Sci-Tech news

• US escalates fight with Apple over iPhone in attacks probe

  19-02-2016 23:55
  
  The US government Friday sought a court order to force Apple to help unlock an iPhone as part of the probe into last year's San Bernardino attacks, escalating a legal showdown over encryption.
  
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• Virgin Galactic Unveils New SpaceShipTwo

  19-02-2016 23:54 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Virgin Galactic is set to unveil its new SpaceShipTwo vehicle this afternoon marking the company's return to flight testing.
  
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• Scientists sue state police over 'pro-prosecution' DNA lab

  19-02-2016 23:47
  
  Three scientists who worked at the New York State Police crime lab have sued the agency, alleging administrators retaliated against them for finding flaws in processing DNA evidence and pushing for new testing that would identify past errors.
  
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• NASA sees major Tropical Cyclone Winston approaching Fiji

  19-02-2016 23:43
  
  Powerful Tropical Cyclone Winston continued to intensify as it neared Fiji and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of the strengthening storm with a clear eye. Warnings are posted in Fiji as the storm is expected to make landfall there as a major hurricane.
  
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• NASA's GPM sees Tropical Cyclone Uriah start weakening trend

  19-02-2016 23:42
  
  Over two days, the Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite had excellent views of Tropical Cyclone Uriah in the South Indian Ocean. GPM found heavy rainfall was occurring in the storm but saw a weakening trend begin.
  
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• New research reveals sound of deep-water animal migration

  19-02-2016 23:40
  
  New research finds there is a distinct sound coming from a massive community of fish, shrimp, jellies and squid as they travel up and down from the depths of the ocean to the water's surface to feed. This sound could be serving as a "dinner bell" for these deep-water organisms that play a key role in ocean food webs and the global carbon cycle, and could help scientists better understand this mysterious ecosystem, according to new research being presented here Monday.
  
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• Ancient lone star lizard lounged in lush, tropical Texas

  19-02-2016 23:37
  
  Researchers have discovered a new species of extinct worm lizard in Texas and dubbed it the "Lone Star" lizard. The species—the first known example of a worm lizard in Texas—offers evidence that Texas acted as a subtropical refuge during one of the great cooling periods of the past.
  
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• Record number of astronaut wannabes apply to NASA—18,300

  19-02-2016 23:27
  
  Space travel never looked so good.
  
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• Tech toys abound at New York Toy Fair

  19-02-2016 23:26
  
  From a preschool toy designed to teach pre-coding skills to a hands-on molecule-building set for older kids that works with an app, technology abounded at this year's Toy Fair.
  
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• Are big-city transportation systems too complex for human minds?

  19-02-2016 22:11
  
  Many of us know the feeling of standing in front of a subway map in a strange city, baffled by the multi-coloured web staring back at us and seemingly unable to plot a route from point A to point B.
  
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• 'Ice age blob' of warm ocean water discovered south of Greenland

  19-02-2016 22:07
  
  New research published in Scientific Reports in February indicates that a warm ocean surface water prevailed during the last ice age, sandwiched between two major ice sheets just south of Greenland.
  
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• Researchers invent 'magic wand' to improve healthcare, cybersecurity

  19-02-2016 21:56
  
  Dartmouth College researchers have developed a digital "magic wand" to improve home healthcare and to prevent hackers from stealing your personal data.
  
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• NIST's natural air standards support accurate greenhouse gas measurements

  19-02-2016 21:55
  
  When it comes to tallying emissions of greenhouse gases, there is no better substitute than directly measuring the atmosphere. But this important accounting can be obscured, and even confused, if measurements of the air-borne heat-trapping chemicals are inaccurate or can't be compared from one instrument or data set to the next.
  
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• Moving electrons around loops with light: A quantum device based on geometry

  19-02-2016 21:54
  
  While a classical bit found in conventional electronics exists only in binary 1 or 0 states, the more resourceful quantum bit, or 'qubit' is represented by a vector, pointing to a simultaneous combination of the 1 and 0 states. To fully implement a qubit, it is necessary to control the direction of this qubit's vector, which is generally done using fine-tuned and noise-isolated procedures.
  
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• Data overload from personal tracking devices: A waste or an opportunity?

  19-02-2016 21:54
  
  The explosive interest in wearable personal tracking devices is generating huge amounts of so-called "quantified self" (QS) data, just waiting to be analyzed and used to improve human health. One solution for turning QS data into actionable information and insights that can guide users' decision-making is described in a new study published in Big Data.
  
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• Breakthrough in dynamically variable negative stiffness structures achieved

  19-02-2016 21:53
  
  HRL Laboratories today announced that researchers in its Sensors and Materials Laboratory have developed an active variable stiffness vibration isolator capable of 100x stiffness changes and millisecond actuation times, independent of the static load.
  
