Sci-Tech news

• Cash questions dominate climate talks

  22-10-2015 23:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Negotiators meeting at UN climate talks in Germany say that questions over cash are the biggest barrier to a new global deal.
  
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• Google's Alphabet in big profit jump

  22-10-2015 23:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Alphabet the new parent company of Google, reports profits up almost 50% for the third quarter.
  
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• Scientists baffled by ancient carvings of civilisation that invented the toilet

  22-10-2015 23:36 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  London-based Andrew Robinson, author of ' The Indus: Lost Civilizations', says digital approaches to finding patterns in their mysterious script may soon help decipher the Indus language.
  
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• Experts reveal hi-tech extra-terrestrial cyberbattles to control surveillance satellites

  22-10-2015 23:34 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Satellites are becoming 'trophy attacks' for hackers, a a senior strategist at the European Space Agency has warned.
  
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• Amazon makes second surprise profit

  22-10-2015 22:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Internet marketplace giant Amazon reports a surprise profit for the second quarter in a row thanks largely to higher sales in the US.
  
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• Nasa gives go ahead to world's biggest rocket that will put man on mars

  22-10-2015 22:11 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The agency's Space Launch System (SLS) is the first vehicle designed to meet the challenges of the journey to Mars and the first exploration class rocket since the Saturn V.
  
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• California enormo-quake prediction: Cracks form between US boffins

  22-10-2015 22:08 via go.theregister.com
  
  Is destruction a certainty – or merely highly probable? NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) experts are arguing over the likelihood of a major earthquake hitting southern California in the near future.…
  
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• Drug made from bananas can kill viruses including hepatitis C and flu

  22-10-2015 21:58 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  University of Michigan researchers hope the new medicine will become a vital ‘broad spectrum anti-viral’ that could protect humanity from some of the most vicious diseases - perhaps even Ebola.
  
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• Astronomers reveal video showing eruptions on a red star OUTSIDE our solar system

  22-10-2015 21:05 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Astronomers from Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) in Germany made the film (still pictured) using data collected by the Stella robotic telescopes on Tenerife.
  
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• Visit seals deal on 'China Eden'

  22-10-2015 20:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir Tim Smit signs a contract to build an Eden project on the east coast of China.
  
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• Expedition seeks Atlantis microbes

  22-10-2015 19:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Monday will see an international team of scientists set sail for the mid-Atlantic on a quest to sample microorganisms living deep in the ocean floor.
  
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• Revealed: Myanmar's jade trade is run by former junta members

  22-10-2015 19:25
  
  Global Witness has released a report into the jade business in Myanmar that, for the first time, reveals the scale of the industry and details how it is controlled by the military elites associated with the junta that ruled the country until 2011.By: Greg Williams, Continue reading...
  
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• SPIDERS helped defeat Nazis when silk was used as crosshairs in gun sights

  22-10-2015 19:24 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The use of spider webs in Second World War weapons has been revealed by Ken Bass, a retired optical technician who says he used to gather the creepy crawlies from the North York Moors.
  
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• The plague was infecting humans 3,300 years earlier than thought

  22-10-2015 19:20 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The University of Cambridge say the ancestral plague would have been spread by human-to-human contact - until genetic mutations allowed the bacteria to survive inside fleas.
  
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• Calls versus balls: Monkeys with smaller testicles roar the loudest to make up for their shortcomings when attracting females

  22-10-2015 19:08 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  University of Cambridge researchers have revealed that male howler monkeys with larger throats tend to have more diminutive testes and produce less sperm than quieter monkeys.
  
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• Cancer Research UK's aspirin trial could be a game-changer for the disease

  22-10-2015 19:03 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The study will recruit 11,000 patients from across the UK who have recently had - or are having - treatment for bowel, breast, oesophagus, prostate or stomach cancer.
  
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• EU 'ineffective' on illegal logging

  22-10-2015 18:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  EU aid aimed at curbing the illegal timber trade was poorly managed, say auditors, who are urging better targeting and monitoring.
  
