Sense of place found in rat's brain[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:49:32 GMT ]By Tia Ghose, LiveScience Scientists have watched a specific network of brain cells light up in rats to create a mental map of their location.The new study, in which researchers looked at brain cells that literally turned on and off like light switches as rats navigated a maze, could shed light on how the brain creates a sense of place.The study is published Thursday in the journal Science.Findi...

Computers face a new test: Grading essays at college level[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 01:33:48 GMT ]Imagine taking a college exam, and, instead of handing in a blue book and getting a grade from a professor a few weeks later, clicking the "send" button when you are done and receiving a grade back instantly, your essay scored by a software program.And then, instead of being done with that exam, imagine that the system would immediately let you rewrite the test to try to improve your grade. EdX, t...

New tarantula is as big as your face -- and poisonous, too[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:06:31 GMT ]By Marc LallanillaLiveScienceIt's big, it's hairy and it's venomous.The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named Poecilotheria rajaei has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka.With a leg span of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and enough venom to kill mice, lizards, small birds and snakes, according to Sky News, the crawler is covered in subtle markings of gray, pin...

Radar plane scans volcanoes, archaeological sites[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:34:33 GMT ]By Becky OskinLiveScienceNASA's globe-trotting, remote-sensing plane wrapped up a month-long trip to Central and South America in March, returning with images of volcanoes, Amazon floods and archaeological sites.The small Gulfstream-III passenger plane carries a 10-foot-long (3 meters) radar pod, the unmanned aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar (UAVSAR). The radar scans Earth's surface with ra...

Long-lost 'twins' turn Internet meeting into Kickstarter success [ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:56:55 GMT ]Two young women born in South Korea, and raised continents apart, discovered each other on the Internet and suspect they are twins separated at birth. The girls launched a Kickstarter project to help fund their reunion and record their first in-person meeting and DNA tests in a full-length documentary. Barely two weeks later, the Internet has funded it past the target goal.Anaïs Bordier and Samant...

Zynga CEO to earn $1 as other execs chase big bonuses[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:35:19 GMT ]The social game developer alters its compensation plan to help retain top executives -- a problem for Zynga since it went public in late 2011. [Read more]

Apple to develop digital wallet in next year or two, says analyst[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:40:17 GMT ]The iPhone maker may tap into NFC or a different technology to cook up a digital wallet for iOS users, says analyst Gene Munster. [Read more]

WebKit fracture puts a pinch on open-source browser efforts[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:47:13 GMT ]With Google concentrating on its own Blink, Apple is tightening the WebKit browser engine code base. That'll limit other projects seeking to customize the browser. [Read more]

HTC One 64G Developer Edition preorders start today[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:36:26 GMT ]The $649 unlocked and tweakable version of the HTC One is now up for preorder. Buyers can place their orders at the HTC Web site. [Read more]

Confused about Facebook Home? Ask Maggie has answers (FAQ)[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:53:10 GMT ]In this edition of Ask Maggie, CNET's Marguerite Reardon answers questions and explains what Facebook's new Home apps are and why you should care. [Read more]

Next iPhone could land this summer[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:38:23 EDT ]Let the iPhone 6 speculation begin.

Was this Zuckerberg's first site?[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:25:31 EDT ]A blinking dinosaur eye. A nod to Eminem. A crude effort at connecting friends and "friends of friends." Were these the awkward first steps toward a multibillion-dollar social media empire?

How the Post-it note was born[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:44:40 EDT ]It's been described as the solution to a problem nobody realized existed.

Facebook Home, explained[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:53:36 EDT ]Facebook has unveiled a new product, Facebook Home, at an event everyone knew would have something to do with phones and apps and operating systems.

How to control a computer with a banana[ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:11:17 EDT ]To understand Jay Silver, it helps to go back 10 years, to a night he spent flying kites on a beach in his native Florida with the woman who would become his wife.

SpaceShipTwo glides past the moon[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:03:26 GMT ]Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane glided its way through another test flight on Wednesday, in preparation for its first powered launch later this year.The plane was carried up from California's Mojave Air and Space Port, nestled beneath its WhiteKnightTwo mothership, at 7:18 a.m. PT (10:18 a.m. ET), Parabolic Arc's Doug Messier reported. After its release at high altitude, SpaceShipTwo s...

Internet takes education to new level: Will universities make the grade?[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:36:08 GMT ]More and more universities have made a place for the Internet in today's educational offerings, but will universities still have a place in tomorrow's educational environment?"We're about to undergo a tectonic transformation in education," Caltech astrophysicist George Djorgovski, a pioneer in scientific applications for virtual worlds, told me on Wednesday. "This is the start of an 'S' curve, and...

