Weaver ants help flowers get the best pollinator

MOST flowers don't want pesky ants hanging around scaring away would-be pollinators. Not so the Singapore rhododendron - the first flower found to recruit ants to chase poor pollinators away. Francisco Gonzálvez at EEZA, the arid...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to 'Cliff' Deal?

Nov 30, 2012 1:45pm AP Photo/Carolyn KasterThe outlook for reaching some sort of bipartisan agreement on the so-called “fiscal cliff” before the Dec. 31 deadline is looking increasingly grim. Shortly after noon today, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, appeared before the cameras to say the talks had reached a “stalemate.”But there may be a glimmer...

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Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

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"Halo 4": More of the same with a sprinkle of change

SINGAPORE: "Halo 4" is the latest instalment of the popular "Halo" game franchise.It traces the adventures of human super soldier Master Chief, and his artificial intelligence companion Cortana, as they unravel the mystery of Requiem, an uncharted planet inhabited by the hostile Prometheans.Following the departure of Bungie Inc, the developers who did the previous "Halo" games, 343 Industries...

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Crave giveaway: Element Case Sector 5 for iPhone, Joule II for iPad

This Sector 5 features a modular "multi-link" design.(Credit:Element Case)Congrats to Jamie M. of Portland, Ore., for winning a Vinci Tab IIAndroidtablet for kids in last week's giveaway. Now, down to business: Could youriPhone 5 use a new outfit to wear to all those holiday shindigs? You're hanging out in the right place. We're giving away a Sector 5 from Element Case, which calls the accessory...

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNLLooking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand...

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Man Arrested in Fla. Girl's 1993 Disappearance

Police have arrested a 42-year-old man and charged him with murder in the case of a Florida girl who vanished almost 20 years ago.Andrea Gail Parsons, 10, of Port Salerno, Fla., was last seen on July 11, 1993, shortly after 6 p.m. She had just purchased candy and soda at a grocery store when she waved to a local couple as they drove by on an area street and honked, police said.Today,...

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How much will you pay for a green future?

TIMES are tough. When the UK government announced its new energy plans last week, newspaper headlines raged about how much household bills would rise to pay for cleaner power generation. They gave voice to a growing segment of the British public - wearied by the country's prolonged economic doldrums - that seems disinclined to pay for...

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Tokyo governor election kicks off

TOKYO: The race to elect a successor to colourful and controversial Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara kicked off Thursday with his handpicked nominee expected to cruise to an easy victory.Ishihara, a veteran right-wing firebrand who is widely blamed for exacerbating a territorial row with China, abruptly resigned to lead a new political party in a December 16 general election that coincides...

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Curiosity: Behind the amazing success (and disaster) of a mobile gaming hit

Curiosity lets people tap little "cubelets" to make them disappear. Writing messages is one motivation to keep on tapping at the 64 billion cubelets.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)For storied video game designer Peter Molyneux, November 6 was supposed to be the calm before the storm. But it became the storm itself when his newest project, Curiosity, arrived a day early and exploded in...

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again. Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite...

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Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not be announcing a town until later this morning.Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that...

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How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

WHAT would you do if you were invited by a repressive regime to advise it on one of its biggest internal problems - and hence help perpetuate the repression? That was the dilemma faced by a group of ecologists who were invited to North Korea to offer expertise on rebuilding its ruined environment (see "North Korea: What a terrible state to get into")....

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China denies yuan 'significantly undervalued'

BEIJING: China on Wednesday denied US accusations that the yuan was "significantly undervalued", after the Treasury said the unit's rise so far was "insufficient" but stopped short of labelling Beijing a currency manipulator.The issue is a sensitive one in Washington because of China's overwhelming surpluses in trade between the countries.If the US designates China as a manipulator it...

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Can you ditch your smartphone data plan for Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi is just about everywhere these days, so why do you still have to pay an arm and a leg for pricey 3G and 4G wireless data service from a carrier if you want to get online from your smartphone?This is a very good question. Now that every smartphone on the market comes with Wi-Fi capability built-in, some frugal wireless customers are wondering whether they can subscribe to a voice-only service...

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation IndiaA young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian...

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Study Finds Most Pork Contaminated

Nov 27, 2012 6:24pm A sample of raw pork products from supermarkets around the United States found that yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known food-borne pathogen, was present in 69 percent of the products tested, according to a study released today by Consumer Reports.The  bacteria  infects more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for...

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Lake life survives in total isolation for 3000 years

It is seven times as salty as the sea, pitch dark and 13 degrees below freezing. Lake Vida in East Antarctica has been buried for 2800 years under 20 metres of ice, but teems with life. The discovery of strange, abundant bacteria in a completely...

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Two errant lawyers suspended for overcharging clients

SINGAPORE: Two lawyers who face disciplinary action for overcharging will be suspended for three months each from January.The penalty was handed down on Tuesday by Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin, Andrew Phang and V K Rajah.They backed the findings of a disciplinary tribunal that Ang Chin Peng was guilty of misconduct between 1999 and 2004, while Martin Decruz was guilty of improper conduct...

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Bing's top searches reveal iPhone 5 as No. 1 news story

Bing reveals the top searches for 2012.Believe it or not but the No. 1 most searched for news story on Bing this year has been the launch of Apple's iPhone 5. In fact, the debut of this device beat out the 2012 presidential election, the Olympics, and Superstorm Sandy, which followed respectively for the next top searches. The Honey Boo Boo reality TV show came in at No. 5. Microsoft released its...

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

High Horse Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.Taken...

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