Fewer small businesses confident of growth in 2013: survey

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SINGAPORE: Fewer small companies in Singapore are confident that their businesses will grow in 2013 compared to the years before, found the CPA Australia Asia Pacific Small Business Survey.

The survey, conducted by accounting body CPA Australia between 2 and 15 October, covered 250 businesses that have fewer than 21 employees. The businesses surveyed spanned the retail, information, media and telecommunications sectors.

Businesses in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Indonesia were also polled for this report.

According to CPA Australia, confidence among Singaporean small businesses has been on a steady decline since 2010.

74 per cent of small Singaporean companies expect their businesses to grow in the year ahead, down from 77 per cent and 85 per cent in the last two consecutive years.

Gavan Ord, business policy adviser at CPA Australia said: "While confidence is relatively high, Singapore small businesses are significantly more likely to expect their business to 'grow a little' than 'grow strongly', indicating that business confidence is somewhat weaker than (what) the headline figure indicates."

"Reflecting this, the percentage of Singapore businesses that expect to increase their marketing spend in 2013 is the lowest of all markets surveyed," he added.

More Singapore businesses however expect the local economy to improve.

60 per cent of small businesses in Singapore expect the local economy to grow "strongly" or "a little" in the year ahead, compared to 56 per cent a year ago.

- CNA/jc



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Mobile: 10 predictions for 2013

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Verizon and HTC are just two companies that are expecting a busy 2013.



(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)



If nothing else, 2012 has shown that the mobile industry is a pretty tough business to be in.



Many handset manufacturers, wireless carriers, and component suppliers felt the pressures of mobile business sink in, and as a result, there were a lot of shake-ups this year.


The same pressures and competitive dynamics are expected to persist next year, so expect a lot more action. The following predictions are based on conversations with industry sources over the last few months, market trends, speculation, and a little wishful thinking.


One thing's for sure, the industry should keep us all on our toes in 2013.


Consolidation continues


The wireless industry has long talked about the need for fewer service providers, and 2013 should follow through on some of the groundwork laid this year. SoftBank's controlling stake in Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA's merger with MetroPCS may signal a long-anticipated industry consolidation.


Other regional carriers such as U.S. Cellular and prepaid provider Leap Wireless could be in someone's crosshairs. MetroPCS and Leap were long rumored to be dance partners, but that talk ceased when T-Mobile opted to form a new company with MetroPCS. But perhaps there's room for Leap on that bandwagon?


Sprint attempted to make a run at MetroPCS, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by MetroPCS. Sprint could make another run at MetroPCS, or perhaps go after Leap. The wireless business is a scale business, where bigger is better, so maybe Sprint looks elsewhere?


It's a safe bet that the big two, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, won't be making any major deals. Verizon just managed to get approval for its deal to acquire spectrum from the cable companies, while AT&T is likely still gun shy after regulators squashed its attempted takeover of T-Mobile last year. AT&T has been content to strike smaller deals and get those through the regulatory maze.


Steve Ballmer and HTC Windows Phone

CEO Steve Ballmer and the Windows Phone 8X from HTC.



(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)



No clear third OS emerges


Next year sees a vicious battle for the so-called coveted No. 3 spot for mobile operating systems behind Google's
Android and Apple's iOS.


The contenders are Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 and Research in Motion's BlackBerry 10. Both have expressed confidence that they have what it takes to be the third player in this increasingly crowded business. Windows Phone 8 benefits from an earlier launch and the coattails of the massive
Windows 8 campaign from Microsoft. RIM, meanwhile, already boasts a large base of customers and will get a launch window all its own early next year.


Our call on this: nobody wins. Both will scrape by with just enough sales to warrant continuing, but neither will see spectacular performance.


While Microsoft is selling its Windows Phone 8 platform as part of a family of Windows 8 products, Windows 8 itself isn't off to a scintillating start, and that might slow adoption of the mobile OS.


BlackBerry 10, meanwhile, may get some traction with hardcore BlackBerry users who want an upgrade, but it'll take a while for RIM to convince other consumers to take another chance on the platform. While RIM likes to boast of its 80-million-strong customer base (now 79 million after the fiscal third quarter), many of those customers are using the more affordable BlackBerry 7 devices.


