davecl writes “ESA’s Herschel Space Telescope has released its first spectroscopic results. These include observations of VYCMa, a star 50 times as massive as the sun and soon to become a supernova, as well a nearby galaxy, more distant colliding starburst galaxies and a comet in our own solar system. The spectra show more lines than have ever been seen in these objects in the far-infrared and will allow astronomers to work out the detailed chemistry (more…)

President Obama is days away from announcing a new Afghan strategy, but his immediate battle could come from liberals within his own party who are vowing to spank the president for committing tens of thousands of more troops to the eight-year conflict.

More…

al0ha writes “In the first video showing the auroras above the northern latitudes of Saturn, Cassini has spotted the tallest known ‘northern lights’ in the solar system, flickering in shape and brightness high above the ringed planet. The new video reveals changes in Saturn’s aurora every few minutes, in high resolution, with three dimensions. The images show a previously unseen vertical profile to the auroras, which ripple in the video like tall (more…)

angry tapir writes “India plans to set up a centralized system to monitor communications on mobile phones, landlines and the Internet in the country, a minister has told the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament. Indian laws allow the interception and monitoring of communications under certain conditions, including to counter terrorism. A pilot of the new Centralized Monitoring System (CMS) is to be started by June next year, subject to clearances (more…)

While many of these extensions are next to pointless, there are a few gems that can make your Chrome browsing experience a bit more useful.

More…

Ireland’s Roman Catholic archbishops and police covered up four decades of child sex abuse by priests in a conspiracy to protect the reputation of the church, a report found.

More…

An anonymous reader writes “At the height of the Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency paid renowned magician John Mulholland $3,000 to write a manual on misdirection, concealment, and stagecraft. All known copies of the document were believed to be destroyed in 1973. Turns out one survived — and is now available on Amazon.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

More…

CuteSteveJobs writes “Children who feel they are being bullied, harassed or groomed online could call for help instantly using a ‘panic button’ on their PCs under a plan by the Australian Government’s cyber-safety working group. The button shall look like a ‘friendly dolphin,’ who will connect the child victim instantly to police or child protection groups. Australian Internet Censorship Advocate Hetty ‘Save the Children’ Johnson says the Internet (more…)

Our own best movie memories from Thanksgiving involve falling asleep on the couch during USA Network’s Planet of the Apes marathon, but here are 10 films that get the holiday meal just right.

More…

The number of teenage drivers in fatal car crashes has dropped dramatically in the past decade. But new numbers from the federal government confirm that male drivers are still having twice as many fatal crashes as females. And the boys are more likely than the girls to have been speeding or drinking.

More…