Today on New Scientist: 21 December 2012

Cadaver stem cells offer new hope of life after death Stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow five days after death to be used in life-saving treatmentsApple's patents under fire at US patent office The tech firm is skating on thin ice with some of the patents that won it a $1 billion settlement against SamsungHimalayan dam-building threatens endemic species The world's highest mountains...

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Sydney Harbour floating heliport plan on hold

SYDNEY: A plan for wealthy executives and tourists landing in Sydney to flit directly to the city's famous harbour via a floating heliport has been put on hold after fierce public opposition.The company that was set up to run the operation, providing for quick transfers to and from Sydney airport and scenic flights over the harbour, said it wanted to further consider the operation's "feasibility"."It...

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Rape protesters hit with water cannon

India rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestIndia rape protestSTORY HIGHLIGHTSDozens of people are hurt in protests in New Delhi's government districtPolice blast anti-rape protesters with water cannon, fire tear gasDemonstrators wave banners, chant "We want justice"Police say a 23-year-old...

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Newtown swamped by charity for victims, families

NEWTOWN, Conn. Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number. "She said, 'I'm paying for the next $500 of food that goes out your door,'" Leone said. "About a half hour later another gentleman called, I think from the West Coast, and he did the same...

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Obama, Congress Waving Bye-Bye Lower Taxes?

The first family arrived in the president's idyllic home state of Hawaii early today to celebrate the holidays, but President Obama, who along with Michelle will pay tribute Sunday to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, could be returning home to Washington sooner than he expected.That's because the President didn't get his Christmas...

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Today on New Scientist: 21 December 2012

Cadaver stem cells offer new hope of life after death Stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow five days after death to be used in life-saving treatmentsApple's patents under fire at US patent office The tech firm is skating on thin ice with some of the patents that won it a $1 billion settlement against SamsungHimalayan dam-building threatens endemic species The world's highest mountains...

Read More..

Football: Barca battle on without Vilanova for time being

MADRID: Barcelona will have to continue their march at the top of La Liga without Tito Vilanova after it was revealed the coach has suffered a relapse of a tumour on which he was operated just over a year ago.The 44-year-old who took over from Pep Guardiola at the beginning of the season was thought to have fully recovered from surgery last November to remove the growth on his parotid...

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3 charged in deadly home explosion

By Logan Burruss, CNNupdated 6:11 PM EST, Fri December 21, 2012Bob Leonard Jr., left, Mark Leonard and Monserrate Shirley are accused in a deadly explosion.STORY HIGHLIGHTSTwo brothers among accused in explosion at that killed couple next door Explosion injured 12 other people and caused $4 million in damageInvestigators found abnormalities in gas line at suspect's home, affidavit says(CNN) -- Three...

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NRA: Guns in schools would protect students

Updated: 6:44 p.m. ETIn a press conference reflecting on last week's massacre in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre today called on Congress to put armed law enforcement agents in every American school, insisting that guns in schools -- not tougher gun laws -- would most effectively protect children from school shootings. Play VideoA "good guy with a gun" in every school?...

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Obama Still an 'Optimist' on Cliff Deal

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON D.C. – Ten days remain before the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases known as the “fiscal cliff” take effect, but President Obama said he is still a “hopeless optimist” that a federal budget deal can be reached before the year-end deadline that economists agree might plunge the country back into recession.“Even though Democrats and Republicans are...

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Van-sized space rock is a cosmic oddball

The shattered remains of a high-profile space rock are oddly low in organic materials, the raw ingredients for life. The discovery adds a slight wrinkle to the theory that early Earth was seeded with organics by meteorite impacts. In April a...

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Boehner scraps his fiscal cliff plan after failing to get votes

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: "The president will work with Congress to get this done," the White House saysThe House Speaker says his Plan B wasn't voted on because it didn't have "sufficient support" A bill to alter cuts did narrowly pass the House; the White House says it would vetoThe fiscal cliff's tax hikes and spending cuts are set to take effect in JanuaryWashington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner's...

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It's already Dec. 21 in Europe, so where's doomsday?

MERIDA, Mexico Doomsday hour is here, at least in much of the world, and so still are we. According to legend, the ancient Mayans' long-count calendar ends at midnight Thursday, ushering in the end of the world. Didn't happen. "This is not the end of the world. This is the beginning of the new world," Star Johnsen-Moser, an American seer, said at a gathering of hundreds of spiritualists at a...

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Boehner Pulls Plan B Option

In a surprise development late Thursday night, House Speaker John Boehner pulled his so-called "Plan B option" -- an extension of current tax rates for Americans making up to $1 million a year -- from the House floor, admitting that it did not have the support necessary to pass and leaving a resolution to the fiscal cliff in question."The House did not take up the tax measure...

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Human hands evolved so we could punch each other

Forget toolmaking, think fisticuffs. Did evolution shape our hands not for dexterity but to form fists so we could punch other people? That idea emerges from a new study, although it runs counter to conventional wisdom. About the same time as...

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Australia customs upheaval over Sydney airport graft

SYDNEY: Australia announced an overhaul of its customs service on Thursday after eight people were arrested in a corruption investigation linked to an alleged drugs ring at Sydney airport."I am working on major structural and cultural reforms to Customs and will announce them next year," Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said."There is no place for corruption in our law enforcement agencies....

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Blizzard warning issued for large swath of Midwest

By Jim Kavanagh, CNNupdated 9:54 PM EST, Wed December 19, 2012Drivers in Colorado contend with heavy snow Wednesday.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: 23-car pileup in Texas dust storm kills one, injures 17Heavy snow, high winds stretch from Colorado to Wisconsin in season's first blizzardMidwesterners can expect rain, sleet, thunderstorms, hail outside of the blizzard areaStorm to crawl from Midwest to New England...

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Like many other tragedies, scammers stalk Newtown

NEWTOWN, Conn. The family of Noah Pozner was mourning the 6-year-old, killed in the Newtown school massacre, when outrage compounded their sorrow. Someone they didn't know was soliciting donations in Noah's memory, claiming that they'd send any cards, packages and money collected to his parents and siblings. An official-looking website had been set up, with Noah's name as the address, even including...

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