Sci-Tech news

• Rare dinosaur skeleton goes on display in London

  03-12-2014 23:43
  
  A rare dinosaur skeleton goes on display at London's Natural History museum on Thursday—the first to be exhibited there in a century.
  
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• Battle of the Santa Trackers

  03-12-2014 23:20
  
  Two tech giants are tracking Santa.
  
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• California Nuke Plant Key in Quake Safety Review

  03-12-2014 23:17
  
  Boxer questions whether regulatory agency has ensured California's last nuclear plant is safe
  
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• Canada scientists bargain for right to speak out

  03-12-2014 22:56
  
  A union representing 15,000 Canadian government scientists said Wednesday their right to speak publicly about their work regardless of what they discover should be addressed in contract negotiations.
  
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• Researchers get a rabbit's-eye view

  03-12-2014 22:54
  
  As the two foolish pigs learned before running to their brother's solidly built house of bricks for safety, when the wolf comes calling, the quality of your shelter is everything.
  
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• Satellite time-lapse movie shows California soaker

  03-12-2014 22:54
  
  A new time-lapse animation of data from NOAA's GOES-West satellite provides a good picture of why the U.S. West Coast continues to experience record rainfall. The new animation shows the movement of storms from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.
  
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• Citizen science increases environmental awareness, advocacy

  03-12-2014 22:53
  
  Citizens who get involved in science become more environmentally aware and willing to participate in advocacy than previously thought, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. Citizen science projects can lead to broader public support for conservation efforts.
  
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• Laser sniffs out toxic gases from afar

  03-12-2014 22:53
  
  Scientists have developed a way to sniff out tiny amounts of toxic gases—a whiff of nerve gas, for example, or a hint of a chemical spill—from up to one kilometer away.
  
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• Ever tried a 'laser delicious' apple?

  03-12-2014 22:52
  
  The ability to detect when to harvest "climacteric" fruits—such as apples, bananas, pears and tomatoes—at the precise moment to ensure "peak edibleness" in terms of both taste and texture may soon be within reach for farmers, thanks to the work of a team of researchers from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon and the Université de Bretagne Occidentale de Brest in France.
  
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• Launch of new Orion spaceship has NASA flying high

  03-12-2014 22:49
  
  With the imminent debut of its Orion spacecraft, NASA is on a high not felt since the space shuttle days.
  
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• Iran hackers penetrate key world networks: researchers

  03-12-2014 22:48
  
  Iranian hackers have managed to penetrate and steal information from governments and companies around the world since 2012, posing a grave security threat, researchers say in a new report,
  
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• What to Know About NASA's Orion Space Capsule Launch

  03-12-2014 22:27 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Orion is a new capsule for manned-space flight, and it will get its first test in orbit when it makes two rotations around the planet and lands off the coast of San Diego. Alan Boyle reports.
  
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• University of Texas: Missing brains were destroyed

  03-12-2014 22:27
  
  School officials say dozens of human brains reported missing from a University of Texas research lab in Austin were actually destroyed about 12 years ago because they were in poor condition.
  
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• New York police to wear body cameras

  03-12-2014 22:20
  
  About three dozen police officers will be fitted with body cameras in New York by this weekend, as part of a three-month pilot program.
  
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• It's Now Easier to Prove to Google You're A Human

  03-12-2014 22:13
  
  There's now an easier way to prove to Google that you're not a robot.
  
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• Sony denies it will soon name N Korea as hacker

  03-12-2014 21:59
  
  Sony Pictures said Wednesday that the investigation into the cyberattack that crippled its computer systems is continuing and denied a report that it is poised to name North Korea as the culprit.
  
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• Reducing drug allergies without compromising efficacy

  03-12-2014 21:58
  
  An enzyme that usually triggers strong allergic reactions now circulates in the veins of a group of mice without alerting the immune system. As INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre Professor Marc A. Gauthier explains in an article published in the journal Nature Communications, a polymer was used to camouflage the enzyme before it was injected into the rodents. This was achieved by coating the enzyme to avoid an immune response in a manner that does not compromise its ac
  
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• Happy 20th birthday, PlayStation!

  03-12-2014 21:57 via rss.cnn.com
  
  The PlayStation gaming console wrapped up its second decade on Wednesday, and Sony celebrated by looking to the past.
  
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• Work on Rome subway digs up ancient farm, tools

  03-12-2014 21:21
  
  Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient commercial farm in the heart of modern Rome, taking advantage of subway construction to explore deeply in urban settings.
  
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• Photos: Cuteness Overload! 3 Newborn Lion Cubs Make Their Debut

  03-12-2014 21:21
  
  Absolutely adorable baby animals!
  
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• Archaeologists uncover piece of America's slavery history

  03-12-2014 21:11
  
  Over the course of just a few decades at the turn of the 19th century, some 100,000 slaves arrived in the US at Gadsden's Wharf, in Charleston, South Carolina.
  