Pre-caffeine tech: Facebook phone, college corgis! [ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:44:27 GMT ]Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning.What can we expect from today's big announcement from Facebook?Here are some purported “Facebook Home” leaks which show an attractive-looking Android UI.Speaking of Facebook: Holy crud, is this Mark Zuckerberg’s embarrassing childhood Angelfire website?Meanwhile, here's Bill Gates and Paul A...

By 2050, Arctic to be warmer and greener[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:11:38 GMT ]By Tia GhoseLiveScienceLarge swaths of the Arctic tundra will be warm enough to support lush vegetation and trees by 2050, a new study suggests.Higher temperatures will lessen snow cover, according to the study, which is detailed in the March 31 issue of the journal Nature Climate Change. That, in turn, will decrease the sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere and increase warming. About half ...

Hello, Facebook phone? Social network's 'new Home on Android' revealed today[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:23:13 GMT ]Members of the press are gathering at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., to see the social network's "new home on Android." Rumor is that this new home will appear on an HTC smartphone — but it will likely reveal the future of Facebook phone interaction for everybody. At least, everybody on Android.Initial reports indicated that Facebook is intending to introduce a modified version of ...

'Arrested Development' to debut on Netflix on May 26[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:13:14 GMT ]All 15 new episodes will be available for streaming on Netflix toward the end of next month. [Read more]

Blink, Google's new Chrome browser engine, comes to life[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:35:02 GMT ]The starting code base for what will become Chrome 28 is in place, and programmers are updating it. Blink's birth was not without labor pains, though. [Read more]

Get a refurbished Kindle Fire tablet for $69.99[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:45:00 GMT ]It's the first-gen Fire, but still one of the best tablets around for consuming movies, music, TV shows, and, of course, books. Plus: an incredible online-backup deal. [Read more]

LinkedIn adds mentions, looks to strike up conversations[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:00:00 GMT ]Inspired by Twitter and others, the professional network is introducing a feature to get people talking, but there's one little twist. [Read more]

Apple aims to outdo Google's Street View[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:12:34 GMT ]A newly-published patent application from Apple envisions a panoramic navigation system similar to Street View but with one distinct advantage. [Read more]

How wearable tech tracks your life[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:06:08 EDT ]CNN takes a look at the future of interactive technology.

Startup making cheap 3-D printers[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:18:13 EDT ]There is no shortage of amazing industrial commercial applications for 3-D printing -- internal organs, stem cells, artificial limbs, art, cars, customizable furniture.

Next iPhone could land this summer[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:38:23 EDT ]Let the iPhone 6 speculation begin.

Was this Zuckerberg's first site?[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:11:38 EDT ]A blinking dinosaur eye. A nod to Eminem. A crude effort at connecting friends and "friends of friends." Were these the awkward first steps toward a multibillion-dollar social media empire?

Coming today: A Facebook phone?[ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:06:27 EDT ]The long-rumored Facebook phone might finally be ready to make its debut.

Google to sell second-gen Nexus 7 tablet in July, say sources[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:43:01 GMT ]TAIPEI (Reuters) - Google Inc will launch a new version of its Nexus 7 tablet powered by Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon processor around July, two sources told Reuters, as the software giant pushes deeper into the cut-price mobile hardware market. Google is aiming to ship as many as eight million of the Asustek-made tablets in the second half of the year, throwing down the gauntlet to other low-end tab...

Space station's antimatter detector finds its first evidence of dark matter[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:28:50 GMT ]Scientists say a $2 billion antimatter-hunting experiment on the International Space Station has detected its first hints of dark matter, the mysterious stuff that makes up almost a quarter of the universe.The evidence from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, revealed Wednesday at Europe's CERN particle physics lab, is based on an excess in the cosmic production of anti-electrons, also known as posit...

iOS 7 will bring huge redesign — but is behind schedule — rumors suggest[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:48:44 GMT ]Word is that iOS 7 will bring a significant design overhaul to Apple's mobile operating system. That's potentially good news, but there's also some bad: The new software might be behind schedule.According to Daring Fireball's John Gruber— who has a decent track record when it comes to Apple rumors — "iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it."This isn't t...

Recipe for vivid Maya Blue paint deciphered[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:28:51 GMT ]By Megan GannonLiveScienceThe ancient Maya used a vivid, remarkably durable blue paint to cover their palace walls, codices, pottery and maybe even the bodies of human sacrifices who were thrown to their deaths down sacred wells. Now a group of chemists claim to have cracked the recipe of Maya Blue.Scientists have long known the two chief ingredients of the intense blue pigment: indigo, a plant dy...