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• UK animal experiment count 'falls'

  22-10-2015 18:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Home Office's annual statistics show a 6% drop in animal experiments in the UK - but the office has changed the way it collects these figures.
  
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• First speakers announced for WIRED Retail

  22-10-2015 18:23
  
  The first 11 companies pitching on the Startup Stage at WIRED Retail Together with Valtech have been announced. They include some of the most innovative companies disrupting and challenging the retail sector.By: Catherine Lawson, Continue reading...
  
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• 'Tidal disruption' spotted in galaxy 'just' 290 million light years away

  22-10-2015 18:08 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Astronomers at the University of Maryland, observed the event, which is the closest tidal disruption discovered in about a decade.
  
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• Better data has the power to save more lives, says Melinda Gates

  22-10-2015 18:05
  
  Data has empowered Netflix and Amazon, and it's about to transform global developmentBy: Melinda Gates, Continue reading...
  
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• Instagram launches Boomerang mini-video app

  22-10-2015 17:44
  
  Instagram has launched a new app, Boomerang, which allows users to create and share mini-videos.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• An anonymous hacker is taking down racist websites

  22-10-2015 17:34
  
  An anonymous hacker has been carrying out vigilante attacks against a number of racist websites.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• 1,200-year-old Viking sword is found lying at the side of the road in Norway

  22-10-2015 17:18 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The sword (pictured) was found by a hiker in Haukeli in central southern Norway. It is 30-inches (77cm) long and is believed to date back to between 750AD and 800AD.
  
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• Instagram launches Boomerang: App stitches photos together to create a looping shot that's a cross between a GIF and a Vine

  22-10-2015 17:17 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Instagram's Boomerang is a free app available on iOS and Android. It takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a mini-video that plays forward and backward on a loop.
  
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• MP duped by 'Brass Eye' made chair of psychoactive substances committee

  22-10-2015 17:12
  
  David Amess, who thought Brass Eye's "cake" was a drug, is now chairing the psychoactive substances committee.By: Cara McGoogan, Continue reading...
  
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• Watch out bricklayers! Super-robot can move around building sites and arrange bricks without any human help

  22-10-2015 17:09 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  In-situ Fabricator (pictured) has been designed at the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication laboratory by a team of experts led by Matthias Kohler.
  
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• Can Fitbit really be hacked in 10 seconds?

  22-10-2015 17:07 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Malware researcher Axelle Apvrille, based in Sophia Antipolis in the south of France says an attack can be used to push malware over the device’s open Bluetooth connection within seconds.
  
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• What is climate change?

  22-10-2015 16:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What do we - and don't we - know?
  
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• Airbnb pulls posters telling San Francisco how to spend its taxes

  22-10-2015 16:35
  
  Airbnb has promised to take down a number of posters that tell public utilities in San Francisco how to spend the money they receive from taxes.By: Rowland Manthorpe, Continue reading...
  
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• Activision Blizzard makes a play to own esports

  22-10-2015 16:27
  
  Activision Blizzard is betting hard on the growth of esports, announcing the formation of a new division exclusively focused on building the competitive side of its business.
  It's clearly serious about raising gaming's profile as a legitimate avenue for sports too, as that new division will be headed up by Steve Bornstein, former CEO of America's ESPN and the NFL Network, major outlets for non-virtual sports. Bornstein will serve as the division's chairman, with esports pion
  
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• Spectre review: Bond struggles in a post-Snowden world

  22-10-2015 16:12
  
  Tux-wearing, womanizing secret agents are the past; drone strikes and the military-industrial surveillance complex is the future.By: Oliver Franklin-Wallis, Continue reading...
  
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• Nasa says there's a 99.9% chance of a 5.0 earthquake in LA in the next 3 years

  22-10-2015 16:04 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Nasa is basing its prediction on a study of the La Habra earthquake last year that relieved some of the stress in the fault system and shifted some of the upper sediments in the LA basin.
  
