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X-rays Reveal Ancient Snake's Hidden Leg

A new look at a 95-million-year-old fossilized snake revealstwo tiny leg bones attached to the slithery creature's pelvis. Athree-dimensional reconstruction of the bones could help researchers understandhow snakes evolved to lose their legs.

The fossil, found in Lebanon, is from an era when snakes hadnot yet completely lost the hind limbs leftby their lizard ancestors. A much-debated question among paleontologists iswhether these leggy ancestors were ocean-living swimmers or land-dwellingburrowing lizards.

The new finding takes a stab at answering that question.

One-inch-long fossilized leg bone is visible on the surfaceof the fossilized Lebanese snake, but half the pelvis (where another leg wouldbe expected) is buried in rock. The 19-inch-long (50 centimeter) snake (called Eupodophis descouensi) is one of onlythree snake fossils with its hind limbs preserved, so breaking it open to lookfor the other leg was out of the question, said study researcher AlexandraHoussaye of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

Instead, the researchers used a technique calledsynchrotron-radiation computed laminography (SRCL). Like a medical computedtomography (CT) scan, SRCL uses X-rays to image the internal structure of anobject, but at 1,000 times higher resolution.

"Only 3-D [scanning] could reveal the inner structureof the bones without damaging them, and the same is true to observe thecomplete second leg," Houssaye told LiveScience.

The scanning revealed a hidden leg, bent at the knee butlacking foot and toe bones. The setup of the bones is similar to that ofterrestrial lizards, Houssaye said, adding that one study couldn't settle the "landancestor versus water ancestor" debate. However, she said, the anatomy ofthe bones suggests that evolution tooksnakes' legs not by altering the way they grew. Instead, Houssaye said, itlooks as though the limbs grew either slower or for a shorter period of time.

This experiment was the first to use the SRCL technique inpaleontology, Houssaye said, and there's much more to analyze. The next steps,she said, include analyzing other hind-limb snakefossils, studying the limbs of living snakes and lizards and analyzing thefossils of the oldest snakes known.

The researchers report their results in the Feb. 8 issue ofthe Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Top 10Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)Millions ofYears Ago, Snakes Were Hip7Shocking Snake Stories

You can follow LiveScience Senior Writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas.

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Afghan, NATO forces brace for spring offensive

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Ten loud explosions that rocked Kandahar one day last week actually signaled good news on the front line of the war against the Taliban.

The blasts — one every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. — were from Afghan and coalition forces blowing up more than 6,000 pounds of Taliban AK-47s, bomb-making equipment, homemade explosives and rocket-propelled grenades.

Finding and destroying the insurgents' weapons in Kandahar province, the ancestral home of President Hamid Karzai and the birthplace of the Taliban, is just one way Afghan and coalition forces are trying to make it difficult for the militants to launch a strong offensive in the spring.

In advance of an increase in fighting expected in the spring, they also are working to demolish Taliban hideouts, kill and detain their leaders, and professionalize police who patrol this city of 800,000 people — the largest in southern Afghanistan.

Civilian workers are pushing forward with development projects and trying to help recruit Afghans for government jobs — even though signing up makes them a target of the insurgency's murder and intimidation campaign.

"We are definitely expecting them to come back at us hard," said Lt. Col. Victor Garcia, deputy commander of the 3,500-soldier 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division deployed in Kandahar province on one of the NATO coalition's most critical missions. "If anything, they have to send a message that they are still a force to be reckoned with. I believe the Taliban sense that they've lost some momentum and now they're trying to regain some of that and demonstrate to the population that they still can inflict harm."

Militants did just that Friday in another blast heard around the city. A suicide bomber rammed his car into the home of Kandahar Provincial Police Chief Khan Mohammad. He survived that attack, which came three days after a mine exploded just as the police chief's vehicle passed by, and a week after the deputy governor of Kandahar was killed when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle drove into his motorcade.

Until late last year, insurgents roamed with little resistance throughout Kandahar province. They clustered outside the city in places like Zhari, Panjwai and Arghandab districts. There, they slept, trained and made bombs to attack targets in the city of Kandahar and fight coalition and Afghan forces. The Taliban had a psychological hold on the citizens, who had little faith in the Karzai government in Kabul or in the international community's effort to halt the insurgents' momentum.

Last summer, after the 40,000 mostly U.S. reinforcements finished arriving in Afghanistan, coalition and Afghan forces launched bloody offensives to force insurgents from their strongholds. Casualties went up, making 2010 the deadliest year of the more than 9-year-old war.

