James Holmes Told to 'Rot in Hell' By Victim's Dad

The father of a young woman allegedly slain by James Holmes in the Aurora movie theater massacre yelled "Rot in hell, Holmes" during a court hearing today.The outburst by Steve Hernandez prompted judge William Sylvester to have an off-the-record conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys. Sylvester then reconvened court to address the issue while armed court deputies...

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Today on New Scientist: 10 January 2013

Flesh-eating beetles turn dead parrot into skeleton Watch a time-lapse video of beetles devouring a dead macaw to prepare its skeleton for a museum collectionTime to halt our massive waste of food - here's how New technologies may one day save us from throwing resources at producing food that no one eats, but we can take measures now to solve the problemUnborn sharks freeze to avoid predators...

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Venezuela stages inauguration rally without Chavez

CARACAS: With cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez hospitalised in Cuba, tens of thousands of flag-waving Venezuelans filled the streets of Caracas on Thursday to inaugurate his new term without him.Bands played patriotic anthems from street-side stages as citizens clad in the red of Chavez's leftist movement poured out of buses to make their way on foot toward the Miraflores presidential...

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Apple's Schiller: A cheaper iPhone? Um, no

"Read my lips..."(Credit:James Martin/CNET)LAS VEGAS -- I had always fancied that when CES comes along, Apple's devious PR people sit around and wonder which little rumor to toss out, just to turn the heads of those who gawp here.Of course, there's no proof that this week's hearty rumor -- that Apple will produce a cheaper iPhone -- came from Cupertino, but the leak seemed timed with a stroke of mischief...

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Embryonic Sharks Freeze to Avoid Detection

Jane J. Lee Although shark pups are born with all the equipment they'll ever need to defend themselves and hunt down food, developing embryos still stuck in their egg cases are vulnerable to predators. But a new study finds that even these baby sharks can detect a potential predator, and play possum to avoid being eaten.Every living thing gives off a weak electrical field. Sharks can sense...

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Whales Trapped Under Sea Ice Free Themselves

The killer whales trapped under ice near a remote Quebec village reached safety today after the floes shifted on Hudson Bay, according to the mayor's office in Inukjuak.Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away."Two men were sent to check on...

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Today on New Scientist: 9 January 2013

3D print a fossil with virtual palaeontology The combination of CT scanning and 3D printing is taking the discovery and recreation of ancient fossils into the 21st centuryBubbles of fat hint at origin of reproduction One of life's fundamental properties - its ability to make copies of itself - may have originated with bubbles of fat that spontaneously break upGhostly galaxies burned off mysterious...

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Banking sector became 'too arrogant' and must change: UBS

LONDON: The banking sector "needs to change" after it became "too arrogant" in the run-up to the infamous Libor rate-rigging scandal, the head of the investment bank division of Swiss lender UBS told British lawmakers here on Wednesday."We all got probably too arrogant, too self-convinced that things were correct the way they were. I think the industry needs to change," Andrea Orcel told...

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Google removes Maps redirect for Windows Phone

As it said it would, Google has removed a redirect that prevented Windows Phone users from accessing Google Maps via the mobile version of Internet Explorer and that instead sent them to Google.com.The redirect generated headlines last week, with various news outlets suggesting that it was not about poor functionality on the part of mobile IE (as Google maintained) but was more about competitive...

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2012: Hottest Year on Record for Continental U.S.

Temperatures across the continental United States soared in 2012 to an all-time high, making last year the warmest year on record for the country by a wide margin, scientists say. (Related: "July Hottest Month on Record in U.S.—Warming and Drought to Blame?")"2012 marks the warmest year on record for the contiguous U.S., with the year consisting of a record warm spring, the second warmest...

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