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This doll may be recording what children say, privacy groups charge

This doll may be recording what children say, privacy groups charge

Privacy advocates have filed a complaint with U.S. regulators about the Internet-connected doll called My Friend Cayla. They say the toy can record and transmit everything children say to it.

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Warning: This Christmas carol may haunt your dreams

Warning: This Christmas carol may haunt your dreams

A team of scientists at the University of Toronto has taught a computer to compose and perform its own Christmas song -- one perhaps destined to be on a "Westworld" soundtrack.

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Yahoo's big breach helps usher in an age of hacker anxiety

Yahoo's big breach helps usher in an age of hacker anxiety

Yahoo has become the worst-case example of an unnerving but increasingly common phenomenon -- massive hacks that steal secrets and other potentially revealing information.
by Associated Press

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Yahoo says hackers stole information from over 1 billion accounts

Yahoo says hackers stole information from over 1 billion accounts

The company says the intruders accessed names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and even security questions. This is the second major hack announced by Yahoo in less than three months.
by Rebecca Hersher

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Beautiful huntresses: Scientists explain why mantises evolved to resemble orchids

Beautiful huntresses: Scientists explain why mantises evolved to resemble orchids

Typically, when insect females evolve to become larger than males, it's in order to produce more offspring. But female orchid mantises evolved to look like flowers for a sinister reason: to hunt prey.

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Meet the spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

Meet the spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

In a year when venting spleen dominated much of public discourse, we consider the humble organ of that name. You can live without your spleen, but your immune system will be happier with it.
by Erin Ross

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Why do we want to bite cute things?

Why do we want to bite cute things?

You've heard it before: "I could eat you up!" "I want to pinch those cheeks!" "I just want to give that puppy a squeeze!" The same psychology that explains this "cute aggression" also explains why we cry when we're happy.
by Molly Bloom

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Thomas Friedman talks slowing down, staying optimistic at Minneapolis forum

Thomas Friedman talks slowing down, staying optimistic at Minneapolis forum

MPR News Presents a broadcast of the Westminster Town Hall Forum featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, discussing his new book: "Thank you for Being Late."
by MPR News Staff

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Geminids meteor shower peaks Tuesday amid full moon

Geminids meteor shower peaks Tuesday amid full moon

NASA says the Geminids are one of the best and most reliable meteor showers. Sky watchers should head somewhere away from city lights to a spot with a wide open view of the sky.
by The Associated Press

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Adding a funny form of carbon to Silly Putty creates a heart monitor

Adding a funny form of carbon to Silly Putty creates a heart monitor

Graphene comes in sheets barely an atom thick and is extremely good at conducting electricity. By adding the unusual form of carbon to Silly Putty, scientists created flexible sensors.
by Joe Palca

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