Sci-Tech news

• Did the ROMANS discover America? Sword found on Oak Island suggests ancient mariners set foot on the New World before Columbus, according to radical theory

  17-12-2015 23:29 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Jovan Hutton Pulitzer has now put together a paper, along with researchers at the Ancient Artifact Preservation Society, to detail his findings on the Island.
  
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• Threat to Darwin's famous finches

  17-12-2015 23:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Galapagos Islands finches, which helped Charles Darwin refine his theory of evolution, are in danger of extinction, a study says.
  
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• Hubble Space Telescope spots forming star like a Star Wars lightsabre

  17-12-2015 22:52 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Hubble has revealed the 'cosmic double-bladed lightsaber'within a turbulent patch of space known as the Orion B molecular cloud complex, which is just over 1350 light-years away.
  
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• DIY Smart socks can pause Netflix when their wearer falls asleep

  17-12-2015 22:10 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  After an evening of binge-watching a show on Netflix, it's not uncommon to nod off and wake up confused many episodes later. The site has come up with a solution — but you have to build it yourself.
  
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• Now Nicky Minaj can tell people what she really thinks WITHOUT starting a Twitter war: Singer invests in anonymous messaging app

  17-12-2015 21:39 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Users on the free Blindspot app can message anyone in their contact list for one-to-one communication – sending text, images, voice-notes and video, all without revealing their identity.
  
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• Being angry at work could be GOOD for you: Researchers say 'moral anger' can actually improve workplaces

  17-12-2015 21:39 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The University of Liverpool has concluded that being angry at work is good, as long as its the healthy kind of anger. 'Moral anger' is beneficial for society as it anger towards unfairness or injustices.
  
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• Nasa/ESA Hubble Space Telescope photographs first predicted supernova

  17-12-2015 20:45 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  On December 11, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope successfully captured an image of the first-ever predicted supernova. Before, only pure luck has allowed scientists to glimpse them.
  
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• Leiden University Medical Center find horror films raise blood clotting chemical levels

  17-12-2015 20:43 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center have discovered that when we feel extreme fear under frightening situations our blood release a clotting protein that makes our blood curdle.
  
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• Dogs have demonstrated social skills for the first time by sharing food

  17-12-2015 20:29 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna have found that dogs will readily help each other out, without any immediate benefit to themselves, in order to share food.
  
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• Apple boss Tim Cook promotes Jeff Williams to chief operating officer

  17-12-2015 20:24 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Apple has juggled its executive team, naming its first chief operating officer since Tim Cook moved into the chief executive job some four years ago.
  
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• London-based Star Wars fan Scott Kelly designs banners for the franchise's planets

  17-12-2015 20:15 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scott Kelly, an art director and Star Wars fan based in London has designed 103 flags for planets in the Star Wars galaxy using the rules of vexillology. The flag of Tatooine with its twin suns is shown.
  
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• French railway tests camera software to track suspicious behaviour

  17-12-2015 19:58 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Paris transit authorities will add 40,000 surveillance cameras to railways to tighten security, and are testing a new software that can detect 'suspicious' behaviour and locate unattended packages.
  
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• Lords Select Committee claims UK has a duty to develop modified GM insects

  17-12-2015 19:33 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Field trials involving genetically modified insects should be carried out in the UK for the first time, argues a new Lords Science and Technology Committee report.
  
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• Human water use 'greater than thought'

  17-12-2015 19:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New calculations show that our already sizeable water footprint is 18% bigger than previously recognised - at 10,700 cu km a year.
  
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• US defence chief admits email mistake

  17-12-2015 17:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US Defence Secretary Ash Carter admits using personal email for government business was a mistake, following a furore over Hillary Clinton's email use.
  
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• Brazil WhatsApp suspension lifted

  17-12-2015 17:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Brazilian judge lifts the suspension of WhatsApp messaging service, imposed by another judge after the company failed to comply with a court order.
  
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• Eating too much can make you feel ashamed but only if the meal is cheap

  17-12-2015 17:12 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers at Cornell University in New York examined how people eating at an all-you-can- eat Italian buffet felt after their meals when they either paid $8 (£5) or $4 (£2). Stock image shown.
  
