Sci-Tech news

• Apple Watche knock offs already being sold in China for just £25 

  10-03-2015 23:36 via
  
  Fake versions like these (left and right) are already on sale at Huaqiangbei electronics market in Shenzhen, mimicking the design and style of the new watch (centre) right to the digital crown.
  
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• The dog that can sniff out thyroid cancer: Frankie the German Shepherd detects the disease 'with 88 per cent accuracy'

  10-03-2015 23:35 via
  
  Researchers at the University of Arkansas trained Frankie to lie down when he could smell thyroid cancer in a sample of urine and turn away if it was clean. The test was done on 34 volunteers.
  
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• Facebook removes 'feeling fat' emoji after 16,000 people sign digital petition

  10-03-2015 22:08 via
  
  Facebook has removed the ‘feeling fat’ emoticon from its status menu after an online campaign from activists who complained that it was insensitive to people who struggle with eating disorders.
  
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• First UK-farmed truffle harvested

  10-03-2015 22:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The first truffle to have been cultivated on UK soil is harvested from a field in Leicestershire.
  
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• Frankie the German Shepard detects thyroid cancer 'with 88 per cent accuracy'

  10-03-2015 21:50 via
  
  Researchers at the University of Arkansas trained Frankie to lie down when he could smell thyroid cancer in a sample of urine and turn away if it was clean. The test was done on 34 volunteers.
  
  Read more

• The dog that sniffs out thyroid cancer: Frankie the German Shepard detects the disease 'with 88 per cent accuracy'

  10-03-2015 21:38 via
  
  Researchers at the University of Arkansas trained Frankie to lie down when he could smell thyroid cancer in a sample of urine and turn away if it was clean. The test was done on 34 volunteers.
  
  Read more

• Apple's website says its watch will go flat after three hours of calls or 6.5 hours of music

  10-03-2015 20:31 via
  
  The Californian firm defines the battery on its Watch product page and said a time check typically lasts four seconds long. It's likely that a notification illuminates the screen for a similar time.
  
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• Apple Watch critics complain about its usefulness and the price tag

  10-03-2015 20:26 via
  
  Reviews of the California firm's Watch have been positive but while many have said it’s the best smartwatch on the market the biggest criticism has been that it won't work without an iPhone.
  
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• Sun Strap backpack uses solar technology to charge USB devices

  10-03-2015 20:25 via
  
  A Minnesota-based company has developed a solar powered charger. Called the Sun Strap (shown), it can attach to any bag. Flexible and waterproof solar panels then charge devices.
  
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• CIA tried to hack Apple devices for nearly a decade, claim Edward Snowden papers

  10-03-2015 20:14 via
  
  Glenn Greenwald's news site, Intercept, claims it has seen documents that reveal CIA spies in Virginia created a version of Apple's software application tool to spy on users.
  
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• Men who hold doors open and smile may actually be sexist, study claims

  10-03-2015 19:57 via
  
  Boston researchers carried out a study into types of sexism. They say there are two types of male sexists, identifiable by their smile - hostile, who smile less, and benevolent, who smile more (stock image shown).
  
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• Scientists reveal the maths behind beards, bicycles and man buns

  10-03-2015 19:37 via
  
  Professor Paul Smaldino from the University of California has created a equation that shows how our common desire to be different means we will always converge toward conformity.
  
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• Man first learned to throw two million years ago: Change to collar bone and shoulders allowed human ancestors to use spears

  10-03-2015 19:27 via
  
  Scientists at the George Washington University in Washington compared the throwing skills of people from the Daasanach tribes in Kenya and Ethiopia with the skeletons of Homo erectus.
  
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• Galaxies on an interstellar collision course: Stunning image reveals streams of plasma as star systems hurtle towards one another

  10-03-2015 19:09 via
  
  Researchers in New Mexico have released an amazing image of the universe. It shows a region of space called Abell 2256 (shopwn) where galaxy clusters are known to be colliding.
  
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• Brain's 'GPS system' still works when we're asleep, study finds

  10-03-2015 19:07 via
  
  Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Centre, in New York, studied direction system in mice, which acts as a compass.
  
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• Samsung's virtual reality headset, a smart handbag and health-tracking earphones among gadgets on display at Wearable Technology Show

  10-03-2015 19:07 via
  
  More than 100 companies are displaying their products (Samsung's Gear VR shown) during the Wearable Technology Show at the ExCel exhibition centre in London.
  
