge." On Friday, the FDA wrapped up a hearing on the drugs including oxycodone, Vicodin and Percocet. These painkillers do their job well -- but come with a big risk. "My liver started shutting down," said 28-year-old Kimberly, who asked that we not use her last name. "My kidneys...

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Robot inquisition keeps witnesses on the right track

MEMORY is a strange thing. Just using the verb "smash" in a question about a car crash instead of "bump" or "hit" causes witnesses to remember higher speeds and more serious damage. Known as the misinformation effect, it is a serious problem for police trying to gather accurate accounts of a potential crime. There's a way...

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Tennis: No Serena, no Sharapova in tweaked Fed Cup

PARIS: The 2013 Fed Cup World Group gets underway on Saturday with the tournament missing marquee names Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and with a late format tweak aimed at boosting the event's appeal.Both Williams and Sharapova featured in the 2012 Fed Cup, partly to meet Olympic Games qualifying criteria, but will not be involved when the United States tackle Italy and Russia welcome...

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Alleged cop killer: I have no family, 'I'm terminating yours'

STORY HIGHLIGHTSPolice believe former cop Christopher Jordan Dorner shot three officers, killing one This was days after he allegedly killed two people, one a retired LAPD officer's daughter In an 11-page manifesto, Dorner promises "war" on police and their families The suspect's truck is found burnt in a mountainous area 100 miles east of L.A.Los Angeles (CNN) -- A former Los Angeles cop with military...

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Despite adoption ban, N.J. couple brings home Russian tot

(CBS News) FREEHOLD, N.J. -- It's been about a month since Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Americans from adopting Russian children. It was widely seen as a retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting Russians who have violated human rights. At the time, 1,000 American families were in the middle of the adoption process. CBS News first met Robert and Kim Summers a month ago. They were just...

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Cop Shooting Rampage: Dorner's Truck Found

The truck owned and driven by suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner during his alleged rampage through the Los Angeles area was found deserted and in flames on the side of Bear Mountain, Calif., this afternoon.Heavily armed SWAT team members descended onto Bear Mountain from a helicopter manned with snipers today to investigate the fire. The San Bernadino Sheriff's Department...

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Today on New Scientist: 6 February 2013

Open Richard III DNA evidence for peer review A good case has been made that a skeleton unearthed from a car park is that of the last Plantagenet king of England - it's time to share the dataUniversal bug sensor takes guesswork out of diagnosis A machine that can identify all bacteria, viruses and fungi known to cause disease in humans should speed up diagnosis and help to reduce antibiotic...

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Canadians protest Tunisian opposition chief's death

MONTREAL: Hundreds of people gathered late Wednesday in Montreal to express their outrage over the shooting death of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid.The protesters, mostly youths, held candles and some wrapped themselves in Tunisian flags under bitterly cold temperatures.The Tunisian Collective of Canada, which backed the Arab Spring movement that triggered the fall of dictator...

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Obama agrees to give drone documents to Congress

By Lesa Jansen, CNNupdated 8:27 PM EST, Wed February 6, 2013The U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft vehicle has been used to take out key targets in the war on terror. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe move comes on the eve of confirmation hearings for CIA director nominee John BrennanThe drone program has been shrouded in secrecy, which has been criticized by senatorsThe policy paper will go to congressional intelligence...

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Sequestration already cutting into national defense

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- There is a much bigger Washington fiscal crisis coming in three weeks, when automatic, across-the-board budget cuts go into effect unless Congress finds another way. In Washington lingo, the budget cuts are called sequestration, and they're already cutting into national defense. Watch: Scott Pelley speaks with President Barack Obama about sequestration, at left. Late Wednesday...

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NTSB to Challenge 787 Battery Tests

The National Transportation Safety Board will publicly question at a news conference planned for Thursday morning in Washington whether the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing adequately tested the lithium batteries that have caught fire on Dreamliners in the U.S. and Japan, ABC News has learned exclusively from a government source.The NTSB will say its investigation...

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Today on New Scientist: 5 February 2013

Engineering light: Pull an image from nowhere A new generation of lenses could bring us better lighting, anti-forgery technology and novel movie projectors Baby boomers' health worse than their parents Americans who were born in the wake of the second world war have poorer health than the previous generation at the same ageNew 17-million-digit monster is largest known prime A distributed computing...

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8.0 quake strikes off Solomon Islands

WASHINGTON: A major magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean and a tsunami warning was issued for South Pacific islands, US officials said.The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 0112 GMT near the Santa Cruz Islands, which are part of the Solomon Islands nation, with a depth of 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center...

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Secret camera, drones used to monitor Alabama kidnapper

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Two bombs found in kidnapper's bunker, FBI saysState police: Ethan released from hospitalHostage taker was difficult to deal with from Day 1, source saysLaw enforcement used a secret camera to see inside bunker, source saysMidland City, Alabama (CNN) -- Two bombs were discovered Tuesday inside the bunker where an FBI team rescued a 5-year-old boy from his kidnapper, the agency...

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