explorer

Will Cameron's deep-sea voyage yield breakthrough drugs?

Blockbuster-moviemaker-turned-aquanaut James Cameron's solo dive in the Pacific to the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep site last month opens up a vast, under-explored region of the world's oceans to researchers. There, scientists hope to discover, retrieve, and study a host of previously unknown organisms and chemical compounds that may someday help solve decades-old medical mysteries.

"What better place to look for adaptations and unusual compounds that have unusual characteristics than in the most extreme environments we can go to on this planet," says Richard Lutz, a professor of marine ecology and biology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents … Read more

IE10 in Windows 8: Can pinned Web sites truly replace Favorites?

Internet Explorer users accustomed to working with Favorites will find life a bit different in the new Windows 8 Metro version of the browser.

The desktop flavor of IE10 still lets you create Favorites to manage your Web sites, but the Metro edition does away with such legacy options. Instead, you're given the option of pinning often-used Web sites, as described in a new Microsoft blog. Pinning a site places a tile for it on both the Metro Start screen and in the browser when you click in the address bar.

That process sounds convenient in theory. No more … Read more

Microsoft ends German partnership over Motorola patent suits

Although many of the world's patent lawsuits have done little to change status quo, the bitter fight between Microsoft and Motorola Mobility is now impacting Germany's workers.

German news agency DPA reported today that Microsoft has ended its relationship with Arvato, which has provided logistics services for the software giant and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany-based Betelsmann. Microsoft will now relocate its logistics services to the Netherlands, according to the news agency. Dozens of jobs will be lost in the move.

DPA is reporting that Microsoft made the move for one reason: its legal troubles with … Read more

Yahoo readies Do Not Track for entire global network

Yahoo is doubling down on the Do Not Track craze with plans to implement the service across the its entire global network.

The Web heavyweight said today that it install a Do Not Track mechanism in its sites by early summer. The service, which Yahoo says has been in development since last year, lets users "express their ad targeting preferences to Yahoo."

Do Not Track technology has been around for quite some time, and is currently available in most major browsers. The offering lets users inform a site's servers that they don't want their activities monitored … Read more

New maps of Mercury show icy-looking craters

THE WOODLANDS, Tex. -- Mercury is a world of extremes. Daytime temperature on the planet closest to the sun can soar as high as 400 degrees Celsius near the equator, hot enough to melt lead. When day turns to night, the planet's surface temperature plunges to below -150 degrees C.

But some places on Mercury are slightly more stable. Inside polar craters on the diminutive planet are regions that never see the light of day, shaded as they are by their crater rims. The temperature there remains cold throughout the Mercury day -- and during the Mercury year. Now … Read more

IE10 in Windows 8: Metro style vs. desktop style

For better or worse, IE10 is one of those Windows 8 apps with a split personality--part Metro and part desktop. Microsoft dubs it a "Metro style enabled desktop browser," which means that technically it's a single app that offers two different "experiences."

That sounds cool in theory. But in reality, bouncing back and forth between the Metro browser and the desktop browser can be clumsy and jarring. Both flavors do share the same history list, but otherwise there's a lack of consistency and standardization between the two.

I like the design of the Metro … Read more

See where you've browsed with MozillaHistoryView

NirSoft's MozillaHistoryView reads the history DAT file in Mozilla-based Web browsers such as Firefox as well as Netscape and displays your browsing history under a wide range of useful column headings. The built-in History feature in the latest version of Firefox also displays lots of useful information, it's true. But you must have Firefox open to use it. MozillaHistoryView is a standalone tool that reads history DAT files directly, whether your browser is open or not. You can save and export the data in various ways, too. The program also gives you greater flexibility in accessing multiple browser … Read more

Windows 8 Release Candidate to surface by early June?

Could Microsoft unveil the Windows 8 Release Candidate as soon as early June? At least one report says yes.

Blogging site WinUnleaked.tk seems certain of that, spilling the beans over the weekend that "we know the Release Candidate of Windows 8 will be shared with the public between the end of May to the beginning of June." Apparently receiving the intel from an unnamed source, the site notes that the RC will sport at least a few changes from the current beta.

Modifications are in store for the Charms bar, the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10, … Read more

Chrome overtakes Internet Explorer worldwide for first time

Internet Explorer is still the world's top browser, but for a day over the weekend, it feel to second place.

According to Stat Counter, which analyzes browser market share worldwide, Chrome was the most-used browser globally on March 18, just edging out Internet Explorer for top billing. The browser was put over the top by strong usage in India, Russia, and Brazil, Stat Counter said.

But unfortunately for Chrome, it was a short-lived victory: by March 19, Internet Explorer was back on top.

"While it is only one day, this is a milestone," StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen … Read more

Google brings Brazil's Amazon forest to Street View

Most people don't ever get the chance to float down the Amazon River or walk through the surrounding forest and visit local communities. And for those who do, many parts of the area can't be visited because they are under the Brazilian government's protection with restricted public access.

Now, Google is making it possible for armchair explorers to experience the Amazon through its Google Maps' Street View feature. The Web giant announced today, on World Forest Day, that all of the images it has collected over the past several months of the Amazon's Rio Negro Reserve … Read more