Washington, Apr 4 : No need to panic if your hard disk is about to crash and you have not yet copied your favourite pictures and notes on a CD, for a new kind of computer memory may soon make `back-up' a thing of the past.

Racetrack memory, developed by Physicists at the University of Leeds and scientists at IBM Research''s Zurich lab, may become the standard method of storing information in home computers.

Washington, Apr. 4: The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank in Washington, has anointed Representative Paul Ryan "the leader of the future of the conservative movement."

According to Fox News, Ryan has sidelined Jindal, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.

At 39, Ryan has become the go-to-guy on policy.

"I''m the man of the hour because I''m the top Republican on the House Budget Committee," he told Fox News in an interview.

Washington/Tokyo, Apr. 4: Despite a clear warning from US President Barack Obama not to go ahead with the launch of its advanced Taepodong-2 missile, North Korea has vowed to carry it out between Saturday and Wednesday.

There are signs that the launch would come soon rather than later.

A launch could occur "any minute," two sources told FOX News, and likely not as late as Sunday.

Washington, April 4 : Brown University scientists have found that nicotine is not only addictive, but it also has the ability to interfere with several cellular interactions in the body.

The researchers say that their findings may be helpful in developing better treatments for various diseases, considering that pharmaceutical companies rely on basic research to identify new cellular interactions that can serve as targets for potential new drugs.

New York, Apr. 4 : New York Police have revealed that the gunman, who killed 14 people and wounded 40 others at an immigration center here on Friday, was a Chinese American.

Police identified him as 41-year-old Jiverly Wong, a former IBM employee. Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said the rampage "obviously was premeditated" and began with the shooting of two receptionists. One died. The other was critically wounded, but she pretended to be dead and was able to crawl to a desk and call 911 when the gunman walked down a hallway.

Washington, April 4 : A new research by scientists at Yale University, US, has discovered that the bright colors seen in bird feathers are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge.

Most colors in nature are produced by pigments. But, the bright blue feathers found in many birds, such as Bluebirds and Blue Jays, are instead produced by nanostructures.

Under an electron microscope, these structures look like sponges with air bubbles.