Notorious mass murderer Charles Manson has been denied parole for the 12th time, at the age of 77. His next hearing will be in 2027. In all likelihood, he’ll die in prison. As expected, Manson didn’t show up for his hearing. In fact, he hasn’t appeared for any parole hearings in the past 15...

Talk about capturing the perfect moment! Facebook has announced that it will buy Instagram, the popular photo sharing phone app, for US$1 billion. Instagram was only launched in October 2010 but already has 30 million users who upload 5 million photos a day to various social networks....

A Canadian woman who was originally barred from the Miss Universe Canada Pageant because she was born a male has now been allowed to compete. 23 year old Jenna Talackova was disqualified after officials found out she underwent a sex change at age 19. The competition requires that contestants...

After last night’s Mega Millions draw, officials have announced that the largest jackpot in history – a whopping US$640 million – was won by three lucky ticket holders. The jackpot became so substantial because no one had hit the grand prize for months – resulting in a massive accumulation of...

Good news for men who suffer from male pattern baldness: a cure could be on the market in under 5 years. Recent research from the University of Pennsylvania has shown that a protein called PDG2 is responsible for stopping hair growth. A drug that blocks PDG2 has already been developed for...

US Army Sergeant Robert Bales, who allegedly murdered Afghan villagers while they slept on March 11th, has been charged with 17 counts of murder. However, Bales will be tried in a military court in the US, which has angered Afghans who believe he should be tried in Afghanistan. The...

This week marks 40 years since the release of The Godfather – one of the most iconic films of all time. Not only did it break box office records at the time, its influence on pop culture continues to be felt today. Catch phrases, quotes and indeed an entire movie genre owe their existence to...

It was a long and uncertain journey. But at long last, fallen journalist Marie Colvin was laid to rest in her hometown of Oyster Bay, New York. Colvin worked for The Sunday Times and was well known and respected for her fearless coverage of conflict zones. Colvin and photographer Rémi Ochlik...

Police have arrested and charged 5 supposedly leaders of the hackivist group LulzSec. But the twist in the story is that the arrests were made based on evidence gathered by LulzSec leader-turned-informant. Apparently, one of its head hackers (a 28 year old who goes by the moniker “Sabu”) was...

In a recent report, NASA has revealed to the US House of Representatives that Hackers gained “full functional control” of key NASA computers in 2011. Apparently, the attacks compromised the accounts of the most privileged user. The hackers even had “full system access”...

For the first time since 1929, a silent film took home the award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday. The Artist – a story about Hollywood’s rocky transition from silent films to ‘talkies’ – is one of only two silent films to have earned the accolade (the other being 1929’s...

As the American Association for the Advancement of Science meet in Vancouver, Canadian scientists and journalists have accused the Canadian government of muzzling its scientists. Critics say the government is suppressing research in order to push through political agendas. Journalists who...

Music fans mourn the untimely death of Whitney Houston today, aged 48. She died in a hotel room in Beverly Hills yesterday, just one day before the Grammy Awards. The cause of death is still unknown. A moment of silence as music loses one of its most beautiful...

On this day 16 years ago, a computer beat a human chess champion in an official tournament for the first time in history. On February 16, 1996, World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov lost the first game to Deep Blue, an IBM supercomputer. It was a shocking 3-hour victory, but Kasparov eventually...

A US court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage in California. The judges ruled that the ban known as Proposition 8 “works a meaningful harm to gays and lesbians” by denying their rights to civil marriage in violation of the 14th Amendment. But supporters of Proposition 8 say...

Here’s a whale of a tale for you. In a US court, 5 killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit that argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans. A US judge must now consider this complaint made by People for the Ethical Treatment of...

Facebook announced that it has filed for an IPO to raise US$5 billion. This would put the valuation of the company between US$75-100 billion, making it the biggest IPO in Internet history and among the top 25 among all IPOs. Founder Mark Zuckerberg holds about 28% of the shares, which is...

A recording of the conversations that took place on Air Force One on the day Kennedy was assassinated was finally released today. This recording contains 42 minutes missing from the version made public in 1971. New bits include sinister codenames, obscure figures and obscure phone calls. All...

A new law has been passed in Los Angeles that requires all actors in adult movies to use condoms. While the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which pushed long and hard for this law, are still basking in the afterglow, porn producers are feeling a little shafted. They say films with condoms aren’t...

Legendary American singer Etta James passed away yesterday, just 5 days before her 74th birthday. A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, James’s musical style defied style, crossing genres that include blues, R&B, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz....

The collective of hackers known as Anonymous has claimed responsibility for cyber attacks that had taken down the websites of the US Department of Justice as well as those of several entertainment companies. Personal information about one company’s chairman was also posted online. The attacks...

Today, the legendary Eastman Kodak Company filed for bankruptcy protection in the US after years of failing to keep up with the digital age. For over a century, Kodak was a pioneer in imaging. The company helped 3 generations immortalise their most precious ‘Kodak Moments’. The first photos...

Wikipedia went dark today in protest of SOPA and PIPA – two proposed anti-piracy bills that, if passed by the US Congress, could amount to censorship. Joining in the protest in various ways are popular sites such as Reddit, Flickr, Mozilla and Google. The movement has also been joined by...

The symbolic ‘Doomsday Clock’ that scientists use to measure the risk of a nuclear holocaust has moved 1 minute closer to midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the clock to just 5 minutes till midnight. Their reasons include the lack of political action to address nuclear...

Scientists in the US have produced 3 rhesus monkeys by combining cells from different embryos and implanting them into female monkeys. The 3 monkeys, named Chimero, Roku and Hex, were born normal and healthy. Scientists hail this as an important advancement that could lead to breakthroughs in...