2009:The cell phone dominates
If 2008 was the year of the ‘smartphone,’ 2009 may be the year of the smarter consumer looking to save on phone costs— landline or wireless —  by reducing service where they can.

Cloud computing looms larger on corporate horizon
Todd Pierce recently put his job on the line. To meet the computing needs of 16,300 employees and contractors at Genentech Inc., Pierce took a chance and decided not to rely entirely on business software from Microsoft, IBM or another long-established supplier that would have let Genentech own the technology. Instead, Pierce decided to rent these indispensable products from Google Inc. The Internet search and advertising leader will run Genentech’s e-mail, as well as some word processing, spreadsheet and calendar applications, and it will do it over an online connection — an unconventional approach called “cloud computing.”

Microsoft Embraces Web With Hosted Services
Though the quest to acquire Yahoo dominated news surrounding Microsoft’s Web strategy in 2008, another story was brewing quietly behind the scenes that could be even more significant for the company in the long run — its move to offer hosted business productivity services.

Microsoft again extends Windows XP drop-dead date
Microsoft Corp. has once again extended an impending deadline for Windows XP’s demise, the company confirmed today. System builders — the smaller shops and computer dealers that build PCs to order — will now be able to obtain Windows XP Professional licenses through at least May 30 and likely long after, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman. Previously, Microsoft had set Jan. 31 as its deadline for selling new XP licensees to the distributors that supply system builders.

Subway fare hackers to partner with transit agency
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A trio of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who found a way to hack into the Boston subway system’s payment cards have agreed to partner with transit officials there to make the system more secure.

Cognitive Computing: Building A Machine That Can Learn From Experience
The idea is to create a computer capable of sorting through multiple streams of changing data, to look for patterns and make logical decisions. There’s another requirement: The finished cognitive computer should be as small as a the brain of a small mammal and use as little power as a 100-watt light bulb. It’s a major challenge. But it’s what our brains do every day.

Failing in mathematics
This column shows that randomised computer-aided instruction in mathematics increased student achievement and that the effect is larger for students in large, heterogeneous classes. Also, the costs of maintaining a computer-aided instruction lab are equivalent to those associated with reducing class sizes.

Nobel jurors face bribery probe for China trips
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) – Nobel Prize jurors who accepted all-expenses-paid trips to China to discuss the coveted awards are being investigated on suspicion of bribery, a Swedish prosecutor said Thursday.

Show Me the Money
Nothing inspires innovation like a seven-figure check, which is why more and more private and government sources are offering big money for creative technologies — and plenty of Americans are rising to the challenge. 

Danish Supercar Sports 1104 Horsepower
Everything about the car is blatantly, wonderfully over the top, from its turbocharged and supercharged 7.0-liter V-8 to the acres of carbon fiber that cover its race-spec chassis. Options include ceramic brakes (a wise investment), carbon-fiber wheels and a four-point roll cage. Top speed is limited to 233 mph

Blue and Broke for the Holidays
Economic woes ratchet up mental health problems already more common this time of year

Genes May Influence Popularity, Study Of College Students Finds
A groundbreaking study of popularity … has found that genes elicit not only specific behaviors but also the social consequences of those behaviors.

Women Prefer Prestige Over Dominance In Mates
A new study … reveals that women prefer mates who are recognized by their peers for their skills, abilities, and achievements, while not preferring men who use coercive tactics to subordinate their rivals. Indeed, women found dominance strategies of the latter type to be attractive primarily when men used them in the context of male-male athletic competitions.

Researchers Plan to Simulate Movements of 300 Million Americans
By developing an extremely detailed simulation of the US population, researchers are hoping to understand how contagious diseases spread through society.

Study: Give or take $5, people respond differently
In the holiday season, some folks might quibble with the notion that it is better to give than receive. But what about taking? “Nobody likes that,” says psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago.

‘Blind’ Man Navigates Obstacle Course Without Error 
Researchers say finding suggests alternate vision routes in the brain

Brain Chip to Stimulate Orgasms
Researchers at Oxford University say a brain implant will one day stimulate pleasure centers for people who have trouble enjoying sex and otherwise experiencing pleasure, according to a UK news report.

Blocking The Spread Of Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria
Northwestern University scientists have exploited the Watson-Crick base pairing of DNA to provide a defensive tool that could be used to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria — one of the world’s most pressing public health problems.

Medicare to pay doctors to embrace e-prescribing
Starting next month, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, will offer financial bonuses to doctors who prescribe drugs electronically rather than on paper. Doctors who do not will face penalties from Medicare starting in 2012. This is intended to help persuade the vast majority of U.S. doctors who do not “e-prescribe” to start, both to improve efficiency and curb medical errors.

Eating At Buffets Plus Not Exercising Equals Obesity In Rural America
 In small towns in the Midwestern United States, people who eat out often at buffets and cafeterias and who perceive their community to be unpleasant for physical activity are more likely to be obese.

Even a Little Overweight, Inactivity Hurts the Heart
Large study finds increased risk of heart failure

A Walk In The Park A Day Keeps Mental Fatigue Away
A new study … reveals that spending time in nature may be more beneficial for mental processes than being in urban environments.

