McCain says 'Apple is one of the biggest tax avoiders' in US

Armstrong, Apollo 11 items pulled from auction

By Robert Z. PearlmanSpace.comThe joystick controller used to steer the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon, the original recording of Neil Armstrong's heartbeat when he took humankind's first "small step" onto the lunar surface, and the complete tool kit carried on NASA's final manned moon mission won't be auctioned later this month, despite international headlines that heralded the rare space artif

Shocking new theory: Humans hunted, ate Neanderthals

By Larry O'HanlonDiscovery NewsHumans today eat gorillas and chimpanzees, so why would our prehistoric ancestors flinch at sitting down to a nicely roasted Neanderthal?That's the shocking new hypothesis being raised by anthropologists in Spain who wonder if our closest extinct relative was exterminated in the same way as 178 other large mammals, so called megafauna, which are suspected of going at

Tornado-proof homes? Up to 85 percent can be spared, expert says

Homes in the direct path of the monster tornado that roared through Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday were all but certain to be destroyed. Yet inexpensive construction techniques could have kept up to 85 percent of the area's damaged houses standing, according to a civil engineer.The trick is already common along the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast — the use of clips and straps to keep the walls bolted

Paul: Senate committee 'should apologize to Apple'

Tornado-proof homes? Up to 85 percent can be, expert says

Homes in the direct path of the monster tornado that roared through Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday were all but guaranteed destruction. Inexpensive construction techniques are available, however, that could have kept up to 85 percent of the affected houses standing, according to a civil engineer.The trick is already common along the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast — the use of clips and straps to keep

Apple under scrutiny for holding cash overseas

Curse or coincidence? Scientists study Tornado Alley's past and future

Do tornadoes follow well-worn tracks? Where do the deadliest twisters hit? Will climate change make such storms worse? Monday's devastating tornado in Oklahoma raises some questions for which scientists have ready answers, and others that could puzzle them for years to come:Was this tornado a repeat of a famous twister in 1999?For a time, Monday's storm followed a track that was similar to the pat

Flickr gets new look, 1 terabyte of free space

Yahoo's purchase of blogging site Tumblr wasn't the only news from the company Monday: It also rolled out its redo of photo-sharing service Flickr, adding a new layout, a refreshed Android app, and perhaps most temptingly, a full terabyte of storage free to all users.The update couldn't be more welcome, although some may say it's too little, too late: Flickr was among the first big photo-storage s

Flickr gets new look and a terabyte of free space in update

Yahoo's purchase of blogging site Tumblr wasn't the only news from the company Monday: It also rolled out its redo of photo-sharing service Flickr, adding a new layout, a refreshed Android app, and perhaps most temptingly, a full terabyte of storage free to all users.The update couldn't be more welcome, although some may say it's too little, too late: Flickr was among the first big photo-storage s

Curiosity rover drills into second Mars rock

By Mike WallSpace.comNASA's Mars rover Curiosity has broken out its trusty drill again, pulling samples from deep within a Red Planet rock for the second time ever.The 1-ton Curiosity rover bored 2.6 inches (6.6 centimeters) into a rock dubbed "Cumberland" on Sunday, NASA officials said. The resulting powdered sample will be delivered to the robot's onboard science instruments in the coming days.C

New laser helps telescope probe distant star cluster

By Katia MoskvitchSpace.comA powerful new ultraviolet laser that fires into the night sky is helping scientists take their most detailed look yet at a distant star cluster.A team of astronomers at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile used an instrument called SOAR Adaptive Module, or simply SAM, to peer deep inside the

Why tornadoes seem as if they're suddenly coming one after another

By Douglas Main, LiveScienceTornado season has been relatively quiet this year. There were only 72 tornadoes nationwide in April, 70 percent below the 10 year average, according to the Weather Channel. But within in the last week, tornado outbreaks have been erupting from North Texas to Minnesota.Why do these tornadoes seem to be hitting all of a sudden?An eastward advancing cold front is to bl...

Lad provokes cops on Facebook: 'Catch me if u can' ... and they do

When a U.K. police station posted a fugitive's mugshot on its Facebook page, the cheeky lad wrote in from his personal account: "Catch me if u can." "In the past it's taken us several weeks to get a hold of him," Inspector Umer Khan, who runs the department's Facebook page, told NBC News. But the very next day, the runner, 19-year-old Sam Greenwood, was spotted and arrested by a squad car out on .

