Manhattan man vows to visit 365 city bars in 365 days!
New York, Mar 10 : A Manhattan man is fulfilling every alcoholic’s dream—he has pledged to drink at 365 city bars in 365 days.
Marty Wombacher, 51, is on a mission to create a poor man''s guide to New York''s watering holes.
He heads to various pubs and bars, take loads of pictures, drink lots of beer, and post the adventures on his Web site www. aguywalksinto365bars. com.
Lava carved ancient Martian riverbed
Washington, March 10 : A new American research has revealed that an ancient "riverbed" in Mars was not made by the flow of water but was carved by molten lava.
The 270-km long Martian channel near the Ascraeus Mons volcano does not seem to have been made by water.
"We started seeing that, instead of this [liquid] cutting into an existing surface, it was building a surface—it built a ridge up to 40 meters [130 feet] high" millions of years ago, explained study co-author Jacob Bleacher of NASA''s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The channel is also roofed over in some areas and lined with vents, characterises usually linked to lava tubes.
GenY workers value leisure more than Gen Xers
Washington, March 10 : The young generation of workers, sometimes called GenY, GenMe, or Millennials, have markedly different work values from previous generations, researchers have observed.
Principal investigator Jean M. Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of the book Generation Me, made a comparison between work values of GenY (born in the late 1980s) to those of GenX
(born in the 1970s) and Boomers (born in the 1950s) at the same age.
43 percent Americans have less than $10,000 for retirement
Washington, March 10 - As the number of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, over four in 10 had less than $10,000, according to a new survey.
The percentage of workers who said they had less than $10,000 savings grew to 43 percent in 2010, from 39 percent in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual Retirement Confidence Survey released Tuesday.
That excludes the value of primary homes and defined-benefit pension plans. Workers who said they had less than $1,000 jumped to 27 percent, from 20 percent in 2009.
Confidence in the ability to save enough for a comfortable retirement hovered at 16 percent of respondents, the second lowest point in the 20-year history of the survey.
US minted more millionaires in 2009
Washington, March 10 - America's millionaires are on the rise again after their ranks thinned out during the 2008 market meltdown, according to a new survey.
US households worth $1 million or more grew to 7.8 million in 2009, up 16 percent from 2008, according to the survey from Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based market research and consulting firm, released Tuesday.
The firm's report also found that the number of ultra high-net-worth households, worth $5 million or more, jumped 17 percent to 980,000.
"This is largely attributed to the stock market rebound, since other assets including real estate and private businesses have not rebounded as dramatically," CNNMoney cited George H. Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group as saying.
Computer power button design chosen as NYC’s new condom logo
New York, Mar 10 : More than 15,000 online voters have chosen Luis Acosta''s computer power button design as the new condom logo for New York City.
"There''s a subtle message in the shape, so I figured if I don''t get disqualified, it will work great," said contest winner Luis Acosta, a 29-year-old graphic designer.
Nearly 600 entries had come in for the NYC Condom wrapper design contest. Voters chose among the top five on Facebook and the city Health Department''s Web site, reports The New York Daily News.
The condoms get handed out for free all over town at bars, restaurants, gyms, coffeehouses, clinics and community centers. (ANI)
New security threat against ‘smart phone’ users identified
Washington, March 10 : Scientists have identified potential new security threats against new generations of smart mobile phones that could be carried out without the owner’s knowledge.
Computer experts at Rutgers University demonstrated how a software attack could cause a smart phone to eavesdrop on a meeting, track its owner’s travels, extract personal information from phone directories or rapidly drain its battery to render the phone useless.
Michelle Obama donates inaugural gown to educational facility Smithsonian
Washington, March 10 : Michelle Obama has donated the white gown she wore at the inauguration to the Smithsonian, saying it helped the public “connect with a moment in history in a very real way.”
During her appearance at the Museum of American History, Mrs Obama said she was humbled but also “a little embarrassed by all the fuss being made” over “the dress.”
“Like many of you, I’m not used to people wanting to put things I’ve worn on display…So, all of this is a little odd, so forgive me,” the Politico quoted her, as saying.
Soon, cotton fabrics to charge iPods, MP3 players and cell phones
Washington, Mar 10 : Ever thought that your comfy cotton T-shirt could monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyse your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer''s day? Or have you thought of a pillow that monitors your brain waves, or a solar-powered dress that can charge your ipod or MP4 player? Well, all this could soon be a reality, all thanks to new-age cotton threads.
How Orangutans communicate through dense jungle
Washington, Mar 10 : By delving deeper into the long calls of male Orangutans in Borneo, scientists have got new insight into how these solitary apes communicate through dense jungle.
The researchers conducted an acoustic analysis of the calls, and revealed that the calls not only serve to attract females, but also contain information on the identity and the context of the caller.
