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MSNBC.com: Technology & Science

DNA tracks how humans tamed horses

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 7:44pm MST

Scientists have used equestrian DNA analysis to trace all modern horses to an ancestor that lived about 140,000 years ago.
From mouse to elephant in 24 million generations

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 7:15pm MST

Within as little as 24 million generations, mammals can evolve from the size of a mouse to the size of an elephant, a new study estimates.
If E.T. exists, he's avoiding us, scientists say

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 6:40pm MST

Mathematically speaking, E.T. would have found us by now — if he exists — so we’re being consciously avoided for some reason, a new study concludes.
Obama hears job concerns on Google+ Hangout

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 6:39pm MST

Besides some slight technical difficulties at the beginning, the Google+ "Hangout" with President Barack Obama was nearly flawless, as Americans asked him about their No. 1 concern: Jobs.
Volcanoes may have sparked Little Ice Age

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 4:54pm MST

A mysterious, centuries-long cool spell, dubbed the Little Ice Age, appears to have been caused by a series of volcanic eruptions and sustained by sea ice, a new study indicates.
Ocean motion could produce 9 percent of U.S. electricity

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 4:51pm MST

Next-generation technologies that harvest electricity from ocean waves and tides sloshing along the U.S. coasts could provide about 9 percent of the nation's demand by 2030, according to a pair of recent studies.
Video: 'Soul Calibur V' is a beautiful button smasher

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 4:38pm MST

The popular fighting game franchise and returned swords swinging. In-Game's Todd Kenreck reviews the game. (In-Game)
Whale secret may help helicopters fly faster

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 4:31pm MST

Helicopters can deliver military troops or rescue the wounded in tight spaces, but their rotating blade design also puts a hard limit on their speed and maneuverability. Now researchers have begun flight-testing an unlikely fix inspired by the underwater ballet of humpback whales.
Tablet boom makes Apple No. 1 PC maker: research firm

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 4:06pm MST

Apple overtook Hewlett-Packard as the world's largest vendor of personal computers in the fourth quarter, helped by booming demand for its iPads, research firm Canalys said on Monday.
The stupid things you do online and how to fix 'em

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 3:49pm MST

Your dumb Internet mistakes can come back to bite you in the butt if you aren't careful. Here's how you can save yourself from yourself online.
Cancelled 'Resident Evil' game resurfaces for $2,000

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 3:46pm MST

When a Game Boy Color port of the original "Resident Evil" was proposed some 12 years ago, it excited many diehard fans, but it was cancelled. Now, like a reanimated corpse, it's back.
Pinterest: Where domestic divas hang out online

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 3:44pm MST

Pinterest, a slick-looking site with a homespun feel that lets you "pin" your info, links and photos of your favorite stuff — food, clothing, housework tips — onto a virtual bulletin board is quickly becoming the go-to social site for women between the ages of 25 and 44.
Symantec says pcAnywhere safe, offers free upgrade

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 3:40pm MST

Symantec said it is safe to use its pcAnywhere software for accessing remote PCs after it asked customers last week to disable the product because it put them at greater risk of being hacked.
Tourists banned from U.S. over Twitter jokes?

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 3:14pm MST

A handful of ominous Twitter jokes apparently got some young tourists kicked out of the U.S. before they could begin their vacation, according to UK tabloids and our own investigation.
Pythons pose rising threat in Everglades

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 2:53pm MST

A burgeoning population of huge pythons appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says.
Consumers using smart phones while shopping

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 2:37pm MST

When it came to finding the best products and the best prices, more than half of consumers came armed with their cell phones to help them make purchasing decisions last year.
To the moon? The idea isn't that loony

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 2:21pm MST

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Newt Gingrich's pledge to put Americans back on the moon in 2020 may be a political ploy and an economic fantasy, but it's still a technological possibility.
Earth's 'missing energy' not lost after all

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 2:06pm MST

Scientists have determined that Earth's "missing energy" isn't missing after all.
Cop uses 'Find my iPhone' app to catch thief

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:50pm MST

A New York City cop put his tech skills to quick use last week, tracking down a stolen iPhone and catching its thief red-handed.
Twitter censorship #outrage, now in cartoon form!