Security improved and the game plan now is to hold the territory, giving the Afghan government and international community an opportunity to rush in development and bolster governance to win the loyalty of the citizens.

No one knows if the troops can maintain their current grip on the area. The Taliban are outgunned by the thousands of Afghan and coalition forces in Kandahar province, but just one targeted killing — like the assassination of the deputy governor of Kandahar — is a psychological setback to pro-government troops.

Garcia likens the current state of play in the battle for Kandahar to a three-dimensional chess game.

"It's not just our side against their side, there's the population in the center — many of whom are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see who is going to come out on top," he said at Camp Nathan Smith, a U.S.-run base on the outskirts of the city. "Some are tacitly supporting the Taliban because they are fearful. They turn a blind eye and allow the Taliban to transit through their area as long as they don't harm the people of their village."

He said coalition forces often hear villagers lament that coalition and Afghan troops have come before but didn't stick around.

Ajmal Khan, a 24-year-old from Arghandab, has that fear — yet he's giving the government a slight edge in the conflict.

"The government can be seen preparing for spring by building up checkpoints so they can control the area in a better and more organized way and close holes that allow the Taliban to enter and cause destruction," he said. "To an extent, we can see that the Taliban are getting weaker.

"On the other hand, the government and NATO forces always talk big but ultimately face defeat. This time, we can see some major improvements. How far these improvements will work against the Taliban remains to be seen — when spring comes."

Not surprisingly, National Police Col. Fazal Ahmad Shirzad, chief of security for Kandahar province, is already predicting a Taliban defeat when the weather warms.

"I'm sure that the Taliban will not be able to fight against the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police," Shirzad said while eating a quick supper of chicken, rice and bread in his office following a 15-hour day. There are 800 more Afghan policemen patrolling Kandahar city now than at this time last year.

"This week we found 60 improvised explosive devices in and around Kandahar," Shirzad, a soft-spoken, determined man with a full black mustache, continued through an interpreter. "I'm telling you something. Those locations — those districts — that the Taliban controlled, we control now."

In the past three months, 1,250 Taliban weapons caches have been found in Afghanistan, according to NATO. That compares with 163 uncovered in the same period last year. Since mid-January, 374 caches have been discovered — 85 percent in Kandahar and neighboring Helmand province, the coalition said.

Forty-one — an average of seven a month — have been found in the city of Kandahar and in Arghandab, a fertile farming area and longtime Taliban stronghold north and west of the city.

An Afghan security force patrol made a massive haul in the city on Jan. 24. The cache yielded 2,910 pounds (1,320 kilograms) of explosives, 4,300 pounds (1,950 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate used in making explosives, 2,600 feet (800 meters) of detonation cord, a suicide belt, 70 devices to detonate remote-controlled bombs, grenades, a van, three motorcycles and a station wagon, the coalition said.

The ordnance was part of the weapons blown up last week in the controlled detonations near Camp Nathan Smith. The Afghan government gave residents advance notice so they didn't panic when they heard the booms.

Less foliage during the winter months has made the weapons easier to spot. Residents tired of the fighting also have tipped off troops about caches.

A hotline set up in Kandahar is getting up to 18 calls a day — some from people telling Afghan and coalition forces where to look. Cards with the hotline number will be passed out in the coming weeks. Wanted posters of Taliban figures soon will be seen in Kandahar — an effort, U.S. military officials say, to show that they are individuals, not myths or ghosts to fear.

After hearing of weapons seizures, some villagers have put guns and ammunition out on the street like garbage so they are not caught with it in a subsequent raid. Afghan and coalition forces also are uncovering Soviet-era bombs, including some the Taliban have packed with new explosives.

In November, residents tipped pro-government forces to a 500-pound bomb in a cemetery in Arghandab. Removing the bomb — about as long as a picnic table and with a circumference about the size of a pizza — turned into a work project. Afghans were hired to fill about 500 sandbags, which troops placed around the bomb before it was safely removed with a crane, hauled away and destroyed.

___

Associated Press writer Mirwais Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

BSkyB Bid Puts Murdoch Back in Political Spotlight

For an Australian-born U.S. citizen, Rupert Murdoch casts an extraordinarily long shadow over Britain and its politics. As the owner of four U.K. newspapers, he already has a big part in the national conversation. And now his latest bid to take full control of BSkyB, the country's biggest pay-TV station, is giving the government a headache at a time when it's already suffering through expenses scandals, falling poll ratings and public anger over budget cuts. Murdoch announced the $12.5 billion bid last June and already one minister has been stripped of his job of making a ruling on the takeover after he told undercover reporters he had "declared war" on the media tycoon.