In addition, the dominance of Android and Apple make it extremely difficult for any third player to make inroads on the market.



RIM in store for a shake up

If BlackBerry 10 isn't a success out of the gate, expect to see some agitation within the investment community -- or what's left of it -- which has patiently held out hope for a turnaround. Investors don't have unlimited patience, and an early stumble could mean pressure on the company to shake things up.



That could mean anything from another change on top, although CEO Thorsten Heins has led the company with relatively far fewer mistakes than his predecessors, to a potential sale of the company. The company could make good on its push to license its BlackBerry 10 operating system to different industries.


Last year, I called for RIM to get taken out, and I won't be burned by that prediction again. RIM does survive, but it either a drastically reduced or transformed way.


Spectrum grab

It's amazing what a few deals will do to the state of a crisis, right? All of the industry's biggest players, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, all claimed a looming spectrum crisis in justifying their respective deals. After Verizon got its cable spectrum, and AT&T scooped up a number of smaller businesses, the rhetoric has changed greatly. Even Sprint and T-Mobile are sounding a lot more optimistic about things.


But the companies do insist that they need more spectrum, or the airwaves used to carry cellular traffic like voice and data, and they will likely pursue further deals next year. Sprint bought spectrum from U.S. Cellular, likely a prelude of future spectrum swaps. Verizon is also selling off a swath of its spectrum as a condition to acquiring an alternative patch of spectrum from the cable providers, something that'll likely entice all companies, including T-Mobile to other smaller regional companies.


Dish Network, meanwhile, is sitting on a wealth of spectrum. The most likely scenario is that it sells to AT&T, but the company is considering dabbling in mobile video.


A new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is expected to replace Julius Genachowski next year, but with President Obama back for a second term, the FCC's agenda and focus on spectrum shouldn't change too much.


Google gets more active in wireless service

Sound farfetched? Well, the recent rumors that Google met with Dish to talk about a new wireless service lends some credibility to this prediction.


And Google already has a wired business in Google Fiber. While the deployment is limited to one area, the fact that it exists shows the Internet search giant is willing to dabble in different projects.


Dish has slowly been amassing enough spectrum for a nationwide service of its own, and has made it clear it would like to build a network. But the business requires a lot of capital, and it's unclear whether Dish has the firepower to actually meet its goals. Enter Google, which has a lot of cash and technical resources.


This prediction is admittedly on a longer limb. It wouldn't be surprising if this never happened.


What does Sprint CEO Dan Hesse have in store for us next?



(Credit:
Lynn La/CNET)



Softbank kick-starts Sprint

The infusion of $8 billion in additional capital should do wonders for Sprint's prospects in the wireless market. The company has been criticized for its slow deployment of 4G LTE, which has managed to avoid major cities while covering "key markets" such as Rome, Ga., and Rockford, Ill.


Well, the extra cash should get CEO Dan Hesse moving a lot quicker when it comes to its 4G LTE rollout, which lags behind AT&T and Verizon. Unlike AT&T, which at least has a relatively quick HSPA+ network for its phones, Sprint customers using the most high-end devices are stuck on the painfully slow 3G CDMA technology, since it dropped using its variant of 4G, WiMax, in favor of LTE.


Sprint should get a wider selection of smartphones thank to its relationship with SoftBank. If SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is to be believed, Sprint will get even more competitive with pricing as it takes on its bigger rivals.


Higher focus on prepaid

Every carrier is going to rededicate itself to attacking the prepaid market, particularly with growth in the contract subscriber market quickly evaporating.


T-Mobile, which already has a sizable prepaid business, should only see its presence grow there once it joins up with MetroPCS, which only offers no-contract plans. CEO John Legere's hints at a "different experience" for its iPhone could mean an affordable prepaid option for Apple's marquee device.


Even larger carriers such as Verizon can't ignore prepaid, given the need to keep customer growth humming. Sprint, which has been aggressive in prepaid with its Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile lines, was seen as the biggest potential loser of the T-Mobile-MetroPCS marriage.


Using Google Wallet to pay for a cab ride was complicated and awkward.



