Science / Technology News

We're already aware that on Monday Amazon.com will most likely be announcing Kindle 2. But will they also be announcing software for smartphones that will allow users to download, buy, and read Kindle books?

It was known that producing biofuels from corn is no more efficient than producing gasoline. But now new research indicates that corn ethanol is also more harmful to human health and the environment. The silver lining: The researchers found that biofuels from non-food sources are significantly less harmful to people and the planet.

I saw this a few days ago, and thought that it had to be a joke. But it appears it's not: the police are just too cheap to have a police sketch artist. The police in question in this incident decided to use the Nintendo Wii's Mii creation feature to make an avatar that "looks" like a suspect in a hit-and-run.

CNN has been using a Peer-to-Peer (P2P)-based video stream technology for its live streaming. In particular, CNN used this to stream the Presidential Inauguration. While in and of itself that's not a bad thing, as it shows there are legitimate uses for P2P, what isn't a good thing is the sheer amount of upstream traffic it produces.

After two flaws were uncovered with the implementation of Windows 7 User Account Control in the last few days, Microsoft has confirmed that it will be changing the UAC behavior to actually closely align with the suggestions that had been made by many.

Gmail has added another Lab feature, just a few days after adding some more functionality to Labels which made them more folder-ish. The new feature is Multiple Inboxes, but it's really more like Multiple Panes.

JAJAH has joined Truphone in offering an application that can turn an iPod Touch into a sorta-iPhone. However, don't look for it in the App Store.

Microsoft has quietly begun adding Fix-it buttons to some of their Knowledge Base articles. The Fix-it buttons run a script which will automatically fix the problem associated in the KB article, according to a Beyond Binary report.

I wrote earlier about a "hole" in Windows 7's new User Account Control (UAC) behavior which would allow malware to disable UAC without user notification. On Wednesday a new flaw was exposed, one in which malware could easily "elevate" themselves to full administrative privileges without UAC prompts or turning UAC off.

Would a dose of herbal tea slow the march of beetles killing millions of acres of pine trees across the West? Sort of.

Let me introduce myself. I am one of thousands - maybe tens of thousands - of professional biologists who work full time on your scientific legacy. You'll be happy to know that Britain remains a powerhouse in what we nowadays call evolutionary biology, and your ideas now have wide currency across the entire planet.

An international research team of scientists from UC Riverside, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions has found the oldest evidence for animals.

On Monday Sony announced a new biometric technology called "mofiria" which uses finger vein authentication. The company claims a higher accuracy and better forgery resistance than other biometric techniques.

It was the all-time titan of snakes -- a monster as long as a Tyrannosaurus rex that stalked a steamy South American rain forest after the demise of the dinosaurs and ate crocodiles for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A report from a Chinese daily newspaper indicates that a man has been killed when his cell phone battery exploded, severing an artery in his neck.

A mysterious and deadly bat disorder discovered just two winters ago in a few New York caves has now spread to at least six northeastern states , and scientists are scrambling to find solutions before it spreads across the country.

Google today announced the Latitude feature, an addition to its Google Mobile application, which will allow you to track the location of your friends. Previously you were able to track yourself, via the My Location feature added in late 2007.

India's answer to the OLPC XO-1, the "Sakshat" (which means "before your eyes") was unveiled today in Tirupati. Thing is, there haven't been any pictures of the darn thing posted anywhere, except for the picture I managed to grab from The Hindu (above). It's no laptop.

Tacitly acknowledging the problems its had getting people to adopt Windows Vista vs. Windows XP, Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will be selling upgrade versions from Windows XP to Windows 7.

Personally, I am not a big fan of ethanol when it's made from food sources such as corn. Switchgrass, now we're talking. Or anything wasted, like this: E-Fuel and Sierra Nevada Brewing announced a partnership on Tuesday on a project to turn discarded beer yeast into ethanol.