Sci-Tech news

• How Video Games Are Helping American War Vets

  11-02-2016 23:46 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Army veteran Stephen Machuga founded Stack-Up.org, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that supports vets through a shared love of gaming.
  
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• DARPA Plans to Launch 130-Foot Robot Warship in April

  11-02-2016 23:22 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  It sounds like science fiction: an unmanned warship patrolling the seas, searching for enemy submarines. But this robo-boat really sets sail in April.
  
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• Time Inc. Buys What's Left of MySpace

  11-02-2016 21:26 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The company that owns the once-ubiquitous social network is being bought by Time Inc. to help the magazine publisher target ads.
  
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• Stop Encryption? Good Luck. It's Everywhere, Study Says

  11-02-2016 21:22 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Government efforts to put a 'backdoor' in encryption products so authorities can access encoded data are a pointless effort, says a Harvard study.
  
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• OK Go Goes Zero-Gravity in Latest Music Video

  11-02-2016 21:15 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The pop-rock band's latest music video was filmed aboard an airplane flying over Russia at zero gravity.
  
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• Updates on the fight to save amphibians

  11-02-2016 20:20
  
  On January 12, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed a ban on the import and interstate transport of 201 species of salamanders, in an effort to prevent the deadly fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) from reaching the United States. First discovered in the Netherlands in 2013, Bsal was found to have hitched a ride on Asian salamanders imported to Europe as pets. While some salamander species worldwide are resistant to Bsal, many European and North American salaman
  
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• Cruz app data collection helps campaign read minds of voters

  11-02-2016 20:03
  
  Protecting the privacy of law-abiding citizens from the government is a pillar of Ted Cruz's Republican presidential candidacy, but his campaign is testing the limits of siphoning personal data from supporters.
  
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• Research reveals carbon films can give microchips energy storage capability

  11-02-2016 20:00
  
  After more than half a decade of speculation, fabrication, modeling and testing, an international team of researchers led by Drexel University's Dr. Yury Gogotsi and Dr. Patrice Simon, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, have confirmed that their process for making carbon films and micro-supercapacitors will allow microchips and their power sources to become one and the same.
  
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• Neanderthal DNA has subtle but significant impact on human traits

  11-02-2016 20:00
  
  Since 2010 scientists have known that people of Eurasian origin have inherited anywhere from 1 to 4 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals.
  
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• First nationwide survey of climate change education

  11-02-2016 20:00
  
  How is climate change being taught in American schools? Is it being taught at all? And how are teachers addressing climate change denial in their classrooms, schools, and school districts?
  
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• By switching 'bait,' biologists trick plants' bacterial defense into attacking virus

  11-02-2016 20:00
  
  Scientists at Indiana University have modified a plant gene that normally fights bacterial infection to confer resistance to a virus.
  
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• NASA's two eyes on Tropical Cyclone Daya

  11-02-2016 19:59
  
  Two of NASA's "eyes" have been watching Tropical Cyclone Daya and providing data to forecasters. As Tropical Cyclone Daya continued to move away from La Reunion Island in the Southern Indian Ocean, NASA's RapidScat instrument and NASA's Aqua satellite gathered visible imagery and infrared temperature data on the developing storm that showed its strength and development.
  
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• Hope for peace may be encouraged by enemies in Israeli-Palestinian conflict

  11-02-2016 19:57
  
  Jewish Israelis may feel more hopeful when they hear messages of hope from Palestinians regardless of whether they are portrayed as peace activists or former militia members who had attacked Israeli military targets, according to new research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
  
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• NASA's RapidScat spots newborn Tropical Cyclone Tatiana

  11-02-2016 19:56
  
  As Tropical Cyclone Tatiana was developing in the Coral Sea, east of Queensland, Australia, NASA's RapidScat measured the surface winds in the intensifying tropical cyclone.
  
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• Google 'Right to Be Forgotten' to Be Applied More Widely

  11-02-2016 19:11 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Google will soon start polishing search results across all its sites when someone searches from the country where the removal request originated.
  
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• Open-source textbooks gain in push for college affordability

  11-02-2016 19:09
  
  The standard textbook for Fundamentals of General Chemistry I at the University of Connecticut has a list price of $303. For students who use the version professor Edward Neth is preparing for the fall semester, the cost will be zero.
  
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• Gravitational waves found, black-hole models led the way

  11-02-2016 19:07
  
  Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1916, and now, almost exactly 100 years later, the faint ripples across space-time have been found. The advanced Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (aLIGO) has achieved the first direct measurement.
  
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• What 'tainted' engagement rings reveal about consumer expectations

  11-02-2016 19:04
  
  We're told diamonds—and their value—are forever.
  
