Technology Slice Blog

Chupacabra Racoon - Biologists have anatomically confirmed that a hairless animal shot by a man in Nelson County nearly two weeks ago is not a chupacabra. The animal is actually a hairless raccoon, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say. The mythical chupacabra has been a mystery since 1995, with sightings reported all over the United States, from Texas to Maine. The legend says the elusive dog-like creature attacks livestock, bleeding them dry of blood — their favorite being goats. "It's definitely a hideous creature. There's just no way around it. Without that fur it gives it a whole new appearance as to what it is," said wildlife biologist Steven Dobey. Story: Monster or dog? ‘Goatsucker’ tale debated Kentucky wildlife officials have seen this strange creature before. In 2007, an animal was caged while it was still alive and brought to their attention. The similarities are visible. "The anatomical features of it, the skeletal featur...

Raven Symone Weight Loss - If there's one thing Raven-Symoné never lacked, it's self-assurance. The former Disney star, 25, who once contently called herself "thick and fabulous," showed off a decidedly slimmer look at Wednesday's People's Choice Awards. Strutting her stuff in a cleavage-bearing, all-black leather ensemble with thigh-high Louboutin boots, Symoné says she was never one to consider herself unattractive when she was still heavy. "I thought I looked fabulous before and nobody else did," she tells PEOPLE. "So, whatever." If anything, Symoné, who just shot an ABC Family pilot called "The Great State of Georgia," is not yet entirely comfortable with her new look. "Actually, now I wear bigger clothes because I don't like the way people stare at me," she says. "I liked it before. Now, you're just looking at me for the wrong reasons. Before, you were actually looking at me for a real reason....

Snowstorm Northeast - With memories of a monster Christmas blizzard still fresh, another blast of winter weather charged across eastern states Friday, with winter advisories issued as far south as middle Georgia. A large complex winter system stretched across the Northeast Friday, making for messy commutes in cities like Philadelphia, but bringing fewer inches of accumulation than the massive storm that paralyzed much of New York less than two weeks ago. By Friday afternoon, 391 flights at New York's three major airports had been canceled as a result of snow, according to spokesman Steve Coleman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "Overall we're talking less than 10 percent of the normal traffic," Coleman said. "Most of these flights were canceled before the snow even really started." Snowstorm Northeast

Bill O'Reilly Obama Interview - Political junkies will have some action to look forward to before this year's Super Bowl contenders take the field. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is going to interview President Obama as part of Fox's Super Bowl pregame show. It's a huge get for O'Reilly, who hosts the top-rated show on cable news. And for Obama, it's a chance to reach a large audience tuned in to the hours of pregame coverage. But the sit-down is still surprising given the occasionally contentious relationship between the White House and the Rupert Murdoch-owned network, home to top conservative hosts like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. At times, things have gotten very tense. Some top aides publicly bashed Fox News, with the president even putting on his media-critic hat to weigh in. "I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration," Obama said on CNBC in 2009. More recently, Obama described Fox News...

Mike Tyson Pigeon TV Show - Mike Tyson, heavyweight boxing champion, convicted rapist, occasional actor and, it seems, top-flight pigeon fancier. Tyson, 44, the boxer who famously bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 bout, shows a gentler side of himself in an upcoming TV show as a man with a lifelong passion for raising pigeons. Not just common or garden pigeons, but racing pigeons. Or as Tyson puts it "the creme de la creme of the pigeon world. These are thoroughbred pigeons. Pigeons were mens' first feathered friends". "Taking on Tyson", which comes to the Animal Planet cable TV channel in March, is a six-part documentary in which the former world heavyweight champion returns to his Brooklyn neighborhood to race pigeons. Tyson, nicknamed "Iron Mike" for his ferocious boxing style in the 1980s, recalls in the show how as a child he skipped school to escape bullies but found solace and tranquility raising pigeons. His pigeo...

