Neptune and Uranus may have oceans of liquid diamond.

From PopSci:

Future humans won't have to wait to travel to Pandora for the chance to mine unobtanium, because Neptune and Uranus may have diamond icebergs floating atop liquid diamond seas closer to home. The surprise finding comes from the first detailed measurements of the melting point of diamond, Discovery News reports.

Scientists zapped diamond with a laser at pressures 40 million times greater than the Earth's atmosphere at sea level, and then slowly reduced both temperature and pressure. They eventually found that diamond behaves like water during freezing and melting, and that chunks of diamond will float in the liquid diamond.

Diamond oceans could explain why the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune appear tilted so far off their north-south axes, given that they could deflect or tilt the magnetic fields. Both planets may consist of up to 10 percent carbon, the elemental building block of diamond.

Scientists won't know for sure until they can launch missions to the planets, or try to simulate planetary conditions on Earth. But we'd wager it's worth a shot for NASA, if there's any chance that U.S. space missions could begin to pay for themselves in the distant future.

Experts find bones of English princess.

From SFGate:

Experts say they may have found the body of England's Princess Eadgyth, more than 1,000 years after she was carted off to Germany to marry an ambitious Saxon duke.

Bristol University in western England said Wednesday that if scientific tests on the bones prove conclusive, it would make Eadgyth (pronounced 'Edith') the oldest member of the English royal family whose remains have survived. The bones were found in Magdeburg, Germany.

Eadgyth was born at the dawn of the 10th century, when England was still divided into a patchwork of Anglo-Saxon and Viking fiefdoms. Her brother King Athelstan kicked the Vikings out of York and routed the Scots and Irish in a massive battle around 937.

Historians consider him the first king to effectively rule of all of England.

NY Times to charge again for online content.

RIP: New York Times (1851 - 2011).

Article below from SFGate, and the Times' own story here.

The New York Times says it will charge readers for full access to its Web site starting in 2011, a risky move aimed at drawing more revenue online without driving away advertisers that want the biggest possible audience.

The potential pitfalls have made most other major newspapers hesitant to take a similar step. But after months of deliberation, the Times said Wednesday it will use a metered system, allowing free access to a certain number of articles and then charging users for additional content.

The Times did not disclose how many articles will be available for free and what it will charge to read more. Subscribers to the printed version of the Times would still have free access to the Web site.

It would not be the first time the newspaper has tried to charge for its online articles.

It charged for its Web site in 1996 but attracted only about 4,000 subscribers. Another experiment called Times Select, which required a $50 annual subscription to read Times columnists, drew 221,000 customers but was scrapped in 2007 because it dented ad sales. Advertisers generally pay more for higher Web traffic.

The new approach resembles the one used at The Financial Times. The idea is to draw casual readers with free articles while getting fees from people who want to go deeper on the site.

Stem cells become functioning neurons in mice.

From Yahoo! News:

Transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells were able to form proper brain connections in newborn mice, U.S. scientists report.

Researchers from Stanford Medical School say their study was the first to show that stem cells can be directed to become specific brain cells and to link correctly in the brain. The findings, they say, could help in efforts to develop new treatments for spinal cord injuries and nervous system diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

The researchers focused on brain cells that transmit information from the brain's cortex. Some of the cortical neurons are responsible for muscle control and are the ones lost or damaged in people with spinal cord injuries and ALS.

"These stem cell-derived neurons can grow nerve fibers between the brain's cerebral cortex and the spinal cord, so this study confirms the use of stem cells for therapeutic goals," the research team's leader, James Weimann, said in a news release from the Society for Neuroscience.

FBI illegally collected phone records.

From ABC News:

The FBI violated the law in collecting about 2,000 U.S. telephone records during the Bush administration, though the violations weren't intentional, officials said Tuesday.

Citing internal memos and interviews, the Washington Post said the FBI invoked nonexistent terrorism emergencies or persuaded phone companies to provide information as it illegally gathered records between 2002 and 2006.

The bureau said in 2007 that it had improperly obtained some phone records, and the Justice Department inspector general is expected to release a report later this month detailing the extent of the problem.

FBI spokesman Michael Kortan said Tuesday the pending report "is not expected to find — nor were there — any intentional attempts to obtain records that counterterrorism personnel knew they were not legally entitled to obtain."

The problem centered around requests to phone companies for records of incoming and outgoing calls to a particular number — not the actual content of the conversations.

Dead: Taco Bell founder.

I wonder if his coffin will be crunchy or soft. From Yahoo! News:

Glen W. Bell Jr., an entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Taco Bell chain, has died. He was 86.

Bell died Sunday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, according to a statement posted Monday on the Taco Bell Web site.

The Irvine-based company did not release a cause of death.

"Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man," Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, said in the statement.

