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Tigers evolved with snow leopards, gene study reveals
By Matt Walker, BBC New/Earth News, 12-Feb-2010
The tiger may be more ancient and distinct than we thought. Tigers are less closely related to lions, leopards and jaguars than these other big cats are to each other, according to a new comprehensive study. The genetic analysis also reveals the tiger began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and its closest living relative is the equally endangered snow leopard.
Climate fixes 'pose drought risk'
By Judith Burns, BBC News, 07-Aug-2009
The use of geo-engineering to slow global warming may increase the risk of drought, according to a paper in Science journal.
Methods put forward include reflecting solar radiation back into space using giant mirrors or aerosol particles.
But the authors warn that such attempts to control the climate could also cause major changes in precipitation.
They want the effect on rainfall to be assessed before any action is taken.
Be careful what you post online, career counselors warn
By David Gregorio, Reuters, 06-Aug-2009
People concerned about their careers should be extra careful about what they post on the Internet during a recession, career counselors say.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other venues present numerous opportunities to sabotage your hunt for a job or promotion at a time when employers can afford to be picky.
Is free news a thing of the past?
By Clare Davidson, BBC News, 06-Aug-2009
In recent years, we have grown accustomed to the idea that news is free.
But Rupert Murdoch's latest move could mark a bold change.
The media tycoon has said his News Corp will charge online customers for news content across all its websites.
The US pilots living next to a runway
By Rajesh Mirchandani, BBC News, 06-Aug-2009
Airline jobs once inspired respect and envy.
But at Los Angeles International Airport about 100 airline employees - from mechanics to pilots - are living in mobile homes parked just yards from one of the busiest runways in the world.
It is a sign of the harsh reality of an industry that once embodied glamor.
Obama, Elvis and America’s birthers
Reuters, 06-Aug-2009
Commentary by Bernd Debusmann, Reuters columnist
According to the survey, by the polling institute Research 2000, there is a huge gap between Republicans and Democrats on the issue: 93 percent of Democrats believed that Obama was born in the U.S. while only 42 percent of Republicans thought so. Of the rest, 28 percent thought he wasn’t born in the U.S. and 30 percent were not sure.
Conspiracy theories come in many forms but they have one thing in common: they survive against overwhelming factual evidence.
Reduce the high cost of medical malpractice
Reuters, 06-Aug-2009
Commentary by Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor; a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute
Malpractice premiums cost some doctors many tens of thousands of dollars a year, not because an individual doctor has a history of making mistakes, but because in some states juries make excessively generous awards knowing that insurance companies pay.
White collar no shield for China workers in downturn
By Emma Graham-Harrison, Reuters, 05-Aug-2009
With a rising tide of graduates flowing out of China's fast-expanding universities, a degree is no longer a ticket out of the grim production lines of its boomtown factories.
Corporate debt:
A new bubble in the making?
Commentary by Agnes Crane, Reuters, 05-Aug-2009
Memories in the financial markets are notoriously short, writes columnist Agnes Crane, and percolating in the riskiest corners of the corporate bond market is a run-up in prices that should ring alarm bells.
Call for debate on killer robots
BBC News, 03-Aug-2009
A leading academic has called for an international debate on the ethics of using autonomous robots for war.
Despite economic downturn, cruise vacations popular
By Patricia Reaney, Reuters, 30-Jul-2009
The worldwide economy is in the doldrums and jobless numbers are rising but it hasn't stopped people from taking cruises to get away from it all.
Europe loves Obama. Does it matter?
Reuters, 30-Jul-2009
Commentary by Bernd Debusmann, Reuters columnist
Barack Obama's star may be fading slightly at home but it is still so bright in Europe that he outshines the leaders of Germany and France in their own countries, according to a poll that shows a remarkable global shift in attitudes towards the U.S. since he took office.
The question is: does it matter?
An abnormal recovery
Reuters, 30-Jul-2009
Commentary by James Saft, Reuters columnist
Things in the U.S. economy are moving in the right direction, but the pace will be slow, frustrating and very likely to disappoint investors betting on a rip roaring old-fashioned recovery.
For one thing, house prices are supposed to rise in the spring; when looked at on a more meaningful seasonally adjusted basis prices are still falling, though at a slower rate than before.
Overbanked America:
Too many branches spoil the banks
Reuters, 28-Jul-2009
Bank of America's plans to shut some of its 6,109 branches may mark a turning point in a nationwide glut of banking storefronts, as customers increasingly manage their money from computers and cell phones.
The Ugly American and other stereotypes
Reuters, 16-Jul-2009
Commentary by Bernd Debusmann, Reuters columnist
What happened to the Ugly American, the one with the loud shirt and the loud voice, expecting the natives to speak English? Has he been shouldered aside by the Arrogant French?
The healthcare disconnect
Reuters, 10-Jul-2009
Commentary by Darrell West, president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution
A successful healthcare reform package will have to address the cost for services for private versus public providers and employ innovative technological advances, writes Darrell West, author of Digital Medicine: Health Care in the Internet Era.
Missing for 50 years - US nuclear bomb
BBC News, 22-Jun-2009
More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains.
Remember When...
Anonymous
A computer was something on TV
From a science fiction show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean,
And ram was the cousin of a goat
Meg was the name of my girlfriend.
A gig was a job for the night.
Now they all mean different things,
And that really mega bytes.
An application was for employment.
A program was a TV show.
A cursor used profanity.
A keyboard was a piano.
Memory was something that you lost with age.
A CD was a bank account.
And if you had a three-inch floppy,
You hoped nobody found out.
Compress was something you did to the garbage,
Not something you did to a file.
And if you unzipped anything in public,
You'd be in jail for a while.
Log on was adding wood to the fire.
Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your commode.
Cut, you did with a pocket knife.
Paste, you did with glue.
A web was a spider's home.
And a virus was the flu.
I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head.
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash,
But when it happens they wish they were dead.
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