Sci-Tech news

• Pac-man comes to Google Maps for April Fool's Day

  31-03-2015 23:25 via
  
  The California-based search engine is allowing users to play the classic Pac-Man game through virtual streets anywhere in the world using their desktop site or mobile app.
  
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• Amazon launches home ordering kit

  31-03-2015 22:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In an attempt to attract more household shoppers, Amazon unveils a button for replenish items such as washing powder and razors.
  
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• Raw waste can predict obesity rates with 89% accuracy say University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

  31-03-2015 22:28 via
  
  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee collected sewage samples from 71 cities across the US to reveal the urban 'microbiome' of a population - a key indicator of health.
  
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• Facebook launches scrapbook feature letting parents tag their babies

  31-03-2015 22:28 via
  
  The San Francisco giant's new service is designed to let parents create photo albums of their offspring and easily tag and share them.
  
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• Amazon reveals Dash button that reorders products from a fridge

  31-03-2015 22:28 via
  
  The Seattlefirm has teamed up with Brita, Whirlpool and others to create smart appliances, and will also offer standalone wifi buttons to order common items.
  
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• 3D scans can now reveal a person's biological age

  31-03-2015 22:28 via
  
  Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing have found patterns of ageing based on certain facial features that can be seen using a camera called the 3dMDface System.
  
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• Insect mother carrying young frozen for 100m years found in Myanmar

  31-03-2015 21:28 via
  
  A scale insect called Wathondra kotejai, preserved inside a piece of amber discovered in a mine in northern Myanmar, is thought to be the earliest example of parental care in insects yet discovered.
  
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• Evidence links China to GitHub attack

  31-03-2015 21:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Security researchers say "innocent" internet users are unwittingly carrying out the attack, most likely hijacked by the Chinese government.
  
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• Astronauts tests effects of zero gravity on ants in video

  31-03-2015 20:47 via
  
  The results of an experiment on the ISS, run by a team in California, to monitor how ants cope with zero-gravity (shown), has been published. When the ants tried to search, they struggled to keep their grip.
  
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• Microsoft's new Surface 3 to take on Apple's iPad and Macbook runs FULL Windows

  31-03-2015 20:31 via
  
  The Redmond giant hopes the new cheaper tablet will appeal to students and budget-conscious families - and lure buyers away from Apple.
  
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• Can you tell how fat a city is by its SEWAGE? Raw waste can predict obesity rates with 89% accuracy, claims study

  31-03-2015 20:31 via
  
  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee collected sewage samples from 71 cities across the US to reveal the urban 'microbiome' of a population - a key indicator of health.
  
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• VIDEO: £135k to move voles: Money well spent?

  31-03-2015 20:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  £135,000 was spent relocating water voles so work could begin dredging two Somerset rivers in 2014.
  
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• Is your iPhone passcode useless? Hack reveals how cybercriminals can bypass the four-digit code on your handset

  31-03-2015 19:52 via
  
  The hack was devised by experts from London-based MDSec. It takes advantage of a flaw in iOS 8.1 that creates a tiny delay between the PIN code being entered and the phone unlocking.
  
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• Ants in space! Astronauts watch as insects tumble and fall while trying to search an area in zero gravity

  31-03-2015 19:52 via
  
  The results of an experiment on the ISS, run by a team in California, to monitor how ants cope with zero-gravity (shown), has been published. When the ants tried to search, they struggled to keep their grip.
  
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• Spacecraft carrying nuclear explosives could launch by the end of the decade to save Earth

  31-03-2015 19:22 via
  
  A team of Danish scientists that wants to develop a spacecraft carrying a nuclear device to blow up asteroids is preparing to seek funding this year, shown in the illustration.
  
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• Mobile phone battery life could one day be 10 YEARS thanks to super-efficient chip

  31-03-2015 18:57 via
  
  San Jose-based Atmel has released its ultra-low power ARM-based 32-bit microcontroller that uses a third less power than rivals. This reduces the number of times batteries need to be charged.
  
