News
Hands-free texting still distracting for drivers
June 12, 2013 11:34 am | by JOAN LOWY, Associated Press | CommentsUsing voice commands to send text messages and emails from behind the wheel, which is marketed as a safer alternative for drivers, actually is more distracting and dangerous than simply talking on a cellphone, a new AAA study found. Automakers have been trying to excite new-car buyers, especially younger ones, with dashboard infotainment systems...
Man linked to hacker group agrees to plead guilty
June 12, 2013 11:33 am | by MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press | CommentsAn Ohio man linked to the hacker collective Anonymous plans to plead guilty to charges that he breached police-agency websites, under an agreement with the federal government that calls for prison time and nearly $230,000 in restitution.
Facebook starts first servers outside the US
June 12, 2013 11:24 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsFacebook says it has started processing data through its first server farm outside the United States, on the edge of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. The company inaugurated servers in its new, 300,000-square foot (28,000-square meter) facility outside the city Lulea Wednesday, saying it should improve the social network's performance in Europe.
Secret program leaker Snowden goes dark in HK
June 12, 2013 11:22 am | by CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press | CommentsThe former CIA employee who suddenly burst into headlines around the globe by revealing himself as the source of top-secret leaks about U.S. surveillance programs has just as quickly gone to ground again. Two days after he checked out of a Hong Kong hotel where he told the Guardian newspaper...
Moving iron in Antarctica
June 12, 2013 12:00 am | by Georgia Institute of Technology | CommentsThe seas around Antarctica can, at times, resemble a garden. Large-scale experiments where scientists spray iron into the waters, literally fertilizing phytoplankton, have created huge man-made algal blooms. Such geoengineering experiments produce diatoms, which pull carbon dioxide out of the air.
Google asks to publish more US gov't information
June 11, 2013 5:51 pm | by MICHAEL LIEDTKE - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press | CommentsGoogle is asking the Obama administration for permission to disclose more details about the U.S. government's demands for email and other personal information transmitted online in an effort to distance itself from an Internet dragnet. In a show of unity, Google rivals Microsoft Corp. and...
Book: Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience
June 11, 2013 3:05 pm | by Yale UniversityYale University | CommentsYaleNews features works recently or soon to be published by members of the University community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers. Authors of new books may forward publishers’ book descriptions to us by email....
Waze sale signals new growth for Israeli high tech
June 11, 2013 1:43 pm | by JOSEF FEDERMANAssociated Press | CommentsGoogle Inc.'s $1.03 billion purchase of Israeli navigation software maker Waze marks an important milestone for the country that affectionately calls itself "Start-Up Nation." The acquisition is not only among the largest-ever purchase prices for an Israeli start-up. It also cements a recent push...
Google snaps up Waze to add to mapping service
June 11, 2013 11:48 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsGoogle has purchased online mapping service Waze for in a deal that keeps a potentially valuable tool away from its rivals while gaining technology that could improve the accuracy and usefulness of its own popular navigation system. The acquisition announced Tuesday ends several months of...
'Popcorn' particle pathways promise better lithium-ion batteries
June 11, 2013 10:58 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories have confirmed the particle-by-particle mechanism by which lithium ions move in and out of electrodes made of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, or LFP), findings that could lead to better performance in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, medical equipment and aircraft.
US spy programs raise ire both home and abroad
June 11, 2013 10:57 am | by LARA JAKES, AP National Security Writer | CommentsThe Obama administration faced fresh anger Monday at home and abroad over U.S. spy programs that track phone and Internet messages around the world in the hope of thwarting terrorist threats. But a senior intelligence official said there are no plans to end the secretive surveillance systems.
What's the problem with PRISM?
June 11, 2013 10:56 am | by MATT APUZZO, Associated Press | CommentsWhen the federal government went looking for phone numbers tied to terrorists, it grabbed the records of just about everyone in America. Why every phone number? "Well, you have to start someplace," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told NBC News on Monday.
SF, NY officials wait to judge Apple 'kill switch'
June 11, 2013 10:33 am | by TERRY COLLINS, Associated Press | CommentsThe top prosecutors in San Francisco and New York, seeking ways to curb thefts of mobile devices, said Monday they will reserve judgment of Apple's new security feature designed to make it harder to reactivate a stolen iPhone. They have been asking the leading wireless device makers to create a "kill switch" that would render stolen phones useless.
Chinese spacecraft blasts off with 3 astronauts
June 11, 2013 10:26 am | by ANDY WONG, Associated Press | CommentsChina's latest manned spacecraft successfully blasted off Tuesday on a 15-day mission to dock with a space lab and educate young people about science. The Shenzhou 10 capsule carrying three astronauts lifted off as scheduled at 5:38 p.m. (0938 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
Search for 1st Web page takes detour into US
June 11, 2013 10:25 am | by JEFFREY COLLINS, Associated Press | CommentsFor the European physicists who created the World Wide Web, preserving its history is as elusive as unlocking the mysteries of how the universe began. The scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known by its French acronym CERN, are searching for the first Web page.