Eating Strategies for Healthier Holiday Parties
Easy-to-follow tips can take the guilt, and the calories, out of the equation

FDA Warns About Weight Loss Products
Agency says more than 2 dozen contain dangerous ingredients not listed on label.

Recommended Diet for Diabetics May Need Changing, Study Suggests
People with Type 2 diabetes on a high-fiber diet kept their blood sugar under better control when they ate foods like beans and nuts instead of the recommended whole-grain diet, researchers have found.

New Treatment For Diabetes? Leptin’s Long-distance Call To The Pancreas
In the fight against obesity and diabetes, leptin is one of the good guys. Mice lacking the hormone become corpulent, and their sky-high insulin levels eventually lead to diabetes. Leptin can curtail insulin release directly. But there’s also a back-door route that researchers are still trying to piece together.

Drug Shields Mice From Emphysema
Experimental approach seemed to protect the animals from smoke’s harmful effects, researchers say

Selenium, Vitamin E Do Not Prevent Prostate Cancer, Study Concludes
Findings from one of the largest cancer chemoprevention trials ever conducted have concluded that selenium and vitamin E taken alone or in combination for an average of five and a half years did not prevent prostate cancer, according to a team of researchers.

MRI Brain Scans Accurate In Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer’s Disease
MRI scans that detect shrinkage in specific regions of the mid-brain attacked by Alzheimer’s disease accurately diagnose the neurodegenerative disease, even before symptoms interfere with daily function, a study … found.

2 Cardiovascular Proteins Tied to Severity of Alzheimer’s
Their interaction cuts blood flow to brain, limiting its ability to shed plaques

Videogames may do the aging brain good
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Older adults might want to take an interest in their grandchildren’s’ video games, if early research on the brain benefits of gaming is correct.

Say it in song: Cornell researcher deciphers the meaning within bird communication
ITHACA, N.Y. – To many people, bird song can herald the coming of spring, reveal what kind of bird is perched nearby or be merely an unwelcome early morning intrusion. But to Sandra Vehrencamp, Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior, bird song is a code from which to glean avian behavior insight. Birds use song systems to communicate about mating and reproduction, territorial boundaries, age and even overall health.

Israelis unearth Byzantine gold hoard
Israeli archaeologists said they have unearthed more than 250 gold coins from the seventh century on the edge of Jerusalem’s walled Old City. A British tourist volunteering at the dig discovered the trove on Sunday.

‘Little Ice Age’ hastened fall of Aztecs, Incans
The vast empires of the Incas and Aztecs were highly advanced. They kept detailed tax records, built elaborate temples, and at their height, Central and South America boasted a thriving population of as many as 60 million souls.

4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs unveiled near Cairo
SAQQARA, Egypt – A pair of 4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs discovered at Saqqara indicate that the sprawling necropolis south of Cairo is even larger than previously thought, Egypt’s top archaeologist said Monday. The rock-cut tombs were built for high officials — one responsible for the quarries used to build the nearby pyramids and another for a woman in charge of procuring entertainers for the pharaohs.

Daddy day care: dinosaur fathers guarded the eggs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – You can call it dino daddy day care. Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of three types of medium-sized dinosaurs found with large clutches of eggs have concluded that the males rather than the females seem to have guarded the nests and brooded the eggs.

Evolution: Life On Earth Got Bigger In 2-million-fold Leaps
Earth’s creatures come in all sizes, yet they (and we) all sprang from the same single-celled organisms that first populated the planet. So how on Earth did life go from bacteria to the blue whale? “It happened primarily in two great leaps, and each time, the maximum size of life jumped up by a factor of about a million,” said [a researcher].

Forecasters say they’re needed at flight centers
WASHINGTON (AP) – A plan to remove weather forecasters from the nation’s Air Route Traffic Control Centers could endanger air travelers, the forecasters warned on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to reduce costs, and asked the National Weather Service if it could produce weather guidance to air traffic controllers without having forecasters in each of the 20 centers.

Spaceship’s carrier makes first flight
A carrier aircraft designed to be the first stage of a commercial spaceline system made its maiden test flight Sunday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

Pope marks Galileo anniversary, praises astronomy
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope. Benedict said Sunday he wanted to salute all who are marking the 2009 anniversary and UNESCO’s World Year of Astronomy.

Stellar Meteor Shower Jan. 3
For meteor observers, the presence of an almost-full Moon cast a bright pall on this month’s performance of the Geminid Meteor Shower, normally one of the best meteor displays of the year.  But for a wild card, another very good meteor shower may be right around corner.  And for this one, the Moon will not play a factor at all.

Mars find suggests area may have been hospitable
LOS ANGELES (AP) – An orbiting spacecraft has discovered a key mineral in bedrock on the Martian surface that suggests the planet might once have had an environment hospitable to life, scientists reported Thursday.

Young Active Star Resembles The Sun When It Was Young
The CoRoT satellite, has recently observed a star analogous to the young Sun at an age of approximately 500 million years, named CoRoTExo-2a. This star is accompanied by a giant planet orbiting around it in only 1.7 days.

Earth not center of the universe, surrounded by ‘dark energy’: UBC cosmologists
Earth’s location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose toppling a foundation of modern cosmology, according to a team of University of British Columbia researchers.