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• HP files $5.1bn Autonomy lawsuit

  31-03-2015 18:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  HP sues Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch and ex-finance officer Sushovan Hussain, as Autonomy's former management says it will launch a counter-claim.
  
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• Yale University study shows important smartphone metals running out

  31-03-2015 18:29 via
  
  Researchers from Yale University found that supplies of gallium, arsenic and selenium, in particular, are at risk. These compounds are needed for circuit boards, batteries and displays.
  
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• Selfie stick for TABLETS so users can photograph themselves on a larger screen

  31-03-2015 18:25 via
  
  The selfie stick for tablets (pictured) is on sale from a Los Angeles, California-based company and includes a strong rubber clamp to hold the tablet in place.
  
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• Moon does not trigger periods of crime and illness is nonsense, University of California finds

  31-03-2015 17:33 via
  
  Dr Jean-Luc Margot, a professor of planetary astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, says theories the moon (shown) causes illnesses are rubbish.
  
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• Japanese scientists reduce levels of enzymes that produce eye-watering fumes

  31-03-2015 17:33 via
  
  Japanese scientists from House Foods Group used irradiating ions to disable the production of an enzyme called lachrymatory factor (LF) synthase enzyme that causes tears.
  
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• LHC fixes glitch, prepares for beams

  31-03-2015 16:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The short circuit delaying the restart of the Large Hadron Collider has been fixed, after a blast of high current melted the culpable metal particle.
  
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• VIDEO: Abandoned horses 'crisis' - RSPCA

  31-03-2015 16:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The RSPCA says it is looking after so many abandoned horses, donkeys and ponies that it cannot take in any more.
  
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• US makes climate pledge to UN

  31-03-2015 16:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US has pledged to tackle climate change by cutting its carbon emissions 26-28% by 2025.
  
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• Video reveals the bizarre shapes that form when lava is poured onto ice

  31-03-2015 15:57 via
  
  Geologists at Syracuse University in New York poured lava heated to 1,100 degrees C onto a sheet of ice. The lava turns the ice straight into steam and becomes a seething mass of molten rock.
  
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• New renewables break capacity bar

  31-03-2015 15:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New renewable generating capacity broke the 100GW barrier in 2014, equivalent to the entire fleet of nuclear power plants in the US, a UN report shows.
  
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• It's about the amount of TIME spent playing violent video games that's damaging

  31-03-2015 15:26 via
  
  Researchers at the University of Oxford found that children who play video games for more than three hours a day are more likely to be hyperactive, fight and not be interested in school.
  
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• Could 'petrol stations in the SKY' spell the end of stopover flights?

  31-03-2015 15:26 via
  
  The Cruiser-Feeder concept (pictured), from Amsterdam's National Aerospace Laboratory, involves a refuelling jet, carrying kerosene for up to five planes, located along flight routes.
  
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• Microsoft unveils Surface 3 tablet

  31-03-2015 15:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Microsoft shifts its entry-range tablets to Intel processors, allowing them to run a wider range of software.
  
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• Apple starts paying you to buy its iPhone in trade in scheme

  31-03-2015 14:55 via
  
  The Californian firm will now let people with Samsung, HTC, Nokia and BlackBerry devices trade-in their handsets for Apple Store credit. This credit can be used online or in store.
  
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• Monkeys shun eating and grooming to sit hunched on their own when 'mentally ill'

  31-03-2015 14:24 via
  
  Researchers at Chongqing Medical University, China, and Wake Forest University in North Carolina, examined depression in cynomolgus macaque monkeys living in social colonies.
  
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• Mammoth remains unearthed by oil workers in Siberia

  31-03-2015 14:24 via
  
  Palaeontologists estimate that the mammoth, which was found close to the town of Nyagan in the Khanty-Mansi region of Siberia, Russia, was a 30-40-year old female.
  
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• Could good posture make you more intelligent?

  31-03-2015 14:24 via
  
  Indiana University experts taught a robot to associate the name of an object with its location, while sat with a certain posture. When the object moved and posture changed, the robot failed to recognise the item.
  
