Sci-Tech news

• $60 breathalyser can tell if you've had too much to drink and will call Uber to get you home

  18-02-2015 23:49 via
  
  California-based Breathometer has developed an app to let users easily call an Uber when their breathalyser determines that the user's blood alcohol content is near the legal limit.
  
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• Samsung to battle Apple Pay

  18-02-2015 23:32 via
  
  Samsung has bought Massachusetts-based startup LoopPay in a bid to create a competitor to Apple Pay.
  
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• Too drunk to drive? $60 breathalyser can tell if you've had enough - and will even call an Uber to get you home

  18-02-2015 23:11 via
  
  California-based Breathometer has developed an app to let users easily call an Uber when their breathalyser determines that the user's blood alcohol content is near the legal limit.
  
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• Samsung to battle Apple Pay: Korean giant buys LoopPay mobile payment system - and is set to launch it in Galaxy S6

  18-02-2015 23:08 via
  
  Samsung has bought Massachusetts-based startup LoopPay in a bid to create a competitor to Apple Pay.
  
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• Robots take the chequered flag: Watch the self driving racing car that can beat a human driver (sometimes)

  18-02-2015 23:06 via
  
  The Audi TTS dubbed 'Shelley' has been programmed to race on its own at speeds above 120 mph at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Northern California beat the track's boss by 0.4 seconds.
  
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• Neanderthal females fixed clothing while men made tools

  18-02-2015 22:04 via
  
  The Spanish National Research Council in Madrid made the discovery after analysing 99 incisors and canine teeth of 19 Neanderthals found in Spain, France and Belgium.
  
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• The DIY death ray: Solar-powered weapon that melts METAL using a 660°C beam is made in a back yard

  18-02-2015 21:54 via
  
  Kevin Moore and Grant Reynolds of the Science Channel in California, made a basic frame from wood and positioned a Fresnel lens carefully to create their 'death ray' capable of melting metal.
  
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• How a man's hand can reveal if he's BAD: People whose ring and index fingers are different lengths are stubborn and rude

  18-02-2015 21:39 via
  
  Men with small digit ratios (stock image) - defined as ring finger length divided by index finger length - were more agreeable than men with larger ratios, claim experts at McGill University in Canada.
  
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• Women were expected to do household chores 100,000 years ago: Neanderthal females fixed clothing while men made tools

  18-02-2015 21:37 via
  
  The Spanish National Research Council in Madrid made the discovery after analysing 99 incisors and canine teeth of 19 Neanderthals found in Spain, France and Belgium.
  
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• The Mail's Robert Hardman takes a spin in Britain's first driverless cars

  18-02-2015 21:10 via
  
  The writer took a test drive in two of the three driverless vehicles that are being trailed in Britain - likening the journeys to being driven by 'a chauffeur who is immune to emotion'.
  
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• Researchers grow miniature functioning organs on plastic chips

  18-02-2015 20:53 via
  
  Scientists in the US have created working lungs, guts, liver and bone marrow on plastic chips. The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is supporting attempts to join ten of these together.
  
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• Drug proves to be 'astonishingly effective' shield against AIDS in monkeys

  18-02-2015 20:52 via
  
  Scientists led by the Scripps Research Institute in Florida said that the eCD4-Ig also works on human HIV when tested in a lab dish.They are hoping to start human trials 'soon'.
  
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• New HTTP/2 protocol to speed up web

  18-02-2015 20:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The HTTP/2 protocol, which is promised to speed up webpage loading and make the web more secure, has been approved by internet engineers.
  
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• Samsung TVs fail to encrypt voices

  18-02-2015 19:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Samsung acknowledges that some of its smart TVs upload voice commands to the internet in an unencrypted form, making it easier to hack the data.
  
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• Have researchers found a vaccine for HIV? Drug proves to be 'astonishingly effective' shield against AIDS in monkeys

  18-02-2015 19:39 via
  
  Scientists led by the Scripps Research Institute in Florida said that the eCD4-Ig also works on human HIV when tested in a lab dish.They are hoping to start human trials 'soon'.
  
