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Mariah Carey surpasses Elvis in No. 1s
2008-04-03 05:55:00
‘Touch My Body’ tops Billboard Hot 100; singer sets her sights on BeatlesApril 3, MSNBCLOS ANGELES - With her 18th chart-topper “Touch My Body,” Mariah Carey has passed Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and is now second only to the Beatles.But while the diva was in full celebration mode after learning of her latest milestone, she was also quick to put her accomplishment in perspective.“I really can never put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionized music but also changed the world,” Carey told The Associated Press on Tuesday via phone from London. “That’s a completely different era and time ... I’m just feeling really happy and grateful.”Carey’s single is the new No. 1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart: The song also is No. 1 on the trade magazine’s digital download chart thanks to a precedent-setting 286,000 downloads in its debut week. She had been tied with Presley with 17 No. 1 singles...

Soil Eating, a Very Dangerous Habit
2008-04-03 05:08:00
By Stefan Anitei, Science EditorApril 3, SoftpediaHuman habits are extremely diverse worldwide. But some really leave you stunned. And while we are searching for remote galaxies and worlds in the sky, some things seem to belong to other worlds.You can imagine the shock of Shamsunnahar Hena, a gynecologist in a Bangladesh hospital, when her pregnant patient said she had been eating half a kilogram (1.1 pounds) of soil every day since she got pregnant.An increasing number of pregnant woman in Bangladeshi Sylhetregion, more famous for its tea plantations, are consuming charred soil, which according to the local tradition, it boosts their appetite and health, translated into the delivery of a healthy child. But soil eating is a very dangerous issue (imagine that the anthrax bacteria and others resist for years in the soil) and that soil is just scorched."Often we get pregnant women complaining of dysentery and some other problems, but in most cases they are found guilty of eating soil,"...
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Things a stepmother should never say
2008-04-03 04:48:00
By Rosemary RogersApril 3, CNNOprah.com - As far as hard jobs go, it's up there with air-traffic controller and crane operator. Stepmothers preside over a minefield of hidden hurts, half-concealed traditions and occasional tugs-of-war. Want the job?It's been said that parenting is the toughest job in the world. Wrong. It's the second toughest: Stepparenting wins hands down. Right now, approximately half of all Americans live in a stepfamily, which means that every day, millions of women are subject to the taunt -- sometimes mournful, often angry --"You're not my mother!"I've been a stepmother three times. I know, from hard-won experience, that a great relationship with your stepkids is possible. And if you avoid certain trapdoors like the 12 verboten phrases here, you'll not only get along, but you'll never have to ask them to pick up their socks.1. "Go ahead, call me Mom!"You're not their mother, and you never will be. They're conflicted enough, and pushing them to use a m...
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Confessions of a Grand Theft Auto Virgin
2008-04-02 05:45:00
By Andrew WallensteinApril 2, AdWeekI have a shocking confession to make. I have never once played a Grand Theft Auto game.With the impending release of Grand Theft Auto IV, it's time for me to play the series that turned the world on its head. The series is notorious for becoming the media's favorite whipping boy of violent videogames. But it is also responsible, perhaps more importantly, for the popularization of non-linear gameplay in action games and "sandbox" worlds that let a player explore with no particular goal in mind.Now, it's not entirely true that I've never played any GTA title. When I was studying in Kanazawa, Japan, one of the great pastimes in the international dorms was Grand Theft Auto 2. But the first two GTA games were quite different from the ones that gained such notoriety. Though they too featured the adventures of a criminal tearing up a city, they were arcade-style, 2-D titles.We had a great time with that game's networked multiplayer modes, and this l...
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Sony Films Head to Mobile Phones
2008-04-02 05:04:00
The channel, known as PIX, will be stocked with titles such as 'Ghostbusters' and 'Stand by Me'By Andrew WallensteinApril 2, AdWeekLAS VEGAS Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phones in the U.S.The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFLO USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.The channel, to be known as PIX, will be stocked with titles such as Ghostbusters, Philadelphia and Stand by Me from Sony labels including Columbia, TriStar, Screen Gems and Sony Classics.Mobile has been viewed mostly as a marketing platform for theatricals in the U.S. With the domestic mobile video category for even short-form clips lagging behind markets in Europe and Asia, Sony is looking to entice viewers with more diverse content offerings."What you see a lot on the carrier decks is promotional content that people can snack a little on," said Eric ...
