Lake life survives in total isolation for 3000 years

It is seven times as salty as the sea, pitch dark and 13 degrees below freezing. Lake Vida in East Antarctica has been buried for 2800 years under 20 metres of ice, but teems with life. The discovery of strange, abundant bacteria in a completely...

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S. Korea tightens limit on forex forward positions

SEOUL: South Korea announced Tuesday it was lowering the ceiling on foreign exchange forward positions by foreign and local banks, to ease currency volatility after a sharp appreciation in the Korean won.The finance ministry said local branches of foreign banks will have to limit forward deals to 150 per cent of their equity capital, down from the current 200 per cent.The ceiling for domestic...

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DOE, NASA testing fission reactor for spaceflight

Why don't we have warp drive yet? Well, because, according to Star Trek lore, inventor Zefram Cochrane hasn't been born yet. Baby Zefram is due in about 20 years, but in the meantime NASA and the Department of Energy are working on something somewhat tantalizing if you're planning a deep-space probe. Researchers including engineers from Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a nuclear reactor...

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

High Horse Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.Taken...

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Rx OD Risks: Grapefruit-Meds Warning Expanded

Nov 26, 2012 5:48pm Image credit: Johner/Getty ImagesABC News’ Ben Maas reports:It has long been known that grapefruit juice can pose dangerous — and even deadly — risks when taken along with certain medications. Now, experts warn the list of medications that can result in these interactions is longer than many may have believed.Check below to see whether your medication...

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New vaccine may give lifelong protection from flu

Flu season has come early this year in parts of the northern hemisphere, and many people are scrambling to get their annual vaccination. That ritual may someday be history. In a first for any infectious disease, a vaccine against flu has been made out of...

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Oil down in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices were down in Asian trade Monday as markets awaited the outcome of a eurozone finance ministers' meeting aimed at unlocking the next tranche of aid to debt-strapped Greece.Investors were also concerned about looming tax increases and huge spending cuts in the United States, with analysts fearing they could lead to another slowdown in the world's biggest economy.New...

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Facebook uses posters to push employees to switch to Android

Poster in Facebook headquarters encouraging employees to switch from iPhone to Android handsets.(Credit:Josh Constine/TechCrunch)Borrowing a page from war posters of yesteryear, Facebook is using posters of its own to encourage employees to dump their iPhones forAndroid devices.After it was reported in August that Facebook employees were being "nudged, cajoled, and even ordered to give up their iPhones...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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Fire Kills 112 Workers Making Clothes for US Brands

The 100-plus workers who died in a fire late Saturday at a high-rise garment factory in Bangladesh were working overtime making clothes for major American retailers, including Wal-Mart, according to workers' rights groups.Officials in Bangladesh said the flames at the Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka spread rapidly on the ground floor, trapping those on the higher floors...

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