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• Facebook Updates Messenger App to Handle Several Accounts

  19-02-2016 21:46 via abcnews.go.com
  Facebook updates Messenger app so several people can access their accounts on the same Android device
  
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• What to expect from this year's Mobile World Congress - Engadget

  19-02-2016 21:40 via
  Engadget
  What to expect from this year's Mobile World Congress
  Engadget
  Team Engadget is slowly trickling into Barcelona as you read this, which can only mean one thing: The beautiful nightmare of Mobile World Congress is nearly upon us. The next few days will see some of the world's biggest, most important industry ...
  13 things you should know about Mobile World Congress 2016Phandroid.com
  Huawei to launch solutions for 4.5G, IoT , Safe City at MWCChina Daily
  Phone accessories are becoming mor
  

• Microsoft, Cisco, Intel and others form open IoT standards group - ZDNet

  19-02-2016 21:09 via
  ZDNet
  Microsoft, Cisco, Intel and others form open IoT standards group
  ZDNet
  Microsoft is leading a band of tech titans in the formation of a new Internet of Things standards group. What's Hot on ZDNet. To save the iPad, Apple needs to copy Microsoft · Windows 10 subscriptions aren't happening. Here's why · Ten industries using ...
  New Open Connectivity Foundation combines Open Interconnect Consortium and AllSeen AllianceGigaom
  Another IoT group? OCF may really be the one to
  

• In New Motion, Justice Department Fires Back at Apple, Accuses Company of "Repudiating" Rather Than Following Judge's Order

  19-02-2016 20:46 via abcnews.go.com
  In new motion, Justice Department fires back at Apple, accuses company of "repudiating" rather than following judge's order
  
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• US Accuses Apple of 'Repudiating' Order on Phone Access

  19-02-2016 20:23 via abcnews.go.com
  The Justice Department has fired back at Apple for refusing to help unlock a phone used by one of the gunmen in the San Bernardino attack
  
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• NASA Gets Record Number of Astronaut Applications

  19-02-2016 20:03 via abcnews.go.com
  
  More Americans than ever think they have the "right stuff" for space travel.
  
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• Researchers demonstrate 'quantum surrealism'

  19-02-2016 20:00
  
  New research demonstrates that particles at the quantum level can in fact be seen as behaving something like billiard balls rolling along a table, and not merely as the probabilistic smears that the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests. But there's a catch - the tracks the particles follow do not always behave as one would expect from "realistic" trajectories, but often in a fashion that has been termed "surrealistic."
  
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• 60 years after pioneering survey, Wisconsin prairies are changing rapidly

  19-02-2016 20:00
  
  It was shortly after the end of World War II when John Curtis, inspired by his service as a civilian researcher aiding war efforts in Haiti, dedicated his energies to studying the ecology of Wisconsin's plants. The late botany professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was particularly enamored of prairies.
  
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• Record Number of Astronaut Wannabes Apply to NASA

  19-02-2016 19:59 via abcnews.go.com
  Space travel never looked so good.
  
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• Virgin Galactic Set to Unveil New SpaceShipTwo

  19-02-2016 19:18 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Virgin Galactic is set to unveil its new SpaceShipTwo vehicle this afternoon marking the company's return to flight testing.
  
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• Pluto's Moon Charon Had a 'Hulk' Period, New Images Reveal

  19-02-2016 19:18 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Pluto's moon Charon may be the "Hulk" of the solar system.
  
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• AP EXPLAINS: Apple V FBI, Is My iPhone Safe?

  19-02-2016 19:11 via abcnews.go.com
  AP Explains: Apple is facing off against the federal government. Is my iPhone still safe?
  
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• Big Tech Companies Are Joining Apple in Its Encryption Fight

  19-02-2016 19:08 via abcnews.go.com
  Facebook, Twitter and Google have all voiced support for Apple's fight against a court order that Apple says would make iPhones less secure
  
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• Watch: Virgin Galactic to Unveil New Passenger Spacecraft

  19-02-2016 18:54 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The company hopes SpaceShipTwo will eventually take tourists to the edge of space.
  
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• UN Climate Chief Figueres to Step Down in July

  19-02-2016 18:39 via abcnews.go.com
  U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres says she will leave her post in July after six years in charge of the diplomatic effort to fight global warming
  
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• Hubble Measures Rotation of ‘Super-Jupiter’ Exoplanet 2M1207b

  19-02-2016 18:30 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the rotation rate of an extreme exoplanet by observing the varied brightness in its atmosphere. This is the first measurement of the rotation of a massive exoplanet using direct imaging. “The result is very exciting,” said Daniel Apai of the University of Arizona in […]
  The post Hubble Measures Rotation of ‘Super-Jupiter’ Exoplanet 2M1207b appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Hubble Views the Young Star HBC 1

  19-02-2016 18:21 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Surrounded by dust, this new Hubble image shows the young forming star known as HBC 1. The star is in an immature and adolescent phase of life, while most of a sun-like star’s life is spent in a stable stage comparable to human adulthood. In this view, HBC 1 illuminates a wispy reflection nebula known […]
  The post Hubble Views the Young Star HBC 1 appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• New Horizons Reveals a Possible Ancient Ocean on Charon