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Teleportation, time travel and aliens - a vision of tomorrow today
2008-04-02 04:06:00
Even the most outlandish science fiction could become fact, says professorBy James RandersonApril 2, The GuardianEinstein gave hope to scientists chasing the most outlandish theories when he famously declared: "If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."He then proved the existence of black holes and the notion that time passes more slowly the faster you travel.Now one of the world's most distinguished physicists has scrutinised some of science fiction's other concepts, such as teleportation and forcefields, and is convinced that they too can become reality.Professor Michio Kaku, of City University in New York, has ruled out time travel for at least a few millennia, but believes invisibility cloaks and telepathy could be possible this century."So many times predictions are made that certain things are impossible only to find them becoming possible a decade or a few decades later," he said. In his new book, The Physics of the Impossible, published in the UK ...
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Researchers: Asteroid Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
2008-04-01 15:25:00
By Lewis SmithApril 1, Fox NewsA clay tablet that has baffled scientists for 150 years has been identified as a witness's account of the asteroid suspected of being behind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.Researchers who cracked the cuneiform symbols on the Planisphere tablet believe that it recorded an asteroid thought to have been more than half a mile across.The tablet, found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, is thought to be a 700 B.C. copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky.He referred to the asteroid as a "white stone bowl approaching" and recorded it as it "vigorously swept along."Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, scientists have pinpointed his sighting to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123 B.C.About half the symbols on the tablet have survived and half of those refer to the asteroid. The other symbols record the positions of clouds ...
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Woman Testifies Against Lori Drew in MySpace Hoax Case
2008-04-01 13:04:00
Exclusive Interview With Teen Involved in MySpace Hoax That Led to SuicideBy JONANN BRADYApril 1, ABC NewsIn an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America," Ashley Grills, 19, admitted she was part of a scheme to create a fake persona on MySpace and start an online romance with a 13-year-old neighbor, Megan Meier.Grills insisted, though, that she was not the only adult involved in the cruel hoax, which eventually led the emotionally vulnerable Meier to commit suicide in October 2006, after her spurious online boyfriend and others began making nasty comments about her.Grills has testified to a grand jury that Lori Drew , the 47-year-old mother of one of Meier's friends, was actively involved in creating the account and wrote some of the messages to Meier — a charge that Drew and her attorney deny."We were just combining ideas about how we can figure out what Megan was saying about Lori's daughter," Grills told ABC News' Deborah Roberts. "It was all three of us — me and Lori...
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Indonesia bans Dutch filmmaker, warns against violent protest
2008-04-01 12:03:00
April 1, Channel News AsiaJAKARTA: Indonesia 's president has urged the mainly Muslim nation not to resort to violence in protests against an anti-Islamic film, and barred the Dutch filmmaker behind it from entering the country.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also said the screening of "Fitna", which has sparked several protests here since its release on the Internet last Thursday, would be banned in the former Dutch colony."I am asking (Indonesians) not to engage in actions such as destruction, violence and sweepings (harassing foreigners), because Islam and the other religions forbid violence and it is also against the law," Yudhoyono told journalists late Monday.The 17-minute film features imagery of the attacks on New York in 2001 and Madrid in 2004 combined with quotes from the Koran, Islam's holy book, and has been called "offensively anti-Islamic" by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.Dozens of people protested outside the Dutch embassy in Jakarta amid heavy security on Mon...
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Unlocking Stonehenge's secrets
2008-04-01 06:19:00
Stonehenge is a British wonder of the ancient world - it's also as familiar a part of our landscape as the White Cliffs of Dover.By Emma ParkinsBBC TimewatchApril 1, BBC NewsIt's such an iconic sight, we tend to forget that two fundamental questions remain - when was it built and what was it for?For hundreds of years, these questions have intrigued and frustrated antiquarians and visitors alike.Remarkably, in the next fortnight, we might just have the beginning of some answers.On Monday, the first excavation to take place at Stonehenge in nearly half a century will start.For Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, this is a truly unique moment: "Very occasionally, we have the opportunity to find out something new archeologically - we are at that moment now."We believe that this dig has a chance of genuinely unlocking part of the mystery of Stonehenge."Irresistible questionsThe men behind this historic event are Professor Geoff Wainwright and Professor Tim Darvill.Be...
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Star Wars Explained by a 3-year-old!
2008-04-01 04:05:00
April 1, Yahoo
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New Google search tool 'can see into future'
2008-04-01 03:39:00
April 1, News.com.auA NEW Google program powered by artificial intelligence allows internet users to search web pages 24 hours before they're created, the company said today.Google Australia said the new beta search technology which drives the gDay search feature can accurately predict future internet content – and even future events.The gDay technology – developed in the company's Sydney engineering centre – uses machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques from a system called MATE, or Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation.The feature then creates a sophisticated model of what the internet will look like 24 hours from a given point by using the company's index of historic, cached web content and a combination of recurrence plots and "fuzzy measure" analysis.By accessing web pages before they're actually created, users can view information from the future – including news events, share price movements and sporting results."Google's Australian engineers ha...