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• Indebted Gigaom shuts down

  10-03-2015 19:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Gigaom, one of the leading technology blogs, has ceased operations after running out of money.
  
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• Solar plane arrives in India

  10-03-2015 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fuel-free plane Solar Impulse crosses the Arabian Sea from Oman to India on the second leg of its historic attempt to fly around the world.
  
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• Solar aeroplane sets new record

  10-03-2015 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fuel-free plane Solar Impulse crosses the Arabian Sea from Oman to India, setting a new distance world record for a flight in a piloted solar-powered plane.
  
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• Beliefs about women are betrayed by facial expressions, claims study

  10-03-2015 18:52 via
  
  Boston researchers carried out a study into types of sexism. They say there are two types of male sexists, identifiable by their smile - hostile, who smile less, and benevolent, who smile more (stock image shown).
  
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• Sarah Brightman working on song to perform from space

  10-03-2015 18:17 via
  
  At a press conference at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho the 54-year-old said her training lasts for 16 hours a day, starting at 6am, and this includes four hours of Russian language classes.
  
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• How a smile reveals how SEXIST men are: Beliefs about women are betrayed by facial expressions, claims study

  10-03-2015 18:10 via
  
  Boston researchers carried out a study into types of sexism. They say there are two types of male sexists, identifiable by their smile - hostile, who smile less, and benevolent, who smile more (stock image shown).
  
  Read more

• Why sleepwalkers don't bump into walls: Brain's 'GPS system' still works when we're asleep, study finds

  10-03-2015 17:49 via
  
  Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Centre, in New York, studied direction system in mice, which acts as a compass.
  
  Read more

• Brightman to perform song in space

  10-03-2015 17:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sarah Brightman reveals she has been working with former husband Andrew Lloyd Webber on a song she can perform while aboard the International Space Station.
  
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• The backpack that doubles up as a POWER PACK: $99 Sun Strap uses solar technology to charge USB devices

  10-03-2015 17:01 via
  
  A Minnesota-based company has developed a solar powered charger. Called the Sun Strap (shown), it can attach to any bag. Flexible and waterproof solar panels then charge devices.
  
  Read more

• 1.9m-year-old pelvis suggests early humans had tiny hips and spindly legs

  10-03-2015 16:23 via
  
  A fossilised pelvis and femur found close to Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley, Kenya, were narrower than modern humans. It is thought to have belonged to either Homo rudolfensis or Homo habilis.
  
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• Strange bodies our ancestors revealed: 1.9 million-year-old pelvis suggests early humans had tiny hips and spindly legs 

  10-03-2015 15:47 via
  
  A fossilised pelvis and femur found close to Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley, Kenya, were narrower than modern humans. It is thought to have belonged to either Homo rudolfensis or Homo habilis.
  
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• What's the point of the Apple Watch? Critics complain about its usefulness and the price tag - but shares prices are up

  10-03-2015 15:19 via
  
  Reviews of the California firm's Watch have been positive but while many have said it’s the best smartwatch on the market the biggest criticism has been that it won't work without an iPhone.
  
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• Why WAS Christy Turlington part of the Apple Watch launch? Former model is slammed for being 'irrelevant' and 'embarrassing'

  10-03-2015 15:15 via
  
  Former model and activist Christy Turlington Burns took to Apple's stage in San Francisco last night to show how she has used the Apple Watch to train for a half marathon in Africa.
  
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• 'Banning Tor unwise', MPs told

  10-03-2015 15:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Advice given to MPs on the dark web says it can be used in the public interest and that banning it in the UK would be difficult technically.
  
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• Charges over 'largest' email breach

  10-03-2015 14:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US has charged three men with carrying out the 'largest' email breach ever in which one billion email addresses were stolen
  
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• The Swirl tap creates vortex that feels softer on hands and uses 15% less water

  10-03-2015 14:19 via
  
  The Swirl tap was designed by art student Simin Qiu at the Royal College of Art. It has two spinning turbines in the tap head that send water into a hollow vortex that uses 15 per cent less water.
  
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• Alien moons could be more likely to host life than Earth-like planets, claims scientist

  10-03-2015 13:54 via
  
  Dr Sarah Ballard of the University of Washington was speaking to PRI. She said exomoons (one illustrated) could be the 'predominant sites of life in the universe'.
  
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• How long Apple's '18-hour' battery REALLY lasts: Tech giant's own website says it will go flat after three hours of calls or 6.5 hours of music

  10-03-2015 13:36 via
  
  The Californian firm defines the battery on its Watch product page and said a time check typically lasts four seconds long. It's likely that a notification illuminates the screen for a similar time.
  