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:50pm MST

Twitter's recent announcement that it will censor specific tweets from some countries resulted in an anti-climatic "boycott" of the microblogging service on Saturday, and more importantly, a cartoon-ified interpretation by those clever kids at Taiwan's New Media Animation.
Our planet's killer electrons shoot into space

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:44pm MST

As the sun heads toward its 2013 maximum, the corresponding increase in space weather may temporarily strip the radiation belts around Earth of their charged electrons. But a new study of data recorded by 11 independent spacecraft reveals that the deadly particles are blown into space rather than cast into our planet's atmosphere, as some scientists have suggested.
‘Liking’ Facebook’s IPO could be problematic

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:29pm MST

When Facebook’s stock eventually hits trading floors, fans who want to get in on the company’s first public stock offering are likely to feel as left out as the Winklevoss twins.
Deals of the day: 'Buffy,' Blu-ray and more

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:24pm MST

Here's what's worth considering today: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series" on DVD for $73, discounted Blu-ray players, deals on video games and more.
NASA launches Facebook space trivia game

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:16pm MST

NASA unveiled its first online space trivia game Monday, a Facebook app that allows multiple players to compete for cosmic bragging rights.
Internet fetes developers' action for handicapped gamer

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 1:02pm MST

One game developer's response to a handicapped gamer gains attention and accolades, but it also emphasizes how far gaming for the disabled still has to go.
Dying Steve Jobs kept Bill Gates letter by his bed

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 12:57pm MST

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were frenemies, as many know, but when Jobs died last fall, the mutual respect between the two tech titans was quite strong: By his bed, Jobs kept a letter Gates had written the Apple co-founder in his final months.
Motorola Droid Razr Maxx the longest lasting 4G

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 12:47pm MST

Motorola’s new Droid RAZR Maxx is set to change the 4G LTE’s power-gulping reputation: it went nearly 8-1/2 hours in a recent battery test.
Teens broke into CNN newsroom to check Facebook?

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 12:35pm MST

Around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, two teenagers were arrested on the fifth floor of the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. They had allegedly broken into the building and were in the process of checking their Facebook pages when they were caught.
4,400+ cease-and-desist notices for tweets since Nov. 2010

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 12:13pm MST

Nearly every day in 2011, someone on Twitter was given a cease-and-desist notice for violating copyright law, adding up to the bulk of 4,411 warnings administered through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) since November 2010.
How to watch Obama's Google+ 'Hangout'

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 11:30am MST

President Barack Obama does his first Google+ "Hangout" Monday at 2:30 PT/5:30 ET, and while questions for the live-streamed interview are now closed — more than 228,000 people submitted questions — you can still watch it online.
Don't use your phone to call the 'Ghostbusters,' be one

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 11:28am MST

Get ready for an infestation of ghosts later this summer.
Lawyer sues ex-girlfriends over online relationship reviews

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 11:12am MST

Take a lawyer, his ex-girlfriends, a website which allows people to post "reviews" of their failed relationships, and add a dash of drama. Mix 'em all up and you'll get the story we're about to tell you — a strange tale which reminds us that no one ever really wins when former lovers duke it out.
Catch the afterglow of the solar storm

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 10:56am MST

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Skywatchers are basking in the auroral afterglow of this month's solar storms.
Kindle Fire No. 1 in Android tablet use: report

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 9:47am MST

A new report analyzing app usage purports to show that, in just three months, Amazon's Kindle Fire has dethroned the Samsung Galaxy Tab as the top Android tablet — at least when it comes to people actually spending time on their devices.
Tech companies team up to combat email scams

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 9:46am MST

Google, Microsoft and other companies are working together to combat email "phishing" scams. They've formed an organization to design a system to authenticate emails from legitimate senders and weed out scams.
Declassified US spy satellites land in Ohio

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 9:40am MST

A trio of once-secret U.S. spy satellites built to look down on the Soviet Union were unveiled in Ohio on Thursday in a rare public display by the United States Air Force.
Megaupload user data could be gone Thursday

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 8:34am MST

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday.
Pre-caffeine tech: Twitter shame, zombie presidents!

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 8:29am MST

Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning. Here's everything that you need to know before taking that first sip of coffee today.
Sony debuts 3 new Cyber-shot cameras

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 7:54am MST

In an attempt to stanch the flow of consumers leaving digital cameras for their phones to take photos, Sony released its first wave of ultra slim Cyber-shot point-and-shoots that feature 18 megapixel sensors that lessens the "noise" in low-lit scenes and auto-focuses faster.
Teens migrating to Twitter — for privacy?

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 6:06am MST

Teens never used to tweet — too public, too many older users. Not cool. But then their parents started friending them on Facebook. Suddenly, their space wasn't just theirs anymore, and many young people turned to Twitter.