Bell launched his first restaurant, called Bell's Drive-In, in 1948 in San Bernardino after seeing the success of McDonald's Bar-B-Que, the predecessor of McDonald's, which was founded in the same city in 1940. Like McDonald's, Bell's restaurant sought to take advantage of Southern California's car culture by serving hamburgers and hot dogs through drive-in windows.

The World War II veteran next helped establish Taco Tias in Los Angeles, El Tacos in the Long Beach area, and Der Wienerschnitzel, a national hot dog chain.

Bell launched Taco Bell in 1962 in Downey after cutting ties with his business partners and quickly expanding around Los Angeles.

He sold the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. In 1978, Bell sold his 868 Taco Bell restaurants to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock.

Taco Bell is now owned by Yum! Brands and is the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the nation, serving more than 36.8 million consumers each week in more than 5,600 U.S. locations.

Mayor caught on camera stealing women's underwear.

Thanks to our resident underwear expert, Larissa! From The Telegraph:

Stafford, 59, was seen walking into the woman’s bedroom, rifling through her drawers, and selecting a pair of knickers he wanted to wear.

The bachelor, who had twice been elected mayor of Preesall and Knott End, near Fleetwood, Lancs, then performed a sex act before leaving the building.

Police later found a collection of underwear, identical to the items reported stolen, at his home.

The woman who made the recording was one of three Stafford targeted between January 1 and June 26 last year.

She decided to install a hidden camera after noticing that some of her underwear was disappearing.

Two other victims also contacted police over the disappearance of items of their own underwear.

Austrian scientists use live pigs in avalanche experiment.

From EarthTimes:

Vienna - Austrian animal rights groups protested Thursday against scientific experiments on survival conditions in avalanches that use live pigs. An international group of scientists on Tuesday started burying anaesthetized pigs in the snow in the Oetztal valley in Tyrol, where they suffocate or freeze to death, in order to learn about how people die in avalanches.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to kill these highly sensitive, helpless animals for such a useless experiment," said Johanna Stadler, director of the Vier Pfoten animal rights group.

The experiment under the leadership of university clinic for anesthesia in Innsbruck involves burying 29 pigs over two weeks, broadcaster ORF reported. Some animals are fully covered in snow, while others are buried to their neck.

Trend Spotting: Karaoke taxis.

From EarthTimes:

Muenster, Germany - On a Friday night shortly before midnight taxi driver Nizamettin Kilincli picks up a group of women who begin singing loudly in the back of his cab. While some drivers consider this the worst type of fare, Kilincli welcomes the women, even encourages them to sing. Seated in the back, beer bottles in hand, the six tipsy women belt out German pop hits, amplifying the fun they are having getting to their destination.

Kilincli's taxi is a bit different from others in the north-western German city of Muenster. The German association of taxi and rental car companies says his is the only karaoke taxi in Germany.

The cab is specially equipped so that customers can sing while travelling to their destination. Two years ago the 46-year-old taxi driver came up with the idea of putting a video screen on the ceiling behind the driver's seat. Passengers can request music videos and they are encouraged to sing along with the lyrics, which appear in red.

Coozer-Bits.

Health: Green tea may block lung cancer.

Dorky: Most beautiful math structure appears in lab for first time.

Film: How to make a Michael Cera movie.

Cthulhu Watch: 2010 summed up so far in squid.

Yipes: Monster Great White shark, longer than a bus, eats swimmer.

Cthulhu Watch: Mysterious tentacled creature washes up in British Columbia.

David Copperfield makes rape case magically disappear.

From BBC:

A two-year rape investigation against magician David Copperfield has been closed without charges being filed, US authorities have said.

A Seattle woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, claimed he sexually assaulted her on his private island in the Bahamas in 2007.

His lawyers have previously dismissed her claims as an attempt at "extortion for money, plain and simple".

The woman's lawyer, Rebecca Roe, said her client was "disappointed".

"But it wasn't completely unexpected given the jurisdictional issue of prosecuting him here for something that happened on his private island," Ms Roe added.

The US Attorney's Office in Seattle said the decision "should not be perceived as a comment on guilt or innocence".

Girls grows new face.

This.. just... wow. From here.

A Swedish teenager has a new face - re-grown after a rare illness tore off her skin.

Eva Uhlin, 19, was hit by Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis following an allergic reaction to painkiller paracetamol.

The disease gripped her whole body, causing her skin to burn up and scab over before falling off. Eva spent weeks lying zombie-like in a hospital bed as the condition ran its course.

But three years on the skin has grown back, leaving her finally happy to reveal her face in public.

Eva, from Linkoping, Sweden, said: "What happened was terrifying - like something out of a horror film.

"It felt like something was crawling around under my skin. I was in shock."

One doctor who treated her said: "This condition strikes only one in a million people. It was due to the painkiller and a virus Eva had."

Horrific pictures of her face in zombie phase are here. Warning: Graphic.

Blood bank offers beer for blood.