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Dith Pran, 'Killing Fields' photographer, dies at 65
2008-03-31 15:01:00
By Douglas MartinMarch 31, International Herald TribuneDith Pran, a photojournalist for The New York Times whose gruesome ordeal in the killing fields of Cambodia was re-created in a 1984 movie that gave him an eminence he tenaciously used to press for his people's rights, died in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Sunday. He was 65 and lived in Woodbridge, New JerseyThe cause was pancreatic cancer, which had spread, said his friend Sydney Schanberg.Dith saw his country descend into a living hell as he scraped and scrambled to survive the barbarous revolutionary regime of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, when as many as two million Cambodians — a third of the population — were killed, experts estimate. Dith survived through nimbleness, guile and sheer desperation.He had been a journalistic partner of Schanberg, a Times correspondent assigned to Southeast Asia. He translated, took notes and pictures, and helped Schanberg maneuver in a fast-changing milieu. With the fall of Phnom Pen...
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The Amazing Bamboo
2008-03-31 07:30:00
A miracle materialB Stefan Anitei, Science EditorMarch 31, SoftpediaIn the world of the building materials, bamboo could compete successfully against steel, concrete, wood and glass. Because of its exceptional mechanical qualities, low price and design, bamboo could turn into one of the preferred building materials of the future. Even if it looks like a tree, the bamboo is just a woody perennial evergreen grass, related to cereals like wheat, corn or rice.For more than 2,000 years, the bamboo has been used for building suspended bridges, houses, scaffolds, but also for making home products, furniture, pirogues, and musical instruments. The Chinese employed it in making a wide range of tools, from surgical needles (pieces with widths of tenths of millimeters, used for sewing nerves) to pipe lines, even during the 4th century BC. They used bamboo pipe lines to transport the brine from the salt mines of Tsu-Liu-Ching (Sichuan province).Some bamboo construction resisted over the millenn...
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Home win for Pedrosa in Spanish MotoGP
2008-03-31 06:14:00
March 30, Google NewsJEREZ, Spain — Spain's Dani Pedrosa grabbed the world championship lead with a dominant display in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.The Repsol Honda rider set a cracking pace after starting from second on the grid, serving notice of his intentions by setting a new lap record on the second lap.He quickly left his rivals in his wake, leading all the way to notch up his 28th career win and fifth in MotoGP.Italian Valentino Rossi, the five-time world champion in the top class, finished second at 2.883sec to record his 100th podium placing in this category with Pedrosa's Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo third at 4.339.Pedrosa moves into the overall world championship lead after finishing third in Qatar three weeks ago."I was concerned above all in not making a mistake and keeping up a good rhythm," said Pedrosa."I was very happy and proud when the King (Juan Carlos) handed me the trophy."It was a surprise for us to win. We have worked very hard for this. It is unbelie...
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5 die when plane hits London-area home
2008-03-31 06:04:00
Fatalities were aboard Cessna jet, which reportedly was headed to FranceMarch 30, MSNBCLONDON - A small plane crashed into a residential area south of London on Sunday, killing five people and completely destroying a house, police and rescue officials said.Fire and police officials said they had found no survivors amid the flaming wreckage. Officials said the plane was carrying two pilots and three passengers."No survivors were found, but I can confirm that there were no people involved in the houses," said Jim Bascran, of the London fire department.Police said they would not release any more information on the identities of the dead until their next of kin had been notified.The private plane crashed into a house in Farnborough in Kent, just south of London, sometime after 2:30 p.m. local time, officials said. The neighborhood, Broadwater Gardens, lies near Biggin Hill Airport, about 12 miles from central London.The small airport was an important Royal Air Force fighter station duri...
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Trailer: Superhero Movie
2008-03-28 10:00:00
March 28, Photobucket
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New "Sea Monster" Species Identified
2008-03-28 07:41:00
March 28, National GeographicThe remarkably well-preserved fossil of a dinosaur-era sea creature found in a Canadian mine is turning out to be a gold mine for paleontologists.The Cretaceous-period reptile, dubbed Nichollsia borealis, is not only a new species—it represents a whole new genus, scientists announced on March 20.It's also one of the oldest and most complete plesiosaur fossils ever unearthed in North America.Plesiosaurs were carnivorous reptiles that roamed the seas between about 205 million to 65 million years ago.Mine workers found the intact creature about 200 feet (60 meters) deep in a surface mine in Alberta in 1994. The Syncrude company extracts oil from the mine's sandy soil.A "tomb" of sandstone preserved the 8.5-foot-long (2.6-meter-long) creature almost perfectly—unlike other plesiosaur fossils that are often found in porous shale.The fossil ended up at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, where University of Calgary paleontologists Patrick Dru...