As just about anybody in British politics will tell you, declaring war on Rupert Murdoch - the "Dirty Digger," as he has been dubbed by detractors - is not something to be undertaken lightly. This, after all, is the man prime ministers and would-be prime ministers fall over themselves to woo, most notably just before general elections, in the hope of winning the support of his media outlets.

The relationship between Murdoch and Britain's leaders is currently making headlines of its own. Reports on Wednesday revealed that Murdoch had skipped the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to fly to London while the government considers whether the bid by his News Corporation should be referred to the competition commission. The point at issue is whether, as rival media groups claim, a Murdoch-owned BSkyB - he already owns just over 30% of the company - combined with his existing ownership of four national newspapers - the tabloids the Sun and News of the World, and upmarket the Times of London and Sunday Times - would pose a threat to media plurality in the U.K.

Until Dec. 21, Business Secretary Vince Cable was tasked with deciding if the bid should be sent to the competition commission. But after Daily Telegraph reporters caught him making that combative comment, the responsibility was passed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who immediately gave Murdoch more time to answer concerns over his bid which had been raised by the media watchdog Ofcom.

For those already concerned about what they see as Murdoch's power over the nation's decision-makers, Hunt's act of leniency appeared to be another sign that politicians are too eager to keep the news mogul on side. And all this comes as controversy continues to boil over the activities of Murdoch's News of the World and phone-hacking of celebrities, royals and politicians by its reporters. That affair saw two employees jailed in 2007, and on Jan. 21, Prime Minister David Cameron's chief spin doctor Andy Coulson, who was the paper's editor at the time of the offenses and says he knew nothing about them, quit as the row refused to die down.

But how is it Murdoch has come to be so feared and revered by Britain's politicians? Probably because some of them have learnt the hard way what his support - or lack of it - can mean.

The most famous example was the struggling Conservative government's shock election victory in 1992, after which Murdoch's Sun newspaper, which had a daily readership of around 10 million, screamed from its front page: "It's the Sun Wot Won It!" Even skeptics were forced to accept that Murdoch's decision to back the beleaguered Tory prime minister, John Major, helped carry the Conservatives to victory.

But it was actually the Sun's treatment of the then opposition Labour party leader, Neil Kinnock, that drew most attention and allowed the paper to make its flamboyant claim. On election day, it had carried a front-page picture of Kinnock's head, portrayed as a lightbulb, under the headline: "If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights."

Kinnock quit immediately, enraged by his treatment by the media in general and the Sun in particular - and Labour's future Prime Minister, Tony Blair, learned a powerful lesson. In July 1995, Blair and aides jetted to the Australian resort at Hayman Island for an annual conference held by Murdoch and his executives. It was there that Blair persuaded the audience that his "New Labour" Party was responsible and electable. Two years later, the Sun declared for Blair, who went on to win a landslide victory.

Rumors of secret deals between the two men persisted and in February 2009, former Blair-era spin doctor Lance Price seemed to confirm them in his book Where Powers Lies: Prime Ministers v the Media: "A deal had been done, although with nothing in writing. If Murdoch were left to pursue his business interests in peace he would give Labour a fair wind."

In the run-up to last year's general election, that wind seemed to change when the Sun threw its support behind Conservative leader David Cameron. The impact wasn't nearly as striking as it had been years before, thanks to the general decline of newspaper readership and the growth of new media. But it was still a blow to the Labour party, which was ousted from government when Britons took to the polls.

Little wonder, then, that those who fret about Murdoch's power over Britain's politicians are questioning whether Cameron too has decided to leave him to "pursue his business interests in peace."

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Alleged 'scareware' Vendors to Pay $8.2 Million to FTC

The operator of an alleged "scareware" scheme, using deceptive advertising to trick Internet users into buying software to fix their supposedly infected computers, will pay the U.S. Federal Trade Commission US$8.2 million to settle a complaint brought by the agency, the FTC said.

Marc D'Souza and his father, Maurice D'Souza, will give up the money in the settlement, announced Thursday by the FTC. Marc D'Souza was one of the key participants in a group of businesses that delivered online advertisements falsely claiming that the viewers' computers were infected with malicious software, the FTC said in a press release.

The FTC will use money from the settlement to reimburse customers who purchased software from the defendants, the agency said.