Awesome, just hook it up in the IV! From Ananova:

A US blood bank is offering beer in exchange for blood to try to encourage more people to donate.

Cascade Regional Blood Services in Tacoma, Washington state, is offering donors a free pint of beer every time they give blood, reports Metro.

Donors, who have to be over 21, are given a coupon entitling them to the free pint when they donate blood through the 'Give blood, get beer' scheme.

The blood centre says that the scheme has worked so well that it is being expanded.

The coupon can be redeemed at a number of local pubs and restaurants - although, in the interests of health, they have to wait at least four hours after the donation has taken place before they can give the person their beer.

How to help Haiti's earthquake victims.

Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries. It has just been hit with its worst earthquake in 200 years. Port-au-Prince has been devastated and thousands are feared dead. This link has a list of organizations that are responding immediately and links to their donation pages.

And from the US State Department:

"For missing family, call 1-888-407-4747. To help with relief efforts, text "HAITI" to "90999" and $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill. Or visit Red Cross and Mercy Corps to contribute."

Avatar audiences depressed by real life.

From CNN:

James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.

"I wasn't depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ," Baghdassarian said. "But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don't have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed."

A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.

"That's all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about 'Avatar.' I guess that helps. It's so hard I can't force myself to think that it's just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie," Elequin posted.

A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site "Naviblue" that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.

"Ever since I went to see 'Avatar' I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it," Mike posted. "I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "

Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.

Burglar steals shoes, photos of men.

From Breitbart:

NEWARK, Del. (AP) - Newark police are looking for a burglar who steals men's shoes and photos that depict men. Five homes have been burglarized since Dec. 26 by a man who entered through an unlocked door or window or forced entry through a rear door. Police said the burglar searches the bedrooms and makes off with men's shoes and photographs of men.

After one of the burglaries, the suspect was seen driving away in a yellow Mitsubishi with Delaware tags.

Dopamine levels influence decision making.

From BBC:

Dopamine, a chemical with a key role in setting people's moods, could have a much wider-ranging impact on their everyday lives, research suggests.

Experiments show that altering levels of the chemical in the brain influences the decisions people make.

One expert said the results showed the relative importance of "gut feeling" over analytical decision making.

The Current Biology study could help understand how expectation of pleasure can go awry, for example in addiction.

It follows previous research by the University College London team, which, using imaging techniques, detected a signal in the brain linked to how much someone enjoyed an experience. They found that signal could in turn predict the choices a person made.

With the suspicion that the signal was dopamine, the researchers set up a study to test how people make complex decisions when their dopamine system has been tampered with.

Smoke flavor may be toxic to humans.

So much for my bacon-flavored beer idea. From BBC:

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says one of the flavourings used to give smoke flavour to meat, cheese or fish, may be toxic to humans.

The authority looked at 11 smoke flavourings commonly used in the European Union.

It says several of the flavourings are dangerously close to levels which may cause harm to humans.

The European Commission will now establish a list of smoke-flavouring products that are safe for use in food.

The smoke flavourings are products which can be added to foods to give them a "smoked" flavour, as an alternative to traditional smoking.

EFSA says it "cannot rule out concerns" about a flavouring called Primary Product AM 01, which is obtained from beech wood.

The wood particles are burnt under controlled conditions and the hot vapours are dissolved in a solvent.

The Panel says the use of the substance "at the intended levels is a safety concern".

Mysterious planet is vaporized.

Oh, CoRoT-7b, we hardly knew ye. From ABC:

Astronomers appear to have caught an exoplanet – a planet orbiting another star – in the middle of a cosmic vanishing act.

The planet, tagged CoRoT-7b, first hit the headlines last September when a team of astronomers confirmed the orb as the smallest exoplanet yet found. Its diameter is roughly 1.7 times that of Earth. Based on its size and mass, its density is similar to Earth's, indicating that it is a rocky Earth-like orb.

But it wasn't always this small. Scientists estimate that CoRoT-7b initially tipped the cosmic scales at 100 times more mass than Earth and orbited the star at a distance of about 2.3 million miles.

New findings suggest its proximity to its sun gives it a molten-hot surface temperature that is causing the planet to slowly vaporize.

If the astronomers' calculations are correct, the planet could be the first of a new class of planets, which astronomers have dubbed "evaporated remnant cores."

Coozer-Bits.

Duh: Americans ask stupid questions when traveling (within the US).

Politics: Japan comes clean on secret nuke deals with the US.

RUW: World's first sex robot can also discuss football.

Cthulhu Watch: Deadly jellyfish attacks man... 25 meters above the water!

Creepy: More on the girl who weeps blood.

WTF: Crime lord's penis falls off during raid.

Health: Urine test can detect dangerous snoring.

Yipes: Man arrested for assault with cable box.

Hero: Obama doesn't want his speech interrupting the Lost premiere.