Ford and the University of Michigan are developing social networking apps.

If you have a smart phone, chances are good that you add to its functionality pretty often by downloading new software apps. But updating the computer systems built into your car usually requires a long visit to the dealership, where company technicians install new software using special interfaces.

Ford has begun changing that paradigm with its Sync and MyFord Touch systems, and by opening the Sync programming interfaces to mobile app developers. In January, Ford, Pandora, Stitcher, and Orangatame debuted Sync-enabled software that allow drivers to use the car’s voice-recognition and speech-synthesis systems to interact with Internet-based streaming radio and Twitter apps running on the driver’s phone. Read more at www.technologyreview.com

A hibernating hazel dormouse is blissfully unaware that it has been rescued and rehomed after a gardener accidentally raked its nest out from under a hedge near Leatherhead, Surrey.

David Williams, from Surrey Wildlife Trust, said it might have died of cold and would not have been able to find food. “When it comes round we will make sure it has got food and it is good to go.” The tiny animal can only be held for just a few seconds because its carer’s warming touch would wake it prematurely. Simon Cowell, founder of Wildlife Aid, said: “We want it to come out of hibernation at its own pace and are currently monitoring it from a distance. “When it comes round we will make sure it has got food and is good to go.” Read more at www.timesonline.co.uk

Why should we put up with – or pay any attention to – those who will not reveal their identity? For many reasons

A running question is why should we put up with, or pay any attention to, those who will not reveal their identity? Some argue making people honest about who they are will improve the “quality” and tone of online debates in arenas such as Comment is free. Trolling, flaming and a host of other bad online behaviour have led to calls, most often from outside or above comment threads, to prevent people posting under pseudonyms. Leo Hickman recently complained that “it is impossible to trust the motives of this army of DIY auditors.” Yet while we know the challenges anonymity presents us, we must also consider the effect of forcing people to identify themselves. I would argue any benefits are outweighed by what we would lose. Anonymity online sets us free. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

Tree-dwelling tropical ants escape from predators by gliding to safety, using their legs to steer

Tropical ants that nest in the forest canopy but launch themselves into the air when predators arrive can glide back to their trees using their back legs as rudders, scientists have found. The arboreal ants, Cephalotes atratus, build elaborate nests in the trunks and branches of tall trees, but are sometimes dislodged by strong winds and tropical downpours, or jump to safety when lizards and birds approach. Rather than fall directly to the ground, the ants flip their bodies in mid-air and glide backwards, usually to the tree from which they fell, while peering between their legs to see where they are going. Their elongated hind legs are used to adjust their trajectory and latch onto the tree when they land, scientists say.

The ants’ acrobatic behaviour was confirmed in the laboratory using a high-speed video camera to observe their mid-air manoeuvres. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

A country’s disease rates influence women’s preference for masculine or feminine-looking faces, claim psychologists

Women who live in healthier countries prefer more feminine-looking men, compared with women living in regions where life-threatening diseases are rife, psychologists say. Their research suggests masculine men have the greatest appeal for women who live in areas where a strong genetic make-up is critical for survival. A study of women in 30 countries found they were more likely to choose a masculine-looking partner if their country scored low on a health index based on World Health Organisation mortality figures. By contrast, in countries where people have a longer lifespan, women favoured more feminine-looking men, even though they might not have the healthiest genes available. The research challenges the long-held belief that beauty is largely determined by culture. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

Making your own Easter egg is simple and fun, and best of all you get to choose your favourite raw material In pictures: how to make an Easter egg

When I was little, we used to go on holiday at Easter to small, chilly cottages in the Peak District or Wales. Easter eggs would travel surreptitiously in the boot of the car, hidden away until Sunday morning. Once we’d found them in a fusty cupboard or under the sink we were allowed to eat a few sticky chunks before breakfast – a very rare treat. My sister was adept at eking her egg out over the holiday, always having a few shards left at the end of the day when we got back, cold and damp from a walk, while I had to fight the urge to scoff the whole thing before lunch. One happy year, lucky enough to be given four eggs by visiting relatives, I ate them all in one day only to be sick on my parents’ bedroom carpet that night. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

The Twitter “crimewave” reached a preliminary peak in October 2009, according to Barracuda Networks, which estimated that 12% of accounts created were eventually suspended as either malicious, suspicious or otherwise misused. In 2008, the equivalent “Twitter crime rate” averaged around 2%. Last week, sensibly, Twitter launched a new automatic link-screening service aimed at preventing phishing and other malicious attacks. It also has advice for users on how to stay safe on Twitter: • Use a strong password. • Watch out for suspicious links. • Make sure you’re at the real Twitter login page before entering data. Twitter is also increasingly deleting mis-used accounts, a spokesperson of Barracuda Network says. “We fight phishing scams by detecting affected accounts and resetting passwords,” said Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter in a post. However, numerous accounts were used for malicious purposes such as poisoning trending topic threads with malicious URLs. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

Chemists have developed what they say is the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight.

In order to be viable, a water oxygen catalyst (WOC) needs selectivity, stability, and speed. Homogeneity is also a desired trait, since it boosts efficiency and makes the WOC easier to study and optimize. The new WOC has all of these qualities, and is based on the cheap and abundant element cobalt, adding to its potential to help solar energy go mainstream. This “has really upped the standard from the other known homogeneous WOCs,” says Craig Hill, an inorganic chemist at Emory University. “It’s like a home run compared to a base hit.” The study, published online in Science, was made in collaboration with the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry.

See more at futurity.org

“Well . . . I can definitely feel a bit of adrenalin,” says Yukari Sendo, savouring the mobile phone ringtone like a fine wine, “but it really doesn’t make me want to do any housework.”

She flicks through a menu of alternative tunes and settles on one that offers to improve her skin tone through the power of alpha-waves. Ms Sendo and her friend Ayaka Wakabayashi are among an army of young Japanese drawn to the allure of “therapeutic ringtones” — a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover. Japan is no stranger to bizarre phone fads but the popularity of the ringtones is perhaps surprising given the flimsiness of the science behind them.

Much of the tones’ credibility rests in the solid reputation of Matsumi Suzuki, the head of the Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory, an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Japan Acoustic Laboratory. Read more at www.timesonline.co.uk

Couples who can’t talk any more are learning how to reconnect with each other — with help from internet counselling

Dave’s escape was Facebook. Work had dried up, debts ballooned, he couldn’t support his family. Then he found a release online. He knew it was fantasy but, as things do, one thing led to another. He met a woman for a drink, slept with her, lied to his partner, left his family. By the time he started to write down his feelings on a relationships website he was back home, riddled with regret and trying to make sense of the emotional fallout he had precipitated. “I love my partner more than I have ever loved anybody before, she is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with,” he wrote. “I still regularly feel that I’m not wanted or needed and rarely get the affection I crave from my partner and only my partner.” Read more at www.timesonline.co.uk