MINEOLA, New York (AP) ― Alan Alda, the actor-turned-part-time professor, has a new question for scientists to consider: How do you explain color to an 11-year-old?The television and film star best known for his role in the 1970s sitcom “MASH” is posing the question as part of the third annual “Flame Challenge.” Alda helped organize the international contest as part of his work at the Stony Brook University Center for Communicating Science.The university on eastern Long Island named the center i

Dec. 12, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― In response to concerns about the rise in drug-resistant superbugs worldwide, U.S. regulators Wednesday issued voluntary guidelines to help cut back on antibiotics routinely fed to farm animals.The plan described by the Food and Drug Administration is not mandatory, and applies only to certain pharmaceuticals that are given to healthy livestock in a bid to grow bigger animals and boost food production. “We need to be selective about the drugs we use in animals and when we use

Dec. 12, 2013

The number of car accidents related to smartphones has doubled over the past three years with the rise in the use of mobile digital devices, according to a research institute.The Traffic Climate and Environment Research Center, a research unit of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co., said in a report it released Wednesday that the smartphone-related accident rate increased 1.9-fold from 437 in 2009 to 848 cases in 2012.The abrupt rise in such accidents is attributed to both phone calls and the us

Dec. 11, 2013

Samsung Electronics decided to retain its current three business units and strengthen its camera business, officials said Wednesday.They said the three main business units ― device solutions, home appliance, and IT and mobile ― remain intact, and will be continued to be led by CEOs Kwon Oh-hyun, Yoon Boo-keun and Shin Jong-kyun, respectively.Because of last year’s major restructuring process in which Samsung Electronics split a division in charge of finished goods into mobile and consumer electr

Dec. 11, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― The competition between Microsoft and Google is stretching to the North Pole as the Internet search rivals vie to be top Santa tracker this Christmas.Google on Wednesday launched a google.com/santatracker website offering reindeer games, elf antics and updates on beloved gift-giver Kris Kringle as children worldwide count down to Christmas eve.“A team of Google engineers are working hard to track Santa’s sleigh with the most advanced maps and holiday technology available,”

Dec. 11, 2013

South Korea’s research and development spending was the sixth-highest worldwide last year, rising 11.1 percent from a year earlier, a report showed on Tuesday.The government, research institutes, universities and corporations spent a combined 55.45 trillion won ($52.7 billion) on R&D activity in 2012, up 5.56 trillion won from the previous year, according to the report compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The R&D spending, worth $49.23 billion, was the sixth-largest in th

Dec. 11, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― After the Boston marathon bombings, people who spent six hours a day scouring media for updates were more traumatized than those who were actually there, a U.S. study suggested.The study raised questions about the psychological impact of repeated exposure to violence via digital and traditional media in the first major terror attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.The findings were based on a survey of 4,675 adults taken shortly after the deadly April 15 attacks and the fren

Dec. 11, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Comet ISON, once optimistically called the comet of the century, is dead, the victim of a way-too-close brush with the sun. It was barely a year old.The comet, which excited astronomers and the media as it zipped near the sun on Thanksgiving Day, was pronounced dead at a scientific conference Tuesday. Astronomers who had followed the ice ball mourned the loss of the sky show that once promised to light up during December.Naval Research Lab astronomer Karl Battams, who headed th

Dec. 11, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Taking a picture to help you remember something might end up having the opposite effect, according to research published in the United States.A study released this week showed that people who took photographs of items during a museum tour were less likely to remember details than those who merely looked at the objects.That is a lesson for a world growing accustomed to instant photo-sharing on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, said psychological scientist Linda Henke

Dec. 11, 2013

Playing video games for a long time without taking breaks may be deadly, Live Science reported on Wednesday.Extended video gaming often involves no movement for a long period, which can increase the risk of developing a potentially lethal condition known as deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT, the report said. The report cited a 31-year-old man from New Zealand who spent eight hours a day playing PlayStation games for four days, and a doctor told him that deadly blood clots developed in his leg. DVT ca

Dec. 11, 2013

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top smartphone maker, said Tuesday that global sales of its Galaxy Note 3 smartphones have surpassed the 10 million mark since its release in late September.The milestone comes two months earlier than its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 2. It took nine months and four months, respectively, for the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 to reach the mark, according to Samsung.The new Galaxy Note 3 phablet, with a 5.7-inch screen, is an upgraded version of the 5.5-inch Gal

Dec. 10, 2013

India’s mobile phone makers are expanding their presence in the global smartphone market on the back of strong demand at home and sales of lower-priced devices, industry data showed on Tuesday.Micromax emerged as the world’s 11th-largest mobile phone maker in the third quarter, surpassing HTC, Motorola and Blackberry, and became the No. 2 smartphone brand in India, with a record 14 percent share, according to the latest data compiled by Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research.Sam

Dec. 10, 2013