Rihanna Reb'l Fleur Perfume - Rihanna's entry into the fragrance race with Reb'l Fleur, per WWD, promises to be characteristically bold in scent, with a potent marketing campaign to match around the launch later this month. The name Reb'l Fleur pays tribute to the childhood nickname given her by her grandmother and is also the latest tattoo she's gotten inked, WWD reports. In Rihanna's words, it's "like high heels with a short, flirty dress," and packs a powerful blend of fruits and flowers. Promotional efforts surrounding its January 25 launch sound massive, with a Times Square billboard planned for Valentine's Day and a 30-second video being distributed on Facebook. Rihanna Reb'l Fleur Perfume

Eva Longoria Club Beso Bankruptcy - Eva Longoria's Beso is going under. Lawyers for Beso, the restaurant Longoria helped open in March 2008 in Las Vegas, filed for bankruptcy Thursday to remain operating while reorganizing nearly $5.7 million in debt, reports AP. In the filing, it was stated that the project is losing more than $76,000 per month at the CityCenter restaurant and nightspot. Lawyers say Beso owes nearly $1.8 million to CityCenter for its lease at the Crystals mall. CityCenter is owned jointly by MGM Resorts International and Dubai World. Longoria owns nearly one-third of the business but is also listed as an unsecured creditor. Eva Longoria Club Beso Bankruptcy

Envelope Ignites Washington DC Post Office - First, fiery packages sent to top officials in Maryland were opened, revealing an angry message complaining of the state's terrorism tip line. Then, a mailing addressed to the nation's homeland security chief ignited with a similar flash of fire and smoke at a D.C. postal processing facility. While authorities have not said if the latest parcel contained a note, they did say the three packages were alike. The targeting of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also seemed to echo anger expressed by the mailer of the first two. Napolitano launched a nationwide "see something, say something" campaign in July, and her recorded voice can be heard in Washington-area subway stations, reminding commuters to report suspicious behavior. The program expanded last month to include more than 230 Walmarts across the country. The Maryland packages had an explicit message, railing against highway signs urging motorists to rep...

Are Cell Phones Health Hazards? - An ongoing study on radiation from mobile towers and mobile phones at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has found that the exposure to radiation from mobile towers and mobile phones could have an adverse impact on male fertility and also pose health hazards by depleting the defence mechanism of cells. Prof. Behari and his team have been conducting tests on Wistar rats or lab rats, mainly focusing on two aspects of radiation — its effect on the reproductive system and on general health, particularly tumour promotion and genotoxic effects (causing damage to DNA). “We kept these rats in a simulated environment, creating similar levels of radiation as emitted by mobile towers and while using a mobile phone…and the results were alarming,” he disclosed. “Chronic exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation [RF-EMW] caused double-strand DNA breaks in sperm cells. The tests showed that mobile radiation exposure can cause a statistically signif...

Bored Drivers more likely to have Accidents - How do you react when you hear the words “road trip?” Do you get excited, inspired by the idea of being on the road and by the adventure of driving? Or do you immediately stretch into an apathetic yawn, anticipating the boredom of staring at ribbons of asphalt and the tail lights of the car in front of you for mile upon endless mile? Or, do your palms immediately begin to sweat as you dread the stress of maneuvering a two-ton vehicle through relentless freeway traffic or urban gridlock? About a third of drivers fall into the second category, according to a survey conducted by researchers at Newcastle University in the UK. And if you think aggressive drivers are the most dangerous on the road, you might consider the hazards posed by bored ones. Led by Jane Harvey, the scientists found that boredom in their study subjects translated into riskier driving to make the on-road experience more exciting, leading them to have one and a half times...

Circumcision Lower HPV Risk Women - Researchers have documented yet another health benefit for circumcision, which can protect men against the AIDS virus, saying it can protect their wives and girlfriends from a virus that causes cervical cancer. Wives and girlfriends of circumcised men had a 28 percent lower rate of infection over two years with the human papilloma virus or HPV, which causes warts and cervical cancer, they reported in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday. "Our findings indicate that male circumcision should now be accepted as an efficacious intervention for reducing the prevalence and incidence of HPV infections in female partners. However, protection is only partial; the promotion of safe sex practices is also important," Dr. Maria Wawer and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore wrote. Wawer's team piggybacked the HPV study onto a larger study that has shown circumcised men are less likely to be infected with the human immunodefic...

'The View' 3,000th Show Tina Fey - “The View” marked its 3,000th episode today with a little help from its friends. Most prominent was Michael J. Fox, who had been a guest in the first week of the ABC chatfest. It has been 19 years since Fox announced that he has Parkinson’s disease. “I still have it, but it doesn’t have me yet,” Fox told the women of “The View” this morning. Sherri Shepherd highlighted that Fox’s foundation has raised $200 million for research. Barbara Walters recalled that she had been with Fox when he made his Parkinson’s announcement. He saluted her standing as the journalist to talk to about major issues — words that left her speechless. The celebration came packed with memorable clips that have helped the show become a cultural institution. In a brief clip, Meredith Vieira, the show’s first moderator, said she was proud to be part of “View” history. Tina Fey dropped in to talk about how she had used “The View” to make comedy on “Saturday Night Live...