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• Samsung and LG bury legal hatchet

  31-03-2015 14:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After a lengthy battle, the two firms have said they will seek talks in future disputes and leniency for each other in existing ones.
  
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• Will it be a tech election?

  31-03-2015 13:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Calls for the internet to be one of the key issues in the forthcoming UK election
  
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• Rosetta prepares for daring swoop through 67P's icy jets to find out what the comet is made of

  31-03-2015 13:21 via
  
  The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is getting ready for an adventurous pass through the geysers of comet 67P (shown) to find out what they are made of.
  
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• Polar bears are forced to raid seabird nests as Arctic sea ice melts

  31-03-2015 13:21 via
  
  Scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have observed polar bears in east Greenland and Svalbard raiding the nests of seabirds like barnacle geese and eiders for food.
  
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• Network of fungus could help fight climate change and pandemics, experts claim

  31-03-2015 13:21 via
  
  A group of experts based in Los Angeles, California, are making a film about the wonders of mycelium - a vast underground network of fungus - that absorbs carbon dioxide and holds soil together.
  
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• Turkey hit by massive power cut

  31-03-2015 13:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A huge power cut hits several cities in Turkey, including Istanbul's public transport network.
  
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• Mobile phone battery life will one day be 10 YEARS thanks to super-efficient chip

  31-03-2015 12:52 via
  
  San Jose-based Atmel has released its ultra-low power ARM-based 32-bit microcontroller that uses a third less power than rivals. This reduces the number of times batteries need to be charged.
  
  Read more

• Could mushrooms save the human race? Network of fungus could help fight climate change and pandemics, experts claim

  31-03-2015 12:52 via
  
  A group of experts based in Los Angeles, California, are making a film about the wonders of mycelium - a vast underground network of fungus - that absorbs carbon dioxide and holds soil together.
  
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• Audio clips reveal noises made by alien moons, comets and rocket launches

  31-03-2015 12:17 via
  
  The European Space Agency's Soundcloud page reveals clips of space that you can listen to. They include the noises heard as a probe landed on Titan in 2005 and a Soyuz rocket launch (shown).
  
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• Jay-Z, Kanye West and Beyonce unite music stars to launch new Tidal streaming service

  31-03-2015 11:18 via
  
  Jay-Z and Beyonce have signed up a host of stars to launch a streaming service to rival Spotify - and one with no free subscriptions so they earn more money from theartist-owned platform.
  
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• Listen to the sounds of SPACE: Amazing audio clips reveal noises made by alien moons, comets and rocket launches

  31-03-2015 10:55 via
  
  The European Space Agency's Soundcloud page reveals clips of space that you can listen to. They include the noises heard as a probe landed on Titan in 2005 and a Soyuz rocket launch (shown).
  
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• Ants in space grapple with zero-g

  31-03-2015 10:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A study finds that ants on board the International Space Station still use teamwork to search new areas, despite falling off the walls of their containers for up to eight seconds.
  
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• Garlic slows ageing and protects the brain from disease, study reveals

  31-03-2015 10:02 via
  
  Missouri researchers say a nutrient in garlic offers the brain protection against ageing and disease - and could even prevent use from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
  
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• 'Malodour map' reveals why the worst-offending factories moved to Brooklyn

  31-03-2015 09:36 via
  
  In the 19th century, it was believed that these foul odors carried diseases, so the New York City Metropolitan Board of Health created the map to highlight the areas affected.
  
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• Profits jump at tech giant Huawei

  31-03-2015 08:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies says profits jumped a third last year, boosted by strong performances in all its businesses.
  
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• Jay Z promotes music streaming brand

  31-03-2015 07:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some of the biggest names in entertainment have re-launched the music subscription service Tidal, which they claim will change musical history.
  
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• VIDEO: Artists unite for Tidal re-launch

  31-03-2015 05:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some of the biggest names in entertainment have re-launched the music subscription service Tidal, which they claim will change musical history.
  
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