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The next X-Files
2008-03-28 05:07:00
By Derrik LangMarch 28, Sidney Morning HeraldThe truth is still out there ... David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will both star in the new X-files movie.The truth about The X-Files sequel - some of it, anyway - is now out there.X-Files creator Chris Carter, writer Frank Spotnitz and other crew members gathered recently to discuss the TV series, and to declassify some information about the upcoming film.The popular Fox paranormal drama, which aired from 1993 to 2002, starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully"While this is not a mythology movie, it's true to everything that's come before," Mr Spotnitz said at the William S Paley Television Festival."It's true to Mulder and Scully, who they are and where they would be this point in their lives and all of the experiences that they've had."The series first made the leap to the big screen with 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future. Plans for another film were grounded in 2005 when Carter sue...

Venus and Mars: Surprising Similarities Found
2008-03-18 11:33:00
By Clara MoskowitzStaff WriterSPACE.comMarch 18, YahooMars and Venus , those seemingly contrasting planets of self-help book fame, have more in common than you might think. Two nearly identical spacecraft around Mars and Venus have compared the two worlds' atmospheres and found them to be surprisingly similar.The ESA's Mars Express and Venus Express are currently in orbit around the planets taking measurements of their atmospheres as they interact with solar radiation. The data show that charged particles from the gas layers around both planets are being scavenged by solar wind and storms."Mars and Venus are very different planets," said David Brain, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, and a supporting investigator for Venus Express. "Venus's atmosphere is very thick, dry and hot, and Mars's atmosphere is very thin and cold. And yet the same processes are happening on both planets."Both Venus's and Mars's atmospheres are about 95 percent carbon diox...

Bon Jovi fraudster jailed for 16 years
2008-03-18 07:38:00
By Tim DorninMarch 18, News.com.auA MAN, who took the name of a famous rock star to steal millions of dollars from finance companies, has been jailed for 16 years.Romeo Pacifico, who changed his name to Richard Sambora, the same as the famed Bon Jovi guitarist, managed to obtain cash loans totalling $25 million.The Adelaide man used the money to prop up his failing business and to fund a lavish lifestyle including the purchase of luxury homes and cars.Over a four-year period from about 1998 to 2002, he engaged in an exercise of "robbing Peter to pay Paul", according to South Australian District Court Judge Wayne Chivell.The judge said Pacifico was involved in string of fraud-related offences where he obtained money from finance companies supposedly for business expenses.Some of the cash he used to pay off previous loans but Judge Chivell said of the $25,639,133 he obtained, the victims actually lost a total of more than $8 million.The judge described the offending as premeditated, d...
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Global Strategy or Grand Illusion?
2008-03-18 03:07:00
By MICHIKO KAKUTANIMarch 18, NY TimesAmerican troops bogged down in Iraq, a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, an overstretched military and National Guard, simmering tensions with Iran and North Korea, and growing hostility toward the United States around the world: these are just some of the consequences of Bush administration foreign policy over the last seven years. To the Slate columnist Fred Kaplan, these woes all stem from two grand misconceptions held by the White House and its top advisers: that the world fundamentally changed after 9/11, when in fact “the way the world works — the nature of power, warfare and politics among nations — remained essentially the same”; and that in a post-cold-war era, the United States “had the power to set the terms of the new world order” and could therefore act unilaterally, without entangling alliances and without compromising “with competing concepts or interests.”The devastating consequences of the administration’s embra...
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Harrison Ford cracks whip again as Indiana Jones
2008-03-17 10:29:00
March 17, News.com.auIT'S been over 25 years since Indiana Jones first burst onto screens cracking his bullwhip and dusting off his fedora after yet another death-defying scrape. Now aged 65, Harrison Ford is back.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - the fourth installment in the series since the 1981 release of Raiders of the Lost Ark - is due to be released worldwide on May 22.Screen action hero Ford once again takes up the role of the crusty, swashbuckling archaeologist he last played in 1989. This time starring alongside Cate Blanchett.And the few extra grey hairs and wrinkles on his grizzled features won't pass unnoticed. "There will ... be references that my character has definitely aged since the last movie," he said.But in an interview with AFP, Ford refused to spill the beans on what thrills await audiences in the film dubbed by Paramount as "the adventure continues."Age doesn't appear to have to slowed him down any, with Ford performing most of his own s...