  19-02-2016 18:13 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New images from the New Horizons Spacecraft suggest that Pluto’s moon Charon once had a subsurface ocean that has long since frozen and expanded, pushing outward and causing the moon’s surface to stretch and fracture on a massive scale. The side of Pluto’s largest moon viewed by NASA’s passing New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 […]
  The post New Horizons Reveals a Possible Ancient Ocean on Charon appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Physicists discover easy way to measure entanglement—on a sphere

  19-02-2016 17:50
  
  (Phys.org)—Quantum entanglement—which occurs when two or more particles are correlated in such a way that they can influence each other even across large distances—is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon, but occurs in various degrees. The more a quantum state is entangled with its partner, the better the states will perform in quantum information applications. Unfortunately, quantifying entanglement is a difficult process involving complex optimization problems that give even phys
  
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• Experiments show that notions of twinning and slip in metals may not be as simple as thought

  19-02-2016 17:17
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from multiple institutions in China has cast doubts on the simple approach that has until now been taken regarding twinning and slip as metals deform. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team outlines experiments they conducted with aluminum, explain their results and suggest that new ways of categorizing the ways metal responds to stress must be defined.
  
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• Sumatran elephant found with leg almost severed by rope

  19-02-2016 17:00
  
  A Sumatran elephant calf lies stricken in the jungle in Indonesia as conservationists fight to remove a rope tightly wound around its leg that almost caused the critically endangered animal to lose a limb.
  
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• Scientists find popular stem cell techniques safe

  19-02-2016 16:45
  
  A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) shows that the act of creating pluripotent stem cells for clinical use is unlikely to pass on cancer-causing mutations to patients.
  
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• 'Fallout 4' crowned game of the year at DICE Awards

  19-02-2016 16:43
  
  "Fallout 4" wasted the competition at the D.I.C.E. Awards.
  
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• Yahoo panel to study 'strategic' options

  19-02-2016 16:42
  
  Yahoo said Friday it had named a committee to study the company's "strategic alternatives," moving a step closer toward a breakup or sale of the troubled Internet pioneer.
  
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• Space station astronauts give huge trash can the boot

  19-02-2016 16:42
  
  The International Space Station just got a whole lot tidier.
  
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• New plant species discovered on Yakushima

  19-02-2016 16:41
  
  Suetsugu Kenji, a Project Associate Professor at the Kobe University Graduate School of Science, has discovered a new species of plant on the subtropical Japanese island of Yakushima (located off the southern coast of Kyushu in Kagoshima prefecture) and named it Sciaphila yakushimensis. This research was published on 20th February in the Journal of Japanese Botany.
  
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• Bernini's 'Animas' were originally meant to be mythological, not religious, sculptures

  19-02-2016 16:40
  
  David García Cueto, Arts History professor at the University of Granada, affirms that these two marble heads are not a representation of a Christian soul's personification enjoying the pleasures of the Heaven or tormented by the punishment received in Hell (as believed until now), but they really are a nymph and a satyr, respectively.
  
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• Deception and trickery are rife in natural world, scientist says in new book

  19-02-2016 16:39
  
  A University of Exeter academic is the author of a new book that describes how animals and plants regularly use ingenuity and cunning to exploit and mislead one another in order to survive and reproduce.
  
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• Immunity gene fusions uncovered in plants

  19-02-2016 16:38
  
  Plant health and interaction with microbes is maintained by intricate antennas - plant immune receptors. A certain class of receptors is turning out to be highly informative about plant disease resistance.
  
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• Florida's monkey river

  19-02-2016 16:36
  
  A dewy morning fog hangs over the Silver River in central Florida. Gibbering chirps resound through the riverside oaks and maples as the local colony of rhesus macaques rises to greet the day. Two anthropologists from San Diego State University sit in a canoe, awaiting the river's human visitors in order to observe one of the more unlikely and understudied human-wildlife interactions in the world.
  
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• The magic of microbes: Engineers innovative research in synthetic biology

  19-02-2016 16:34
  
  An exciting new scientific frontier—synthetic biology—took center stage as a celebrated scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently spoke at the headquarters of the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
  
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• Topological insulators: Magnetism is not causing loss of conductivity

  19-02-2016 16:33
  
  If topological insulators are doped with impurities that possess magnetic properties, they lose their conductivity. Yet contrary to what has been assumed thus far, it is not the magnetism that leads to this. This has been shown by recent experiments with BESSY II at HZB. The results are now published in Nature Communications. Understanding these effects is crucial for applications of topological insulators in information technology.
  
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• Want to become a human guinea pig? Here's how

  19-02-2016 16:29 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Indianapolis resident John Oriez got a tiny tattoo on his head for the sake of science.
  
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• 3-D protein map offers new malaria vaccine hope

  19-02-2016 16:08
  
  A three-dimensional 'map' of a critical protein that malaria parasites use to invade human red blood cells could lead to a vaccine countering the most widespread species of the parasite.
  
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