Yahoo Inc., the world's largest provider of e-mail services, said on Monday that a software virus aimed at Yahoo Mail users had infected 'a very small fraction' of its base of more than 200 million accounts.

The e-mail virus, or worm, has been dubbed Yamanner and landed in Yahoo mailboxes bearing the headline 'New Graphic Site.' Once opened, the message infects the computer and spreads to other users listed in Yahoo users' e-mail address books, security experts said.

The e-mail containing the virus ne ... full story

A business blogger who changed the wider world view of Microsoft is leaving the software giant for a Silicon Valley start-up.

Robert Scoble's blog about his life and events inside and outside Microsoft became the unofficial corporate voice of the company.

Many turned to his blog to find out how the firm reacted to big news events.

His blog won praise for its neutrality and readiness to point out Microsoft's mistakes or praise its rivals.

Mr Scoble's blog, called Scobleizer, is widely seen as ... full story

One of the biggest security updates for more than a year is due to released by Microsoft to fix 12 software flaws.

Nine of the updates apply to the Windows operating system and one is deemed critical, a rating reserved for the most serious security problems.

At least one of the loopholes being patched is already being actively exploited by malicious hackers.

Windows users are being urged to download the patches as soon as they become available on Tuesday 13 June.

Microsoft issues its securit ... full story

NASA approved a major design change in the space shuttle's fuel tank on Wednesday, clearing the last major hurdle before shuttle flights can resume as early as July 1, officials said.

'There were no surprises. Everything went smoothly,' NASA spokeswoman June Malone said after managers and engineers approved the new tank design at a meeting at NASA's fuel tank manufacturing plant near New Orleans.

Officials will choose a firm launch date for Discovery at the completion of a formal flight review next we ... full story

U.S. doctors increasingly have access to computers to look up information on their patients, but more than half still don't have digital health records or the ability to write electronic prescriptions, a study released on Wednesday found.

Twenty-two percent of doctors surveyed by the Center for Studying Health System Change last year had access to electronic prescription tools compared with 11 percent in 2001.

About half can use computers to access notes on their patients or exchange data with other d ... full story

The notion that diet may influence the risk of developing skin cancer seems not to hold up under investigation, Australian researchers report.

According to their study in the journal BMC Cancer, high levels of dietary fat do not increase --and may decrease -- the risk of skin cancer.

'While our study is intriguing, and is in agreement with some other very large studies, we could not suggest that the public's health would be enhanced by consuming more fat,' Dr. Robert H. Granger from the Menzies Resear ... full story

Scientists have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago - the oldest human-type DNA so far.

It was extracted from the tooth of a Neanderthal child found in the Scladina cave in the Meuse Basin, Belgium.

The study, reported in Current Biology, suggests our distant cousins were more genetically diverse than once thought.

Their diversity had declined, perhaps because of climate change or disease, by the time early humans arrived in Europe about 35,000 years ago.

French and ... full story

Chinese authorities have blocked most domestic users from the main Google.com search engine, a media watchdog said.

Internet users in major Chinese cities faced difficulties accessing Google's international site in the past week, Reporters Without Borders said.

But Google.cn, the controversial Chinese language version launched in January, has not been affected.

The site blocks politically sensitive material to comply with government censorship rules.

'It was only to be expected that Google.c ... full story

Microsoft has revealed how powerful computers must be to run Vista - the new version of its Windows operating system.

It has given advice on the basic specifications to run the software as well as the higher capabilities needed to get the most out of it.

Also available is a downloadable tool that lets people know if the PC they own now will run the system.

Microsoft has said that Vista will go on widespread release in January 2007.

Vista, formerly known as Longhorn, is Microsoft's long awaite ... full story

The Discovery orbiter has been moved onto its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, as part of preparations for a July lift-off.

The slow procession from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad took almost eight hours.

The space shuttle is scheduled to fly some time between 1 and 19 July.

It will be only the second shuttle flight since the space shuttle Colombia disintegrated on re-entry three years ago, killing all seven astronauts.

Pointing skywards, the shuttle, already att ... full story