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• You can now give your PS4 a makeover with custom faceplates

  22-10-2015 15:55
  
  The PlayStation 4 is a great console, but short of limited edition models, it's limited as far as interior design options go. For the gamers whose hardware absolutely must match their living rooms, Sony has a solution in mind.
  The PS4 is designed to be fairly customisable. Chiefly, this revolves around an easily upgradable HDD -- a must, given that until recently the standard capacity was a rapidly-filled 500GB. To facilitate such drive swapping, Sony made the bay cover (the
  
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• DNA testing company relaunches in US

  22-10-2015 15:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A company has relaunched in the US after the Food and Drug Administration approved its DNA tests for 36 diseases.
  
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• California king snakes have rows of fatty molecules on their bellies to help them slither

  22-10-2015 15:37 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scientists in Oregon and Germany examined a skin shed by a California king snake (stock image shown) under a microscope to reveal the molecular make-up of the scales’ surfaces.
  
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• This airline wants to use your iPad for its in-flight entertainment

  22-10-2015 15:17
  
  Canadian airline WestJet have announced a new transatlantic service — without seatback entertainment.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• Nintendo updates on delayed Zelda: 'Every day we improve it'

  22-10-2015 15:14
  
  The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has indicated something may be in the works for the 30th anniversary of the original game next year.By: Matt Kamen, Continue reading...
  
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• Males claim to be attracted to women who are cleverer than them

  22-10-2015 15:11 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Men who claimed to be more attracted to women who were cleverer than them in fact distanced themselves when they physically met one and were less likely to ask her out, research has shown.
  
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• Melting ice could release devastating quantities of methane and accelerate global warming

  22-10-2015 14:48 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Professor Vladimir Romanovsky has warned that permafrost in Alaska could start to thaw by 2070, which could trigger the release of methane frozen in the earth.
  
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• DisneyLife takes on Netflix and lets you stream films and TV shows for £9.99 a month

  22-10-2015 14:46 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  DisneyLife (pictured) is launching in the UK on iOS and Android, including Chromecast, in November and will roll out to other European markets in the future.
  
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• Fitbits can be hacked to spew malware, security expert warns

  22-10-2015 14:44
  
  A hack could exploit Fitbit activity trackers "in just 10 seconds", but the company says the claims are false.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• Dead arms test role of clenched fist

  22-10-2015 14:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US scientists perform a macabre set of experiments to bolster their controversial argument that fist fights shaped the human hand.
  
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• Tim Cook: 'some people are worried' about China, but Apple isn't

  22-10-2015 14:25
  
  Apple CEO Tim Cook has offered his enthusiastic support for the Chinese economy ahead of the company opening its latest store in the country.By: Michael Rundle, Continue reading...
  
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• TalkTalk still down for many users on second day of outage

  22-10-2015 14:19
  
  Internet provider TalkTalk has been hit by an outage, with its website, webmail and broadband service all affected.By: Becca Caddy, Continue reading...
  
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• Fluorescent fingerprints make forensics quicker and cheaper

  22-10-2015 13:49
  
    When Australian materials researcher Kang Liang's home was burgled, he came up with a new forensic method to make fingerprints fluorescentBy: Cara McGoogan, Continue reading...
  
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• The snake's slippery secret revealed: Reptiles have rows of fatty molecules on their bellies to help them slither along

  22-10-2015 13:47 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scientists in Oregon and Germany examined a skin shed by a California king snake (stock image shown) under a microscope to reveal the molecular make-up of the scales’ surfaces.
  
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• Disney to launch Netflix rival in UK

  22-10-2015 13:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Disney is to launch its own subscription video streaming service in the UK.
  
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• Tesla autopilot 'driving dangerously'

  22-10-2015 13:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Videos posted online appear to show Tesla's new self-drive mode causing its cars to drive dangerously.
  
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• World's first personal computer the Kenbak-1 goes up for auction

  22-10-2015 13:32 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The $750 (£483) Kenbak-1 was designed by John Blakenbaker in LA before microprocessors were available and its memory contained just 256 bytes.
  
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