Chinese handset makers pose challenge

Chinese handset makers such as Huawei and ZTE are catching up in the fast-changing smartphone industry.Huawei, a Shenzhen-based telecom equipment manufacturer that has turned its focus to consumer products in recent years, shipped some 10.8 million smartphones to surpass Nokia and Research In Motion in the fourth quarter of last year. ZTE, the second-largest telephone equipment maker in China, is also eager to boost this year’s smartphone shipments with a new lineup of premium handsets running o

Feb. 6, 2013

Researchers track mysterious creature in Russian lake

A Russian research team claimed that they have found the remains of a huge, mysterious creature in Lake Labynkyr in Siberia, perhaps finally proving the existence of the lake’s “Devil,” reported the Siberian Times. The study was conducted by the Russian Geographical Society in coordination with divers from the Russian Emergencies Ministry and scientists from Yakutsk State University. “There have been all sorts of hypotheses about what kind of creature it could be: a giant pike, a reptile or an a

Feb. 6, 2013

‘Bionic man’ goes on show at British musuem

A “bionic man” costing one million dollars went on display on Tuesday at Britain’s Science Museum, complete with artificial organs, synthetic blood and robot limbs.Named Rex, which is short for “Robotic Exoskeleton,” the six foot six inch (two metre) humanoid with its uncannily life-like face was assembled by leading roboticists for a television programme.Although cheaper than the “Six Million Dollar Man” made famous by the cult 1970s television series starring Lee Majors, the technology is far

Feb. 6, 2013

Course on alien life lures earth people

A Scottish university has discovered a remote-learning course on alien life is popular, attracting thousands of terrestrials from as far away as China.Charles Cockell, who teaches "astrobiology and the search for extra-terrestrial life" at Edinburgh University, told The Scotsman he was astonished by the geographical diversity of students attracted to the course.Those eager to learn about life on other planets -- from the comfort of their earthly homes -- include high school students, retirees in

Feb. 5, 2013

Study: Baby boomers not in health reality

Unless baby boomers take immediate action they may spend their last years in sickness, disability and immobility, Canadian researchers warned.A Heart and Stroke Foundation survey found almost 80 percent of Canadian boomers said they think their doctors would rate them as healthy, but their self-reported lifestyle choices show otherwise.Eighty-five percent of Canadian boomers said they did not eat enough vegetables and fruit, more than 40 percent said they didn‘t get enough physical activity each

Feb. 5, 2013

Martian rover drills first rock

NASA says its Mars rover Curiosity has used its drill for the first time to hammer briefly into a rock targeted on the floor of its Gale Crater landing site.“Before and after” images beamed to Earth showed the results as an indentation on the surface of the rock.The drill instrument is capable of both hammering and rotating actions, and if the rock is determined to be a good candidate for the rover‘s scientific work, a number of test holes will be drilled, NASA said, to create samples for delive

Feb. 5, 2013

Asteroid to make close fly-by of Earth

A small asteroid approaching Earth will pass by so near it will come closer than the orbits of many weather and communications satellites, NASA says.Although the near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth Feb. 15, observations obtained of its path show there is no chance it might be on a collision course, NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported.The asteroid’s closest approach will put it 17,200 miles above the Earth‘s surface, closer than some distant geos

Feb. 5, 2013

Scientists grow lens cells in Petri dish

Stem cell researchers from Australia have managed to successfully culture lens cells in a Petri dish, marking a big step toward curing congenital sight impairment.Associate professor Tiziano Barberi and Doctor Isabella Mengarelli from the Monash University have successfully extracted and purified lens epithelium for the first time, and incited the cells to develop into lens cells, according to a report by the university. Lens epithelium refers to the tissue that serves as the progenitors for new

Feb. 5, 2013

Preschool obesity, food insecurity link

U.S. children whose early years were spent in food insecurity and who have obese mothers are more likely to be obese in preschool, researchers say. Study leader Elizabeth Metallinos-Katsaras of the Department of Nutrition at the Simmons College School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Boston said the research is based on analysis of more than 28,300 low-income children participating in a publicly funded health and nutrition program in Massachusetts, from 2001 to 2006. Household food insecurity w

Feb. 4, 2013

Midwifes linked to fewer C-sections

Women who give birth at midwife-led birthing centers are less likely to have Caesarean births compared with women in hospitals, U.S. researchers say.The National Birth Center Study II said the rate of Caesarean sections for expecting U.S. mothers escalated over the past two decades."Birth centers are homelike facilities existing within the healthcare system with a program of care designed in the wellness model of pregnancy and birth," Lesley Rathbun, president-elect of the American Association o

Feb. 4, 2013

Mobile games to be excluded from shutdown system

The Korean government on Monday decided not to extend what is called “the game shutdown system” to mobile games, which run on smartphones and tablet computers.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that mobile games will be excluded from the mandatory game shutdown system, which prohibits gamers aged 16 or under from connecting to online games between midnight and 6 a.m., a controversial policy aimed at protecting younger people from

Feb. 4, 2013