Zebrafish made to grow pre-hands instead of fins

PERHAPS the little fish embryo shown here is dancing a jig because it has just discovered that it has legs instead of fins. Fossils show that limbs evolved from fins, but a new study shows how it may have happened, live in the lab. ...

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2,500 needy families to get help with childcare costs

SINGAPORE: Some 2,500 low-income families will benefit from a S$250,000 initiative to help their children. The five Commmunity Development Councils will help identify eligible families with monthly household incomes of less than S$3,500.OCBC Bank will also contribute S$100 when a low-income family deposits the first S$50 into their Child Development Account (CDA). Under the existing Baby...

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Pearlman: I think Bobby Petrino is slime

Bobby Petrino was named head coach at Western Kentucky, months after being embroiled in scandal at University of ArkansasSTORY HIGHLIGHTSBobby Petrino was named the new football coach at Western Kentucky this weekHiring came just months after he was fired from Arkansas amid scandalJeff Pearlman says, sadly, this is no surprise in big-time college sportsHe says the vast majority of players are ultimately...

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Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage

Updated 11:39 PM ET NEWTOWN, Conn. Twenty-six candles — one for each of the victims — flickered on the altar Friday as hundreds of grief-stricken residents gathered for a vigil in memory of the children and staff killed in a shooting rampage at a school in this Connecticut town. With the church filled to capacity, hundreds spilled outside, holding hands in circles in the cold night air and saying...

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot...

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Satellite upgrade should let planes slash emissions

A CONSTELLATION of next-generation communications satellites has a surprise in store for the environment. When Iridium Communications begins launching replacement orbiters in 2015, it will do much more than upgrade its satphone services. Piggybacking on the satellites will be a set of transmitters that could revolutionise...

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Bell tolls for Beijing's Drum Tower homes

BEIJING - China's capital is to destroy swathes of ancient courtyard homes surrounding a 13th-century landmark in what is being called an effort to preserve Beijing's historical legacy, residents said Friday.Large numbers of hutong homes, some of them dating back to the Qing dynasty, will be demolished around the Drum and Bell Towers -- a tourist hotspot in Beijing's historic centre --...

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U.N. nuke group, Iran close to deal

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at an October press conference that Iran will not back down on its nuclear program.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: IAEA and Iran close to an agreement, nuclear watchdog chief saysIran calls the talks "constructive" but does not address access to ParchinProf. Fereydoun Abbasi Davani is among those being slapped with sanctionsAbbasi Davani, the head of Iran atomic agency,...

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Four people set on fire in Denver home

DENVER Denver police were seeking two suspects after four people were set on fire during an attack at a northwest Denver home. Police spokesman Sonny Jackson says two men showed up at the front door of the residence at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Some words were exchanged, and a woman who answered the door was sprayed with a flammable liquid from a pump bug sprayer and set afire. Three other adults...

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What Is a Right-to-Work Law?

This week Michigan became the 24th state in the country to adopt a right-to-work law. The passage of the bill by the state legislature, and eventual signing by Rick Snyder, the state's Republican governor, brought a huge wave of protests in a state with deep union roots.Right-to-work laws have garnered a lot of national attention in recent years as more states have implemented...

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Search for aliens poses game theory dilemma

SENDING messages into deep space could be the best way for Earthlings to find extraterrestrial intelligence, but it carries a grave risk: alerting hostile aliens to our presence. Game theory may provide a way to navigate this dilemma. So far the search...

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Cricket: Clarke vows no complacency against Sri Lanka

HOBART, Australia: Skipper Michael Clarke has vowed there will be no complacency in the Test series with Sri Lanka, insisting Australia will improve on their recent performances against South Africa.The Australians had the better of the opening two Tests against the world number one Proteas only to be crushed by 309 runs in the series decider in Perth last week.Sri Lanka are ranked sixth...

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Court: Nurse in prank call found hanging by co-workers

An undated family photograph of Jacintha Saldanha, the Indian-origin nurse who died after being hoaxed by an Australian radio show trying to reach Prince William's wife in London, is shown to journalists in Shirva town, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the southern Indian city of Bangalore, on December 8, 2012.STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe nurse's body was formally identified by her husband, the inquest...

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In cautionary move, Europe centralizes bank oversight

BRUSSELSEuropean Union finance ministers reached an agreement early Thursday to create a single supervisor for their banks - one of the most significant transfers of authority from national governments to regional authorities since the creation of the euro currency. Under the deal, banks with more than $39 billion in assets supervised or those that represent a significant proportion of their national...

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N. Korean Missile Hits Target of Alarming the World

North Korea's successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile hit its target: it bolstered the standing of its young tyrant Kim Jong Un and raised the specter of being able to eventually strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.The pride in the success of the launch -- after several failures -- is a huge boost for Kim Jong Un, 29, who took power one year ago. He has...

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Artificial muscle for soft robots can bend in sunlight

Douglas Heaven, reporter!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C found at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->!-- This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soonas the line is read by the browser. If you wish to have the player instantiated only afterthe rest of the HTML is processed and the page...

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Asia shares gain, unmoved by North Korea rocket launch

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose on Wednesday as dealers welcomed signs of progress in US fiscal cliff talks and upbeat data from Germany and Spain, while shrugging off news of North Korea's rocket launch.With investors becoming more confident the safe-haven yen came back under pressure ahead of a general election in Japan on Sunday and expectations of more monetary easing by the country's...

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Sudan: Israeli 'spy vulture' nabbed

By Nick Thompson and Nima Elbagir, CNNupdated 2:13 PM EST, Tue December 11, 2012Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'STORY HIGHLIGHTSSudan: Israeli vulture with GPS-equipped camera caught by officials in western SudanIsraeli scientists say a number of vultures tagged with GPS to study migration routesExpert:...

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Motive unclear in Oregon mall shooting that left three dead

PORTLAND, Ore. A masked gunman wearing camouflage opened fire Tuesday in a busy Portland mall, leaving the gunman and two others dead and one person injured, and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays. Austin Patty, 20, who works at Macy's, said he saw a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest....

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Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting

A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering...

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AC/DC's Highway to Hell sent via a drone's laser beam

Paul Marks, senior technology correspondent(Image: David Thorpe/Rex Features)What is it about technology and Aussie rock band AC/DC? In July a computer hack led to the band's track Thunderstruck belting out at top volume in an Iranian nuclear power plant. Now AC/DC's signature hit Highway to Hell is riding on a laser beam that's being bounced off a drone in mid-flight. When the beam is reflected...

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Malaysian customs seize record 24 tonnes of ivory

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian customs have seized 24 tonnes of unprocessed elephant tusks worth almost US$20 million, the largest haul in the country to date, officials said Tuesday.Some 1,500 tusks hidden in two containers were discovered by customs officials at the country's main port of Klang, in the western state of Selangor.The tusks had been hidden within pieces of timber inside the containers,...

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