Sci-Tech news

• Drone-flying, hoverboard Barbie is here - MarketWatch

  16-02-2016 23:59 via
  MarketWatch
  Drone-flying, hoverboard Barbie is here
  MarketWatch
  Barbie on a drone isn't just a cool party trick. She could bring more women into STEM. Getty Images. Forget the convertible -- Barbie has a drone hoverboard now! By. SallyFrench. Social media editor & Drone Reporter. Mattel recently MAT, -1.33% made a ...
  You May Be 3D Printing Sooner Than You Think: Mattel To Offer $300 “ThingMaker”Radio control Car Action (blog)
  Mattel ThingMaker 3D Printer Lets Kids Make The
  

• Glow from the Big Bang allows discovery of distant black hole jet

  16-02-2016 23:35
  
  Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to discover a jet from a very distant supermassive black hole being illuminated by the oldest light in the Universe. This discovery shows that black holes with powerful jets may be more common than previously thought in the first few billion years after the Big Bang.
  
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• Biofuel researchers employ Titan to probe 'lignin shield'

  16-02-2016 23:32
  
  When the Ford Motor Company's first automobile, the Model T, debuted in 1908, it ran on a corn-derived biofuel called ethanol, a substance Henry Ford dubbed "the fuel of the future."
  
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• Researchers study Arctic beluga whales with dive data

  16-02-2016 23:30
  
  Beluga whales that swim from the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean each summer may be targeting Arctic cod and diving to great depths to reach them.
  
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• Report: Three of five Californians may have had data stolen in 2015

  16-02-2016 23:28
  
  California's attorney general says as many as three in five Californians may have had electronic records stolen last year.
  
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• Pentagon supports restarting tests involving runaway blimp

  16-02-2016 23:28
  
  Defense Secretary Ash Carter has approved resuming a military exercise suspended last October when a radar-carrying blimp broke away from its mooring and floated for hours over rural Pennsylvania, triggering blackouts as it dragged its tether across power lines.
  
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• Scientists create vaccine against dangerous designer opioids

  16-02-2016 23:26
  
  With use of synthetic opioid "designer drugs" on the rise, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have a new strategy to curb addiction and even prevent fatal overdoses.
  
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• NASA helps power grids weather geomagnetic storms

  16-02-2016 23:23
  
  On March 9, 1989, a huge cloud of solar material exploded from the sun, twisting toward Earth. When this cloud of magnetized solar material - called a coronal mass ejection, or CME - reached our planet, it set off a chain of events in near-Earth space that ultimately knocked out power to the Canadian province Quebec for about nine hours. Though CMEs hit Earth often, those with the potential to shut down an entire power grid are rare - and scientists want to make sure that next time, we're prepar
  
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• A new method to dramatically improve the sequencing of metagenomes

  16-02-2016 23:19
  
  An international team of computer scientists developed a method that greatly improves researchers' ability to sequence the DNA of organisms that can't be cultured in the lab, such as microbes living in the human gut or bacteria living in the depths of the ocean. They published their work in the Feb. 1 issue of Nature Methods.
  
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• Supercomputer probes depths of biofuel's biggest barrier

  16-02-2016 23:18
  
  Ask a biofuel researcher to name the single greatest technical barrier to cost-effective ethanol, and you're likely to receive a one-word response: lignin.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Winston threatening Tonga and American Samoa

  16-02-2016 23:16
  
  NASA satellites have been providing data on Tropical Cyclone Winston in the Southwestern Pacific, and watched the storm over the past couple of days as it weakened to a tropical storm. Today, Feb. 16, Winston regained hurricane-force and threatens Tonga and American Samoa.
  
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• Ride and home sharing painted as old ideas made new

  16-02-2016 23:15
  
  Ride- and home-sharing startups shaking up the world are old concepts getting new life, founders of two prominent ventures told an "ideas conference" Tuesday.
  
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• Renewable fuels from algae boosted by NREL refinery process

  16-02-2016 23:11
  
  A new biorefinery process developed by scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has proven to be significantly more effective at producing ethanol from algae than previous research.
  
