Yahoo Upgrades Online Search Engine
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Yahoo Inc. has retooled its online search engine to make it more helpful and engaging, joining an industrywide wave of improvements that so far haven’t dented Google Inc.’s dominance.

EBay’s Skype Bubble Bursts
Niklas Zennström’s exit as CEO is only part of it. The shakeup and $1.43 billion charge confirm eBay’s irrational exuberance as well as Skype’s struggling Web-calling business model

Hackers post tips for reversing iPhone upgrade
San Francisco (IDGNS) – Owners of hacked iPhones have begun posting instructions on how to roll back a recent Apple firmware upgrade that rendered their mobile phones unusable.

iPhone Users now Fear Security Patches, say Analysts
Apple Inc.’s decision last week to bundle an iPhone-crippling firmware upgrade with 10 security patches for the device was a mistake, analysts said Monday.

High-def imagery of Earth shot from space
The first high-definition video of Earth from beyond the planet’s orbit has just been made by a Japanese satellite on its way to the moon.

Domestic spy satellite program on hold
A Homeland Security Department program to employ spy satellites for certain domestic uses was put on hold indefinitely after congressional lawmakers raised privacy concerns.

Kids’ TV Viewing Tied to Behavioral Problems
But the ‘off’ switch may reverse the chance of trouble down the road, study says

First Puff Can Turn Kids Into Smokers: Study
Research suggests that, for some, addiction grabs hold quickly
Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet.  I speak from experience.  Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.

Not all types of fat are harmful
While it has long been held that too much fat in the liver may result in diabetes, researchers appear to have discovered that not all types of fat are harmful.

Conscientious People Less Prone to Alzheimer’s
Living up to your responsibilities may protect brain, study suggests
The study findings point to a correlation, but not to causality, as this headline implies.  What if lack of conscientiousness and likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s both stem from a common problem or abnormality?

Antibiotic Shows Promise as Stroke Treatment
Minocycline improves patient outcomes if given with 24 hours, study finds.

Medicare Offers Smallest Rise in Premiums in 6 Years
Deductibles will climb, too, however.

Inca children “fattened” up for sacrifice – study
LONDON (Reuters) – Hair samples taken from child mummies suggest the ancient Incas “fattened” up children chosen for ritual sacrifice months before actually killing them, British researchers said on Monday.

Chinese farmers grew rice 7,700 years ago
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese farmers cultivated rice along the eastern coast as far back as 7,700 years ago and used fire and flood control measures to manage their fields, researchers said, citing new evidence. 

Neanderthals trekked all the way into Siberia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Neanderthals, the stocky kin of modern humans, were far more widespread geographically than previously thought, with some trekking into southern Siberia before vanishing about 30,000 years ago, scientists said on Monday.

Bird Makes Longest Non-Stop Flight
Early last month, a female Bar-tailed Godwit, a type of shorebird, completed an epic journey from New Zealand to Alaska and back, a trip that included the longest flight ever recorded for a land bird, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The bird logged a flight that lasted for more than eight days and covered a distance of 7,200 miles.

Huge Stockpile of Oxygen Found Deep Inside Earth
A mineral that acts like a sponge beneath Earth’s surface stores more oxygen than expected, keeping our planet from becoming dry and inhospitable like Mars. The key to the abundant oxygen storage is the mineral majorite, which exists deep below Earth’s surface in the mantle.

Solar Storm Rips Tail Off Comet
A storm from the sun ripped a tail off a comet, and a NASA satellite captured the whole event. The spectacular cosmic crash occurred on April 20 when the sun cast out a coronal mass ejection (CME), or large cloud of magnetized gas. The tempest was thrust directly in the path of Comet Encke, which was traveling around the sun, within the orbit of Mercury. As the gas swept over the comet, its tail brightened and then was separated completely from its parent icy rock and carried away.