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• Herpes outbreak, other marine viruses linked to coral bleaching event

  11-02-2016 19:03
  
  A study at Oregon State University has concluded that significant outbreaks of viruses may be associated with coral bleaching events, especially as a result of multiple environmental stresses.
  
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• 100-mllion-year-old amber preserves oldest animal societies

  11-02-2016 19:02
  
  Fighting ants, giant solider termites, and foraging worker ants recently discovered in 100-million-year-old amber provide direct evidence for advanced social behavior in ancient ants and termites—two groups that are immensely successful because of their ability to organize in hierarchies. The new work, led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Kansas, and published today in two papers in the journal Current Biology, proves that advanced sociality in
  
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• Einstein writings show theory 100 years ahead of time

  11-02-2016 18:40
  
  It took a century, but the theory from Albert Einstein handwritten neatly on paper that is now yellowing has finally been vindicated.
  
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• Young adults swipe right on Tinder, but is it just a game?

  11-02-2016 18:26
  
  Online dating services are now hip with young adults, but not always for dating.
  
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• GGC physicist leads team in innovative black hole research

  11-02-2016 18:23
  
  Black holes are the subject of much fascination, not just in science but also in popular media. For example, the 2014 movie "Interstellar" portrays a fast-rotating, supermassive black hole, into which the protagonist falls in order to probe its center.
  
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• A 'magical' space-time ripple that wasn't believed, at first

  11-02-2016 18:19
  
  The wave that made history snuck up on them. David Shoemaker will never forget the date—September 14, 2015—when he woke up to a message alerting him that an underground detector had spotted a 1.3-billion-year-old ripple in the fabric of space-time.
  
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• Indonesia warns messaging apps to drop same-sex emoticons

  11-02-2016 18:16
  
  Indonesia's government has demanded that instant messaging apps remove stickers featuring same-sex couples, in the latest high-profile attempt to discourage visible homosexuality in the socially conservative country.
  
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• Testing detects algal toxins in Alaska marine mammals

  11-02-2016 18:15
  
  Toxins from harmful algae are present in Alaskan marine food webs in high enough concentrations to be detected in marine mammals such as whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters, according to new research from NOAA and its federal, state, local and academic partners.
  
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• 'Housing Policy Debate' publishes study on affordable housing

  11-02-2016 18:14
  
  Housing Policy Debate recently published a study on the effect micro-neighborhood conditions have on adult educational attainment in subsidized housing. University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's (Penn Nursing) Therese S. Richmond, PhD, FAAN, CRNP, the Andrea B. Laporte Professor of Nursing, and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, served as the study's senior author. The research team was led by former Penn Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society post-doctoral fellow, Laura Tach PhD
  
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• Oldest footprints in Catalonia

  11-02-2016 18:12
  
  The ichnites or fossilised footprints of the Manyanet Valley (within the municipality of Sarroca de Bellera) are in two areas that differ in their environments: meandering fluvial systems in one and unconfined waters in the other. These two palaeoenvironments would have been inhabited by groups of different tetrapods during the Permian Period. The early tetrapods (from the Ancient Greek word meaning "four-footed") were the first vertebrates to tread terra firma, developing lungs to capture atmos
  
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• KSU researchers staying ahead of wheat blast disease

  11-02-2016 18:10
  
  In the past seven years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Kansas State University $6.5 million to keep a wheat fungus that has had a devastating impact on wheat production in South America out of the United States.
  
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• In-depth Q&A: Three researchers on the front line of today's gravitational wave discovery

  11-02-2016 18:07
  
  News broke earlier today that elusive ripples in space-time—known as gravitational waves—have been detected for the first time here on Earth by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).
  
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• New strategy results in custom 'designer proteins' for sensing a variety of molecules

  11-02-2016 18:02
  
  Biosensors are powerful tools in synthetic biology for engineering metabolic pathways or controlling synthetic and native genetic circuits in bacteria. Scientists have had difficulty developing a method to engineer "designer" biosensor proteins that can precisely sense and report the presence of specific molecules, which has so far limited the number and variety of biosensor designs able to precisely regulate cell metabolism, cell biology, and synthetic gene circuits.
  
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• Breaking cell barriers with retractable protein nanoneedles

  11-02-2016 18:01
  
  The ability to control the transfer of molecules through cellular membranes is an important function in synthetic biology; a new study from researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS) introduces a novel mechanical method for controlling release of molecules inside cells.
  
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• True love: How transcription factors interact to create a heart

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that three transcription factors—proteins that direct gene expression—interact with each other and the genome to influence how a heart forms in an embryo. Without these protein interactions, severe congenital heart defects can occur. By understanding how the transcription factors work together during heart development, researchers may discover new ways to treat heart disease.
  