(Credit:
Roger Cheng/CNET)



Mobile payments whiff again

Next year is the year for mobile payments, really! Yeah, that line has only been uttered a few times over the past several years, and so far, we've got a few limited launches.


Google continues to have the most visible initiative out there, and it hasn't really taken too many people by storm, despite seeding the capability and Google Wallet out to its Nexus smartphones. Isis, the joint venture between AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile, just started its trials last month, and there are no signs when it'll move beyond that. The deal between Starbucks and Square seems interesting, but for now, it's largely Square processing Starbucks payments and not fully utilizing the advantages of full mobile payments.


Mobile payments continue to be hampered by rival groups all with their own agendas, and some don't even feel it really addresses any real problems.


Apple, meanwhile, hasn't committed to the Near-Field Communication technology used by many of the mobile payment parties, and offers its PassBook as its take on a mobile wallet. Even then, the implementation has been limited and disappointing.



Apple, Samsung will dominate, but new entrants could mix things up

With the iPhone and, increasingly, the Galaxy S, brands coming with their own built-in hype machines, expect the two companies continue reaping in a majority of the profits. Companies such as HTC, LG, and Sony have struggled this year, and those struggles are expected to continue with few of them bringing out a product that really changes their circumstance.


HTC has the best shot with its
Droid DNA, but it too lacks the resources to effectively compete against Apple and Samsung. Sony, LG, and a myriad of other companies are still looking for the right answers.


Next year could see some interesting new smartphones from Microsoft and Amazon, both long rumored to be building their own handsets. Google's Motorola Mobility unit is reportedly building an "X" flagship phone that will better compete with the iPhone and Galaxy S III.


Samsung and Apple reach a settlement


Let's file this one under the wishful thinking category. But I can't be the only one sick of writing and reading about patent lawsuits, right?


This one is (sadly) not looking so good, especially if Samsung is saying this.


Let's hope that the goodwill from the holidays carries through to Apple and Samsung's lawyers. But most likely, the hostilities will continue as both try to one-up each other in courts around the world.

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Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

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Newtown Shooter's DNA to Be Studied

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Geneticists have been asked to study the DNA of Adam Lanza, the Connecticut man whose shooting rampage killed 27 people, including an entire first grade class.


The study, which experts believe may be the first of its kind, is expected to be looking for abnormalities or mutations in Lanza's DNA.


Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver has reached out to University of Connecticut's geneticists to conduct the study.


University of Connecticut spokesperson Tom Green says Carver "has asked for help from our department of genetics" and they are "willing to give any assistance they can."


Green said he could not provide details on the project, but said it has not begun and they are "standing by waiting to assist in any way we can."


Lanza, 20, carried out the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., just days before Christmas. His motives for the slaughter remain a mystery.


Geneticists not directly involved in the study said they are likely looking at Lanza's DNA to detect a mutation or abnormality that could increase the risk of aggressive or violent behavior. They could analyze Lanza's entire genome in great detail and try to find unexpected mutations.


This seems to be the first time a study of this nature has been conducted, but it raises concerns in some geneticists and others in the field that there could be a stigma attached to people with these genetic characteristics if they are able to be narrowed down.








Connecticut Shooting: Sandy Hook Teachers' Reactions to Gunshots Watch Video









Newtown, Connecticut Shooting: Timeline of Events at Sandy Hook Elementary Watch Video







Arthur Beaudet, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said the University of Connecticut geneticists are most likely trying to "detect clear abnormalities of what we would call a mutation in a gene…or gene abnormalities and there are some abnormalities that are related to aggressive behavior."


"They might look for mutations that might be associated with mental illnesses and ones that might also increase the risk for violence," said Beaudet, who is also the chairman of Baylor College of Medicine's department of molecular and human genetics.


Beaudet believes geneticists should be doing this type of research because there are "some mutations that are known to be associated with at least aggressive behavior if not violent behavior."


"I don't think any one of these mutations would explain all of (the mass shooters), but some of them would have mutations that might be causing both schizophrenia and related schizophrenia violent behavior," Beaudet said. "I think we could learn more about it and we should learn more about it."


Beaudet noted that studying the genes of murderers is controversial because there is a risk that those with similar genetic characteristics could possibly be discriminated against or stigmatized, but he still thinks the research would be helpful even if only a "fraction" may have the abnormality or mutation.


