Sci-Tech news

• Soviet collapse felt among wildlife

  19-01-2015 23:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The socioeconomic shocks following the collapse of the Soviet Union also affected the region's wildlife, a study suggests.
  
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• Pizza is the second-highest source of calories for American children

  19-01-2015 23:43 via
  
  Chicago researchers found 20 percent of American youths eat pizza on any given day, and called for healthier versions to be created.
  
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• Facebook goes on 1,200-person hiring spree in bid to launch virtual reality products

  19-01-2015 23:38 via
  
  The social networking company aims to add nearly 1,200 new employees, the outgrowth of aggressive investments that executives have said will define the coming year.
  
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• Scape, the 3D microscope that lets doctors see neurons firing inside the brain

  19-01-2015 22:49 via
  
  Dubbed 'Scape', the technology can help unlock the secrets of brain activity by monitoring neurons as they fire in real-time (pictured), according to the Columbia University Medical Center.
  
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• The sea snail that uses 'weaponised' INSULIN to leave prey sluggish

  19-01-2015 22:31 via
  
  The geographic cone snail (conus geographus) uses the chemical to cause a plunge in blood sugar, leaving the fish sluggish and unable to swim to safety, Utah researchers found.
  
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• The deadly sea snail that uses 'weaponised' INSULIN to leave its prey sluggish and unable to swim to safety - and has even killed 30 people

  19-01-2015 22:18 via
  
  The geographic cone snail (conus geographus) uses the chemical to cause a plunge in blood sugar, leaving the fish sluggish and unable to swim to safety, Utah researchers found.
  
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• Microscope lets doctors see inside the brain: Technology captures neurons firing 100 times faster than current systems

  19-01-2015 22:13 via
  
  Dubbed 'Scape', the technology can help unlock the secrets of brain activity by monitoring neurons as they fire in real-time (pictured), according to the Columbia University Medical Center.
  
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• Mystery cosmic burst captured LIVE and we could be closer to understanding its meaning

  19-01-2015 22:07 via
  
  The flash, located 5.5 billion light-years from Earth and lasting a thousandth of a second, was spotted for the first time by astronomers at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.
  
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• Computers can pick 'aesthetically significant' films better than a human

  19-01-2015 22:06 via
  
  Northwestern researchers were able to predict better than humans which movies made it into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry for 'significant' films by analsying IMDB data.
  
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• Brains of people with autism work in 'idiosyncratic' ways

  19-01-2015 21:26 via
  
  Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh say the finding explains why some studies claim people with autism have more brain connections, while others say they have less.
  
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• Google set to blast into space with Elon Musk?

  19-01-2015 21:04 via
  
  The move could see the two Silicon Valley giants team up to rival Facebook's plan to bring low cost access to the world.
  
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• Designer babies can be created 'with 100% efficiency' says leading scientist

  19-01-2015 21:02 via
  
  Dr Tony Perry, a geneticist at the University of Bath, said that society needed to be prepared for the day parents can choose certain traits in their children, such as eye colour.
  
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• Researchers unveil $159 hi-tech programmable vibrator 

  19-01-2015 21:00 via
  
  The Georgia firm behind it hopes users will create and share their own code - and can even plug other devices into to to control.
  
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• Have the remains of Alexander the Great AND his mother Olympias been found?

  19-01-2015 20:57 via
  
  Bones of an unidentified woman, a newborn baby and two men (bone with cut mark pictured), as well as fragments of a cremated person, were unearthed in a vault on the site in Serres, Greece.
  
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• Down under hunger for online video

  19-01-2015 20:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Over 300,000 Aussies are skirting the law to watch online content
  
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• US 'tapped N Korea computers in 2010'

  19-01-2015 20:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US began looking into North Korea's computer network in 2010, reports claim
  
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• Is Google set to blast into space with Elon Musk? Firm plans to invest in SpaceX plans for internet in orbit - and take on Facebook 

  19-01-2015 20:33 via
  
  The move could see the two Silicon Valley giants team up to rival Facebook's plan to bring low cost access to the world.
  
