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MSNBC.com: Technology & Science

Russian leader gets a trickle from Antarctic lake

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 7:58pm MST

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received a sample of water taken from a gigantic freshwater lake beneath Antarctica's ice that has been the focus of a major scientific effort.
How to contact a starship

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 7:00pm MST

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Even if you could build a starship, how would you stay in communication with the home base? That's one of the topics we tackled in the Weekly Space Hangout.
China unveils best moon map yet from orbiter

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 6:33pm MST

China's space agency released an amazingly detailed map of the moon this week, marking the best view yet of the lunar surface as seen by a Chinese spacecraft, according to state officials.
A call for a 21st-century battlefield stretcher

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 4:59pm MST

U.S. military stretchers have not changed much since soldiers paired up to carry their wounded brothers-in-arms away from Civil War battlefields. That's why the Air Force's "Batman" lab for high-tech gadgets has issued a $15,000 challenge aimed at updating the technology so that just a single soldier can safely move a casualty to a helicopter.
iPhone game to help injured Foxconn employee

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 4:23pm MST

Proceeds from the iPhone game "Phone Story" are now going directly to one ex-Foxconn worker who sustained injuries after a failed suicide attempt.
Some iTunes users see accounts hacked

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 4:21pm MST

Customers with iTunes accounts have been complaining loudly and frequently on the company's discussion pages about problems tied to fraudulent charges that may have happened because their accounts were hacked.
Rebecca Black's 'Friday,' one year later

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 4:19pm MST

A video turned typical 13-year-old with little more to worry about than wakin' up in the morning, having a bowl of cereal and whether she should be kickin' in the front seat or sittin' in the back seat, to the Internet's punching bag.
Purple squirrel goes free, leaving mystery behind

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 4:00pm MST

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: We may never know what made the purple squirrel of Jersey Shore purple, but experts don't doubt that it really was a squirrel of a different color.
Anonymous: We attacked CIA, Alabama state sites

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 2:49pm MST

The hacker group Anonymous claimed it had launched an ambitious set of attacks Friday, saying it had taken down the CIA's website and had harvested the personal information of 46,000 people in Alabama.
US video game sales fall 34 percent in January

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 2:33pm MST

U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 34 percent in January from a year earlier to $751 million due to the lack of new game titles, according to market researcher NPD Group.
Germany stalls on Internet copyright treaty

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 2:29pm MST

Germany has delayed signing an international copyright treaty that has some Internet users worried about online censorship, joining Poland and the Czech Republic in hesitating on the issue.
Steam hacking details emerge

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 2:17pm MST

It's come to light that hackers who ast year broke into an internal database of Steam, the digital distribution system, could have obtained information covering four years of transactions.
Even when locked, iPhones make video calls

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 1:55pm MST

An iPhone bug enables people to make FaceTime video calls on phones that are locked with a password and protected with the highest security settings, a researcher discovered.
Help design the future of robotic cars

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 1:34pm MST

Do you want a future where C-3P0 and his robotic pals do the driving as you text your friends the 411 on the next stop in a crosstown pub crawl? Minds capable of making this dream come true want your opinion.
9-inch Kindle Fire may be in the works

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 1:23pm MST

A Kindle Fire with a 9-inch screen could be coming mid-year, according to an analyst who is raising sales estimates for the popular Amazon device based on a bigger-screen model joining the lineup.
Dad's FB 'surfer' page lured girls, charges say

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 1:19pm MST

A married father from western Pennsylvania is jailed on charges that he befriended seven girls using fake Facebook profiles pretending to be a surfer, and got them to send him nude pictures while convincing two of them to meet him for sex last year.
'Executing' your teen's laptop might feel good, but it's a bad idea

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 1:05pm MST

Parents angry about Facebook use now have their poster child: a man who posted a video on YouTube apparently showing him firing bullets through his daughter's laptop as an act of discipline.
Computer glitch on Mars-bound rover fixed