Brandy 'Team Bristol' Fat Jokes - After it was revealed that Bristol Palin made it through to the finals of “Dancing With the Stars” late last year, shock jock radio host Howard Stern went on quite the rampage, announcing that she “is the first contestant in the history of the hit ABC show to get fatter as the show goes on,” and that she “must be eating everything in sight." Comedienne Kathy Griffin also jumped on the Palin “fat” attack while hosting VH1’s “Salute to the Troops” last month, mocking the 20-year-old for gaining “30 pounds per week” during the show and referring to her as the obese “white Precious.” Amused? Well, one person who certainly wasn’t laughing was Palin’s dancing competitor, Brandy Norwood. Brandy 'Team Bristol' Fat Jokes

Elizabeth Olsen 'New Ingenue' V Magazine - Elizabeth Olsen, sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley (or as we still refer to them in our friend-in-our-head way, M-K-n-A) graces the cover of V magazine's "Discovery Issue," which hits newsstands Jan. 13. You'll likely recognize her first name as the beginning half of the power twins' fashion line, Elizabeth and James (the latter is their brother. We expect his mug to be on a mag cover any day now). Unlike her famously fraternal (how IS that humanly possible? We want to see genetic confirmation) twin sisters who have been in the public eye since infancy, this is Elizabeth Olsen's first foray into the limelight. Like Mary-Kate and Ashley, however, she can thank the genetic lottery for those full brows, doe eyes and wavy blond mane. We also applaud Elizabeth Olsen's refusal to use her famous last name to further her career. This gal's taken the long road by studying acting, taking classes and working as a...

Eminem Crime Thriller Fox - Any way you cut it, Eminem is on a roll. The rapper had the best-selling album of 2010 with Recovery, hit singles with "Love the Way You Lie" and "Not Afraid," a series of well-received stadium jams with Jay-Z and, oh yeah, 10 Grammy nominations. And while he keeps his private life out of the papers and prefers not to make as many public appearances as he used to, fans might be seeing a lot more of him soon. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Slim Shady has plans to star in the crime thriller "Random Acts of Violence." The movie, which would bring the Detroit rapper back to movie theaters more than nine years after he made his big-screen debut in the autobiographical hit "8 Mile," has been kicking around for more than four years as the script has undergone a number of rewrites and revisions. The latest draft centers on an ex-con who is fresh out of prison and trying to stay on the straight-and-narrow despite pre...

'Organics' found on Mars? - In the Viking tests the Martian soil was heated sufficiently to vaporize organic molecules in the soil and the resultant gases and vapors were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Chlorohydrocarbons were found at landing site 1 and 2, but they were dismissed at the time as terrestrial contaminants, even though they were not found at the same levels in blank runs. Then, in 2008 the Phoenix lander discovered perchlorate in the Martian arctic soil. Perchlorates are well known as powerful oxidizing compounds that combust organics, but their presence in Martian soils was not suspected in the 1970s. After the Martian soils were found to contain perchlorates, scientists from Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City, and NASA’s Space Science Division at Moffett Field, California, decided to test the soils of the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is considered more like Mars than anywhere else on Earth. The research, reported in the Journal of Geoph...

How to do a Pushup - Doing a pushup sounds easy but most do not know how to do it correctly. You need to start by lying face down on the ground. Then, raise yourself up using your hands and your toes remembering to keep your knees off of the ground. Your body should be straight and parallel off of the ground. Arms should be should width apart. Once you have proper form, lower yourself until your chest touches the ground all the while keeping your body as straight as possible. Then back up. Doing pushups is a great exercise. It will work out your biceps, triceps and pectorial muscles. It will also strengthen your core. How to do a Pushup

Celebrity Diet Secrets - Celebrities always seem to be in shape no matter what age they are. Here are some of their tips for a healthy diet. Beyonce advocates drinking plenty of water every day and jogging. She also uses the maple syrup diet to slim down for roles. Cindy Crawford uses the Zone diet. The Zone diet consists of counting all your calories daily and keeping your carbohydrates, proteins and fats to certain levels every day. Jennifer Aniston attributes her slim figure to her daily yoga routine. She does two hours yoga daily and follows a high protein diet. Celebrity Diet Secrets