Technology News for August 19, 2008

Beware if you receive an invitation to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing
Malware cashing in on the Olympics fan-following may affect MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel applications on your computer, which could allow remote attackers to take complete control of an affected system, or cause the application to crash, warns Trend Micro R&PM:Edelman

Robots may soon leave bartenders jobless
British and Japanese researchers have developed a robot that may give bartenders a run for their money. ANI

Condom Condom ringtone supports HIV/AIDS campaign in India
The BBC World Service Trust has launched a ringtone campaign to promote the use of condoms in India, where about 2.5 million people are living with HIV. ANI

Scientists move closer to holy grail of catalyst design
Scientists at the University of Southern California have devised a way to design new catalysts, molecules that speed up chemical reactions without participating in them, which can help advance thousands of industrial and biological processes. ANI

Cats and dogs can actually be very good friends!
Zoologists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that a dog and a cat introduced to each other while still a puppy and a kitten, respectively, can actually learn each others body language. ANI

DEETs stink secret behind mosquito repellent success
DEET, the widely used mosquito repellent, does not block the insects sense of smell but simply stinks to them, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis. ANI

New detector can sniff out even low levels of gamma radiation
Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have produced a new detector sensitive even to low levels of gamma radiation. ANI

Nano thrusters can make space travel cheaper
Scientists have proposed the development of tiny nano thrusters that could be made into flat sheets mounted on the side of spacecrafts, which would be cost-effective, save fuel and have a long life as well. ANI

Human brain has built-in counting skill
A new study on aboriginal children has shown that humans possess an innate mechanism for counting. ANI

Why daughters are rarely like their mothers
The relationship between a mother and her daughter relationship can be difficult to understand, even though they have the same genetic material. Now, a new Northwestern University study has shown how this happens in yeast cells. ANI

New research shortens timescale of bloating galaxies
New research has shortened the timescale during which the mysterious bloating of dense, compact galaxies in the early universe happened. ANI

Magpies too can recognise themselves in a mirror
A research team has shown that magpies-a species with a brain structure very different from mammals-can recognise their own bodies in a mirror. ANI

Herbivores could eat away potential carbon sponges
Though current climate models predict an increase in shrub-like vegetation in northern regions, which should absorb some of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, grazing animals are likely to eat them in large quantities. ANI

How our brains help us deal with change in plans
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have found that two different brain regions are responsible for the way human beings deal with changes in their plans. ANI

Noisy urchins cause mysterious ocean sounds
A team of scientists has confirmed that urchins - spiny sea creatures, are responsible for a mysterious, twice-daily uproar heard underwater around northern New Zealand reefs. ANI

Trees can suck up pollutants to turn them into useful amino acids
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, US, have shown that trees can suck up organic nitrogen compounds produced from pollutants and turn them into useful amino acids. ANI

Men, women find symmetrical bodies more attractive
When considering a mate, people find members of the opposite sex more attractive if they have symmetrical bodies - not just symmetrical faces - suggests a new research. ANI

Dirty smoke from ships degrades air quality in coastal cities
Chemists at UC (University of California) San Diego, US, have found that dirty smoke from ships degrades air quality in coastal cities. ANI

Quiet 2007 hurricane season a result of winds and Saharan dry, dusty air
A new analysis of environmental conditions over the Atlantic Ocean shows that hot, dry air associated with dust outbreaks from the Sahara desert was a likely contributor to the quieter-than-expected 2007 hurricane season. ANI