Flu Kills 4 Seniors, Sickens 700 in Boston

An early and nasty flu season has prompted a public health emergency in Boston, where health officials say 700 people have been diagnosed with the cold-weather virus. Four Bostononians -- all elderly -- have died from flu."This is the worst flu season we've seen since 2009, and people should take the threat of flu seriously," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said in a statement.This...

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Pruney fingers give us better grip underwater

WHY do our fingers do prune impressions when soaked? It could be an adaptation that gives us better grip underwater. Fingers and toes wrinkle in water after about 5 minutes due to the constriction of blood vessels. This reduction...

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Cool change aids Australia firefighters

SYDNEY: Cooler conditions helped firefighters battling blazes across Australia Wednesday but up to 30 were still out of control, destroying a handful of homes and killing thousands of livestock.After facing one of the highest-risk fire days in its history on Tuesday, residents in hard-hit New South Wales state woke to shifting winds that caused temperatures to drop significantly.While...

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Microsoft to kill the Messenger on March 15

The end is near for Microsoft's Windows Messenger Live.Microsoft announced last November it would soon retire its instant messaging client in favor Skype, which Microsoft acquired in October 2011. But today it began informing Messenger users that the service would go dark for the majority of users on March 15. Hello,On 15th March 2013 we are retiring the existing Messenger service globally (except...

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Pictures: Wildfires Scorch Australia Amid Record Heat

Photograph by Jo Giuliani, European Pressphoto AgencySmoke from a wildfire mushrooms over a beach in Forcett, Tasmania, on January 4. (See more wildfire pictures.)Wildfires have engulfed southeastern Australia, including the island state of Tasmania, in recent days, fueled by dry conditions and temperatures as high as 113ºF (45ºC), the Associated Press reported. (Read "Australia's Dry Run" inNational...

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Holmes Played Childish Games After Aurora Carnage

As police confronted the movie theater carnage and a massive booby trap left behind by accused Aurora gunman James Holmes, the suspect loopily played with hand puppets, tried to stick a metal staple in an electrical socket and clamly flipped a styrofoam cup, according to court testimony today.Holmes, 25, displayed the bizarre behavior once he was in custody and taken to Aurora...

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World's oldest pills treated sore eyes

In ancient Rome, physicians treated sore eyes with the same active ingredients as today. So suggests an analysis of pills found on the Relitto del Pozzino, a cargo ship wrecked off the Italian coast in around 140 BC. "To our knowledge,...

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Japan summons China envoy over islands dispute

TOKYO: Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador for the first time under the new nationalist government to "strongly protest" against the presence of official ships in waters around disputed islands.The foreign ministry said it told China to stop sending the vessels to the area around a chain controlled by Japan under the name Senkakus, but claimed by China as the Diaoyus.Deputy minister...

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France orders Internet provider to stop blocking Google ads

France, unlike the U.S., has had relaxed rules on whether Internet service providers can block online content -- until today that is. The French government has ruled that one of the country's biggest Web providers, Free, must halt all online ad blocking, according to the New York Times. "An Internet service provider cannot unilaterally implement such blocking," the French minister for the digital...

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Primitive and Peculiar Mammal May Be Hiding Out in Australia

It’d be hard to think of a mammal that’s weirder than the long-beaked, egg-laying echidna. Or harder to find.Scientists long thought the animal, which has a spine-covered body, a four-headed penis, and a single hole for reproducing, laying eggs, and excreting waste, lived only in New Guinea. The population of about 10,000 is critically endangered. Now there is tantalizing evidence that...

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