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• 'Clean' Sun-Like Stars a Boon for Alien Planet Hunters - Discovery News

  03-12-2014 21:11 via news.discovery.com
  
  Maine News Online
  'Clean' Sun-Like Stars a Boon for Alien Planet Hunters
  Discovery News
  Dust gets everywhere, particularly around young stars. But when it comes to the presence of dust in their interplanetary environments, many mature sun-like stars appear to be very house-proud, providing astronomers with better conditions to seek out and ...
  Some Insights into Exoplanetary StudiesMaine News Online
  Scientists accurately quantify dust around planets in search for lifeAstronomy Maga
  
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• What Makes a Good Gadget Gift

  03-12-2014 21:00
  
  Sometimes a cool gadget seems like the perfect present for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list.
  
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• Commuting linked to lower life satisfaction

  03-12-2014 20:20
  
  The more time you spend getting to and from work, the less likely you are to be satisfied with life, says a new Waterloo study.
  
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• Kill This Wolf and More Sheep Will Die, Study Suggests - NBCNews.com

  03-12-2014 20:17 via nbcnews.com
  
  NBCNews.com
  Kill This Wolf and More Sheep Will Die, Study Suggests
  NBCNews.com
  New scientific evidence published Wednesday could influence how gray wolves are managed in the Pacific Northwest — but it may not sway the decades-long debate over reintroducing the species to its native ranges in the region. One group fighting that ...
  Why Killing Wolves Might Not Save LivestockNational Geographic
  Effects of Wolf Mortality on Livestock DepredationThe Spokesman Review
  Lethal cont
  
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• Did North Korea really hack Sony Pictures? Some experts aren't so sure - Mashable

  03-12-2014 20:16 via mashable.com
  
  New York Times
  Did North Korea really hack Sony Pictures? Some experts aren't so sure
  Mashable
  "Hacked by #GOP," the text read, referring to a group calling itself Guardians of Peace. "Obey us," they wrote in the message, plastered over a drawing of a skull that seemed to be lifted from children's horror book cover. See also: Egyptian Cyber Army: The ...
  Sony to name N. Korea as source behind cyber attack - tech blogReuters
  More signs North Korea may
  
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• NASA's first Orion launch will test tech that could take humans to Mars - Computerworld

  03-12-2014 20:12 via computerworld.com
  
  Computerworld
  NASA's first Orion launch will test tech that could take humans to Mars
  Computerworld
  The Orion spacecraft and Delta IV rocket can be seen inside the mobile service tower at Cape Canaveral. Launch of the spacecraft is set for Thursday at 7:05 a.m. ET. Credit: NASA. During Thursday's test flight, Orion will fly 15 times higher than the space ...
  Inside the Orion Space Capsule That Could One Day Take Astronauts to MarsABC News
  December 3, 2014 in Delta 4: Pr
  
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• Sony to Name North Korea as Source of Hack: Re/Code

  03-12-2014 20:10 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Re/code first reported on Nov. 28 Sony was investigating the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea was behind an attack.
  
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• Are we human or are we spammer? Google KILLS the CAPTCHA - The Register

  03-12-2014 20:09 via theregister.co.uk
  
  Mashable
  Are we human or are we spammer? Google KILLS the CAPTCHA
  The Register
  Google has introduced a new CAPTCHA-like system to let people into websites with only a single click. The "No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA" offers a tick box for humans to check, rather than distorted text to decipher. It's designed so that automated spam software ...
  Google is trying to change CAPTCHA as we know itSlashGear
  Google now lets you prove your humanity with a single clickEngadget
  Goo
  
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• Check less to reduce email stress

  03-12-2014 20:04
  
  Is your inbox burning you out? Then take heart - research from the University of British Columbia suggests that easing up on email checking can help reduce psychological stress.
  
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• Scientists concerned that culture of research can hinder scientific endeavor

  03-12-2014 20:00
  
  Aspects of the culture of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) can encourage poor research practices and hinder the production of high quality science, according to scientists who took part in a project exploring the ethical consequences of the culture of research led by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.
  
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• Lethal control of wolves backfires on livestock

  03-12-2014 20:00
  
  Washington State University researchers have found that it is counter-productive to kill wolves to keep them from preying on livestock. Shooting and trapping lead to more dead sheep and cattle the following year, not fewer.
  
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• Koalas selective about eucalyptus leaves at mealtime

  03-12-2014 20:00
  
  Koala population distribution may be influenced by eucalyptus leaf toxin and nutrient content, especially in areas with low-quality food options, according to a study published December 3, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Eleanor Stalenberg from The Australian National University and colleagues.
  
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• Arabian Sea humpback whale population may have been isolated for about 70,000 years

  03-12-2014 20:00
  
  A population of humpback whales that resides in the Arabian Sea may have been isolated for ~70,000 years, according to a study published December 3, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Cristina Pomilla, Ana Rita Amaral, Howard Rosenbaum, and Tim Collins of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and their colleagues.
  
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• Microsoft shareholders approve $84 billion CEO pay

  03-12-2014 19:54
  
  Microsoft shareholders have approved an $84 billion pay package for new CEO Satya Nadella, despite concerns raised by an investor advisory group.
  
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• Boeing completes test flight with 'green diesel'

  03-12-2014 19:53
  
  Boeing announced Wednesday that it completed the first test flight with "green diesel," which offers potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in aviation.
  