"Not all of these people will have identifiable genetic abnormalities," Beaudet said, adding that even if a genetic abnormality is found it may not be related to a "specific risk."


"By studying genetic abnormalities we can learn more about conditions better and who is at risk and what might be dramatic treatments," Beaudet said, adding if the gene abnormality is defined the "treatment to stop" other mass shootings or "decrease the risk is much approved."


Others in the field aren't so sure.


Dr. Harold Bursztajn, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is a leader in his field on this issue writing extensively on genetic discrimination. He questions what the University of Connecticut researchers could "even be looking for at this point."






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Feast for the senses: Cook up a master dish

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Vivian Balakrishnan attends state funeral of former Gerakan president

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SINGAPORE : Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to attend the state funeral of former Gerakan president, Lim Keng Yaik.

Dr Balakrishnan conveyed condolences on behalf of the Singapore Government.

He was accompanied by Singapore's High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur Ong Keng Yong.

Dr Lim, who served as Malaysia's Energy, Water and Communications Minister from 2004 until 2008, died on Saturday.

He was 73.

- CNA/ms



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Amazon: The five biggest stories of 2012

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8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD



(Credit:
Amazon)



Amazon spent another year invading everyone's territory and pushing the limits of its business strategy.


The e-commerce company continued to dabble in book publishing and Web site hosting and tried its hand at video-gaming development. Anything slightly related to its business -- Amazon jumped on it.


That's not surprising given Amazon's history with identifying and mimicking both services and products to strengthen its bottom line. Here are the five biggest Amazon stories of 2012:


1. Go big on hardware or go home


Amazon beefed up its hardware selection this year, releasing three new devices to add to its previous line of e-book readers and its tablet. The new devices, the
Kindle Paperwhite, the
Kindle Fire HD, and the updated
Kindle Fire, are part of the company's strategy to make money off content. Amazon actually loses money on the sale of the devices, but that doesn't matter to the retail giant. It wants people to buy into its ecosystem of apps, books, movies, and music. The Kindle Fire HD, which comes in both 7- and 8.9-inch models with modest prices, also happens to compete with Apple's iPad for tablet dollars.

2. A push for original content


The company backed the creation of more original content this year, invading the space of various forms of media. In addition to helping authors self-publish their writing and produce movies, the company bought a book publishing company and opened up its own social gaming studio to develop and publish titles. The studio, Amazon Game Studios, launched in August with a desktop game and quickly followed suit with a mobile game.


Amazon does it because it can. If its already-loyal customers -- and there are many of them -- buy into its all-in-one digital spread, Amazon can control how and what they consume.

3. More sales tax drama


Ah, the ongoing sales tax battle. This dates back years -- and continued to be an issue for Amazon in 2012. As part of Amazon's quest for faster, cheaper shipping, the company started building fulfillment centers in additional states, forcing sellers to start collecting sales tax in several states this year, including California, Texas, and Pennsylvania. These centers store and ship the goods that independent retailers sell to consumers -- the more fulfillment centers, the faster Amazon can ship. Customers in more states, like Massachusetts and New Jersey, will start paying taxes in 2013.


The ability to ship quickly to customers is clearly important to Amazon. The company also shelled out $775 million to buy a company that runs logistics for fulfillment systems.


4. Continually shaking up traditional book selling


This goes to the core of Amazon's "Earth's Biggest Bookstore" motto from the 1990s. Amazon certainly disrupted the book selling industry when it first came on the scene. And it continued to enter skirmishes with book publishers and competing book brokers in 2012. Tensions between Amazon and Barnes & Nobles, the world's biggest brick-and-mortar bookseller, have always been high. But this year the companies used tablets to fight their battles. Amazon also found itself at odds with Apple. The iPad maker accused Amazon of being the "driving force" behind federal prosecution that ended in several publishers settling with the government. Prosecutors accused the publishers of colluding with Apple to fix the price of e-books in an alleged affront to Amazon.


In an attempt to soothe its disgruntled competitors, Amazon's publishing arm signed a deal that allowed competitors to sell Amazon's titles.