Led by Prof. Dr. Carel van Schaik from the University of Zurich, the researchers followed three sexually active male Organutans ''Niko'', ''Kentung'' and ''Fugit'' from a nature reserve in Tuanan, Borneo.
US, India high-technology meet Monday
Washington, March 10 - Top US and Indian business executives will meet here Monday to address critical issues affecting US-India High Technology Cooperation in areas like defence/strategic trade, civil nuclear cooperation, biotechnology, nano-technology and civil aviation.
The private sector business interactions hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) are expected to inform the official level bilateral discussions at a meeting of the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) Tuesday.
US woman charged for plotting terrorism in Europe, South Asia
Washington, March 10 - The US government has charged a Pennsylvania woman with conspiring to commit terrorism by using the internet to find recruits to carry out attacks in Europe and South Asia, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
The charges against Colleen R. LaRose include conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempting identity theft. If convicted, she could be ordered to spend the rest of her life in prison and pay $1 million in fines, the department said.
Gates Foundation, Asian group win UN population prize
New York, March 10 - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) were selected Tuesday winners of the 2010 UN Population Award.
The award has been given out annually to individuals or groups for their outstanding work in population and in improving the health of individuals.
The foundation, established by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife, has upheld a simple premise: "All lives have equal values. Today, billions of people never have the chance to live a healthy and productive life," said the UN Population's Funds (UNFPA) in announcing the prize winners.
Thieves demanded ransom for former president's body
Athens/Nicosia, March 10 - Cypriot authorities Tuesday arrested two people, including an Indian national, for allegedly stealing the corpse of former president Tassos Papadopoulos from his grave three months ago and said the suspects had earlier demanded a ransom.
Police arrested an Indian national and a Greek Cypriot after they confessed to having removed Papadopoulos' remains from its coffin in December and placing the body in another person's grave.
Justice Minister Loucas Louca said the motive behind the well-organised heist was financial.
The two men said they had called the family of the former president and demanded a ransom of 200,000 euros, Cypriot state television RIK reported. The family has denied ever paying the ransom.
First same-sex marriages conducted in Washington
Washington, March 10 - The first gay couples to take advantage of a law that allows same-sex couples to marry in Washington gave their "I dos" Tuesday.
Ceremonies were held Tuesday morning at the courthouse and at the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group that broadcast the ceremonies of three couples live on the internet.
Washington last week began allowing same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses, and around 100 couple took advantage of the new law.
The city council approved the move in December and attempts by opponents to block it were turned down in court.
US greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.9 percent in 2008
Washington, March 9 : US greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.9 percent in 2008 amid a recession and record high petrol prices, according to a preliminary estimate Tuesday from the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
Lower demand for electricity and petrol helped drive down energy use over the course of the year in the US, which along with China is the world's largest polluter.
Total greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warming, have climbed nearly 13.6 percent in the US between 1990 and 2008, but emissions have fallen 2.43 percent since 2005, the EPA said.
UN mourns 101 staffers killed in Haiti earthquake
New York, March 9 : The United Nations mourned Tuesday 101 of its personnel who were killed by the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January.
"Today, we commemorate the single greatest loss the UN has suffered in its history," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York to pay tribute to UN military, civilians and police officers who belonged to the UN mission and who died in the magnitude-7 quake that struck Port-au-Prince January 12.
"We knew them, very personally," Ban said in the emotional-laden event attended by nearly all top UN ranking officials and personnel. "We knew their smiles, their songs, their dreams".
‘UFO’ spotted over Lake Erie
Washington. March 9 : Eugene Erlikh from Ohio says he has spotted a UFO over Lake Erie and believes that it''s proof we''re not alone.
"Absolutely nothing we have on this earth even looks like that," Fox News quoted Erlikh as saying.
The man says that the unexplained lights appeared outside his house in Euclid over five nights.
"It was such a brilliant beam of different lights, it was going red, yellow, green, blue. It was never the same colour it was always, like it was pulsating," he said.
The U. S. and Canadian Coast Guard and several local police departments did not receive any additional reports of sightings. (ANI)
US to take H-1B applications from April 1
Washington, March 9 : The United States will start accepting applications for 65,000 H-1B visas for skilled professionals coveted by Indian techies for fiscal 2011 from April 1.
"Cases will be considered accepted on the date that it takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee; not the date that the petition is postmarked," the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced.
The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals who have earned a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the Congressionally mandated cap of 65,000.
New high-tech handrest for doctors, artists causes less fatigue
Washington, March 9 : Engineers at the University of Utah have come up with a new computer-controlled, motorized handrest that will help doctors, artists and others control scalpels, brushes and tools more accurately over a wider area with less fatigue.
William Provancher, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering said: "We''ve invented a new device - the Active Handrest - that''s useful for aiding people in performing precision tasks with their hands such as surgery, painting, electronics repair or other tasks that require precise control of the fingertips."