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• Tiny worm opens big discovery on nerve degeneration

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  A discovery in a transparent roundworm has brought scientists one step closer to understanding nerve degeneration.
  
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• This is what a wasp sees to learn the way home (w/ Video)

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  When ground-nesting wasps leave their nests each day, they turn back toward home before flying along a series of ever-increasing arcs. While the insects gain height and distance, their attention remains focused on the nest. By reconstructing what wasps see during these learning flights, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on February 11 say that they have new insight into how the insects find their way home.
  
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• Researchers transform common cell to master heart cell

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  By genetically reprogramming the most common type of cell in mammalian connective tissue, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have generated master heart cells—primitive progenitors that form the developing heart.
  
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• Learning about struggles of famous scientists may help students succeed in science

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  High school students may improve their science grades by learning about the personal struggles and failed experiments of great scientists such as Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
  
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• 'Lasers rewired': Scientists find a new way to make nanowire lasers

  11-02-2016 18:00
  
  The nanowires, with diameters as small as 200 nanometers (billionths of a meter) and a blend of materials that has also proven effective in next-generation solar cell designs, were shown to produce very bright, stable laser light. Researchers say the excellent performance of these tiny lasers is promising for the field of optoelectronics, which is focused on combining electronics and light to transmit data, among other applications.
  
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• Time gets MySpace with ad platform acquisition (Update)

  11-02-2016 17:58
  
  US magazine publisher Time Inc. said Thursday it was acquiring the online advertising group Viant Technology, which includes the remnants of social network pioneer MySpace.
  
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• South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves produce two new hominin fossils

  11-02-2016 17:55
  
  Two new hominin fossils have been found in a previously uninvestigated chamber in the Sterkfontein Caves, just North West of Johannesburg in South Africa.
  
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• New computer vision algorithm predicts orientation of objects

  11-02-2016 17:52
  
  Seen from any angle, a horse looks like a horse. But it doesn't look the same from every angle. Scientists at Disney Research have developed a method to help computer vision systems avoid the confusion associated with changes in perspective, such as the marked difference in a horse's appearance from the side and from the front.
  
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• Discovery of new iron oxides points to large oxygen source inside the Earth

  11-02-2016 17:51
  
  Using a special high-pressure chamber, scientists have discovered two new iron oxides in experiments at DESY's X-ray light source PETRA III and other facilities. The discovery points to a huge, hitherto unknown oxygen source in the lower mantle of the Earth. The team led by Dr. Elena Bykova from the University of Bayreuth reports its results in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
  
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• Improvisation is curbing innovation at small and medium-sized Spanish construction firms

  11-02-2016 17:45
  
  Small and medium-sized Spanish construction firms prioritize securing contracts and production over any R&D activity. These firms are focused on their day-to-day responsibilities and do not dedicate time to generate creative ideas. Their technological improvements arise as a result of problem-solving at the construction site. However, these innovations are not reported or shared with anyone, leading to their eventual disappearance, according to a study carried out by the Polytechnic Universi
  
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• Bumpy liquid films could simplify fabrication of microlenses

  11-02-2016 17:45
  
  Have you ever noticed that when heated a film of oil in a pan doesn't remain completely flat? Instead, it forms a wavy pattern that resembles the exterior of an orange. These sorts of deformations inspired a group of researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt, in Germany, to explore whether they could be used to improve and streamline microfabrication processes.
  
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• New target found in search for new, more effective herbicide

  11-02-2016 17:44
  
  Scientists at the John Innes Centre have discovered a new target in plants for the development of new herbicides for use by farmers and gardeners.
  
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• Watch: Einstein's Century-Old Prediction Confirmed: Gravitational Waves Exist

  11-02-2016 17:39
  
  Scientists announced that they have finally detected the vibrations in space and time first predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago.
  
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• Silicon chip with integrated laser: Light from a nanowire

  11-02-2016 17:38
  
  Physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a nanolaser, a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Thanks to an ingenious process, the nanowire lasers grow right on a silicon chip, making it possible to produce high-performance photonic components cost-effectively. This will pave the way for fast and efficient data processing with light in the future.
  
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• Gravitational waves detected 100 years after Einstein's prediction

  11-02-2016 17:36
  
  For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at Earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window to the cosmos.
  
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• Fin24.com | SABC, MultiChoice deal not a merger - Tribunal

  11-02-2016 17:31
  
  The Competition Tribunal has found that a deal between the SABC and MultiChoice did not constitute a merger to be notified in terms of the Competition Act.
  
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• Twitter resumes skid on disappointing quarterly report

  11-02-2016 17:30
  
  Twitter shares skidded Thursday after its quarterly update failed to ease concerns that the messaging platform's growth initiatives are sputtering.
  
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