Scientists say baby born with HIV apparently cured

Scientists say a baby born with the AIDS virus appears to have been cured thanks to faster and stronger treatment than is usual for newborns.Scientists at a major AIDS meeting say the Mississippi child is now 2 years old and has been off HIV drugs for about a year with no signs of infection.If the child remains healthy, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure. Specialists say it offers promising clues for more research to fight pediatric HIV.Doctors don’t usually give high-dose treat

March 4, 2013

Hackers target Evernote, notebook service

The Web and app-based digital notebook service, Evernote, is asking all users to change their passwords after a hacking incident, the company said.Evernote said that no user content and person notes were accessed, but hackers were likely able to access user names, email address and encrypted passwords."While our password encryption measures are robust, we are taking additional steps to ensure that your personal data remains secure," Evernote wrote on its blog.The incident is the latest in a seri

March 4, 2013

Study: Volcanoes have climate effect

The reason why Earth did not warm as much as expected between 2000 and 2010 could be down to dozens of volcanoes spewing sulfur dioxide, U.S. scientist say.A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder said emissions from moderate volcanoes around the world might have masked some of the effects of global warming.Sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth's surface eventually rise 12 to 20 miles into the stratospheric aerosol layer of the atmosphere, where chemical reactions create sulfuric acid and

March 3, 2013

Take care over stress levels of children starting school

The stress that children feel when beginning school can be more serious than adults may think. Many adults may think that children do not feel stressed, but their stress levels can be high.If you notice that your child is more irritable, cannot sleep well, has more dreams than before, has a smaller appetite, and fights often with siblings, these indicate that your child is under a significant amount of stress. When children are stressed, they may develop anxiety symptoms, tic disorders or refuse

Feb. 28, 2013

Food allergies affect children’s growth

Food allergies in children -- especially if multiple foods are involved -- may affect growth, U.S. researchers say. Study author Dr. Brian Vickery, a pediatric allergist and immunologist in Durham, N.C., and colleagues at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reviewed the charts of children ages 1 month to 11 years who had visited outpatient clinics from 2007 to 2011. From the chart reviews, 245 food allergic children were identified. Height, weight and body mass index percentiles of t

Feb. 28, 2013

Dying stars may have planets with life

 Dying stars may have planets with life, U.S. astronomers say, and it might even be easier to detect such planets than around a sun-like star.Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics say a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars suggests we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf’s planet much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star.“In the quest for extraterrestrial biological signatures, the first sta

Feb. 28, 2013

New mobile platforms conquer scene at MWC 2013

BARCELONA, Spain ― Another war is stirring over new mobile operating systems, and this time, it is being staged by handset makers and chipmakers as well as mobile carriers around the world.The newest incoming mobile platforms introduced at this year’s Mobile World Congress were Tizen and Firefox, both strongly supported by global and local firms like Samsung and LG Electronics, Intel, Mozilla and Qualcomm.Telecoms including KT, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Telefonica, China Unicom and Sprint are also bac

Feb. 27, 2013

LG, China Mobile join hands for TD-LTE

BARCELONA, Spain ― LG Electronics and China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier, tested the Time Division-Long Term Evolution technology on its Optimus G at the Mobile World Congress on Tuesday.The local electronics manufacturer said that it has joined the effort pushed by China Mobile, which had about 703 million subscribers as of November of last year. “Time Division” refers to receiving and transmitting channels on the same frequency band.“The smartphone business in China will be based

Feb. 27, 2013

Mobile show floods Barcelona with new smartphones

BARCELONA, Spain ― A fresh and diversified lineup of smartphones caught the eye of many at the world’s biggest mobile trade show.If it was a smartphone, it was there ― from high-tier premium models such as LG Electronics’ Optimus G Pro to Nokia’s Lumia 520, a budget smartphone that costs about $180. Ahead of the game was the 4.7-inch display HTC One, which was shown before a bigger audience than at its launch just ahead of the Mobile World Congress.Other to-be-watched smartphones included Huawei

Feb. 27, 2013

Lack of sleep leads to groggy genes: study

Lack of sleep has a potentially harmful effect on gene expression, according to a study out Tuesday that sheds light on the link between sleep deficits and a wide range of health conditions.A sleep deficit -- even just a week‘s worth -- can have damaging effects on our genes, researchers said in a new study out Tuesday.Lack of adequate shut-eye had already been linked to conditions from heart disease and cognitive impairment to obesity.But sleep researcher Derk-Jan Dijk and his fellow researcher

Feb. 27, 2013

Towels are a breeding ground for bacteria

 Whenever a person uses a washcloth or towel, skin cells slough off the body and stick to the fabric and serve as food for bacteria, a U.S. germ expert says.Elizabeth Scott, co-director of the Simmons College center for hygiene and health in Boston, says bacteria thrive in the damp, densely woven material, which has lots of nooks and crannies for them to hide in, Men‘s Health magazine reported. As people reuse towels, these bacteria can transfer back to the person and cause skin infections, Scot

Feb. 26, 2013

Found: Prehistoric Indian Ocean mini-continent

Scientists said Sunday they had found traces of a micro-continent hidden underneath the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.The slab, dubbed Mauritia, was probably formed around 61-83 million years ago after Madagascar split from India, but eventually broke up and became smothered by thick lava deposits, they said.In a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists analyzed beach sand on Mauritius that contained ancient zircons between 660 million and about two billion years old.The m

Feb. 26, 2013

Samsung heir apparent to meet with 30 global mobile carriers

BARCELONA, Spain -- Samsung heir apparent Lee Jay-yong visited the world’s biggest mobile trade show for the first time in three years and met with top executives of Korean telecoms upon his arrival.Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and the only son of chairman Lee Kun-hee, said that he has meetings lined up with 30 global mobile carriers on Monday and Tuesday on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress. “My schedule is fully booked,” he told reporters. “I don’t even have 30 minutes of

Feb. 25, 2013