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• Stephen Hawking: Artificial intelligence could end human race - Fox News

  03-12-2014 19:50 via foxnews.com
  
  Fox News
  Stephen Hawking: Artificial intelligence could end human race
  Fox News
  Stephen Hawking recently began using a speech synthesizer system that uses artificial intelligence to predict words he might use. (Flickr/NASA HQ PHOTO.) The eminent British physicist Stephen Hawking warns that the development of intelligent machines ...
  Intel 'Dramatically' Improves Stephen Hawking's CommunicationPC Magazine
  Genuine concerns about artificial intelligenceFinancial Times
  
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• Google Is Giving Inbox Invites Out To Anyone Who Asks, But Only For The Next ... - TechCrunch

  03-12-2014 19:41 via techcrunch.com
  
  TechCrunch
  Google Is Giving Inbox Invites Out To Anyone Who Asks, But Only For The Next ...
  TechCrunch
  Are you still trying to get an invite to Google's Inbox? Did you miss that massive invite-spree last month, where everyone who asked nicely got an invite? Fear not! They're doing it again. If you still need an invite, Google is doing the happy-hour thing again this ...
  Google hopes to one day replace Gmail with Inbox, but will ultimately decide ...VentureBeat
  Google In
  
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• California bans coyote hunts that offer prizes

  03-12-2014 19:30
  
  California wildlife officials have banned coyote hunting contests that offered cash and prizes up to $500 to the top marksman and sparked a culture clash in the state.
  
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• Steve Jobs Knew 'Not Much' About iPod Suit: Deposition

  03-12-2014 19:27 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Late Apple founder Steve Jobs told attorneys that that he had "not much" understanding of why the company he co-founded was being sued.
  
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• Honda, Takata at odds over nationwide recall - USA TODAY

  03-12-2014 19:26 via usatoday.com
  
  USA TODAY
  Honda, Takata at odds over nationwide recall
  USA TODAY
  WASHINGTON — Under pressure from federal regulators, Honda is expanding a recall of driver's side air bags to all 50 states. The air bags, made by Japanese supplier Takata, can explode with too much force, sending metal shrapnel into the passenger ...
  Obama teases out common ground at BRTNBCNews.com
  Takata balks on expanding US airbag recall. 'Disappointing,' regulators say.Christian Science Monitor
  
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• ‏YotaPhone 2 - Stuff.tv

  03-12-2014 19:14 via stuff.tv
  Stuff.tv
  ‏YotaPhone 2
  Stuff.tv
  First they killed the home phone, then the MP3 player. Now they're taking little knife swipes at cameras, slicing a little deeper every month. The YotaPhone 2 explores a new avenue for the little gadget gremlins to exploit: by being an ebook reader as well as a ...
  
  and more »
  
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• Oldest engraving rewrites view of human history

  03-12-2014 19:14
  
  Anthropologists on Wednesday said they had found the earliest engraving in human history on a fossilised mollusc shell some 500,000 years old, unearthed in colonial-era Indonesia.
  
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• Tinkering with the Tao of pandas

  03-12-2014 19:09
  
  Good news on the panda front: Turns out they're not quite as delicate - and picky - as thought.
  
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• Small drains mean big problems at 'baby beaches'

  03-12-2014 19:07
  
  High fecal counts frequently detected at so-called "baby beaches" may not be diaper-related. UC Irvine researchers found that during summer months, small drainpipes emptying into enclosed ocean bays have a disproportionate impact on calmer waters. The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
  
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• Birds conform to local 'traditions'

  03-12-2014 19:00
  
  Birds learn new foraging techniques by observing others in their social network, 'copycat' behaviour that can sustain foraging 'traditions' that last years, according to a study of how innovations spread and persist in wild great tits (Parus major).
  
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• Neural 3-D compass discovered in mammalian brain

  03-12-2014 19:00
  
  Pilots are trained to guard against vertigo: a sudden loss of the sense of vertical direction that renders them unable to tell "up" from "down" and sometimes even leads to crashes. Coming up out of a subway station can produce similar confusion: For a few moments, you are unsure which way to go, until regaining your sense of direction. In both cases, the disorientation is thought to be caused by a temporary malfunction of a brain circuit that operates as a three-dimensional (3D) compass.
  
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• World's fastest 2-D camera may enable new scientific discoveries

  03-12-2014 19:00
  
  A team of biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Lihong Wang, PhD, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has developed the world's fastest receive-only 2-D camera, a device that can capture events up to 100 billion frames per second.
  
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• Protect the world's deltas

  03-12-2014 18:59
  
  Extensive areas of the world's deltas—which accommodate major cities such as Shanghai, Dhaka and Bangkok—will be drowned in the next century by rising sea levels, according to a Comment piece in this week's Nature.
  
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• Engineers Move Toward Using Light Instead of Wires Inside Computers

  03-12-2014 18:50 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using a new algorithm, engineers from Stanford University have developed a prism-like device that can split a beam of light into different colors and bend the light at right angles, a development that could eventually lead to computers that use optics, rather than electricity, to carry data. They describe what they call an “optical link” […]
  The post Engineers Move Toward Using Light Instead of Wires Inside Computers appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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