Oklahoma tornado may be rated EF5 or higher

Tumblr's teenage wasteland: Wait till Mom and Dad find out

Let's face it: Part of Tumblr's popularity is that it's been sort of a porn Facebook for teens. With Yahoo's purchase for $1.1 billion, it seems, that won't be going away. At least according to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who says Yahoo has no plans to mess with Tumblr.Tumblr's unique charm combines the teen angst of Live Journal with the enforced brevity of Twitter, plus kitten GIFs! It's perfect fo

Tumblr's teenage pornland: Wait till Mom and Dad find out

Let's face it: Part of Tumblr's popularity is that it's been sort of a porn Facebook for teens. With Yahoo's purchase for $1.1 billion, it seems, that won't be going away. At least according to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who says Yahoo has no plans to mess with Tumblr.Tumblr's unique charm combines the teen angst of Live Journal with the enforced brevity of Twitter, plus kitten GIFs! It's perfect fo

Dolphins persuade Navy trainers to dredge up 130-year-old torpedo

The U.S. Navy doesn't yet exactly know how a 130-year-old brass torpedo got to the bottom of the Pacific off the coast of San Diego, but they have a couple of dolphins to thank for rediscovering the rare weapon.The find was so unexpected that the humans didn't believe the dolphins at first.The marine mammals have been trained by the Navy's Space and Navy Warfare Systems Center Pacific, or SSC Paci

Fox family moves into den on Facebook campus

Caution: What you are about to read may incite office envy.Facebook employees are enjoying an unusual office perk — the chance to watch a fox family that has made its home on the company's Menlo Park, Calif., campus.The California gray foxes, a mother and her three little ones, even have their own Facebook page, FB Fox, which has garnered over 10,000 likes and counting. Employees are snapping shot

Why tornadoes have been coming one after another

By Douglas Main, LiveScienceTornado season has been relatively quiet this year. There were only 72 tornadoes nationwide in April, 70 percent below the 10 year average, according to the Weather Channel. But within in the last week, tornado outbreaks have been erupting from North Texas to Minnesota.Why do these tornadoes seem to be hitting all of a sudden?An eastward advancing cold front is to bl...

Penguins have flightless wings, all the better to swim with, my dear

Penguins have evolved into champion divers and graceful swimmers, but somewhere along the way, they lost the ability to fly. It now looks like birds are built to do one or the other — fly or swim. Penguin ancestors chose one path a long time ago and just stuck to it. "To be an efficient swimmer you want a wing that is more like an oar — that makes it impossible to fly," Robert Ricklefs, professor

Hands-on impressions: 'The Elder Scrolls Online'

Ex-Nokia team creates two-part 'Jolla' mobile phone

A team of ex-Nokia engineers and designers has unveiled the Jolla, a totally new smartphone with a totally new operating system. Even if this snazzy new device crashes and burns like other dark-horse mobile devices in the past, it sure will look good while it does so.The phone's most unique aspect has to be its split nature: The front has the usual smartphone guts and a 4.5-inch HD screen. But att

Many smartphone users not using passwords

Sony offers firstglimpse of PlayStation 4 in teaser video

Sony has promised that it is going to give PlayStation fans a full picture of its upcoming next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 4, at the company's E3 press briefing June 10. But not wanting to miss out on any of the next-gen console festivities this week, the Japanese tech giant released the most teasing of teaser videos to offer a fleeting glimpse at its new hardware.At just 39 second

'After Earth' offers up dark future for humanity

By Miriam KramerSpace.comThe Earth is a pretty bleak place for humans in the new science fiction movie, "After Earth."Set 1,000 years in the future, "After Earth" depicts a future in which humanity is forced to abandon Earth in search of a new home. The remnants of the human race travel to and resettle on Nova Prime — a fictional planet located light-years away from Earth.Although the film makers

We're not ready to upload our brains to a computer yet

By Eric NiilerDiscovery NewsIn the new techno-thriller “Upload,” a young computer scientist with a sketchy past and distrust of society decides to take the ultimate leap forward by scanning his brain and uploading his memories, personality and consciousness into a simulated world of his own making.Raymond wants to live forever, controlling his environment and interactions with other humans as a go

Fighting to save an endangered bird -- with vomit

By Becky OskinLiveScienceA psychological warfare program centered on vomit could help save the marbled murrelet, an endangered seabird that nests in California's old-growth redwood forests.The robin-sized murrelet lives at sea but lays one pointy, blue-green egg each year on the flat, mossy branch of a redwood. While breeding, its back feathers morph from black to mottled brown to better match the

How space tourism could open our eyes, help save Earth

By Mike Wall \Space.comSAN MATEO, Calif. — Opening spaceflight up to the masses could help spark a global conservation ethic that stems the tide of environmental destruction on Earth, NASA's science chief says.Seeing our fragile Earth hanging alone in the blackness of space tends to be a life-altering, or at least perspective-changing, experience. If more people around the world are treated to tha

Where do you hold your cellphone? Your brain decides

When you talk on the cellphone, do you hold it up to your right ear or left? A group of researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan suggest that how you hold your phone could give away the dominant half of your brain. The lesson the group took away was this: Most right-handed people, who eat and write and throw with their right hand, also prefer to talk with their cellphone held up to