university

'Rushing fireball' could turn carbon dioxide into biofuel

Scientists cite as a major driver of climate change the large amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere that's created by the burning of fossil fuels. They spend day after day trying to figure out a way to generate power for the world's populations, but at the same time leave a smaller carbon footprint.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia say they've hit upon a way to take the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and turn it into useable industrial products. The impact of such a discovery is potentially huge.

The goal is to remove the CO2 directly from the air and turn it into biofuel -- not only helping power the world, but hopefully taking down global temperatures at the same time.

The researchers essentially have created a microorganism that acts like a plant that removes the carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into something we can use. During photosynthesis, plants utilize sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to create their food source. This would behave in a similar fashion. … Read more

Woman breaks into house to browse Facebook, police say

It's possibly one of the less pleasant experiences in life to come home after a night with your boyfriend to discover someone is using your laptop.

Yes, sitting right there in your living room, browsing her Facebook page as if this was, in fact, her house.

This, sadly, is what apparently happened to a 33-year-old resident of Athens, Ga.

As the Athens Banner-Herald has it, the homeowner got back to her house Sunday lunchtime to find an unknown (and currently unnamed) blond woman allegedly browsing Facebook.… Read more

Get that song out of your head the scientific way

To date, my method for banishing the dreaded earworm is to sing a song I actually like in an attempt to "trump" whatever piece of pop fluff is driving me batty. Apparently scientists at Western Washington University, led by psychology professor Ira Hyman, have discovered a much better way.

The trick, it seems, is to solve puzzles -- sudoku, for example. But by far the most effective puzzle was five-letter anagrams. … Read more

Tips from a social media one-night stand

When you write about something called "social media one-night stand, the temptation, so to speak, is to fill it with bad puns and jokes about its name. But this is a post where that's the last double entendre.

Instead, I wanted to bring you social media tips and lessons from my most recent session, which is nothing more than a fancy name for an advanced social-media workshop.

I am just wrapping up a week in the Pacific Northwest. I spent time in digital offices as different as MSN News and Big Fish Games in Seattle, and the Oregonian … Read more

Comcast scoops up rest of NBC Universal from GE

Comcast now owns all of NBC Universal.

The cable company shared the news in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, revealing that it completed its acquisition of the 49 percent of NBCU held by GE.

To finance the purchase, Comcast said it spent $10 billion in cash (of which $3.2 billion came from NBCU), $725 million in preferred stock, $4 billion in securities, $750 million in cash funded through a commercial paper program, and $1.25 billion in cash from NBCU's credit facility.

Comcast also announced that it now owns certain properties at NBCU's … Read more

Scientists briefly revive extinct frog from dead cells

The Rheobatrachus silus frog has been extinct since 1983. This unusual Australian creature was known for swallowing its eggs and then releasing the young from its mouth. That's way too awesome to just let the animal be resigned to the biological history books.

Australian researchers have spent five years conducting experiments using somatic-cell nuclear transfer, a technique for creating a cloned embryo. Appropriately enough, it's called the Lazarus Project. The scientists took donor eggs from a related frog and replaced the nuclei with dead nuclei from the extinct frog. Some of the eggs then began to grow.… Read more

The 404 1,229: Where we stop and smell the ads (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Ad creep creeps are getting creepier -- a couple of the strangest ad-placements ever.

- You know Best Buy is doing poorly when a positive customer review is news.

- How manufactured smells are making people shop longer and kill better.

- Jack from our 404 Subreddit created an RSS feed of every 404 episode. Thanks dude!… Read more

Spotify: Growing like mad, yet so far to go

AUSTIN, Texas -- It's not a bluegrass jam on the legendary Austin City Limits stage, but for Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, it nonetheless will be a heady moment.

When Ek sits for a fireside chat at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival here later today, the Swedish-born, aspiring music industry mogul will be able to share some fresh bragging rights: Spotify has signed another 1 million subscribers since December, bringing the total to 6 million and cementing its position as the fastest-growing digital music company ever -- second in reach only to Internet radio company Pandora. A company … Read more

Microsoft offers students three months free of Office 365

Microsoft is dangling a new offer to get students to try its Office 365 University software.

As of today, students with a qualifying .edu e-mail address can register to receive three months free of Office 365 University and an extra 20GB of space for their SkyDrive online storage. Share the offer on Facebook and you'll get an additional three free months of Office 365.

Geared for college students and teachers, a license for Office 365 University costs $79.99 for four years and is good for up to two PCs or Macs. The educational suite includes the same applications … Read more

How YouTube could ignite streaming music: Go mobile, go free

Google's YouTube, the entertainment industry's longtime "frenemy," is emerging as an important component of record label plans to adapt to consumers who are taking their music mobile.

A part of the streaming-music service that Google is aiming to launch this summer is a new YouTube product that would be designed for the desktop and mobile devices, according to a person familiar with the negotiations between Google and the major labels. Such a mobile offering, coupled with the powerful YouTube brand, could ignite the nascent streaming-music business, now led by Spotify for on-demand music and Pandora for … Read more