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Protest in Lhasa, Tibet 2008
2008-03-17 04:37:00
March 17, YouTube
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Dollar Slumps Below 96 Yen to 12-Year Low on Subprime Losses
2008-03-17 04:19:00
By Stanley White and Kosuke GotoMarch 17, BloombergThe dollar slumped below 96 yen for the first time in 12 years after the Federal Reserve cut its discount interest rate and financed the bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. by JPMorgan Chase & Co.The dollar also dropped to a record low against the euro and the Swiss franc as the Fed lowered the rate it charges commercial banks for loans by a quarter percentage point to 3.25 percent to ensure ``orderly market functioning.'' Traders increased bets the Fed will slash its benchmark target rate by 1 percentage point tomorrow, making fixed-income securities issued by the U.S. government less appealing to global investors.``The dollar is facing a credibility crisis,'' said Koji Fukaya, a senior currency strategist at Deutsche Securities, the Tokyo unit of Deutsche Bank AG, the world's largest currency trader. ``All the markets are entering a vicious cycle.''The dollar fell to as low as 95.76 yen, the weakest since Aug. 15, 1995, before...
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'We're the biggest ... '
2008-03-17 03:59:00
The famously volatile Sugababes talk to Chris Salmon about hits, arrests, Girls Aloud - and why the bad times are now behind themMarch 17, The GuardianThe Sugababes are discussing a bad habit. "We're not the only ones who do it, though," says Keisha Buchanan, the last of the original band members. "I had to stop Leona [Lewis] from doing it, too. It can ruin your day." "It seriously did ruin my day yesterday," sighs Amelle Berrabah, the trio's newest addition. "It was absolutely horrible. I felt really down afterwards."Perched on a leather sofa in a London rehearsal studio, the threesome are talking about reading comments posted about them on the internet. Naturally, it's the unkind ones that stick in their minds. "I get things like, 'I hate that Keisha, she should just die'," says Buchanan. "Mine yesterday were more like, 'She's an ugly whore' and 'Look at her funny eyes'," adds Berrabah. "Someone said they hated my dog," says Heidi Range, the blonde, Scouse Sugababe. "How...

Hamilton hails 'best-ever' F1 win
2008-03-17 03:46:00
March 17, BBC NewsLewis Hamilton believes his victory in the opening Formula One race of the season in Australia was the best of his five career triumphs.The British driver, 23, won by five seconds from BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld with only seven cars finishing."It's probably the best race I've had so far in terms of managing tyres, controlling my pace and confidence, and being comfortable in the car," he said."But it's not the perfect win. There are a lot of areas I can improve."Hamilton also said he was unconcerned by the pace shown by rivals Ferrari in an otherwise disastrous season opener for the Formula One world champions.Kimi Raikkonen finished only eighth as Hamilton's McLaren won in Australia, but the Finn's Ferrari showed winning speed in an incident-packed afternoon."We could have gone quicker, so I'm not particularly bothered by Ferrari's pace," Hamilton, said."A lot of hype was put on them and they've obviously had a tough weekend, but you can't forget that the...

News on photo: FAMILY TIES
2008-03-14 07:57:00
March 14, People Victoria Beckham takes her band of brothers – sons Romeo, 5, Cruz, 3, and Brooklyn, 9, – to blow off some energy at a gym class Saturday in Los Angeles.
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From shock & awe to sticker shock
2008-03-14 07:31:00
March 14, ReutersThe Iraq war was supposed to cost less than $50 billion; now it costs closer to $500 billion.In early 2003, it seemed a remote possibility that the U.S.-led invasion could create economic problems at home. But now, economists say every month of combat adds more than $10 billion to a U.S. debt that now tops $9 trillion.SPEAKER: John Irons of the Economic Policy InstituteDeborah Lutterbeck reports.
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When a Corporate Donation Raises Protests
2008-03-14 03:58:00
By STUART ELLIOTTMarch 14, NY TimesWHEN the Columbus Children’s Hospital agreed to name a new lobby after two retail chains to thank their corporate parent for a $5 million donation, everyone was all smiles. The same was true when the Ohio hospital renamed itself Nationwide Children’s Hospital, to acknowledge a $50 million gift from Nationwide insurance, a large local company.But a coalition of children’s advocates contends that the hospital went too far by agreeing to name a new emergency department and trauma center after another locally based retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch, in exchange for a $10 million donation.The coalition, which includes the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, several pediatricians and Parents for Ethical Marketing, is asking the hospital to reconsider the decision made in June 2006 to accept the donation. The plea is being made now because ground is to be broken this year for the building to house the emergency and trauma facilities.The 15 org...
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