Today on New Scientist: 25 February 2013

First fruits of a groundbreaking art-science tie-up A pioneering collaboration between two of London's most prestigious cultural institutions shows that sci-art has come of ageThe great illusion of the self Your mind's greatest trick is convincing you of your own reality. Discover the elaborate illusions involved and what they mean in our special featureStunning seeds: a biological meteor wreathed...

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DKNY apologizes for using photos without permission

NEW YORK: Donna Karan New York apologised Monday for having displayed, without permission, portraits taken by a New York photographer in its Bangkok shop windows.The fashion house also announced, in its statement, that it was donating $25,000 to a charity chosen by and in the name of the photographer, Brandon Stanton.Stanton, who was alerted to the Bangkok display by a fan, wrote a post...

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Firefox betas pull the shades per-tab on 'porn mode'

Desktops get a new Download Manager in Firefox 20 Beta.(Credit:Mozilla)Private browsing, or 'porn mode' for people with more prurient Web browsing requirements, will soon be available in Firefox on a per-tab basis.The latest versions of Firefox 20 Beta (download for Windows, Mac, and Linux)and Firefox 20 Beta for Android (download) have been updated to allow people to choose private browsing on a...

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks...

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Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines

Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole."I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music...

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Ancient continent hides beneath Indian Ocean

The sands of Mauritius are hiding a secret: deep beneath them lurks an ancient continent. Trond Torsvik and colleagues at the University of Oslo, Norway, analysed grains of zircon found on the island's beaches, measuring the balance...

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N. Korea nuclear test a threat to Koreans' survival: Park

SEOUL: South Korea's new president Park Geun-Hye on Monday labelled North Korea's nuclear test a threat to the survival of the Korean people, but vowed a "step-by-step" policy of engagement with Pyongyang."North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people," Park said in her inauguration speech after being sworn in as South Korea's first female...

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Samsung, Tim Burton brighten Oscars with rainbow-colored unicorn blood

Movies take a lot of thinking.(Credit:Samsung Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)"This is getting too weird for me."These are words you never expected to hear coming from the mouth of Tim Burton.Yet Samsung, which these days leaves no competitive joke unturned and no Hollywood star untapped, delivered precisely that during the Oscars broadcast.The ad, released by Samsung a little while before the...

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Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."No animal has ever been nominated for...

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Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm 9:59 p.m. ET: No words. Jennifer Hudson is breaking it down with “Dreamgirls’” “And I’m Telling You.”9:53 p.m. ET: The movie musical tribute is off to a killer start with Catherine Zeta-Jones’ performance of “All That Jazz” from “Chicago.”9:50 p.m. ET: Best Foreign Language Film is “Amour.”9:44 p.m. ET: “Searching for Sugar Man” takes home Best Documentary...

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