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• Champion Scrabble players use their brains differently to spot words

  17-12-2015 16:44 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  University of Calgray has found expert Scrabble players use different parts of their brains than everyday players, such as those associated with working memory and visual perception.
  
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• Tim Peake thanks Elton John for his good luck message on Twitter

  17-12-2015 16:12 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  British astronaut Tim Peake has finally replied to a good luck tweet from singer Elton John, saying: 'Thank you! Sorry for late reply. Was already in spacecraft when your message came in.'
  
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• Men believe 'they know best' when it comes to watching and buying TVs

  17-12-2015 16:12 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The results come from a study commissioned by London-based Freesat. The majority of men claimed to know more about TVs than women and this could explain why they hog the remote.
  
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• Bringing the Galapagos tortoise back from the dead: Long-lost relatives of extinct giant saddleback species found on nearby island

  17-12-2015 15:28 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scientists working for the Galapagos Tortoise Restoration Initiative have rescued a male and female giant tortoise that share genes with the ill-fated Pinta Island tortoise Lonesome George.
  
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• Google 'disappointed' by California's self-driving cars draft regs

  17-12-2015 14:22
  
  Google has expressed disappointment at California's first draft regulation for the wider use of autonomous cars on the road, which demands that a licenced driver be able to take over control at all times.By: K.G Orphanides, Continue reading...
  
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• Earthquake-proof bed 'swallows' you when it senses the ground shaking: Mechanism drops your mattress into a sealed box full of supplies

  17-12-2015 14:17 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  An animated video shows designs for a bed which protects its slumbering occupants during an earthquake (pictured). The concepts were designed by Chinese inventor Wang Wenxi.
  
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• US state sues giant tech support firm

  17-12-2015 14:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One of the world's biggest tech support firms is accused of "unfair and deceptive" tactics - an allegation it denies.
  
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• Badger cull total of 1,500 'met target'

  17-12-2015 14:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nearly 1,500 badgers were killed this year as part of the government's cull, figures reveal.
  
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• Porn filters not widely used in UK

  17-12-2015 13:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Parental controls, designed to filter out content unsuitable for children, have low take-up, according to an official report.
  
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• Launch embiggens Galileo satnav fleet

  17-12-2015 13:45 via go.theregister.com
  
  Two new satellites blast off, eight now in orbit Europe is now two satellites closer to firing up its Galileo satnav system following the launch today of Galileos 11 and 12.…
  
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• Alaskan Christmas lights put online

  17-12-2015 13:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An Alaskan family has added online controls to the Christmas lights adorning their home.
  
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• The Force Awakens review: almost the best Star Wars ever

  17-12-2015 13:20
  
    This is the Star Wars film you’ve been looking for. That’s not just a flippant pun: The Force Awakens is everything you ever loved about Star Wars.By: Oliver Franklin-Wallis, Continue reading...
  
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• Met Office: 2016 will be the hottest year in history

  17-12-2015 13:19
  
  The Met Office has released long-term figures indicating that 2016 is likely to repeat this year's record global temperatures.By: K.G Orphanides, Continue reading...
  
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• Experts warn 2016 will be the hottest year on record due to El Nino and global warming

  17-12-2015 13:18 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The forecast from the Exeter-based Met Office suggests 2016 will be between 0.72°C and 0.95°C above the long-term average of 14°C. Temperature readings from October are shown.
  
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• Getting cancer mostly down to environmental factors, not bad luck

  17-12-2015 13:12
  
  A new study has found that "bad luck" contributes only a 10 to 30 percent of cancer risk, with external factors responsible for the greatest risk.By: K.G Orphanides, Continue reading...
  
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• This software knows how memorable your face is

  17-12-2015 12:50
  
  If people are constantly forgetting that they've already met you, we've got some bad news -- your face may just be 'unmemorable'.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• SpeakEmoji translator app turns everything you say into emoji language

  17-12-2015 12:47 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Called SpeakEmoji, the app is available for free on iOS and Android and all translations can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, iMessage and more. It was developed by London-based SapientNitro.
  