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• Watch your step—forensics close in on footwear analysis

  16-02-2016 23:09
  
  First it was your fingerprint that gave the game away and then DNA analysis transformed forensic science. But 'watch your step' because an expert in the School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Nottingham has developed a new technique which could lead to a 'step change' in forensic footwear imaging.
  
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• RNA modification discovery suggests new code for control of gene expression

  16-02-2016 23:08
  
  A new cellular signal discovered by a team of scientists at the University of Chicago with scientists from Tel Aviv University provides a promising new lever in the control of gene expression.
  
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• Nocturnal migrating songbirds drift with crosswinds and compensate near coastal areas

  16-02-2016 23:07
  
  Using novel, recently developed techniques for analysis of Doppler polarimetric weather surveillance radar data, a University of Oklahoma team examined impediments (crosswinds and oceans) of nocturnally migrating songbirds in Eastern North America. Migrants in flight drifted sideways on crosswinds, but most strongly compensated for drift near the Atlantic coast. Coastal migrants' tendency to compensate for wind drift increased through the night, while no strong differences were observed at inlan
  
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• A novel canonical transformation provides insights into many-particle physics

  16-02-2016 22:56
  
  The concepts of rotation and angular momentum play a crucial role in many areas of physics, ranging from nuclear spectroscopy to molecular collisions and precision measurements. In a paper appearing in the leading physics journal Physical Review X on February 12, 2016, Mikhail Lemeshko, Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), and Richard Schmidt, Postdoc at Harvard University, introduce a technique to understand and calculate angular momentum in settings where
  
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• Simplifying supersonic nozzle pressure monitoring

  16-02-2016 22:54
  
  A bit of serendipity while carrying out a routine calibration led a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (Berkeley Lab) BELLA Center to discover a new method to measure the pressure of supersonic nozzles. This is a significant breakthrough—with wide-ranging applications that include miniature satellites, lab-on-a-chip devices and laser plasma accelerators.
  
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• Better, faster tsunami warnings possible with GPS

  16-02-2016 22:09
  
  Existing GPS instruments at monitoring stations worldwide could be used to increase the speed and accuracy of tsunami warnings, according to new study accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements can be used to show how major earthquakes displace the ocean floor, cutting tsunami warning times by nearly 20 minutes and potentially reducing harm to coastal communities, according to the s
  
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• Researchers devise more efficient materials for solar fuel cells

  16-02-2016 21:31
  
  University of Texas at Arlington chemists have developed new high-performing materials for cells that harness sunlight to split carbon dioxide and water into useable fuels like methanol and hydrogen gas. These "green fuels" can be used to power cars, home appliances or even to store energy in batteries.
  
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• Einstein was right -- gravitational waves detected

  16-02-2016 21:09 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Just over 100 years after he published his general theory of relativity, scientists have found what Albert Einstein predicted as part of the theory: gravitational waves.
  
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• Professor designs explosives detector to rival a dog's nose

  16-02-2016 20:53
  
  A University of Rhode Island professor has developed a sensor that detects the kind of explosive used in the Paris bombings, to try to stop future attacks.
  
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• US firm's Chinese subsidiaries to pay $14.5M to resolve case

  16-02-2016 20:52
  
  Chinese subsidiaries of a Massachusetts software company have agreed to pay more than $14.5 million to resolve the federal government's allegations that they illegally provided recreational travel to Chinese government officials.
  
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• DICE Summit a chance for game creators to recharge, reflect

  16-02-2016 20:51
  
  For elite members of the video game industry, the D.I.C.E. Summit isn't merely a chance to schmooze at the poker table or on the golf course in Las Vegas. It's also an opportunity to address issues and innovations, ranging from gender diversity to virtual reality.
  
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• Livestock donations to Zambian households yield higher income, improved diet

  16-02-2016 20:48
  
  Some humanitarian organizations facilitate livestock donations to poor households in developing countries, but does giving a cow, a pair of oxen, or a herd of goats to a poor household really benefit the recipients? A recent University of Illinois study says it does.
  