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• Scientists store data inside DNA that could last MILLIONS of years

  18-02-2015 19:38 via
  
  Researchers from ETH Zurich encased DNA in silica and subjected the spheres to extreme temperatures. This was designed to mimic degradation seen naturally on DNA (stock image)
  
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• Scientists unveil map of 'epigenome,' a second genetic code

  18-02-2015 19:36 via
  
  Scientists for the first time have mapped out the molecular "switches" that can turn on or silence individual genes in the DNA in more than 100 types of human cells in an MIT-led project.
  
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• Birdsbesafe collar reduces savage bird killings by cats by more than HALF

  18-02-2015 19:09 via
  
  The Vermont-based collar is called Birdsbesage (BBS) and is designed to be easily spotted by birds, reptiles and amphibians. These animals have advanced colour vision compared to mammals.
  
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• Red dwarf passed within just 0.8 light years of our solar system

  18-02-2015 19:09 via
  
  Astronomers at the University of Rochester have found that Scholz's star, discovered in 2014, passed so close it went through the outer Oort Cloud of comets that encircles our solar system.
  
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• Snapchat reveals valuation in latest funding round

  18-02-2015 19:08 via
  
  Snapchat is looking to raise as much as $500 million in a new funding round that would value the mobile messaging company at up to $19 billion.
  
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• Radical HIV vaccine ploy raises hope

  18-02-2015 18:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In a radical new approach to HIV vaccination, DNA in monkeys is transformed and seems to give total protection against the virus, US scientists say.
  
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• Watch the world's 'swarming' flight paths in action: Beautiful multicoloured visualisation reveals air traffic across the globe

  18-02-2015 18:11 via
  
  The flight visualisation (pictured) was created by San Francisco-based web developer Callum Prentice. He used data from Open Flights to plot the number and location of flights and airports around the world.
  
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• Mystery solved of how Earth's tectonic plates move solved: Plates 'float' on jelly-like layer of soft rock

  18-02-2015 17:43 via
  
  Together with experts from the US and Japan, a team of geologists from Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand, produced their own seismic waves using dynamite to discover the unusual layer of rock.
  
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• VIDEO: Hockney iPad artwork goes on display

  18-02-2015 17:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new exhibition by Bradford-born artist David Hockney opens in a West Yorkshire museum.
  
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• Jamie Oliver hacked! Recipe hunters exposed to dangerous computer virus

  18-02-2015 17:07
  
  TV chef Jamie Oliver has had his website hacked into by criminals and dangerous malicious code served to visitors.
  
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• Motorola boss at odds with Jony Ive

  18-02-2015 17:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Motorola's president defends letting users design their own phones, after Apple's Sir Jonathan Ive attacks the idea.
  
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• 'With no horn, I cough to make pedestrians step aside': The Mail's Robert Hardman takes a spin in Britain's first driverless cars

  18-02-2015 16:55 via
  
  The writer took a test drive in two of the three driverless vehicles that are being trailed in Britain - likening the journeys to being driven by 'a chauffeur who is immune to emotion'.
  
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• Cannabis: Promise, risk and controversy

  18-02-2015 16:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Light and the dark side of the controversial drug
  
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• Sony spins off video and audio units

  18-02-2015 16:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sony says it will spin off its video-and-audio business into a separate company as part of a three-year plan to return to profit.
  
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• Meet 'Homo chippiens', the human in a CHIP: Researchers grow miniature functioning organs on plastic chips - and hope to replicate an entire body

  18-02-2015 16:07 via
  
  Scientists in the US have created working lungs, guts, liver and bone marrow on plastic chips. The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is supporting attempts to join ten of these together.
  
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• Facial recognition breakthrough: 'Deep Dense' software spots faces in images even if they're partially hidden or UPSIDE DOWN

  18-02-2015 16:04 via
  
  The research was led by Yahoo Labs in California. Experts used a form of machine learning known as a deep convolutional neural network to train a computer to spot features in a database of images.
  
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• Plusnet investigates billing faults

  18-02-2015 15:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BT's Plusnet broadband service is trying to find out why it wrongly told customers they were being billed extra for going over their data allowance.
  
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• Malware on menu on Jamie Oliver site

  18-02-2015 15:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The celebrity chef's site suffered a "malware problem" after being hacked, but has since been fixed, according to a Jamie Oliver Group spokesman.
  
