Sci-Tech news

• US lawmakers want social media firms to report terrorists

  08-12-2015 23:32
  
  Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require technology companies to report online terrorist activity they become aware of to law enforcement.
  
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• Lawmakers want social media companies to report extremists (Update)

  08-12-2015 23:32
  
  Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation to require social media companies to report any online extremist activity they become aware of to law enforcement.
  
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• Facebook lifts ban on content from rival social network Tsu

  08-12-2015 23:32
  
  Facebook has lifted a ban that blocked material from Tsu.co, a small rival challenging the world's largest social network's financial dependence on free content shared by its 1.5 billion users.
  
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• Silicon Valley Faces Calls to Help Fight Online Extremism

  08-12-2015 23:11 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Silicon Valley is facing renewed calls to help combat ISIS on the Internet, while also grappling with the concern of balancing both the liberty and security of users.
  
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• Men have a better sense of direction than women, study says

  08-12-2015 22:24
  
  In classic men vs. women moment, it looks like there might be a partial answer to the age-old road trip question, “honey, are we lost?”
  
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• Verizon sees possible bid for Yahoo assets

  08-12-2015 22:14
  
  Verizon's top executive on Tuesday left open the possibility that the US telecom giant could make a bid for Yahoo if the Internet firm puts itself up for sale.
  
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• Review: Ditch your PC, if you're willing to suffer a little

  08-12-2015 22:13
  
  Plenty of people do all their Facebooking, YouTubing, Web surfing and whatnot on mobile devices. But not everyone. Lots of us still rely on personal computers for plenty of tasks. Take writers, for instance, for whom a physical keyboard is often a must.
  
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• Swimming bacteria, sperm increase speed through 'corridors' of low viscosity fluid

  08-12-2015 21:40
  
  New research findings are yielding insights into the physics behind the swimming behavior of bacteria and spermatozoa that could lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms affecting fertility and formation of bacterial biofilms that foul everything from implantable medical devices to industrial pipes.
  
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• Hyperloop to test super-rapid transport in North Las Vegas

  08-12-2015 21:35
  
  A California company set on building a futuristic, super high-speed transportation system announced Tuesday that it will build a test track in North Las Vegas.
  
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• California firm Hyperloop to test engine in southern Nevada

  08-12-2015 21:35
  
  A California company with visions of building a futuristic transportation system to one day zip people and packages at nearly the speed of sound announced Tuesday it is building a test facility in southern Nevada.
  
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• California firm Hyperloop to build Vegas-area test facility (Update)

  08-12-2015 21:35
  
  A California company with visions of building a futuristic transportation system to one day zip people and packages at nearly the speed of sound announced Tuesday it is building a test facility in southern Nevada.
  
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• Auto safety ratings to include collision prevention systems (Update)

  08-12-2015 21:33
  
  The government on Tuesday announced plans to update its safety rating system for new cars and trucks to include whether the vehicle has technology to avoid crashes, in addition to how well it protects occupants in accidents.
  
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• Auto safety ratings to include collision prevention systems

  08-12-2015 21:33
  
  The U.S. government on Tuesday announced plans to update its safety rating system for new cars to include whether the car has technology to avoid crashes, in addition to how well it protects occupants in accidents.
  
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• Fear at the tap: Uranium contaminates water in the West

  08-12-2015 21:32
  
  In a trailer park tucked among irrigated orchards that help make California's San Joaquin Valley the richest farm region in the world, 16-year-old Giselle Alvarez, one of the few English-speakers in the community of farmworkers, puzzles over the notices posted on front doors: There's a danger in their drinking water.
  
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• Climate change didn't force Vikings to abandon Greenland, scientists say

  08-12-2015 21:29
  
  Climate change may not have played a role in Vikings’ 10th-century colonization of Greenland and abandonment of their colonies 400 years later, according to a new study.
  
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• Death Valley study helps determine evolution of western US landscapes

  08-12-2015 20:36
  
  The faulted alluvial fans near Badwater in Death Valley are amongst the most visited and classic landforms in the U.S. New mapping and dating of these landforms, presented in this open-access study by Kurt Frankel and colleagues, help to determine the timing of past earthquakes and how tectonic deformation is distributed across the western U.S. This in turn provides important data for seismic hazard mitigation and for understanding how the great landscapes of the western U.S. have evolved over r
  
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• NCAR develops method to predict sea ice changes years in advance

  08-12-2015 20:15
  
  Climate scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) present evidence in a new study that they can predict whether the Arctic sea ice that forms in the winter will grow, shrink, or hold its own over the next several years.
  
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• Titan supercomputer helps researchers explore explosive star scenarios

  08-12-2015 20:06
  
  Exploding stars may seem like an unlikely yardstick for measuring the vast distances of space, but astronomers have been mapping the universe for decades using these stellar eruptions, called supernovas, with surprising accuracy.
  