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• The superyachts of the future revealed with underwater viewing decks

  17-12-2015 12:39 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  These futuristic concept superyachts boast mad designs and amenities that are so bold they may never see the light of day, including exoskeleton shells and 'skin' that can generate electricity.
  
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• 2016 'very likely' to be warmest

  17-12-2015 12:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new global temperature forecast from the UK's Met Office says that 2016 is likely to be even warmer than the record breaking 2015.
  
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• Study identifies area of brain that perceives music

  17-12-2015 12:23
  Listening to music often evokes an intangible, emotional reaction, and the neural basis of this reaction is just as complicated. Pitch, melody, rhythm and other components of music are all processed by various areas of the brain. Until now, though, no one neural population had been identified that could respond selectively to music as opposed to speech or other noises. Now, an MIT study claims to have found this specific neural population.By: Emily Reynolds, Continue reading...
  
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• Humans have been harming Earth for 6,000 years 'irreversibly' changing the world

  17-12-2015 12:09 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scientists at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC said farming (illustrated), hunting and habitat destruction has altered the distribution of animals.
  
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• Super-Earth Wolf 1061c is the closest 'habitable' planet outside our solar system

  17-12-2015 11:48 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Astronomers at he University of New South Wales said the rocky orb is more than four times the mass of the Earth, orbiting the star Wolf 1061 (illustrated) and is just 14 light years away.
  
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• Facebook's Instant Articles now live on Google's Android and Apple's iOS

  17-12-2015 11:35 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Instant Articles appear in a person's news feed with a lightning bolt icon in the top right-hand corner (pictured). It then opens faster in the Facebook app, rather than loading the publisher's website.
  
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• Men with moustaches outnumber women among top doctors

  17-12-2015 11:28 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Deans of medical schools need to hire, retain and promote more women, University of California San Francisco researchers said. The study was presented in the British Medical Journal.
  
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• Nasa's 2016 budget would make it illegal not to land on Europa

  17-12-2015 11:22
  
  Nasa's plans to send humans back to the Moon and possibly even further have received a huge boost after the US Congress decided to fund the space agency with an "extraordinary" budget for 2016.By: Michael Rundle, Continue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: New sonar device mimics dolphins

  17-12-2015 11:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers in Edinburgh develop a new type of sonar detector by copying dolphins.
  
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• Han Solo's Millennium Falcon from Star Wars would cost £200,000 a year to insure

  17-12-2015 10:38 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Cardiff-based insurance company Admiral said the quote was so steep because one of the named-drivers is a Wookie and warned it couldn’t offer breakdown cover.
  
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• Cancer 'not just down to bad luck'

  17-12-2015 10:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cancer is overwhelmingly a result of environmental factors and not largely down to bad luck, a study by doctors in New York suggests.
  
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• UK announces solar subsidy cuts

  17-12-2015 10:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK government says subsidies for small scale solar electricity panels on homes are to be cut, although by less than expected.
  
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• The BIONIC EYE that could help the blind see again: Argus implant uses electrical impulses to stimulate the retina

  17-12-2015 09:50 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The implant (pictured) delivers pulses of electrical current in people blinded by a rare condition in which photoreceptor cells stop working. It has been tested at Southern California University.
  
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• WIRED Awake: 10 must-read articles for 17 December

  17-12-2015 08:40
  
  Your WIRED.co.uk daily briefing. Today, Nasa's 2016 budget requires the US space agency to send a lander to Europa, Google isn't pleased with California's draft regulations for self-driving cars, Facebook's Year in Review lets you erase the bad bits of 2015 and more.By: WIRED.co.uk, Continue reading...
  
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• Greenland's shifting shape captured

  17-12-2015 07:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe's Cryosat mission is now monitoring the changing height of Greenland and its ice losses in unprecedented detail.
  
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• New insight into unstable blood vessels that trigger autism through neurological changes

  17-12-2015 05:38 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Scientists at New York University found postmortem brains with an autism diagnosis have blood vessels that are constantly in a state of flux, which causes neurological limitations.
  
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