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• Climate change is turning the world's oldest mummies into black SLIME

  10-03-2015 13:30 via
  
  Hundreds of mummies of children, babies and adults have been found in the arid sand of the Atacama desert in northern Chile but their skin is breaking down due to rising humidity in the region.
  
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• Scientists implant memories into the brains of mice while they sleep

  10-03-2015 13:13 via
  
  Scientists from the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris, France, implanted a new memory in a mouse brain, like in films such as Inception (a still is shown).
  
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• Wikimedia sues NSA over surveillance

  10-03-2015 12:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Wikimedia Foundation has launched legal action against the NSA over its programme of mass surveillance
  
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• NSA sued over surveillance programme

  10-03-2015 12:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Wikimedia Foundation has launched legal action against the NSA over its programme of mass surveillance
  
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• Nasa animation reveals perfectly choreographed orbits of craft around Earth

  10-03-2015 12:52 via
  
  Nasa scientists in Maryland have created a satellite visualisation (shown). It shows dozens of Earth-observing satellites currently orbiting our planet.
  
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• What the Apple Watch 18-hour battery life REALLY means: Tests show 'typical' use includes just 30 minutes of music and 45 minutes of app use

  10-03-2015 12:50 via
  
  The Californian firm defines the battery on its Watch product page and said a time check typically lasts four seconds long. It's likely that a notification illuminates the screen for a similar time.
  
  Read more

• Climate change is turning the world's oldest mummies into black SLIME: 7,000-year-old bodies in Chile attacked by bacteria thriving in increased humidity

  10-03-2015 12:42 via
  
  Hundreds of mummies of children, babies and adults have been found in the arid sand of the Atacama desert in northern Chile but their skin is breaking down due to rising humidity in the region.
  
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• Solar Impulse 2 pilot lands craft in Oman after 250-mile journey

  10-03-2015 12:42 via
  
  The world's first attempt at a solar-powered round-the-world flight has made its first scheduled landing. Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Muscat, Oman (shown) to allow the other pilot to take over.
  
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• Memories are IMPLANTED into the brains of mice while they sleep - and the technique could one day be used in humans

  10-03-2015 12:32 via
  
  Scientists from the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris, France, implanted a new memory in a mouse brain, like in films such as Inception (a still is shown).
  
  Read more

• Solar Impulse 2 takes off from Oman with new pilot onboard

  10-03-2015 12:26 via
  
  Solar Impulse 2 has begun the second leg of its journey, a 910-mile trip to Admedabad in India. It took off from Muscat International Airport in Oman at 2.35am GMT this morning (pictured).
  
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• Next stop, India! Solar Impulse 2 takes off from Oman with new pilot onboard as it continues its epic five-month journey around the world powered only by the sun

  10-03-2015 11:41 via
  
  Solar Impulse 2 has begun the second leg of its journey, a 910-mile trip to Admedabad in India. It took off from Muscat International Airport in Oman at 2.35am GMT this morning (pictured).
  
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• Does this balloon hold the key to finding ALIENS?

  10-03-2015 11:37 via
  
  The Planetary Atmospheres Minor Species sensor, developed by the University of Central Florida and Nasa scientists, can detect tiny traces of gas that may betray signs of alien life.
  
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• Apple's MacBook Air boasts 12 inch screen and is just 13.1mm thin

  10-03-2015 10:27 via
  
  Experts say the machine blurs the line between the iPad, iPhone and Macbook range. It was unveiled earlier today in California and will be shipped on 10 April.
  
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• Dailymail.com's verdict on the Apple Watch

  10-03-2015 10:26 via
  
  Apple’s Watch does what Pebble’s smartwatch failed at - create a beautiful, elegant device that works as a piece of jewellery, without even switching it on, says US technology editor Mark Prigg in Berlin.
  
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• Does this balloon hold the key to finding ALIENS? Laser sensor could help detect signs of life on other planets

  10-03-2015 10:17 via
  
  The Planetary Atmospheres Minor Species sensor, developed by the University of Central Florida and Nasa scientists, can detect tiny traces of gas that may betray signs of alien life.
  
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• Funny girls? Men prefer ones who laugh at their jokes

  10-03-2015 09:53 via
  
  Asked to choose between a woman who makes them laugh or one that laughs at their jokes, men prefer the latter, research from the University of Miami suggests.
  
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