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• Scientist says he's found woman under the Mona Lisa

  08-12-2015 19:28
  
  Will the real Mona Lisa please stand up—or at least send us a signal from within the paint layers?
  
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• VLA Provides New Insights into Solar Flares

  08-12-2015 18:43 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Radio Telescope, along with other telescopes at ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths, astronomers reveal new insights into solar flares. Astronomers have made a significant step toward confirming a proposed explanation for how solar flares accelerate charged particles to speeds nearly that of light. This important advance was made […]
  The post VLA Provides New Insights into Solar Flares appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Astronomers Image the Expanding Shell of Supernova SN 2011dh

  08-12-2015 18:33 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using precise radio imaging techniques, astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have determined the size of the shock around supernova SN 2011dh and estimated its outward velocity. Supernovae, the explosive deaths of massive stars, are among the most momentous events in the cosmos because they disburse into space all of the chemical elements that […]
  The post Astronomers Image the Expanding Shell of Supernova SN 2011dh appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Using infrared cameras to measure sow temperature can lower piglet mortality

  08-12-2015 18:26
  
  Early detection of fever in sows can reduce piglet mortality and the consumption of antibiotics. Research from Aarhus University has refined a method that uses an infrared camera to remotely measure the sow's body temperature.
  
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• Federal regulations should be strengthened to prepare for potential spills of diluted bitumen

  08-12-2015 18:24
  
  The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) needs to modify its regulations and planning in order to strengthen preparedness for accidental spills of diluted bitumen from pipelines, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Diluted bitumen, a type of crude oil made from bitumen extracted from tar sands, has properties that warrant special preparations to limit environmental damage in the event of a spill, said the committee that conducted the study and
  
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• After the VTech hack, some tips on keeping your kids safe

  08-12-2015 17:57
  
  Parents around the world have been understandably shaken by the hacking of a VTech database containing information on the more than 6 million children who use the company's toys.
  
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• Portable device can quickly determine the extent of an eye injury

  08-12-2015 17:54
  
  An engineer and an ophthalmologist are developing a portable sensor that can quickly and inexpensively determine whether an eye injury is mild or severe. The device, called OcuCheck, measures levels of vitamin C in the fluids that coat or leak from the eye. The sensor could speed efforts to determine the extent of eye injuries at accident sites, in rural areas lacking ophthalmology specialists or on the battlefield, the researchers said.
  
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• Study advances understanding of photoelectrodes

  08-12-2015 17:53
  
  Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a new probe that could lead to a better photoelectrochemical cell.
  
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• NREL estimates economically viable US renewable generation

  08-12-2015 17:51
  
  Analysts at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are providing, for the first time, a method for measuring the economic potential of renewable energy across the United States.
  
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• Research looks at impact of hedge fund activism

  08-12-2015 17:50
  
  Hedge fund activism often initially bolsters the target company but new research has found that it weakens the competition, which may hurt innovation and the larger economy.
  
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• Scientists Develop a New Way to Deliver MicroRNAs for Cancer Treatment

  08-12-2015 17:48 via scitechdaily.com
  
  By twisting RNA strands into a triple helix and embedding them in a biocompatible gel, researchers from MIT have developed a new way to shrink tumors in mice with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Twenty years ago, scientists discovered that short strands of RNA known as microRNA help cells to fine-tune their gene expression. […]
  The post Scientists Develop a New Way to Deliver MicroRNAs for Cancer Treatment appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• On-the-go ultrahigh vacuum storage systems

  08-12-2015 17:45
  
  The train to Tsukuba, Japan often carries workers with briefcases and travelers with overnight bags, but recently a group of scientists took an unusual bit of luggage on board: a suitcase with an ultrahigh vacuum chamber to store air-sensitive clusters of platinum metal.
  
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• Ames Laboratory-developed titanium powder processing gains international customer base

  08-12-2015 17:43
  
  Titanium powder created with Ames Laboratory-developed gas-atomization technology has hit the market. Praxair Inc. now offers fine, spherical titanium powder for additive manufacturing and metal injection molding of aerospace, medical and industrial parts. It marks the first time large-scale amounts of titanium powder are available to industry with a potential for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing.
  
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• Researchers develop nanoscale probes for ssDNA sustainability under UV radiation

  08-12-2015 17:42
  
  DNA, which stores genetic information in the majority of organisms on Earth, is not easily destroyed. It readily absorbs ultraviolet (UV) radiation, but finds ways to recover.
  
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• 400-year-old embalmed hearts found under French convent

  08-12-2015 17:40
  
  Four hundred years after they were buried in heart-shaped lead urns, five embalmed human hearts have been discovered in a cemetery in northwestern France.
  
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• Textbooks on cells should be rewritten

  08-12-2015 17:37
  
  Ground-breaking new Danish research has shown that the current scientific description of the human cell cycle needs to be revised. These findings could also lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches to target an Achilles' heel in different types of cancers.
  