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 12:50pm MST

Engineers have fixed the glitch that caused a computer reset on the spacecraft carrying NASA's Curiosity rover shortly after it launched toward Mars in November, officials announced Thursday.
Because of humans, lions live in fear

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 12:35pm MST

Some lions in the wild now live within a “landscape of fear” as a result of threats posed by humans.
Facebook users eye exes' Valentine's Day plans

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 12:20pm MST

Maybe you haven't spoken to your ex in awhile, but you may be checking on their Facebook page, especially as Valentine's Day rolls around, according to a survey.
Reshaping Sony through PlayStation strategy

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 12:13pm MST

Incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to re-shape Sony Corp by linking hardware and software through online networks -- a model he used at its PlayStation unit -- dismissing any suggestion the battered brand would revert to a gadget-centered strategy under his management.
Double Fine's Kickstarter passes $1M, breaks record

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 12:04pm MST

Double Fine's Kickstarter initiative to fund a point-and-click adventure game is a huge success. The initial goal of $400,000 was met in just over 8 hours, and when In-Game first reported on this fundraiser yesterday, the $1 million mark was just on the horizon.
What has NASA done for you lately? Lots

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 11:48am MST

Amid the storm brewing over cuts to NASA's budget for the coming year, the space agency has published its annual reminder that the things it builds to explore the universe also lead to amazing "spinoffs" — innovative technologies and products used here on Earth.
New X-ray telescope to hunt for black holes

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 11:43am MST

A new X-ray telescope being prepared for launch will be able to ferret out hiding places of black holes by peering into the dusty centers of distant galaxies.
Online dating site fraud up 150 percent: report

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 11:34am MST

As more people turn to online dating sites to meet potential mates, the bad guys are going there, too, but not with love in mind.
Netflix and Hulu debut scripted shows

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 11:14am MST

Within about a week, Netflix and Hulu are both debuting their first stabs at original scripted programming.
Deadly songbird parasite is evolving rapidly

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 11:11am MST

The bacteria responsible for the red, swollen, crusty eyes of a sick house finch, which can leave it unable to survive, evolve at an exceptionally fast rate — which is both bad and good news for the future of the songbird, researchers say.
What fruit fly brains tell us about memory

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 10:50am MST

Inside the teensy brains of fruit flies lies the blueprint for how memories form — information that likely carries over to our bulky noggins — and researchers have just identified two genes that are key to forming long-term memories.
Math adds up to a Google Valentine

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 10:32am MST

Kudos to the math geniuses who came up with an equation that you can plug into Google search to create a little Valentine's Day surprise.
Dad shoots daughter's laptop over Facebook post

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 10:30am MST

A video purporting to be the work of an angry father teaching his daughter a lesson by shooting bullets through her laptop is the viral video of day.
E-Cat 'cold fusion' draws more fraud claims

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 10:10am MST

In the past year, reputable scientists have watched live demonstrations of Andrea Rossi's E-Cat and have declared it to be a success. The E-Cat is fast becoming an international star. But most scientists couldn't raise their eyebrows any higher. Now, an Australian engineer has provided an alternative explanation for how Rossi is possibly scamming the world.
Divorce lawyers sees more texts in evidence

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 9:27am MST

A survey of divorce lawyers has found 92 percent of them think there's been a dramatic increase in cellphone evidence during the past three years.
Pre-caffeine tech: Apple! Space! Apocolypse!

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 8:58am MST

See the first refrences regarding Steve Jobs and his Reality Distortion Field in the late Apple founder's FBI file! Speaking of Apple, here's what happened at those Apple/Foxconn protests yesterday.
'Cyberspace requires a world-class cyber warrior'

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 7:25am MST

With growing worries about the threat of "cyber warfare," militaries around the world are racing to recruit the computer specialists they believe may be central to the conflicts of the 21st century.
10 adorkable marriage proposals caught on video

Posted: February 10th, 2012, 6:37am MST

If marriage is in the cards, you might want to check out some of these nerdy proposals and marriage moments for inspiration. Or not...