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• Benefits associated with the reduction of mercury emissions far outweigh industry cost

  16-02-2016 20:47
  
  How should cost factor into the protection of human health and the environment? That was the central question in a Supreme Court case last summer that pitted the coal industry and 20 U.S. states against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
  
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• Portion of ancient Australian chert microstructures definitively pseudo-fossils

  16-02-2016 20:46
  
  A team of scientists including Carnegie's Dina Bower and Andrew Steele weigh in on whether microstructures found in 3.46 billion-year-old samples of a silica-rich rock called chert found in Western Australia are the planet's oldest fossils. The purported fossils have been a heated scientific controversy for many years. The team asserts that at least a portion of the microstructures are actually pseudo-fossils. Their findings are published in Astrobiology.
  
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• NASA sees a stronger Tropical Cyclone Uriah

  16-02-2016 20:39
  
  Cloud top temperatures in storms within Tropical Cyclone Uriah grew colder over the last couple of days, according to infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite. That's an indication of stronger uplift in a tropical cyclone and a stronger storm. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite saw the storm when it was struggling against wind shear, and two days later NASA's Aqua satellite saw Uriah reach hurricane-strength after the shear weakened.
  
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• Beavers bring environmental benefits

  16-02-2016 20:36
  
  Beavers are beneficial to the Scottish environment, say academics from The University of Stirling.
  
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• Social media face threats affect relationships; communication helps

  16-02-2016 20:35
  
  Impression management refers to an individual's deliberate efforts to control or influence other people's perceptions. Sometimes impression management occurs in reaction to face threats: unfavorable incidents that undercut a person's ability to cultivate and maintain a desirable self-image on social networking sites (SNSs).
  
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• ReFlex: Revolutionary flexible smartphone allows users to feel the buzz by bending their apps

  16-02-2016 20:32
  
  Researchers at Queen's University's Human Media Lab have developed the world's first full-colour, high-resolution and wireless flexible smartphone to combine multitouch with bend input. The phone, which they have named ReFlex, allows users to experience physical tactile feedback when interacting with their apps through bend gestures.
  
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• Oxygen was present in the atmosphere much earlier than previously assumed

  16-02-2016 20:31
  
  Reconstructing the emergence and evolution of life on our planet is tightly linked to the questions as to when and to what extent Earth's atmosphere became oxygenated. New geological studies based on data from Western Greenland indicate that small levels of atmospheric oxygen developed already 3.8 billion years ago, some 0.7-0.8 billion years earlier than previously thought.
  
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• Cyber thieves making millions in profits

  16-02-2016 20:22
  
  Cyber thieves who steal credit and debit card numbers are making millions of dollars in profits, fueling a global criminal enterprise marked by the high-profile data breaches of major companies such as Target and Home Depot.
  
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• First detection of super-earth atmosphere

  16-02-2016 20:21
  
  For the first time astronomers were able to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is revealed to have a dry atmosphere without any indications of water vapour. The results, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, indicate that the atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen and helium.
  
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• What does turbulence have in common with an epidemic?

  16-02-2016 20:12
  
  Fluid flows can take one of two forms: well-ordered "laminar" or highly disordered "turbulent" motion. Although everyday experience shows that laminar motion in simple shear flows as in pipes or channels gives way to turbulence as the flow speed increases, the exact nature of this transition has remained a riddle since its first study in the 19th century.
  
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• Losing the fight against antibiotic resistance

  16-02-2016 20:05
  
  Tackling antibiotic resistance on only one front is a waste of time because resistant genes are freely crossing environmental, agricultural and clinical boundaries, new research has shown.
  
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• What do the world's leading shark researchers think of shark conservation policy?

  16-02-2016 19:39
  
  University of Miami (UM) Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy researchers investigated the conservation policy preferences of shark scientists, as well as their personal histories of conservation advocacy and their opinions about the environmental non-profit community. This survey of over 100 scientists and natural resource managers from all over the world is the first to assess the collective expertise of the world's largest professional shark research societies. The survey results are
  
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• Enhanced levels of carbon dioxide are likely cause of global dryland greening, study says

  16-02-2016 19:39
  
  Enhanced levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are a likely key driver of global dryland greening, according to a paper published today in the journal Scientific Reports.
  
