Sooty ships may be geoengineering by accident

GEOENGINEERING is being tested - albeit inadvertently - in the north Pacific. Soot from oil-burning ships is dumping about 1000 tonnes of soluble iron per year across 6 million square kilometres of ocean, new research has revealed. Fertilising the world's...

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Sony faces challenge with new PlayStation

SAN FRANCISCO: When Sony pulls back the curtain on the next-generation PlayStation videogame console, the world will see how much the Japanese consumer electronics titan has been paying attention.Sony could double-down on hardware to power even more realistic graphics and rich game play than the impressive specifications of PlayStation 3 consoles nearing the end of a life cycle started...

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Almost famous: See celebs' early roles

By Henry Hanks, CNNupdated 5:05 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013Stars who started out like GoDaddy's geekJesse HeimanSylvester StalloneJohn TravoltaKeanu ReevesCourtney CoxMatt LeBlancTina FeyRainn WilsonMegan FoxDean Wint...

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Slain Texas prosecutor remembered at memorial service

TERRELL, Texas A Texas prosecutor gunned down outside his courthouse office last month was remembered Saturday for his zealousness in pursuing tough cases, love of flying and ability to tell stories. Hundreds turned out in a school auditorium to celebrate the life of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse during a 90-minute memorial service that included stories about the veteran...

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LAPD Reopens Case of Suspected Cop-Killer's Firing

The Los Angeles Police Department announced today it will reopen the case of the firing of Christopher Dorner, but said the decision was not made to "appease" the fugitive former cop suspected of killing three people.Dorner, a fired and disgruntled former Los Angeles police officer, said in the so-called "manifesto" he released that he was targeting LAPD officials and their...

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Data-wiping algorithm cleans your cellphone

Paul Marks, chief technology correspondentMailing your cellphone to a recycling company might make you a few pounds, but it can leave you at risk of identity theft. The deletion techniques recycling companies use are meant for hard discs, and so don't work on the solid-state flash memory used in mobile phones. That means personal data like banking info, texts, contacts and pictures can end up in...

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India parliament attack plotter to hang: official

NEW DELHI: A fruit seller sentenced to death for taking part in the plot to attack India's parliament in 2001 is to be executed on Saturday after his final mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.Asked to comment on reports that Mohammed Afzal Guru would hang on Saturday, Home Secretary R K Singh told AFP: "Yes, but not as yet."Guru was found guilty of conspiring with and...

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The making of a No. 1 song

Singer/songwriter Benny Blanco has produced some major hits by stars like Maroon 5, Rihanna and Ke$sha.STORY HIGHLIGHTSA hit song could be a catchy earworm or a heartfelt balladTop producer Benny Blanco says every song needs a hookBillboard expert says while albums aren't selling big, music is everywhere(CNN) -- Don't ask music super-producer Benny Blanco to whip up a No. 1 song for an artist because...

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Family of victim in gun range death defends outing

MIDLOTHIAN, Texas The man killed alongside a former Navy SEAL sniper at a Texas shooting range was helping his friend work with a troubled war veteran, and the outing was intended to be a "therapeutic situation," his relatives said Friday following his funeral. Hundreds of people attended the service for Chad Littlefield, who along with his friend, "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, was fatally...

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Northeast Shuts Down as Blizzard Batters Millions

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions began battering the Northeast today, and could bring more than two feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.A storm from the west joined forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more than 43 million...

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Robot inquisition keeps witnesses on the right track

MEMORY is a strange thing. Just using the verb "smash" in a question about a car crash instead of "bump" or "hit" causes witnesses to remember higher speeds and more serious damage. Known as the misinformation effect, it is a serious problem for police trying to gather accurate accounts of a potential crime. There's a way...

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Golf: Scotland's Knox shares lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Russell Knox matched his career low on the PGA Tour on Thursday by firing a six-under par 64 to seize a share of the first-round lead at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.Knox, who birdied four of his final eight holes on the Shore Course on Thursday, shares the lead at six-under with American Hunter Mahan, who played the Pebble Beach Golf Links course.The 156-player...

