Scientists to Resurrect Long-Extinct Mammoth

Japanese researchers will launch a project to resurrect the long extinct mammoth by using cloning technology to bring the ancient pachyderm back to life in about five years.

The researchers will try to revive the species by obtaining tissue this summer from the carcass of a mammoth preserved in a Russian research laboratory, the "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported.

"Preparations to realise this goal have been made," Akira Iritani, leader of the team and a professor emeritus of Kyoto University, told the Daily.

Under the plan, the nuclei of mammoth cells will be inserted into an elephant's egg cells from which the nuclei have been removed to create an embryo containing mammoth genes, it said.

The embryo will then be inserted into an elephant's womb in the hope that the animal will eventually give birth to a baby mammoth. Researches hope to achieve their aim within five to six years, the Yomiuri said.

Source: Inquirer.net

One-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Bathtub As Mother Plays Games on Facebook

34-year-old Shannon Johnson has been arrested after telling police officers that the reason her one-year-old son drowned in a bathtub several months ago is because she was busy playing a game on Facebook and left him to bathe unsupervised.

According to the arrest affidavit for this incident—which you can find below—Johnson was playing a Facebook game called Cafe World as well as browsing her news feed and uploading videos during the time her son was in the bathtub. She apparently only checked in on him once over the course of a ten-minute period and justified it by saying that she felt "her son was preternaturally independent, and simply wanted to be alone."

Once she noticed that the bathroom was oddly silent, Johnson rushed to check on her son only to find him "lying sideways, with his face submerged." She immediately took him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Johnson is facing potential charges of child abuse resulting in neglectful death.

Source: Gizmodo.com

iPad's New Secret Tricks

We've discovered a little gem in the iOS 4.3 beta: Four and five finger multi-touch gesture support for the iPad. Here's how it looks in action.

Each of the new gestures can be done with either four or five fingers—your choice—and they all work smoothly. A pinch brings you to the Home Screen, a swipe up or down reveals and hides the multitasking bar, and swipes left or right allow you to switch between apps.

All the gestures feel natural—particularly the Home Screen pinch—and at no point during my testing did I feel like I would accidentally trigger one of them.

Send an email to Rosa Golijan, the author of this post, at rgolijan@gizmodo.com.

Source: gizmodo.com

Talking On Your Cell Phone Could Make You Drive Safer

Source: Jalopnik.com

Moves to bar drivers from using cell phones have been driven by the mantra that a phone-holding driver is as dangerous as a drunk one. However, a new study found cell phones may actually keep some drivers safer. Here's how.

The original claim grew from research by psychologists at the University of Utah in 2003, who used driving simulators to test volunteers' reactions while talking and while drunk. The result: "Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk," the researchers reported.

***

The new study comes from economists Saurabh Bhargava at the University of Chicago and Vikram Pathania of the London School of Economics. They come at the question from a different direction, starting by using data from a cell phone company on up to 440,000 calls made from California drivers during an 11-day period in 2005. The researchers were able to separate drivers from other users by filtering for calls that switched among cell towers.

Explanations? The economists offer three possible takes. People who start talking while driving become more cautious. People who act like jackholes behind the wheel with a cellphone will act the same without one. And although cellphones clearly distract some drivers, they may also help other drivers stay alert.

Read Full Article Here

Solve Sodoku Puzzles in No Time

New Google Goggles app that solves Sudoku puzzles

You could say it rather defeats the game's purpose.

But Google has unveiled a new version of its Goggles app that it says can solve any Sudoku puzzles just by snapping a picture of it. The internet giant has produced a short video which it has posted on its blog and YouTube which shows how the puzzle-solving application works.

The firm sent one of its software engineers, simply equipped with a Google Nexus S smartphone, to take on 2009 Sudoku champion Tammy McLeod. Even with a decent headstart, the human competitor was well and truly trounced by the Sudoku novice equipped with the app.

The user simply takes a photo of the puzzle with the smartphone's camera and text recognition software recognises the numbers and works out the answer within seconds, before filling in the grid's squares. Unsurprisingly, Google Goggles is banned from Sudoku competitions.

The new 1.3 version of Google Goggles can also scan barcodes 'almost instantly', the firm's blog claims. After opening Goggles and hovering over the barcode the phone vibrates when it has recognised the product and will bring back web reviews and price comparison sites. Read More...

Facebook will end on March 15 --a Hoax!

Facebook denies shutdown rumors

LAS VEGAS (AFP) – A rumor Facebook was shutting down wafted over the Web, forcing the hugely popular social network to deny it had any intention of closing.

The rumor was started by a satirical online website whose other news flashes include such items as "Alien Spaceships to Attack Earth in 2011" and "George Clooney Running for President."

As unlikely as it would seem that the social network with more than 500 million members would shut down, the rumor spread rapidly on Twitter and on Facebook itself.
Facebook denied it was shutting down in a statement posted on... Facebook.

"We didn't get the memo about shutting down, so we'll keep working away like always. We aren't going anywhere; we're just getting started," it said.