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• Have the remains of Alexander the Great AND his mother Olympias been found? Experts uncover bones of a woman and two men in underground Amphipolis tomb

  19-01-2015 20:27 via
  
  Bones of an unidentified woman, a newborn baby and two men (bone with cut mark pictured), as well as fragments of a cremated person, were unearthed in a vault on the site in Serres, Greece.
  
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• Autism uncovered: Brains of people with the condition work in 'idiosyncratic' ways, claims groundbreaking study

  19-01-2015 20:26 via
  
  Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh say the finding explains why some studies claim people with autism have more brain connections, while others say they have less.
  
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• Code your own climax: Researchers unveil $159 hi-tech programmable vibrator 

  19-01-2015 19:51 via
  
  The Georgia firm behind it hopes users will create and share their own code - and can even plug other devices into to to control.
  
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• Fear pinpointed: Scientists discover exactly where anxiety resides in the brain

  19-01-2015 19:50 via
  
  Scientists at Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, New York have described a ‘circuit’ that controls fearful memories and behaviour in the brains of mice, offering insight into how anxiety disorders may develop.
  
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• Amazon to start making its first feature films and offer them online

  19-01-2015 19:26 via
  
  The Seattle online shopping giant is to significantly expand into movie production and slash the time before theatrical releases are available online to 4-8 weeks.
  
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• Probe gets an eyeful of dwarf Ceres

  19-01-2015 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The American space agency's Dawn spacecraft is bearing down on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
  
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• Designer babies can be created 'with 100% efficiency' says leading scientist - and warns society needs to think through the consequences 

  19-01-2015 19:25 via
  
  Dr Tony Perry, a geneticist at the University of Bath, said that society needed to be prepared for the day parents can choose certain traits in their children, such as eye colour.
  
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• X-ray footage shows a hamster stuffing its face pouches with nuts

  19-01-2015 19:16 via
  
  The footage (pictured) will appear on the BBC’s ‘Pets - Wild at Heart’ series, which airs in the UK on BBC One on 21 January. Cheek pouches can expand to hold half the animal’s body weight.
  
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• Snapchat to charge advertisers $750,000 per ad

  19-01-2015 19:06 via
  
  ‘Multiple sources’ claim the Californian firm demands $750,000 (£493,000) per ad, because it wants fewer, better adverts, rather than spamming its 100 million users. A sponsored post is pictured.
  
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• Back to the future! Sid Meier's Starships revealed as successor to Beyond Earth

  19-01-2015 19:04
  
  XCOM studio Firaxis and publisher 2K are set to release a successor game to Civilization: Beyond Earth, named: Sid Meier's Starships.
  
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• Comet Lovejoy captured in dazzling time-lapse video

  19-01-2015 18:47 via
  
  Amateur astronomer Steve Sidentop,took 100 images of Comet Lovejoy over a two hour period as it passed over his home in Grayson, Georgia, in the United States.
  
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• Plan for vacuum transatlantic tube train travel between UK and the US unveiled

  19-01-2015 18:43 via
  
  A proposal submitted to a competition run by Manchester-based think tank, IPPR North, says technological advantages could make the dream of a transatlantic train journey a reality.
  
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• How many astronauts does it take to get a HAIRCUT in space?

  19-01-2015 18:43 via
  
  In a video released by the European Space Agency, Italian-born Samantha Cristoforetti (pictured) is seen visiting 'Chez Terry' - a makeshift hair salon on board the International Space Station.
  
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• Chimps learn compassionate behaviour from each other, just like humans

  19-01-2015 18:24 via
  
  Researchers from the University of St Andrews and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, demonstrated that primates display similar altruistic behaviour to humans.
  
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• Why Dying Light's retail release date has been delayed in Europe

  19-01-2015 17:53
  
  DYING LIGHT has been given a delayed UK retail release date but will still be available to buy as a digital download on January 27, Techland have confirmed.
  
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• Facebook Messenger can listen to voice clips sent

  19-01-2015 17:51 via
  
  The Californian firm’s Messenger app lets people send voice clips. From today, Facebook is adding a tool that automatically transcribes these clips and posts a typed version, below the audio.
  