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• Hubble Reveals a Dry Atmosphere Around Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

  16-02-2016 18:48 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers reveal that exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a dry atmosphere without any indications of water vapor. For the first time astronomers were able to analyze the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, […]
  The post Hubble Reveals a Dry Atmosphere Around Super-Earth 55 Cancri e appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Scientists discover new way bacterial infections spread in the body

  16-02-2016 18:42
  
  Bacteria have evolved thousands of clever tactics for invading our bodies while evading our natural defenses. Now, UNC School of Medicine scientists studying one of the world's most virulent pathogens and a separate very common bacterium have discovered a new way that some bacteria can spread rapidly throughout the body - by hitchhiking on our own immune cells.
  
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• Solar cells help purify water in remote areas

  16-02-2016 18:40
  
  Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a water purification plant that provides clean water far beyond the reach of the electrical grid - thanks to solar cells. With the help of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, these small and portable solar cell stations have now been placed across rural Bangladesh.
  
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• The science of jet noise

  16-02-2016 18:39
  
  Daniel Bodony's love of science began with a love of airplanes. He worked for one of his dad's colleagues on the weekends who had an airplane. "I would mow his grass and he would let me fly," Bodony remembers fondly.
  
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• Cambits, a modular imaging system that can transform into many different cameras

  16-02-2016 18:37
  
  Computer Science Professor Shree Nayar and Makoto Odamaki, a visiting scientist from Ricoh Corporation, have developed Cambits, a modular imaging system that enables the user to create a wide range of computational cameras. Cambits comprises a set of colorful plastic blocks of five different types—sensors, light sources, actuators, lenses, and optical attachments. The blocks can easily be assembled to make a variety of cameras with different functionalities such as high dynamic range imagi
  
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• 'Swiss army knife' molecule

  16-02-2016 18:34
  
  Scientists at ETH Zurich and an ETH spin-off have developed a novel polymer for coating materials, in order to prevent biofilms from forming on their surfaces. Thanks to the technological platform developed, it is now possible to coat durably a variety of different materials using the same polymeric molecule. Such coatings are of relevance for medical applications, among others.
  
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• MIT Researchers Identify Cells That Represent Feelings of Isolation

  16-02-2016 18:34 via scitechdaily.com
  
  In a newly published study, MIT neuroscientists reveal how they identified a brain region that represents the feelings of loneliness. Humans, like all social animals, have a fundamental need for contact with others. This deeply ingrained instinct helps us to survive; it’s much easier to find food, shelter, and other necessities with a group than […]
  The post MIT Researchers Identify Cells That Represent Feelings of Isolation appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Team synthesizes georgeite for first time

  16-02-2016 18:31
  
  An international group of researchers has synthesized an extremely rare mineral and used it as a catalyst precursor to improve two reactions that are of great importance to the chemical industry.
  
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• Tiny red crystals dramatically increase biogas production

  16-02-2016 18:29
  
  UNSW Australia-led researchers have discovered a way to produce a tenfold increase in the amount of methane gas emitted by naturally occurring microbes living in coal seams and on food waste.
  
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• Research offers new evidence about the Gulf of Mexico's past

  16-02-2016 18:28
  
  Geologists studying a region in the Mexican state of Veracruz have discovered evidence to explain the origin of the Wilcox Formation, one of Mexico's most productive oil plays, as well as support for the theory that water levels in the Gulf of Mexico dropped dramatically as it was separated from the rest of the world's oceans and the earth entered a period of extreme warming.
  
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• Animals revived after being in a frozen state for over 30 years

  16-02-2016 18:27
  
  Tardigrades (water bears) were successfully revived and reproduced after having been frozen for over 30 years. A moss sample collected in Antarctica in Nov. 1983, stored at -20°C, was thawed in May 2014. Two individuals and a separate egg retrieved from the thawed sample were revived, thereby providing the longest record of survival for tardigrades as animals or eggs. Subsequently, one of the revived tardigrades and the hatchling repeatedly reproduced after recovering from their long-term cr
  
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• Slavery carried bilharzia parasites from West Africa to the Caribbean, genomics confirms

  16-02-2016 18:23
  
  The bilharzia-causing parasite, Schistosoma mansoni, first infected humans as they fished in lakes in East Africa and was spread, first to West Africa and then to the New World by slave traders in 16th-19th Centuries, genomics reveals.
  
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