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Alleged cop killer: I have no family, 'I'm terminating yours'

Ex-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntEx-cop at center of California manhuntSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: With snow coming, authorities continue to hunt for the suspect near Big Bear...

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Despite adoption ban, N.J. couple brings home Russian tot

(CBS News) FREEHOLD, N.J. -- It's been about a month since Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Americans from adopting Russian children. It was widely seen as a retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting Russians who have violated human rights. At the time, 1,000 American families were in the middle of the adoption process. CBS News first met Robert and Kim Summers a month ago. They were just...

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Cop Shooting Rampage: Dorner's Truck Found

The truck owned and driven by suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner during his alleged rampage through the Los Angeles area was found deserted and in flames on the side of Bear Mountain, Calif., this afternoon -- with tracks in the snow leading away from the vehicle.The San Bernadino Sheriff's Department confirmed the car was Dorner's, but said at a news conference this evening...

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Today on New Scientist: 6 February 2013

Open Richard III DNA evidence for peer review A good case has been made that a skeleton unearthed from a car park is that of the last Plantagenet king of England - it's time to share the dataUniversal bug sensor takes guesswork out of diagnosis A machine that can identify all bacteria, viruses and fungi known to cause disease in humans should speed up diagnosis and help to reduce antibiotic...

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Obama hands drone war guidelines to US lawmakers

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will hand lawmakers classified documents outlining the legal justification for drone strikes which kill US citizens abroad who are conspiring with Al-Qaeda.An administration official disclosed the move on Wednesday on the eve of a Senate hearing on Obama's nomination of his top White House anti-terror advisor John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence...

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Obama agrees to give drone documents to Congress

By Lesa Jansen, CNNupdated 8:27 PM EST, Wed February 6, 2013The U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft vehicle has been used to take out key targets in the war on terror. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe move comes on the eve of confirmation hearings for CIA director nominee John BrennanThe drone program has been shrouded in secrecy, which has been criticized by senatorsThe policy paper will go to congressional intelligence...

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Celebrities call on Congress to back gun control measures

Tony Bennett, Chris Rock, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet and other celebrities today joined joined a coalition of elected officials, law enforcement officers, physicians and others on Capitol Hill in support of President Obama's plan to reduce gun violence. Play VideoCelebrities team up for gun control action"I still haven't gotten over Connecticut," Bennett said, referring to the mass shooting at Sandy...

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Armstrong May Testify Under Oath on Doping

Facing a federal criminal investigation and a deadline tonight to tell all under oath to anti-doping authorities or lose his last chance at reducing his lifetime sporting ban, Lance Armstrong now may cooperate.His apparent 11th-hour about-face, according to the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA), means he now might testify under oath and give full details to USADA of how he cheated...

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Today on New Scientist: 5 February 2013

Engineering light: Pull an image from nowhere A new generation of lenses could bring us better lighting, anti-forgery technology and novel movie projectors Baby boomers' health worse than their parents Americans who were born in the wake of the second world war have poorer health than the previous generation at the same ageNew 17-million-digit monster is largest known prime A distributed computing...

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Asian markets rebound, weaker yen boosts Tokyo

HONG KONG: Asian markets climbed Wednesday following big losses in the previous session, with Tokyo surging as the yen tumbled after Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa said he will step down early.Traders also took a lead from Wall Street and Europe, where encouraging economic data offset concerns over political uncertainty in Spain and Italy.Tokyo soared more than three per cent...

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Tsunami detected after quake strikes near Solomon Islands

The center of the quake was located some 360 miles east-southeast of Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Evacuations are ordered for some coastal residents of New Caledonia, Loyalty IslandsA 1-meter high tsunami was generated near the Solomon Islands, geophysicist says No immediate reports of damage or injuriesEditor's note: Are you there? Send your story, images to iReport(CNN)...

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