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• Does this mummy mask hide the oldest known GOSPEL?

  19-01-2015 17:23 via
  
  Scientists at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, unglued a mummy mask made of recycled papyrus (like the one pictured) to make the find of the Gospel of Mark.
  
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• Malaria resistance genetics revealed

  19-01-2015 17:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Genetic mutations that are associated with resistance to the frontline malaria drug are identified, scientists report.
  
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• How many astronauts does it take to get a HAIRCUT in space? One to wash, a second to style and a THIRD to suck up stray strands

  19-01-2015 17:09 via
  
  In a video released by the European Space Agency, Italian-born Samantha Cristoforetti (pictured) is seen visiting 'Chez Terry' - a makeshift hair salon on board the International Space Station.
  
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• Wacky chargers for your smart phone

  19-01-2015 16:46 via
  
  Smartphones have so much to offer now, it's not surprising the batteries drain. What you need is a charger you can use anywhere. Alice Smellie and Tony Dennis rate the new portable chargers.
  
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• EE customers wrongly charged VAT set for share of £1m refund

  19-01-2015 16:44
  
  A SELECT number of EE customers are set to share a refund windfall of roughly £1m after being wrongly charged VAT.
  
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• Male coin spider bites off its own GENITALS after sex

  19-01-2015 16:03 via
  
  Scientists at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts found that by moving the excess baggage, the spider becomes lighter on his feet and better able to keep rivals away from his freshly impregnated mate.
  
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• Turmeric prevents fear being stored in the brain, scientists claim

  19-01-2015 15:57 via
  
  Psychologists from The City University of New York found that the Indian spice also removed pre-existing fear memories in the brains of rats.
  
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• GTA 5: New bonuses will see fans receive boost from Rockstar, with cash and more planned

  19-01-2015 15:09
  
  ROCKSTAR have promised a new in-game cash injection, worth as much as $1.3m.
  
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• SFO closes probe into Autonomy sale

  19-01-2015 15:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Serious Fraud Office closes its investigation into the 2011 takeover of UK software firm Autonomy by computer giant Hewlett-Packard.
  
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• Details of Magic Leap's augmented headset appear in patent

  19-01-2015 15:00 via
  
  Until now, very few details about the Florida-based technology had been revealed. The patent has revealed how the headset could potentially look (pictured) and work, including example uses.
  
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• Estate agents and traffic wardens will be replaced by ROBOTS in 50 years

  19-01-2015 14:53 via
  
  Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a research fellow in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies, has predicted that care for the elderly and even children are among the jobs soon to be replaced.
  
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• Microsoft patent reveals mode that automatically mutes and dims phones

  19-01-2015 14:49 via
  
  Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has been granted a patent (pictured) for its 'inconspicuous mode' for smartphones, which would use a calendar to detect when to mute a device.
  
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• Death of a salesman? Estate agents and traffic wardens will be replaced by ROBOTS in 50 years, expert predicts

  19-01-2015 14:41 via
  
  Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a research fellow in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies, has predicted that care for the elderly and even children are among the jobs soon to be replaced.
  
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• Halo Master Chief Collection: New update aims to fix lingering matchmaking errors

  19-01-2015 14:40
  
  HALO: The Master Chief Collection is getting a new update aiming to sort out lingering matchmaking errors and tuning general gameplay.
  
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• Forget fingerprints, crimes could be solved by BODY SHAPE

  19-01-2015 14:30 via
  
  Experts studied the anatomical measurements of 4,000 US armed services personnel, and compared eight facial and eight body measurements to see if the body could be used for identification.
  
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• Fossils suggest dinosaurs lived in families and cared for their young

  19-01-2015 14:25 via
  
  Researchers from the University of Lincoln studied remains of Philydrosauras. The fossils included an adult and six juveniles (pictured). This suggests they were living as a family when they died.
  
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• Dating apps 'expose' location data

  19-01-2015 14:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Many mobile dating apps can be hacked to expose the exact location of users, warn security experts.
  
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