5. Battles with Netflix


Amazon bulked up its video streaming offerings throughout the year, signing deals with studios and TV service Epix in order to get enough films to compete with Netflix. On top of bundling its video streaming service with its premium shipping account, Amazon also began offering its $7.99-per-month streaming plan this year, directly challenging Netflix's $7.99 plan.


All of this has left some bad blood between the companies, with Netflix CEO Redd Hastings publicly dumping on Amazon.


Adding fuel to that fire, the year ended on a downbeat for both companies. On Christmas Eve, Netflix's video streaming service suffered a widespread, hours-long outage across the Americas. The culprit was Amazon Web Services, which Netflix uses for video streaming.

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Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

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Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography

“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)

Humboldt squid are typically found in warmer waters farther south in theGulf of California (map) and off the coast ofPeru. “[But] we find them up north here during warmer water time periods,” said ocean sciences researcherKenneth Bruland with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Coastal upwelling—when winds blowing south drive ocean circulation to bring cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the deep—ceases during the fall and winter and warmer water is found closer to shore. Bruland noted that climate change, and the resulting areas of low oxygen, “could be a major factor” in drawing jumbo squid north.

Published December 24, 2012

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Storms Spawn 34 Tornado Reports Across South

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Severe Christmas day weather tore across the deep South, spinning off 34 possible tornadoes and killing at least three people in its path, while extreme weather is forecast throughout today for parts of the East Coast.


The storm first pounded Texas, then touched down in Louisiana and blasted through homes in Mississippi. In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across the city as lightning flashed inside like giant Christmas ornaments.


Bill Bunting with the National Weather Service's Severe Storms Prediction Center said that the damage may not yet be done.


"Conditions don't look quite as volatile over a large area as we saw on Christmas day but there will be a risk of tornadoes, some of them could be rather strong, across eastern portions of North Carolina and the northeastern part of South Carolina," he said.


Across the Gulf region, from Texas to Florida, over 280,000 customers are still without power, with 100,000 without power in Little Rock, Ark. alone.


The punishing winds mangled Mobile's graceful ante-bellum homes, and today, dazed residents are picking through debris while rescue crews search for people trapped in the rubble.


"We've got a lot of damage, we've got people hurt," one Mobile resident told ABC News. "We've had homes that are 90 percent destroyed."






Melinda Martinez/The Daily Town Talk/AP Photo















Winter Weather Causes Holiday Travel Problems Watch Video





In the Houston area a tree fell onto a pickup truck, killing the driver, ABC affiliate WTRK reported. In Louisiana, a 53-year-old man died when a tree fell on his house, and a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview, Okla., according to the Associated Press.


At least eight states issued blizzard warnings Tuesday, as the storms made highways dangerously slick heading into one of the busiest travel days of the year.


Tuesday's extreme weather caused an 8-foot deep sinkhole in Vicksburg, Miss. Alma Jackson told ABC News that a concrete tank that was in her backyard fell into the sinkhole.


"It's really very disturbing," she said. "Because it's on Christmas day, and then to see this big hole in the ground and not have any explanation, and not be able to cover it. And the rain is pouring down."


Teresa Mason told ABC News that she and her boyfriend panicked when they saw the tornado heading toward them in Stone County, in southern Mississippi, but she says they were actually saved when a tree fell onto the truck.


"[We] got in the truck and made it out there to the road. And that's when the tornado was over us. And it started jerking us and spinning us, "she said."This tree got us in the truck and kept us from being sucked up into the tornado."


The last time a number of tornadoes hit the Gulf Coast area around Christmas Day was in 2009, when 22 tornadoes struck on Christmas Eve morning, National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told ABC News in an email.


The deadliest Christmastime tornado outbreak on record was Dec. 24 to 26, 1982, when 29 tornadoes in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi killed three people and injured 32.


The last killer tornado around Christmas, Vaccaro said, was a Christmas Eve EF4 in Tennessee in 1988, which killed one person and injured seven. EF4 tornadoes can produce winds up to 200 mph.


ABC News' Matt Gutman, Max Golembo and ABC News Radio contributed to this report.