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• New survey on Americans' views on the influence of campaign donations on political system

  08-12-2015 17:33
  
  A majority of Americans believe that money influences decisions made by elected officials and favor full disclosure of the source of campaign donations, according to a new national survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Despite their concerns, the survey reveals that Americans favor keeping the current system of campaign funding in which candidates raise money through donations.
  
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• New Cassini Image Shows Tethys Dwarfed by Saturn and Its Rings

  08-12-2015 17:30 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This newly released Cassini image shows Tethys dwarfed by Saturn and its rings. Tethys, dwarfed by the scale of Saturn and its rings, appears as an elegant crescent in this image taken by NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft. Views like this are impossible from Earth, where we only see Saturn’s moons as (more or less) fully illuminated […]
  The post New Cassini Image Shows Tethys Dwarfed by Saturn and Its Rings appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Researchers resolve structure of a key component of bacterial decision-making

  08-12-2015 17:16
  
  For bacteria that swim, determining whether to stay the course or head in a new direction is vital to survival. A new study offers atomic-level details of the molecular machinery that allows swimming bacteria to sense their environment and change direction when needed.
  
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• Plant-inspired power plants: Developing catalysts that turn excess atmospheric CO2 into liquid fuel

  08-12-2015 17:11
  
  A team of chemical engineers at the University of Pittsburgh recently identified the two main factors for determining the optimal catalyst for turning atmospheric CO2 into liquid fuel. The results of the study, which appeared in the journal ACS Catalysis, will streamline the search for an inexpensive yet highly effective new catalyst.
  
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• Binge On: Netflix Doubles Down on Original Shows in 2016

  08-12-2015 17:09 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  If you thought you spent too much time binge-watching Netflix this year, just wait until 2016. The video streaming service has promised to nearly doub
  
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• As world talks climate, US city fights flooding, sea rise

  08-12-2015 17:06
  
  About 175 years ago, a Charleston mayor offered up a $100 gold medal to anyone who could solve the small coastal city's flooding problems.
  
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• Coldplay to stream album on Spotify after delay

  08-12-2015 17:03
  
  British rockers Coldplay, one of a select number of acts that have shied away from Spotify, will put their latest album on the leading streaming site after a one-week delay.
  
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• Moving matters: Ethnocentric behavior decreases when societal mobility rises

  08-12-2015 17:02
  
  One can't help but notice that migration is increasing. The trend over the last century has been toward greater mobility for more people around the world. Many people today live in a place different from where they were born, with different social norms and customs.
  
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• From food waste to food delicacies

  08-12-2015 17:01
  
  How do you like your fruit and vegetables - in the shape of crystals, syrup, powder or crisps? A new treatment method for waste products from the production of fruit and vegetables can turn some or all of the products that we usually throw out into delicious and exciting food products.
  
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• New theory describes ice's slippery behavior

  08-12-2015 17:00
  
  Winter is coming, promising the usual bouts of frozen precipitation for northern locations. The slickness of snow and ice is a big pain if you're driving, flying or walking, but can be a lot of fun if you strap on a pair of skis.
  
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• Breeding confident mink can have side benefits

  08-12-2015 17:00
  
  Mink that are confident by nature are easier for the mink farmer to work with. They also get less stressed when handled. These are two good reasons why mink farmers include this trait when selecting animals for breeding. A study from Aarhus University now shows that there is yet another benefit of breeding confident mink: They have a better fur quality.
  
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• Text messages that end in a period seen as less sincere, study finds

  08-12-2015 16:57
  
  If you don't want to send the wrong message, watch how you punctuate your texts. Text messages that end with a period are perceived to be less sincere than messages that do not, according to newly published research from Binghamton University.
  
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• New tool can help increase soil carbon content and thereby improve soil fertility

  08-12-2015 16:56
  
  Agricultural soils provide the basis for more than 90 percent of the global food production, but throughout the world there are serious threats to soil quality. Soil degradation reduces its fertility and threatens food supply in the long term.
  
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• Donald Trump Calls For 'Closing That Internet Up'

  08-12-2015 16:53 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has an idea for stopping ISIS from communicating online. He is going to close the Internet. "We're l
  
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• Measurement of volatile organic compounds may reveal wild rocket salad quality

  08-12-2015 16:43
  
  When consumers buy fresh fruit and vegetables freshness is of essential importance. Most of us have brought home packaged wild rocket salad or other leafy green vegetables from the supermarket - only to discover upon opening the package that the leaves are rotten and unfit for human consumption.
  
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• Pigs that are resistant to incurable disease developed

  08-12-2015 16:40
  
  Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) virus was first detected in the U.S. in 1987. Pigs who contract the disease have extreme difficulty reproducing, don't gain weight and have a high mortality rate. To date, no vaccine has been effective, and the disease costs North American farmers more than $660 million annually. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri, Kansas State University, and Genus plc have bred pigs that are not harmed by the disease.
  
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