Accused serial killer heard voices

An Ohio man accused of killing 11 women and storing their decomposing bodies for two years told police he suffered blackouts and heard voices in his head.

Anthony Sowell, 51, has been little heard from during three weeks of gruesome testimony including the jury’s tour of the house of horrors in Cleveland, Ohio, where he allegedly raped, killed and buried his victims — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Hotmail banning common passwords to beef up security

Passwords are a perennial problem in computer security. We all know that we’re meant to pick secure passwords and never reuse them, but few of us actually bother. One consequence this can cause is losing access to our accounts; some bad guy figures out the password to our World of Warcraft, Steam, or e-mail account, and then proceeds to trash it. To try to ensure that Hotmail accounts don’t fall prey to such attacks, Microsoft will soon be changing its password policy, to forbid the use of particularly common passwords — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Beehives stop elephant crop-raids in Kenya, Africa

Innovative beehive fences have helped a community in Kenya to successfully protect crops from elephants, according to research.

Scientists found the hives to be a very effective barrier; elephants turned away from them in 97% of their attempted raids.

Conservationists suggest that elephants’ natural fear of bees could settle ongoing conflicts.

The hives’ honey also produced additional profits for farmers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Arctic Fox Pups / Aquarium of the Pacific

The Aquarium of the Pacific has welcomed two male six-week-old Arctic Fox pups that are now on view in the Aquarium’s Molina Animal Care Centre. The two brothers are part of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s new Arctic & Antarctic: Our Polar Regions in Peril exhibition, which gives the public the opportunity to see polar animals up close while learning about what can be done to protect their habitats — via ZooBorns

Worm Drug Ivermectin Is Shown to Kill Mosquitoes

Scientists have proposed an intriguing new way to fight malaria: turning people into human time bombs for mosquitoes.

A cheap deworming pill used in Africa for 25 years against river blindness was recently shown to have a power that scientists had long suspected but never before demonstrated in the field: When mosquitoes bite people who have recently swallowed the drug — called ivermectin or Mectizan — they die — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Great Deniers of History

Trade Union CFMEU has joined the carbon tax debate with a campaign celebrating great moments of denial in history.

The ad -– created by former Chaser Charles Firth -– include Roman soldiers insisting nothing more would be heard of Jesus, priests refusing to accept the world is flat and aborigines convinced that the First Fleet will be passing through. These positions are then contrasted with Liberal leader Tony Abbott expressing doubt about climate change science — via Mumbrella

Pride’s Rest / Lindsay Brown Studio

This house on the island of St Croix was inspired by the client’s love of sailing. Perched on land at the edge of the sea, Pride’s Rest looks as if a strong gust of wind could billow up what looks like its sail and it would just sail off, into the bright blue yonder of the US Virgin Islands. Lindsay Brown Studio was the perfect choice for the house. Their other work – in particular, the revitalization project for the San Diego waterfront – shares the billowing curves of this radial plan — via Home Design Find

ACL backs gay Nazi claim

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has joined Loree Rudd, the sister of former PM Kevin Rudd, in accusing supporters of marriage equality of using Nazi tactics in campaigning for equal rights.

The ACL came to the defence of Rudd after she accused same-sex marriage advocates of being a Gestapo — the Nazis’ secret police — in an interview with The Australian newspaper last week.

Rudd claimed there was a worldwide gay network that fed propaganda for marriage equality to politicians.

I call them the global gay Gestapo — it is the lobbying movement that is brainwashing people, particularly the young in the community that this [homosexuality] is an optional extra in life, she said — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Stop ignoring us, Aussies tell Google

Google is facing a wave of complaints from users around the globe after it launched yet another service that is only available to those who live in the United States.

On one of its in-house blogs this week, Google revealed it had launched a new marketplace for its Android mobile platform, which dramatically expands the platform’s functionality, allowing users to rent movies and purchase books. The Android Market has also been overhauled in general to make it easier for users to find applications.

However, the book and movie purchasing functionality is limited to customers in the US only, a fact that has drawn the ire of customers located in other regions. In the US, wrote one user in response to Google’s blog. Also in the US, along with Google Music and Google Voice, both available in the US. Here’s to the centre of the universe — via redwolf.newsvine.com

TPG makes $12.8m cloudy acquisition

TPG has made a bid for on-demand specialist IntraPower, which the telco said would help it move into the corporate and government market.

IntraPower provides on-demand infrastructure, IT, voice and data communications services. It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, which service over 2000 customers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Gene link to 70% of hard-to-treat breast cancers

A gene has been linked to 70% of hard-to-treat breast cancers which are resistant to hormone therapies, in US research.

The study published in Nature used a new technique which tested hundreds of genes at once, rather than one at a time.

Scientists said there was a lot of potential for significant impact if drugs could be developed.

Cancer Research UK said it would be interesting to see where the study led — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Rediscovery of a Michelangelo

After the recent rediscovery of Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci, an artwork by Michelangelo is reported to have been exhibited at Campion Hall in Oxford University for years.

The painting was attributed to Marcello Venusti, a contemporary of Michelangelo. Antonio Forcellino, an Italian expert, identified the Italian master’s hand via the infrared technique. According to him, the true author of the canvas is undoubtedly Michelangelo — via redwolf.newsvine.com