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New Scientist 2012 holiday quiz

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THIS was the year we held our breath in almost unbearable anticipation while we waited to see whether physicists at the Large Hadron Collider would finally get a clear view of the Higgs boson, so tantalisingly hinted at last December. Going a bit blue, we held on through March when one of the LHC's detectors seemed to lose sight of the thing, before exhaling in a puff of almost-resolution in July, when researchers announced that the data added up to a fairly confident pretty-much-actual-discovery of the particle.












Early indications were that it might be a weird and wonderful variety of the Higgs, prompting a collective gasp of excitement. That was followed by a synchronised sigh of mild disappointment when later data implied that it was probably the most boring possible version after all, and not a strange entity pointing the way to new dimensions and the true nature of dark matter. Prepare yourself for another puff or two as the big story moves on next year.













This respirational rollercoaster might be running a bit too slowly to supply enough oxygen to the brain of a New Scientist reader, so we have taken care to provide more frequent oohs and aahs using less momentous revelations. See how many of the following unfundamental discoveries you can distinguish from the truth-free mimics that crowd parasitically around them.












1. Which of these anatomical incongruities of the animal kingdom did we describe on 14 July?












  • a) A fish, found in a canal in Vietnam, that wears its genitals under its mouth
  • b) A frog, found in a puddle in Peru, that has no spleen
  • c) A lizard, found in a cave in Indonesia, that has four left feet
  • d) A cat, found in a tree in northern England, that has eight extra teeth

2. "A sprout by any other name would taste as foul." So wrote William Shakespeare in his diary on 25 December 1598, setting off the centuries of slightly unjust ridicule experienced by this routinely over-cooked vegetable. But which forbiddingly named veg did we report on 7 July as having more health-giving power than the sprout, its active ingredient being trialled as a treatment for prostate cancer?












  • a) Poison celery
  • b) Murder beans
  • c) Inconvenience potatoes
  • d) Death carrots

3. Scientists often like to say they are opening a new window on things. Usually that is a metaphor, but on 10 November we reported on a more literal innovation in the fenestral realm. It was:












  • a) A perspex peephole set in the nest of the fearsome Japanese giant hornet, to reveal its domestic habits
  • b) A glass porthole implanted in the abdomen of a mouse, to reveal the process of tumour metastasis
  • c) A crystal portal in the inner vessel of an experimental thorium reactor, to reveal its nuclear fires to the naked eye
  • d) A small window high on the wall of a basement office in the Princeton physics department, to reveal a small patch of sky to postgraduate students who have not been outside for seven years

4. On 10 March we described a new material for violin strings, said to produce a brilliant and complex sound richer than that of catgut. What makes up these super strings?












  • a) Mousegut
  • b) Spider silk
  • c) Braided carbon nanotubes
  • d) An alloy of yttrium and ytterbium

5. While the peril of climate change looms inexorably larger, in this festive-for-some season we might take a minute to look on the bright side. On 17 March we reported on one benefit of global warming, which might make life better for some people for a while. It was:












  • a) Receding Arctic sea ice will make it easier to lay undersea cables to boost internet speeds
  • b) Increasing temperatures mean that Greenlanders can soon start making their own wine
  • c) Rising sea levels could allow a string of new beach resorts to open in the impoverished country of Chad
  • d) More acidic seawater will add a pleasant tang to the salt water taffy sweets made in Atlantic City

6. In Alaska's Glacier Bay national park, the brown bear in the photo (above, right) is doing something never before witnessed among bearkind, as we revealed on 10 March. Is it:












  • a) Making a phonecall?
  • b) Gnawing at a piece of whalebone to dislodge a rotten tooth?
  • c) Scratching itself with a barnacle-covered stone tool?
  • d) Cracking oysters on its jaw?

7. Men have much in common with fruit flies, as we revealed on 24 March. When the sexual advances of a male fruit fly are rejected, he may respond by:












  • a) Whining
  • b) Hitting the booze
  • c) Jumping off a tall building
  • d) Hovering around the choosy female long after all hope is lost

8. While great Higgsian things were happening at the LHC, scientists puzzled over a newly urgent question: what should we call the boson? Peter Higgs wasn't the only physicist to predict its existence, and some have suggested that the particle's name should also include those other theorists or perhaps reflect some other aspect of the particle. Which of the following is a real suggestion that we reported on 24 March?

























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