Today on New Scientist: 25 February 2013

First fruits of a groundbreaking art-science tie-up A pioneering collaboration between two of London's most prestigious cultural institutions shows that sci-art has come of ageThe great illusion of the self Your mind's greatest trick is convincing you of your own reality. Discover the elaborate illusions involved and what they mean in our special featureStunning seeds: a biological meteor wreathed...

Read More..

Motor Racing: Ecclestone wants Melbourne race for '50 years'

SYDNEY: Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone said Tuesday he would happily sign a contract for Melbourne to host the Grand Prix for 50 years, declaring "everybody loves Australia".The sport has a contract with Melbourne until 2015 but beyond that it is up in the air, and other cities have expressed interest in snapping up the event which Ecclestone has previously said is the "least...

Read More..

'Copyright Alert System' rolls out to catch illegal downloaders

The "Copyright Alert System," aka "six strikes," kicked off today with the cooperation of five major Internet service providers. The goal of the new campaign is to curb copyright infringement by going after consumers rather than pirates. While the CAS seems like something that would raise the hackles of privacy and civil liberty groups, the plan isn't to arrest, sue, or fine people downloading illegal...

Read More..

Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks...

Read More..

Arias Claims Innocence on Death Penalty Charge

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was confronted today with a barrage of lies she told after she killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but she twice defiantly declared that she was innocent of first degree murder."It's the truth. I'm innocent of that charge," Arias said to prosecutor Juan Martinez, referring to the criminal charge that could carry the threat of the death sentence...

Read More..

Ancient continent hides beneath Indian Ocean

The sands of Mauritius are hiding a secret: deep beneath them lurks an ancient continent. Trond Torsvik and colleagues at the University of Oslo, Norway, analysed grains of zircon found on the island's beaches, measuring the balance...

Read More..

Japan to nominate ADB president as BoJ chief

TOKYO: The Japanese government of Shinzo Abe is set to nominate Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda as governor of the central bank, reports said on Monday, sending the dollar surging against the yen.The greenback surged past 94 yen in early Asian trade from 93.37 yen in New York on Friday, with investors confident that there will be fresh aggressive easing steps by Abe's...

Read More..

YouTube code refers to paid channel subscriptions

Paid channel subscriptions on YouTube may be closer than previously thought.After reports last month that YouTube was considering offering channels that would require a fee to access, code has now appeared that suggests Google is already laying the software foundation for subscription channels.According to Android Police, the latest version of YouTube for Android includes two lines of code that refer...

Read More..

Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."No animal has ever been nominated for...

Read More..

Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm 8: 51 pm. ET: And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained.”8:49 p.m. ET: Every nominee for Best Supporting Actor already has an Oscar under his belt.8: 42 p.m. ET: Another musical number with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. And then we got a little Disney music too with “Be Our Guest,” which finally scored...

Read More..