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• VIDEO: Records crash as US freeze continues

  18-02-2015 14:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As cold and snowy weather continues to affect the US, part of Niagara Falls has frozen over.
  
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• Why Facebook are preparing virtual reality apps

  18-02-2015 14:47
  
  FACEBOOK have revealed that their plans for the Oculus Rift headset will include developing virtual reality versions of its apps.
  
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• Northern Lights in UK hailed as the 'best display in years': Photographer captures aurora off the Northumberland coast

  18-02-2015 14:46 via
  
  The spectacle (pictured) was captured by photographer Owen Humphreys by Dunstanburgh Castle, on Northumberland coast. He said: 'It was the best show I have seen for years.'
  
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• Circumcised men may soon be able to REGROW their foreskin: New technique could help increasing number of men angry they were given the procedure 

  18-02-2015 14:43 via
  
  Foregen, a U.S. company, is researching a way to regenerate men's foreskins – much like a salamander is able to re-grow a limb. The procedure is aimed at those angry they were circumcised.
  
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• RBS and NatWest to let customers access iPhone app using Apple's Touch ID

  18-02-2015 14:21 via
  
  The announcement by Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest is the first time Apple's fingerprint scanning technology has been used by a banking app.
  
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• Samsung's Galaxy S6 will have BUILT IN wireless charging

  18-02-2015 14:10 via
  
  In a blog post, the Korean firm said: 'With our upcoming Galaxy smartphones, users will be able to enter a new wireless world like never before.' A wireless charging plate is pictured.
  
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• Alien star invaded the Solar System

  18-02-2015 14:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An alien star passed through our Solar System just 70,000 years ago, astronomers have announced.
  
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• Google faces Android probe in Russia

  18-02-2015 13:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Search company Yandex files a complaint with Russia's competition watchdog about the restrictions Google places on Android phone-makers.
  
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• Constantly checking your mobile? Then you could be depressed, study claims

  18-02-2015 13:24 via
  
  Scientists from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, said that individuals who relentlessly check their phone (a stock image is shown) may be trying to improve how they feel emotionally.
  
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• RBS and NatWest banks to let customers access its iPhone app using Apple's Touch ID

  18-02-2015 13:22 via
  
  The announcement by Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest is the first time Apple's fingerprint scanning technology has been used by a banking app.
  
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• What exactly is 'game theory'?

  18-02-2015 12:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What is it and why does it matter so much?
  
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• London could become 'Britain's Atlantis': Map shows how the capital would be lost if the polar ice caps melted

  18-02-2015 12:50 via
  
  The maps and GIF were designed by Seattle-based visual artist Jeffrey Linn. This map shows London following a 181ft (40-metre) rise in global sea levels.
  
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• 'I want to have the first BABY on Mars,' says Mars One candidate Maggie Lieu

  18-02-2015 12:16 via
  
  Maggie Lieu, an astrophysics PhD student at the University of Birmingham, said: 'It would be incredible to be the Adam and Eve of another planet.
  
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• 'I want to have the first BABY on Mars,' says British candidate for one-way space mission - as TV company reveals plans for Big Brother-style show that could be beamed from the red planet

  18-02-2015 11:45 via
  
  Maggie Lieu, an astrophysics PhD student at the University of Birmingham, said: 'It would be incredible to be the Adam and Eve of another planet.
  
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• VIDEO: Limpet teeth 'strongest material ever'

  18-02-2015 11:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Engineers in the UK have found that limpets' teeth consist of the strongest biological material ever tested.
  
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• Google Street View goes to Greenland with glaciers, fjords and viking ruins

  18-02-2015 10:43 via
  
  Greenland is the 66th country to be added to Google's Street View mapping service and highlights include the Illulissat icefjord (pictured), and a statue of missionary Hans Egede in Nuuk.
  
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• The windmill reinvented: Dutch design for hi-tech 'floating wheel' to produce power from wind includes a hotel, restaurant and apartments

  18-02-2015 10:42 via
  
  Dutch designers have unveiled a radical new way to harvest power from wind withoug blades - using a giant 'floating wheel'.
  
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