Irish Smoking Ban Good for Lungs ... of Instruments

Group criticized as hypocritical in light of history of activism

(NEWSER) - U2 is under fire for possible tax evasion as the Irish government pushes for a bigger slice of the band’s earnings, the Christian Science Monitor reports. U2 moved its publishing company to Amsterdam in 2006 after a tax bill limited artists’ tax-free earnings to $315,000. With Irish deficits mounting, some fans say U2 needs to pay its fair share. More»

(NEWSER) - Tommy Makem, the great Irish singer and storyteller who, with the Clancy Brothers, led the revival in Irish folk music in the late 1950s and 1960s, died after a long battle with lung cancer yesterday. He was 74. "To hear Tommy Makem sing 'Four Green Fields,' " writes Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen, "was to hear Enrico Caruso sing 'Vesti la giubba,' or James Brown sing 'I Feel Good.' " revival of More»

Nicola Furlong had apparently met duo at Nicki Manaj show earlier in evening

(NEWSER) - A pair of unnamed Americans have been arrested by Japanese officials after one of them was found in a Tokyo hotel room with a dying Irish exchange student, reports MSNBC . Nicola Furlong, 21, of County Wexford, died about an hour later in what officials are calling a suspicious death and possible strangulation. Details are sketchy: Furlong and a 21-year-old female friend apparently met the Americans at a Nicki Manaj concert earlier Thursday evening. More»

Flutes may have helped early humans endure bitter cold

(NEWSER) - Researchers have identified two flutes made from mammoth ivory and bird bone as the world's oldest musical instruments, the BBC reports. Discovered in a cave in southern Germany, the flutes were likely fashioned 42,000 to 43,000 years ago, when early humans used them for religious ritual or recreation, experts say. Music may have also helped them maintain social networks as they survived dire cold in Europe and Neanderthals began to die off. More»

Playable mini-synth 'most ambitious doodle yet'

(NEWSER) - Google has honored synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog with a doodle fans are calling its best ever. To mark what would have been Moog's 73rd birthday, Google's homepage features a fully playable version of his famous synth, complete with 19 knobs and a recording device. "We had a terrific blueprint," chief doodler Ryan Germick tells Mashable , describing the doodle as Google's most technically ambitious yet. "The synthesizers that Moog made were really works of art in and of themselves." Tips on how to play are available in a Google blog post . More»