The defendants in the case, doing business under several company names including Innovative Marketing and ByteHosting Internet Services, falsely claimed that scans had detected viruses, spyware and illegal pornography on consumers' computers, the FTC said. The defendants sold more than 1 million software products, with names such as Winfixer, Drive Cleaner and Antivirus XP, to remove the malware the bogus scans had supposedly detected, the agency added.

The defendants charged $39.95 or more for the software packages, the FTC said.

Marc D'Souza operated one business connected to the scheme and served as an officer in a second business,in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Maurice D'Souza did not participate in the scam, but allegedly profited from it, the FTC said.

A lawyer for the D'Souzas didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the settlement.

The court had ordered a halt to the "massive scheme" in December 2008, when the FTCabout the advertising practices.

The defendants used what the FTC called an "elaborate ruse" that duped Internet advertising networks and popular websites into carrying their advertisements. The defendants falsely claimed they were placing Internet advertisements on behalf of legitimate companies, the agency said.

But the defendants inserted hidden programming code into the advertisements that delivered, instead, the ads for the bogus security software, the agency said.

The settlement order bars Marc D'Souza from any involvement with software that interferes with consumers' computers. It also prohibits him from making deceptive claims connected to computer security software and using domain names registered with false information.

Two other defendants in the case, one individual and one company, have previously settled the charges against them. The FTC obtained default judgments against three other defendants. Litigation will continue against the remaining defendant in the case, Kristy Ross.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

Motorola smartphones disappoint, iPhone already weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc is already feeling pressure from the next Apple Inc iPhone and forecast a steeper than usual drop in sales this quarter as a result, sending its shares down 6.8 percent.

In the roughly two weeks since Motorola's biggest customer Verizon Wireless unveiled plans to start selling an iPhone in February, Motorola has already noticed a decline in smartphone sales, Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said on Wednesday.

Motorola first-quarter phone sales typically fall 7 percent to 10 percent from the fourth quarter shopping season.

"I would anticipate it would be larger than 7 percent to 10 percent," this time Jha told analysts on the company's first earnings call since it became an independent entity.

Verizon has been marketing Motorola smartphones heavily for more than a year to help it compete against AT&T Inc, which was the exclusive U.S. iPhone provider for three years.

Now that Verizon likely has another champion in iPhone, Motorola has to work hard to lessen its dependence on the No. 1 U.S. mobile provider. It has already unveiled plans for a new high-powered phone including one destined for AT&T, but this won't appear until later in the quarter.

"The issue is timing," Jha told Reuters, adding that the handset business would improve sequentially in the second quarter. He sees Motorola shipping up to 23 million devices this year including smartphones and tablets.

The phone maker had already told investors in December that the first quarter would be difficult. But the company disappointed again on Wednesday when it announced that it had sold fewer than expected phones in the fourth quarter.

Motorola shipped 4.9 million smartphones in the quarter compared with expectations for 5.2 million from six analysts contacted by Reuters.

"The quarter as a whole was a solid quarter but smartphone shipments were disappointing," said Evercore analyst Alkesh Shah, who said Motorola is still a good company to invest in as it is the only phone maker to focus solely on Google Inc's popular Android phone software.

The lower than expected sales were due to slower than expected demand for cheaper smartphones, according to Jha who said that U.S. consumers prefer to buy higher-end phones.

The company said its phone unit would post operating profit margins in the mid-single digit range for 2011, a significant improvement from losses reported in 2010.

TOUGH FIRST QUARTER

Motorola Mobility, which sells television set-top boxes, as well as handsets, forecast a first-quarter net loss per share of between 9 cents and 21 cents, but excluding nonoperating unusual items it expects to break even.

Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton said the report and outlook was not good enough to reassure investors who had pushed the shares up 5 percent since trading started January 4.

"The stock has had a good run so people are going to take it out back and beat it up a little unless they say something good on the call about full year guidance," Thornton said.

Motorola Mobility turned profit of $80 million, or 27 cents per share for the fourth quarter after a loss of $204 million, or 69 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Before unusual items, Motorola said earnings would have been 37 cents per share, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of 36 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose to $3.4 billion from $2.8 billion in the year ago quarter, in line with analyst expectations. About $2.4 billion revenue came from the handsets, Motorola said.

Including smartphones and less advanced phones, Motorola shipped 11.3 million phones in the quarter, which compared well with analyst expectations for 10.7 million.

But investors are more anxious about its success with smartphones because they bring in more profits than regular phones and have been key to the company's resurgence last year after years of losing ground to rivals like Apple.

The company's shares fell to $32.45 in late trading after closing at $34.83 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Motorola Inc split in two in January to form Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions Inc. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Andre Grenon, Bernard Orr)