So that's what human cells look like in space![ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:02:36 GMT ]By Tariq MalikSpace.comAstronaut photos of Earth from space are undeniably amazing, but snapshots of inner space — particularly human cells — can be spectacular, too.A new photo of human cells in space taken on the International Space Station looks more like art than science. The image, titled "Goldfinger" by scientists, reveals a monocyte immune cell as a hauntingly translucent, reddish-orange ob...

AT&T's 4G LTE hits 175 markets[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:00:35 GMT ]The carrier adds 14 new LTE markets to its total U.S. coverage, bringing the grand total to 175 areas. [Read more]

FCC refuses to state the obvious: Mobile market is competitive[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:57:30 GMT ]As FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski prepares to exit, the commission issues its annual mobile competition report. [Read more]

Samsung joins Mozilla's quest for Rust[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:03:46 GMT ]Samsung is chipping in some engineering know-how toward Mozilla's pursuit of a new programming language that it hopes will be a holy grail of code. [Read more]

AT&T clarifies Galaxy S4 price: Now it starts at $199.99[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:25:08 GMT ]Preorders for the smartphone will begin on April 16, although the carrier has yet to provide a release date. [Read more]

Get a Virgin Mobile Overdrive Pro 3G/4G mobile hot spot for $83.99[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:31:38 GMT ]That's the lowest price to date for this no-contract hot spot, which offers unlimited 4G service (where there's coverage) for as little as $35. [Read more]

YouTube closed? April Fools![ Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:18:46 EDT ]Search results you can smell, a crowdsourced hunt for pirate booty and paying for vowels on Twitter are some of this year's attempts at tech pranks. Few fooled anymore, but the annual tech ritual is still fun to watch.

Check e-mails on your watch[ Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:56:21 EDT ]CNN's Dan Simon speaks to the inventor of the Pebble watch, which became an overnight success story in Silicon Valley.

Apple CEO apologizes to China[ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:43:18 EDT ]Apple has published a letter to Chinese customers -- signed by CEO Tim Cook -- that addresses the growing controversy over the company's warranty policies there.

Smartphone as remote control[ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:45:52 EDT ]Smartphones can now be used to turn on your lights, control your TV and even start your car.

Report: Next iPhone could land this summer[ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:10:48 EDT ]Let the iPhone 6 speculation begin.

This sea lion grooves to a disco beat[ Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:57:03 GMT ]Ronan the sea lion is as cute as a cockatoo when she bobs her head in time with "Boogie Wonderland," but this isn't just one more viral video: The researchers behind the experiment say it challenges current conceptions about how animals keep the beat.A team from the University of California at Santa Cruz says Ronan is the first non-human mammal to show convincing scientific evidence of beat-keepin...

Windows Phone holds fast in tumultuous market[ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:24:41 GMT ]Windows Phone may not be taking over the world, but it's not disappearing, either. Microsoft's latest mobile operating system is seeing small but real growth in a number of markets around the world.Kantar World Panel has issued a report showing mobile phone OS share in a few key markets for the first quarter of 2013, and while the big gains are being made by Android, Windows Phone makes a surprisi...

Pre-caffeine tech: Facebook phones, pug getaways![ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:41:09 GMT ]Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning.Everybody's really sick of Google's April Fools' pranks... apparently. Scientists are totally freaking out over this sea lion that grooves to a disco beat ... and that's no prank!The Facebook mystery Android news may be a home screen launcher ... according to this one report. And when it com...

'I am Apple!' roars 'Steve Jobs' in trailer for 'first' Steve Jobs movie, 'iSteve'[ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:51:42 GMT ]While many will be thinking about their income taxes on April 15, we'll have our eyes glued to Funny or Die — Will Ferrell's website of comedy shorts. That's when a full-length biopic about Steve Jobs, dubbed iSteve, will be released on the site. Until then, we'll have to be satisfied with the teaser trailer released Tuesday.The brief clip can be viewed on Funny or Die. It doesn't give away much a...

Russia shoots for the moon with new wave of lunar robots[ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:18:03 GMT ]By Leonard DavidSpace.comRussia is developing a renewed robotic moon exploration program, building upon the history-making legacy of orbiters, landers, rovers and sample-return missions the country launched decades ago.Russia's rekindling of an aggressive moon exploration plan was unveiled by Igor Mitrofanov of the Institute for Space Research (IKI) in Moscow during Microsymposium 54 on "Lunar Far...